The Witchery Podcast

Meat is meat, and a man's gotta eat.

Horror films from the early 1970s to the early 80s' were hugely inspired by one common theme: cannibalism.  From that decade came a splurge of cannibal classics, including Wes Craven’s seminal horror, The Hills Have Eyes.

When a perfect Brady bunch-esque family drive through - and break down in - the middle of the desert, they have no idea of the grizzly fate that awaits them at the hands of a not so picture perfect family of cannibals.

It's family vs. family, and growing savagery on both sides ensues. But did you know that Wes Craven's cult classic is based on a 'true' story?

Strap yourselves in, lock up your caves and stay away from that pantry - this week, we're revealing the story of Sawney Bean, the famed cannibal of 17th-century Scotland, who led a clan of incestuous cannibals.

And while we're at it, check out these cannibal-themed movies in our Obscure Film Club:

1. We're going to eat you (China, 1980)

2. Sawney Bean: Flesh of Man (UK, 2012)

3. Cannibal Ferox (Italy, 1981)

4. Eaten Alive (Italy, 1981)

Happy January you beautiful heathens!

We’re doing things a little differently with this episode and we’re exploring the legends and myths that live on The Continent. Yes. That’s right. In this episode we’re chatting through The Witcher. No, we’re not drunk. Yes, this is horror. Fantasy horror, but horror nonetheless. And, no there’s no true crime associated with this one (apart from those awful wigs, of course).

So, grab your silver swords as we look into the inspiration behind The Witcher.

Learn from the best:

· The Last Wish – by Andre Sapkowski

· The Witcher History and Folklore

· The Real Mythology Behind The Witcher

· The Hidden Myths and Legends Behind “The Witcher” Series

· Making the Witcher

Bonus:

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

The Obscure Film Club:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and we’re dreaming of a blood-soaked, murder filled Christmas!

As the trailer for Black Christmas declared - if this film doesn’t make your skin crawl, its on too tight!

Yes this week we’re discussing the true horror behind Black Christmas, the 1974 slasher film about a murderer on the rampage in a sorority house, at Christmas!  Upon its release, Black Christmas received mixed reviews, but it has since received critical re-appraisal, with film historians noting it for being one of the earliest slasher films, and it is considered the inspiration for John Carpenter’s Halloween.

A novelisation was released in 1976 and it’s since spawned a remake in 2006 and a further sequel in 2009.

But did you know… Black Christmas is based both on a true crime story and an urban myth? Namely the urban legend ‘The Babysitter and the man upstairs’, and the murders committed by Wayne Clifford Boden in the 1960s!

Listen now to find out the horror behind the horror of Black Christmas!

Learn from the best:

Watch: Black Christmas legacy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSGdU02z00w

Read: Black Christmas (the novel) by Lee Hayes

Read: Be afraid be very afraid  by Jan Harold Brunvand

Obscure Film Club

This week we’re exploring some South African horror and delving into The Tokoloshe. In case you didn’t pick up on the accent, one of us is in fact a Saffer. Buckle in heathens, this one is a ride.

We explore some of the stories around this Zulu mythological creature and some of the more… uh… interesting stories involving tokoloshes.

And, of course we’re all about the horror behind the horror on this podcast, so what would an episode be without something true crimey?

Learn from the best:

From Executed Today

The Tokoloshe: Mythology and Modern Trauma 

The little creature with a big appetite 

A collection of tokoloshe stories from the Daily Sun

Pinky Pinky:

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: 

While exploring the 19th century manor, Sally accidentally stumbles across a hidden basement, where the evil little creatures lie in wait. They lure Sally to her doom with promises of being friends, when in reality, they want to rip her apart. They're ancient demons that initially fed on children's teeth, until they wanted something more substantial. They are "tooth fairies" you hope you never see.

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman.

Japanese folklore is full of malevolent spirts, but few are as harrowing as Kuchisake-onna, the "slit-mouthed woman."

Kuchisake-onna joined Sadako, Kayako, and other onryo (vengeful ghosts) on movie screens in 2007's Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman. Here, she's the spirit of an abusive mother who possesses other women in order to continue preying on children after death.

Cry of the Banshee: 

Featuring Vincent Price as an evil judge who is cursed by a witch to suffer at the hands of a briefly glimpsed, devil-like sidhe –- an umbrella term for the supernatural creatures that inhabit prehistoric burial mounds across Ireland. Since the banshee is a sidhe –- the Old Irish phrase for banshee is "bean sidhe," or "woman of the mounds" -– and the creature does scream, by default, it's a banshee

A shower curtain. Blood circling a plug hole. Janet Leigh’s gut wrenching (and likely, gut spilling) scream. And a killer wielding a knife, while wearing his mother’s dress and a grey wig.

Yes, it’s just your average overnight stay at Bates Motel. A place much like the Hotel California The Eagles sang about in 1976 - You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!

This week, of course, we are talking about the seminal 1960 classic ‘Psycho’, based on the original 1959 novel by Robert Bloch. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and influenced by the idea of the ‘banality of evil’ – a seemingly dull and innocuous killer who is anything but - the film was expected to bomb. Instead, it marked the collapse of the strict Hays Code, and brought about the evolution of what we dub today as the “slasher” film. In short, the film was a huge hit.

