This week I get reflective about possible worlds and forking paths with a discussion of part 7 of Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven and a few apocalyptic and postapocalyptic games, including the video game Plague Inc., the board game Pandemic, and the storytelling game The Quiet Place along with some ideas from Jorge Luis Borges.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Station Eleven is about comics and a few critics compare Emily St. John Mandel's novel to more violent postapocalyptic narratives like The Walking Dead, I thought it would be worth taking a look at Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore's brilliant graphic novel, Days Gone Bye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Director William Friedkin, Screenwriter William Peter Blatty, and actor Linda Blair have all called The Exorcist a "theological thriller," refusing to admit that the top grossing horror movie of all time is really a horror film. Looking at how the film using editing to build a narrative of transformation from innocence to malevolence, I argue that ultimately, it still deserves the title of one of the scariest horror movies of all time.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we hit the 1970s, which for my money, is the greatest decade of horror film yet. So great, that I had to examine two movies, starting with Tobe Hooper's notorious The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. What makes this film one of the greatest horror movies ever? And why was it banned in Britain for over 20 years when it never really shows any explicit gory violence?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, I don't really talk much about Station Eleven, but instead talk about one of its great moments of intertextuality (besides every other academic's favourite from this novel, Shakespeare): Bill Watterson's beloved and brilliant comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes. I use some strips to discuss what comics are, how Station Eleven references them, and then how to read them.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we explore the idea of "everyday apocalypse" at length by reading Part 3 of Station Eleven, "I Prefer You With a Crown" in concert with James P. Blaylock's short story "War of the Worlds."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We arrive at the point that many horror film scholars have called the beginning of the modern horror film: George A. Romero's seminal zombie flick, Night of the Living Dead. This time, the blood is chocolate syrup, but the guts are real, and the monsters are the neighbors--literally. Come find out about the movie Romero made with friends, family, and real cops!SHOW LESS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we learn about Alfred Korzybski's idea that "The Map is Not the Territory," as we head into the postapocalyptic future of Station Eleven, comparing the second part, "A Midummer Night's Dream" with Walter Van Tilburg Clark's dark short story, "The Portable Phonograph."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 1950s, the decade of atomic horror in America, and Hammer Horror in the UK! This week, we look at Hammer Films' Dracula (1958) aka Horror of Dracula in the United States. We've got full-colour gore! Low budgets and low necklines! And Grand Moff Tarkin at his most energetic. Spoiler: Peter Cushing is the greatest Van Helsing ever, and Christopher Lee was pure evil before he ever touched that Palantir in Lord of the Rings.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we turn to the prologue to Stephen King's post-apocalyptic epic, The Stand to act as a contrast to Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven. We also learn about Poe's Theory of the Unity of Effect and delve further into the joys of Intertextuality. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.