Years of Fear: A History of Horror

Leave your insanity at the door, because this week we've got Chris Colohan, singer of many of the best hardcore bands of the last 20 years (CURSED, LEFT FOR DEAD, SECT, BURNING LOVE, and more) to discuss the 1971 cult classic LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH. We take a deep dive into the film's themes of mental health and trauma, the film's origins as a satire, Chris' experiences of working at a cult video store, his many deep cut recommendations, and much more!

Michael sits down with singer-songwriter/author John Darnielle of the MOUNTAIN GOATS to discuss the 1988 Robert Englund directed gem 976-EVIL, diving deep into the film, the spooky acting perfection of Stephen Geoffreys, and just what the hell a 976 number is. Along with that, they discuss John's later-life heel turn towards horror, MARIO BAVA, ROKY ERICKSON, HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, John's current playlist of Heavy Metal, how he incorporates horrific themes into his music and humanizes monsters, and much more!

Eric and Michael take it up to room 21 this week with a dive into the 1961 classic CITY OF THE DEAD (also known in the US as HORROR HOTEL!). The fiends dig deep into this underrated gem, along with listing the best and WORST Misfits merchandise on the market. They also touch on Doyle's recent comments about music pirating, Eric's wrestling takes, and much more. Stick around til the end to see what film we will be covering next month!

This week on Toxic Schlock, DWID HELLION of metal/hardcore legends INTEGRITY comes on to discuss the 1970 surrealist classic film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. Along with diving into this Czech classic, Michael and Dwid dig deep into HAMMER HORROR, ROGER CORMAN, the genius of G.I.S.M., the intensity of RAW POWER, ROKY ERICKSON, the mystique of NOSFERATU, the contrast between plot heavy vs abstract films, the glory of VINCENT PRICE, the romanticism of vampires and MUCH MORE! This was a bucket lister of an episode, so dive on in, if you dare!

House is calling to you, come back home and marry me! Michael sits down this week with Blayne Smith of Banger TV to take a deep dive into the gloriously bizarre world of the 1977 Japan cult classic HAUSU (House)! The two of them wrap their heads around how Toho's intended JAWS cash-in turned into this psychedelic haunted house story, the humor of Jason Vorhees, the genius of Frank Henenlotter, the metal mastery of Hooded Menace, and much more!

Misfits Mondays! Misfits Mondays! With Eric and Michael, yeah Misfits Mondays (to the tune of Return of the Fly)! We are back this week with the 2nd edition of our bonus episode series Misfits Mondays! Michael and Eric dig deep into their favorite (and least favorite) Misfits covers, and then take a deep dive into the 1959 film Return of the Fly (and it's predecessor The Fly). Stick around to the end to see what film/Misfits song they will be diving into next week. This episode is dedicated to Dandelo, and all other cats who sacrificed their lives so that we could have the disintegrator-integrator machines that we take for granted.

Hello to all of Rock's Chosen Warriors! This week on the show, Michael talks with Rick Giordano of The Lion's Daughter about the 1986 heavy metal horror cult classic Trick or Treat! They dig deep into the unclear nature of the film's mythology, growing up a metal head and horror fan in the 1980s and into the 90s (when both of those took a turn for worse), the questionable acting chops of Gene Simmons, the Motorhead-Flogging Molly connection(?!), the glory of Cheddar Goblin, and much more!

Whats in the box?! Michael and Sara Taylor of Industrial rippers Youth Code answer that question and more with their chat about David Fincher's 1995 classic SE7EN! Sara digs into her favorite headtrip psychological thrillers, the power of Coil, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, True Detective, the disturbing films of Lars Von Trier, managing merch for Behemoth, the distinctions between horror and thriller, and a whole mess more!

BOY! This week we sit down with King Fowley of Virginia metal legends Deceased! They have been putting out ripping horror influenced albums for the last several decades, and King picked one of his all time favorites, the 1979 classic PHANTASM! Michael and King dig deep into the horror/sci fi classic, along with discussing King's drive in theater expertise, his heavy metal origins, and their respective hot takes on the heavy hitter horror flicks of 2018 like HEREDITARY, TERRIFIER, MANDY, and HALLOWEEN.

Today we are kicking off our new mini-episode series: Misfits Mondays! Once a month, I am sitting down with my buddy Eric Kelly to talk about the iconic punk band the Misfits and the myriad of horror/sci-fi films they have referenced throughout their catalogue. Today we are waxing poetic about our origin stories of how we got into Danzig and the gang, and then we dig into this weeks film: The Crimson Ghost, the 1946 serial/film that introduced the world to the bands iconic logo! Stick around to the end to find out what the next film we will be discussing is, and what late 70s classic is being covered on the next episode of Toxic Schlock!