From Anthony Perkins’s iconic performance, to the Gus Van Sant 90s remake we won’t be talking about on this show, through to the three time Emmy Nominated series Bates Motel on A&E, Norman Bates and his Oedipus complex have captured the imagination of horror fans the world over for over 60 years.

But did you know that the ‘fictional’ Norman Bates might not be so fictional after all?

Listen in to find out the true horror behind Psycho!

Learn from the best

1 Watch 78/52 (documentary, 2017)

2. READ - Alfred Hitchcock & the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello

3. Watch: Ed Gein: The Real Psycho

Obscure film club

1.  The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock 1963 – A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people. Based on the Daphne du Maurier story.

2.  Orphan (2009) - A married couple with a rocky past adopt 9-year old, Esther to fill the void created by a recently-stillborn baby. However, Esther is not quite who she seems.

3.  Audition (1999) - A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. But when he falls for the sweet and gentle Asami, he soon discovers she is not who she appears to be after all.

4.  Secret Window (2004) - Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.

5.  The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Because Ed Gein.

Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candy…. 

That’s right! For our first episode of season two, we’re diving into the urban legend around the Candyman. We’ll look at the short story that inspired the movie, the urban legends it pulls from, and the true crime behind it all. So, buckle in and hold tight, it’s a wild ride. 

This week’s Learn from the Best: 

Watch: 

Read: 

Bonus links: 

The Obscure Film Club 

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…

That’s right kids, Freddy Kruger is clawing his way into our podcast this week, as we discover the horror behind the horror of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Since 1984, the man with a glove made of knives has been terrifying kids and adults alike, stalking the screen and many horror lovers dreams.

From turning the protagonist Nancy’s hair white and blending ‘Johnny Depp in a crop top’ into a blood smoothie, Freddy haunted the dreams of the young teens of Elm Street, Springwood. But it was only a story right? Right….?

Not entirely. Did you know that writer/director Wes Craven took inspiration for the nightmarish deaths, gruesome plot and horrific child murderer Freddy from real events?

Well, you do now!

Listen to episode 13 to find out more. But a word of warning… the truth is so terrifying, you may never sleep again…

Learn From The Best

We’ve got three documentaries for you this week:

1. I am Nancy (2011)

2. Never sleep again – The Nightmare on Elm Street Legacy (2010)

3. Scream Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019)

Obscure Film Club

1. Slumber (2017)

2. Friday the 13th(1980)

3. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

4. Bad Dreams (1988)

5. Dream Demon (1988)

This episode was slightly delayed, due to one half of the Witchery Podcast being South African. With everything happening in SA at the moment, it didn't feel right to publish anything. 

What's changed? We need a bit of a distraction. And, we do love a haunted house/poltergeist story.

So, that's right... you're all getting a follow up to our Conjuring episode!

Read:

The Changeling (1980)

The Pact (2012)

Ju-On: The Grudge

'Gynaecological Gothic.’

That’s how The New Yorker, described Rosemary’s Baby on its release in 1968. Based on the horror novel by American writer Ira Levin, and directed by the now disgraced Roman Polanski, Rosemary’s Baby brought the concept of the monstrous birth into the mainstream.

And despite the horror trappings, the film is entirely focused on sexual politics – it is essentially, at its heart, about men conspiring and making decisions about women’s bodies without their knowledge or consent.

Rosemary’s Baby not only inspired a host of satanic occult-based creativity in the 60s and 70s, but it also influenced a generation of youngsters to embrace the occult. It was the start of satanic panic – and film audiences lapped it up.

But did you know that not only is Rosemary’s Baby a cult classic… but it is the most cursed film in history?

From occult murders to mysterious deaths and serious illness, Rosemary’s Baby is linked to a bizarre series of events occurring before, during and after the movie was filmed.

Get your Satan baby fix here, heathens!

Learn From The Best

Read - Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Read - This Is No Dream Making Rosemary's Baby by James Munn

Read - Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi

Obscure Film Club

'Gynaecological Gothic.’

That’s how The New Yorker, described Rosemary’s Baby on its release in 1968. Based on the horror novel by American writer Ira Levin, and directed by the now disgraced Roman Polanski, Rosemary’s Baby brought the concept of the monstrous birth into the mainstream.

And despite the horror trappings, the film is entirely focused on sexual politics – it is essentially, at its heart, about men conspiring and making decisions about women’s bodies without their knowledge or consent.

Rosemary’s Baby not only inspired a host of satanic occult-based creativity in the 60s and 70s, but it also influenced a generation of youngsters to embrace the occult. It was the start of satanic panic – and film audiences lapped it up.

But did you know that not only is Rosemary’s Baby a cult classic… but it is the most cursed film in history?

From occult murders to mysterious deaths and serious illness, Rosemary’s Baby is linked to a bizarre series of events occurring before, during and after the movie was filmed.

Get your Satan baby fix here, heathens!

Learn From The Best

Read - Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Read - This Is No Dream Making Rosemary's Baby by James Munn

Read - Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi

Obscure Film Club