Sep 27 2021
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Episodes

Episode 99. Be Our Guest: The Invitation (2015)

The table is set, the wine is poured and the time has come to take your seat at the table as we delve into Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation. From a history of dinner parties to the dynamics of grief, we’re serving up a once in a lifetime, four-course meal of analysis.
 
 
Salem Horror Fest 2021 – tickets and info now available!

REQUIRED READING

The Invitation. Dir. Karyn Kusama, 2015.

EXTRA CREDIT

Millennials have dinner parties, they just don’t call them that. Nisha Chittal’s analysis of the history and evolution of dinner parties.
 
The American Dinner Party. A detailed breakdown of what constitutes a dinner party by Amy Nash.
 
Rue Morgue TV: An Expert on Cults Reviews The Lodge.
 
What is it about California and Cults? A history and analysis of the Golden State’s relationship with cults.
 
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. Amanda Montell’s book about cults and their wide-ranging influence.
 
One More Time with Feeling. The Nick Cave documentary that follows the singer as he completes the album Skeleton Tree after the death of his son.
 
The White Album. Joan Didon’s iconic essay and essay collection about the West coast and the end of the ’60s.
 
 

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Aug 25 2021
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Bonus content – Candyman (1992) Commentary

Sweets for the sweet! We’re still on our annual August hiatus but we accidentally said “Candyman” five times and resurrected a commentary we recorded for our Patreon back in 2019. Whoops!

Listen in to whet your appetite for Nia DaCosta’s reimagining this weekend!


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Jul 27 2021
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 98. House Warning: The Amityville Horror (1979) and Poltergeist (1982)

Call your bank and pack the moving truck because we’re uprooting everything we think we know about home ownership. From the Lutz’ mortgage with Devil to the skeletons in the Freelings’ closet (and backyard), Andrea and Alex unearth what lies beyond and beneath the white picket fences of American suburbia.
 
 
Salem Horror Fest 2021 – tickets and info now available!

REQUIRED READING

The Amityville Horror. Dir. Stuart Rosenberg, 1979.
Poltergeist. Dir. Tobe Hooper, 1982.

EXTRA CREDIT

Gaylords of Darkness Amityville 4 episode. The incomparable Stacie and Anthony tackle one of the strangest movies ever made. A must-listen!
 
Stephen King’s Danse Macabre. King’s non-fiction treatise on all things horror.
 
Romance and Real Estate, Walter Benn Michaels. Michael’s chapter on the emotional ties to owned property.
 
Owning Up: Privacy, Property, and Belonging in U.S. Women’s Life Writing, 1840-1890. Katherine Adam’s book about the rise of individuality, property and women’s relationship to owning a home.
 
In the Nation, Why Owning a Home is Still the American Dream. A history of status, taxes and the uses of home ownership.
 
Digging Up the Indian Burial Ground Trope. Shea Vassar’s breakdown and history of the trope which includes Terri Jean’s 5 reasons for the trope’s enduring popularity.
 
The Terrifying True Story that inspired Poltergeist. A look at Amityville‘s neighbours that inspired Poltergeist.
 
Reaganomics killed America’s middle class. An examination of Reagan’s economic policies and their lasting effects.
 
Half-True Crime: Why the Stranger-Danger Panic of the ’80s Took Hold and Refuses to Let Go. A deep-dive into the 1980s moral panic and its after-effects.
 
Cursed Films: “Poltergeist”: The Shudder series by Jay Cheel tackles the many urban legends surrounding the Poltergeist franchise.
 

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Jun 29 2021
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Episode 97. No Future: Jack the Ripper in The Lodger (1927) and From Hell (2001)

The fog of Victorian London settles on Alex and Andrea as they dive into “Ripperology”: the facts, fiction and shadow cast by Jack the Ripper over our culture. By examining how the figure is depicted in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger and The Hughes Brothers’ From Hell, we can begin to untangle the history of more than one problematic man involved in creating their own mythology.

 

REQUIRED READING

The Lodger: A Story of London Fog. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1927.
From Hell. Dir. The Hughes Brothers, 2001.

EXTRA CREDIT

The Lodger. Marie Belloc Lowndes’ novella.
 
From Hell. Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s iconic graphic novel.
 
London: A Biography. Peter Ackroyd’s seminal book on a sprawling city with an even bigger history.
 
The “Lodger Evil” and the Transformation of Progressive Housing Reform, 1890–1930. An in-depth look at the lodging house boom of the turn of the century.
 
Rule, Britannia!: The Biopic and British National Identity. An examination of how popular British figures have shaped the country’s film output.
 
“Murder for a Penny: Jack the Ripper and the Structural Impact of Sensational Reporting” by A. Luxx Mishou – the history of sensational reporting and its role in Jack’s reign of terror.
 
“Jack the Ripper, the dialectic of enlightenment and the search for spiritual deliverance in White Chappell” by Alex Murray – how Jack contributed to Horkheimer and Adorno’s dialectic of enlightenment.

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