Years of Fear: A History of Horror

Our special Halloween bonus episode has come around once more, and Michael is again joined by his wife Sam, but this time around, they do a ranking of the Halloween franchise!! Its not as bad as they make it sound in the episode, and most of the Halloween movies have some great moments, but its also a series with some absolute absurdity in between them. Where do Rob Zombie's remake films rank in the series? What about Halloween Kills? Only one way to find out!

Evil Dies Tonight!

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

We kick off our final Toxic Schlock mini series on Monster movies by going back to where it all started: FRANKENSTEIN! We explore the early life of author Mary Shelly and the road to the creation of her debut novel, and how it ended up in 1931 as the most iconic horror film of all time. We're then joined by the hosts of Horror Vanguard to discuss Shelley, Boris Karloff, and the politics (and many adaptations) of Frankenstein!

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

A special mini episode addressing the future of Toxic Schlock. If this show has ever meant anything to you, we truly appreciate you listening in. Thank you. 

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

Michael is joined by his pals Matty and Sam from the podcast 2MUCHTV to discuss the wildly underrated 2020 Korean horror film THE CALL!  The Call is available now on Netflix and is such a unique take on contemporary horror! Pull it up on your TV and watch along as Michael, Sam, and Matty explore the film, Woodstock 99, Nu Metal, the incredible wave of new South Korean horror films, and so much more!

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

In the early 20th century, HP Lovecraft revolutionized horror literature by bringing horror to a cosmic level of despair and incorporating a philosophical level of pessimism to mankind's place in uncaring universe. This concept has been expanded and developed in recent decades, with authors like Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker helping bring cosmic horror into mainstream pop culture like True Detective and Jay-Z music videos.

In a special between season episode, we are joined by Tomas Lindberg of Swedish Death Metal icons At The Gates to discuss Lovecraft, cosmic horror, pessimist philosophy, and their influence on the upcoming At The Gates album "The Nightmare of Being"

Stick around after the interview to hear the announcement of our upcoming listener's choice mini series, where you can vote for what you want us to cover in our next mini series!

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

In 1693, the infamous Salem Witch Trials ended in nineteen innocent people being executed. Although this is the most famous case of witch killings in America, the decades before showed New England being gripped by Witchcraft with hysteria, with accounts of alleged demonic possessions and subsequent executions, setting a precedent for the Salem controversies that followed.

We end our series on Satan in horror with an exploration of the cases of Elizabeth Knapp and Goody Ann Glover, where religious paranoia gripped entire communities. We are then joined by Meredith Graves (Kickstarter Music, ex-Perfect Pussy/MTV News) to discuss Robert Egger's modern classic film The VVitch. We discuss the film's profound historical authenticity, magick and witchcraft in contemporary culture, the failings of a puritan patriarchal culture and how it fails eldest daughters, the wide cultural impact of the film, and much much more.

The conversation with Meredith begins at 19:30

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

The 1980s was an era defined by fear of Satan and the Occult, with a prevailing sentiment that we were all surrounded by an evil cabal of devil worshippers. Regardless of the fact that this was fiction, it shaped culture for years to come. In 2009, Ti West released the film THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, where we see what it would like if these evil cults were real. In today's episode of Toxic Schlock we explore what led to the Satanic Panic, and how it shaped an era. We're then joined by Scott Hicks of NC punk band Totally Slow to discuss Ti West's film, and its approach to 1980s aesthetics, nostalgia, and cinema.

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

Michael is joined by former guests Erik Button and Dylan Wachman of Dollar Signs to watch John Carpenter's 1982 all time classic, THE THING! The Thing recently won our March Madness bracket as the best horror film of all time, so it was a real treat to sit down with two friends and former guests to talk about the film, John Carpenter, body horror, the wettest and slimiest horror film imaginable, Zack Snyder, David Cronenberg, modern horror, Kurt Russell, Day of the Dead, Lovecraftian horror films, movie remakes, and so much more!

Join our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/toxicschlock to hear the full episode in its entirety

Our series on Satan in Horror rolls on with an exploration of the iconic 1976 classic THE OMEN! We dive into the rise of doomsday conspiracy theories in the early 1970s, and how this speculation completely changed the landscape of both mainstream religion and pop culture forever. We're then joined by returning guest Chris Colohan to discuss The Omen, it's iconic soundtrack, the self written mythology of a cursed production, how it compares to it's predecessors like ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE EXORCIST, and its cultural footprint on horror!

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook

Raise those horns and invert those crosses, because we're kicking off our series on SATAN in Horror with an exploration of the 1968 all-time classic film ROSEMARY'S BABY. We dig into the early history of the devil in pop culture, the original novel's author Ira Levin, b-movie director William Castle's bid to make an adaptation, and director Roman Polanski's traumatic early life experiences. After that, we're joined by Ivotres Littles to discuss the film, it's incredible performances, it's place as the origin of high brow horror, its impact on the wave of blasphemous horror films to follow and much more!

Join our Patreon!

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook