The Monster Professor

This episode is the audio of the live Monster Professor/guest author event at the Florida SouthWestern State College Research Expo on April 13, 2021. The full video is on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/6vDj3van8pg

In this event, Josh Woods share his ideas about Horror Structure as one of two storytelling archetypes, reads a short story from his book O Monstrous World!, and takes questions from the audience.

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

Emily Zarka, zombie expert and host of Monstrum (PBS, Storied channel), takes us through the history of zombies, how they’ve changed and fascinated us through films and games, the spiritual traditions that protect their secrets, and even how they help us prep for emergency situations.

Zarka’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZarkaEmily

Zarka’s website: https://www.emilyelizabethzarka.com/

Monstrum on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_lsQEz7yLOpq278N-4I72cTXlRE1kVUN

Monstrum on PBS.org: https://www.pbs.org/show/monstrum/

Go Bag Challenge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWnL8XDEtcPWzj80R9RDhNZJwHLKbmAJA

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

Werewolf expert Michael Chemers returns to take us on his real-life werewolf hunt in Germany. We also reach back to the proto-origins of werewolves and follow werewolf hunts and trials through the ages—including American werewolves in recent years. Chemers is Professor of Dramatic Literature and Theater Arts at the University of California Santa Cruz, and he has recently established the world’s first official Center for Monster Studies.

Center for Monster Studies: https://www.monsterstudies.ucsc.edu/

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

Asa Mittman invites us into the world of Monster Studies as an official academic field in universities, and he reveals Medieval maps of monsters to show us the darker social consequences of such ideas, both then and now. Asa Mittman is the author of Maps and Monsters in Medieval England, a prolific co-author and co-editor, and a Professor of Art & Art History who also teaches courses on monster movies.

Asa Mittman’s Website: https://asamittman.wordpress.com/

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

Dana Gioia brings us into the powerful darkness of his opera libretto Nosferatu, and along the way guides us through the place of monstrous and gothic stories within the literary tradition, and even touches on the truth of evil itself. Gioia is an internationally acclaimed poet, writer, and editor, as well as former California Poet laureate and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Dana Gioia’s Website: http://danagioia.com/

His Nosferatu: An Opera Libretto available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nosferatu-Opera-Libretto-Dana-Gioia/dp/1555973191

His new memoir, Studying with Miss Bishop: https://www.pauldrybooks.com/collections/featured-products/products/studying-with-miss-bishop

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

Matt Davids from DiceGeeks.com returns to discuss two man-eating monsters that have captured imaginations both modern and ancient, under the surface and in the maze of the mind.

DiceGeeks.com Podcast and Website: https://www.dicegeeks.com/

Matt Davids’s Drive Thru RPG books: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?artist=Matt%20Davids

And his Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Matt-Davids/e/B077SBKV9Y?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1605022261&sr=8-1

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

As an informal Halloween treat, I share some excellent new shows and movies to watch for Halloween, along with some retro gems that might be new to you (as they were to me), and even some unofficial Screen Monster Awards to recent series and films for Best Zombie, Best Water Creature, Best Invisible Person, and Best Witch.

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

I speak with Inklings scholar Amy Trogan and poet Brandi George as we explore the perilous realm where fairies and demons cross paths, especially as they exist in traditional folklore, in the works of C.S. Lewis, in the creative writing process, even in real personal experience.

More about Brandi George: https://www.brandigeorgepoetry.com/

More about Amy Trogan: https://www.fsw.edu/expertnetwork/expert/atrogan

The Black Palace e-book: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Palace-Josh-Woods-ebook-dp-B07B5414PW/dp/B07B5414PW/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

The universe as monster: author and editor Simon Strantzas joins the show to discuss cosmic horror in literature, the weird vs. the strange, the exploratory philosophy of horror, and more. Find out more about him and his projects through these links:

Simon Strantzas’s website: http://strantzas.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Simon-Strantzas/e/B004K34LSU?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1599753250&sr=8-1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thinkinghorror/

Also check out the journal Thinking Horror: https://thinkinghorrorjournal.wordpress.com

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com

Real sea monsters staring up at you from the deep, sinkholes suddenly opening under your bed and swallowing you whole, invisible clouds of death seeping from volcanoes and killing whole villages… we explore all these natural horrors and more with Dr. Joseph Van Gaalen, expert in geology and oceanography.

The Monster Professor: a show in which we discuss and explore monsters in literature, myth, film, games, theater, folklore, culture, and beyond. Podcast host: Josh Woods, author, editor, professor, and monster expert. joshwoodsauthor.com