We are exhausted from all of the many adaptations of Ring by Koji Suzuki. Join us in a cold, dark well to discuss the Japanese film Ringu (1998) and the American version, The Ring (2002).

BUT FIRST...

This month's Aardvark Book Club book box was a stunner. We picked up Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward, After the Fall by Edward Ashton, and Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman! Get YOUR Aardvark Book Club subscription with promo code: STAYWICKED!

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel, Greg gives his thoughts on the latest film in the Predator franchise, Predator Badlands.

In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss the out-of-this-world gonzo dreamlike thriller fable, The Hike by Drew Magary.

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AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: STAYWICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club! Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

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Pop that VHS in and, in true Asakawa style, casually coast through 7 days to stumble upward with us while we discuss Ring by Koji Suzuki. We won't spoil it for you, or at least, we'll warn you before we do.

BUT FIRST...

We announced our new Wicked Words Book It Challenge! Read along with us and engage with us on the Discord for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Pizza Hut at the end of the year!

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel we discuss the rest of season two of the television series Fallout.

In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss the slow-burning cult thriller Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey and the deliciously fucked up Hollywood revenge thriller Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn.

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Check us out on Substack at areyouwicked.substack.com!

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: STAYWICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club! Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

On this episode, instead of heaping effusive praise on the novel as they did last episode, Sara and Greg have a very different discussion of the film adaptation, Foe (2023).

BUT FIRST...

In this month's Aardvark Book Club box, Sara got the following books: Adrift by Will Dean, The Pretender by Jo Harkin, and Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer (a signed copy!).

Greg's Bonus Film Reel was on HIATUS for this episode. This is a Special Expanded Edition of Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, themed for Iain Reid. Since we read Foe and discussed it on the last episode, Greg has read I'm Thinking of Ending Things and Sara read We Spread. We were so taken by Iain Reid's writing that we felt we had to read every novel he's written so far. We look forward to his next book, co-written with director Ellie Foumbi, a surreal philosophical suspense story about memory, identity and ambition called Unreal (coming Fall 2026).

Join us.

Check us out on Substack at areyouwicked.substack.com!

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: STAYWICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club! Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

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Whelp, this is Greg's last episode with Sara. Yes, Greg has been the lucky involuntary lottery winner to leave the planet and leave behind a replacement for Sara to adjust to. We discuss some behind-the-scenes trivia about Foe by Iain Reid before we jump into Spoiler Territory (don't worry, we'll warn ya). We get into some mind-boggling ideas and questions that Foe left us with, not least of all: What the fuck is up with the beetles?

BUT FIRST...

We jumped on the bandwagon... you can now listen to us on Substack! Listen to the podcast and get occasional newsletter updates at on our Substack here. Plus, it's a new year, so we have a new promo code with Aardvark Book Club! Sinners in the US can join the club with promo code STAYWICKED to get your first book for only $4.

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel we discuss the fabulous Oscar-nominated film Bugonia (2025) and Greg shares that we finally saw 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026). Sara pulled off the ultimate surprise party renting the entire theater and filling it with all of Greg's best friends and family, including Greg's mother, for his 50th birthday. We plan to go out and see again before releasing a bonus episode to discuss the film.

In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss the pitch black comedy Murder Mindfully by Karsten Dusse. We also discuss the much-anticipated horror novel from the author of The Eyes are the Best Part, Sara read a Netgalley Advanced Reader Copy of Molka by Monika Kim, and had nothing but glowing reviews.

Join us.

Check us out on Substack at areyouwicked.substack.com!

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: STAYWICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club! Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

Welcome to a BONUS EPISODE from Greg's Bonus Film Reel!

Today, in honor of the release of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, we release our SPOILER version of our discussion of 28 Years Later (2025).

We recorded this directly after we saw the film in theaters and we were in love. Enjoy this little bonus episode for all you dedicated zombie-loving Sinners out there. THIS TIME, WITH SPOILERS.

Don't worry, we'll let you know when the spoilers are coming.

STAY TUNED for our review of THE BONE TEMPLE coming soon and in the meantime, STAY WICKED.

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Happy New Year, Sinners! Turn off your lights, get out the reel-to-reel, pour yourself several scotch on the rocks and grab your favorite cardigan, today we're going to paint the house red with Mr. Boogie because we watched Sinister (2012).

BUT FIRST... before we light this film on fire like it's a family station wagon in a garage...

In this month's Aardvark Book Club box, Sara got the following books: It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara, Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (a signed special edition!).

