The Scariest Things

There can be little doubt that the past decade has been another wonderful golden era for horror movies. The generational change of horror voices arrived in a big way in the Teens, and horror movies have found serious purchase in both critical and popular appeal. The Scariest Things brings the WHOLE TEAM to the podcast this week, as Robert and Joseph join Mike, Liz, and Eric to promote our favorite genre offerings from the past ten years.

Two great tastes that go great together: You got your horror in my comedy! You got your comedy in my horror! Something in the brain likes the yin and yang of what scares us and what makes us laugh. The Scariest Things looks for some next level movies to make you howl with laughter as much as fear.

Now that our American audience is digesting their Thanksgiving harvest feast, it's time to turn our attention to Holiday Horror. The rule Mike put to the group was that we couldn't use Carpenter's Halloween. No problem, plenty of pictures to pick from!

All hail the King from Maine! This was a big year for King as there were FOUR King productions: we got the monster hit It: Chapter 2, the reboot of Pet Semetary, The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep, and the Netflix production In the Tall Grass. Plus, the television series Castle Rock. We live in a Stephen King world, and now The Scariest Things settles in to talk about it.

Sometimes the star of the movie isn't a person, or even a creature. Sometimes it's a building! Eric and Liz review some of their favorite Haunted Houses.

Does the year you were born say anything about the state of horror movies? Is there any equivalency between how good the movies from your birth year and how much you like Horror movies? Probably not, but it's still fun to think about.

Hail to the Bloodsuckers! Eternal, sexy (usually), and back from the dead. The vampire is a proud staple of the genre, and there is great breadth to the genre. Hear the Scariest Things Crew chime in on their favorites.

Mike points out early in our podcast that a list of vampire movies could go 100 deep should we try and do a dead list. (And don't be surprised if we try!) From the very dawn of the genre, with Nosferatu and Dracula audiences have gravitated to the vampires and each passing generation has added their own twist to the type. The rules got set with those two monumental movies, and for the most part, their undead progeny have followed suit. You know the traits, but it is remarkable how many of the vampire elements have become essential. Let's take a quick look at what makes a movie vampire:

They drink blood. ALL vampires drink blood.They don't eat flesh. Leave that for the zombies and cannibals.They are usually undead, though some may be mentally disturbed people who want to be vampires.They are usually nocturnal. Daylight often destroys a vampire.Stake to the heart! They are seducers by nature. Holy water is a near sure winner vs. vampires. Believe it or not, not all vampires have fangs. In fact Bela Lugosi did not have fangs. It's a pretty good indicator though.

Some traits that have been less dependable:

They don't have a reflection. This trait seems to be less played in current vampire movies.Transformational power. The early vampires liked to turn into bats and rats. The What We Do in the Shadows TV show lovingly has brought this trait back.Flying is a trait that is a vampire option that seems to have been lost. Crosses sometimes work, but contemporary vampires seem to be a bit more resistant to Christian symbols. I wonder if a fish would work?Garlic repels them. Not sure why, but that one has had surprising staying power

When picking what vampire movies to watch there are many flavors within this bloody buffet. The classic vampires got a shot in the arm with the popularity of Anne Rice's novels. There's the leather clad cyberpunk kung fu fighting vampires. You've got your bosomy lesbian euro-vampires. Goofy comedic vampires? Plenty of them. Sparkly teenage angsty vampires... well, yeah those too.

One thing that has to be mentioned, and here's a head's up to the fellas out there, women love them some vampires. The classic vampire is tall dark and handsome, and the notion of a lonely European royal alone in his castle has a certain allure to it. There is something rather soap operatic with vampires. The idea of clans and cliques that permeate the works of Anne Rice, Twilight, Underworld, and the live action role playing game Vampire the Masquerade emphasizes the societal dramas internal to vampire life, and these stories really resonate with a female audience. Vampires are certainly the most romantic of all horror films, with a nod to the werewolf film.

So, gentlemen, make a date of it and get a Vampire movie! She will appreciate it. You can always get something like Blade or From Dusk Til' Dawn if you want to sneak in an action vampire flick. (wink!) There are so many vampire movies we could very well do another vampire podcast... if we can convince Mike to do so.

Without further ado... Episode 79, Vampires, at long last!

And you think your job sucks! Welcome to the workplace of Horror. Do you trust the people you work with? Do you hate your boss? Horror movies have picked up on these feelings and have tapped into the worst-case workplace scenarios.

It's the backbone of the horror genre. There's just something not right with that person, and they are likely to do harm to themselves or others. The Scariest Things team dives into one of the most evergreen themes of horror.

In order to celebrate our friend David's starring turn in The Suicide Squad, for which he has been receiving numerous accolades, we revisit our initial meeting with him at Portland's Rose City Comicon from 2019. He was a treat, and you can learn about his Comic writing career in addition to his acting performances. Congratulations, David!

In what has to be considered Mike and Eric's favorite interview, actor and newly minted comic book author David Dastmalchian sat down with us at Rose City Comicon. We got to talk all things horror, and especially his new comic Count Crowley! Muuahahahaha!