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel we discuss the animated film on Hulu, Predator: Killer of Killers (2025). In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss a book that Sara could not help but treat Greg to many passages from couldn't stop recommending: Sky Daddy by Kate Folk.

We also discuss the movies and films we're looking forward to in 2026, including (but not limited to):

• FILMS:

  • No Other Choice

  • Project Hail Mary

  • The Bride

  • Send Help

  • Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

• BOOKS:

  • Bed Rot Baby by Wendy Dalrymple

  • Greedy by Callie Kazumi

  • The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

  • Molka by Monika Kim

  • Meat Bees by Dane Erbach

Join us.

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: WICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club!

Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

Mental Health Resources: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. You are not alone.

🇺🇸 United States: Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (available 24/7).

🇨🇦 Canada: Call or text 988 for the Suicide Crisis Helpline.

🇬🇧 UK: Call 111 or contact Samaritans at 116 123.

🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ Support: Contact The Trevor Project (US/Mexico) or Switchboard (UK).

🌍 International: Find a confidential helpline in your country at FindAHelpline.com.

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As you listen, just remember friends - don't forget to clear your head, to give your life and join the dead. To close your eyes and join the black. The things out there, they want you back. Greg and Sara open the creaky doors of 8114 and walk around for a little bit.

BUT FIRST...

In this month's Aardvark Book Club box, Sara got the following books: Where You End by Abbott Kahler, Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito, and Itch! by Gemma Amor.

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel we travel to the lovely yet challenged town of Eddington (2025), we lament Life Force (1985), and we take a stroll down holiday's memory lane with Black Christmas (1974).

In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss horror comedy Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer, true crime nonfiction I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, and our Indie Author Spotlight for the month, Words of Christ in Red by Robbie Dorman.

Join us.

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: WICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club! Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

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We are back and ready to announce our next book in Wicked Words: 8114 by Joshua Hull! Join Greg and Sara to learn a little bit about our next author.

BUT FIRST...

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel, we talked about Caught Stealing (2025), a film experience that we described as "very okay" and "perfect to watch on a plane". In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we talked about the bizarre and wonderfully weird Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su.

We also did the Year End Bracket for Sara's Favorite Book of 2025. Out of 115 books read so far, Sara chose her top 16 (with 3 honorary mentions) and Greg tortured her by making her decide which was the ultimate winner. Which book will win?

Sara’s 16 Favorite Books of 2025

1. Shock Induction by Chuck Palahniuk 

2. Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

3. Head Like a Hole by Andrew Van Wey

4. I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

5. A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck 

6. Fantasicland by Mike Bockoven

7. Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy

8. When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

9. The Black Orb by Ewhan Kim

10. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

11. Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

12. Yeehaw Junction by Kayli Scholz

13. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

14. The Chain by Adrian McKinty

15. Motel Styx by Michelle von Eschen & Jonathan Butcher

16. The Rotting Room by Viggy Parr Hampton

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

1. Fever Dream by Samantha Shweblin

2. Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan

3. Godshot by Chelsea Bieker

Join us.

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: WICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club!Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

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Turn up the Max Richter, light a cigarette and stare off into the distance, Greg and Sara are ready to ask themselves the important question: Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man? Join us to talk about the film Shutter Island (2010).

BUT FIRST...

We talk about the exciting event from Brooklyn Attic Books, the NYC Indie Horror Book Fair... and skip Greg's Bonus Film Reel. In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss our Indie Author Spotlight for November, Drew Huff and her book Free Burn, which inspired Sara to ask Greg, would you still love me if I had pincers? (He said no.) We also discuss The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.

Join us.

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: WICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club!Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).

Pop a Dramamine and hop the ferry boat, Greg and Sara are headed to Shutter Island. Join us to talk about the book Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

BUT FIRST...

In this month's Aardvark Book Club box, Sara got the following books: Moderation by Elaine Castillo, Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake and Thirst Trap by Grianne O’Hare.

In Greg's Bonus Film Reel we absolutely destroy Guillermo del Toro's new Frankenstein film, hot takes abound. In Sara's Bonus Book Shelf, we discuss two books Sara enjoyed very much: The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi and Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang.

We also mention our quick little trip all over the beautiful country of ICELAND.

Join us.

AARDVARK BOOK CLUB: Use our promo code: WICKED to buy your first book for only $4 (+ free shipping!) and join the club!Note: This promotion is available to US residents only at this time and only new members are eligible to use this code at checkout (1 usage per household).