Basement Girls Horror Podcast

This week, the Basement Girls head into the shadows with the 1941 horror classic THE WOLF MAN . Joined by writer, editor, and community teaching artist Leticia Urieta, we discuss transformation, body horror, inherited fear, and the enduring tragedy of the monster story. We also celebrate the release of Leticia’s newest horror collection, THE REMEDY IS THE DISEASE , and talk writing about the body,...

In this episode, Bianca Pérez descends into the Abaddon Hotel with poet Em Fullenwider—Basement Girl honoree and fellow lover of language that lingers. Steph’s out of the Basement (we miss her bad), but we’re still asking the real question: Would you stay in a haunted hotel if the vibes were off…but the rent was cheap? From the original 2015 cult classic to its increasingly unhinged expansions, Bi...

With the 2025 Christmas season upon us, enjoy this shiny holiday re-post of when we had Adam D. Jameson on to review SPENCER, an unsettling biopic about a Christmas weekend Princess Diana, played by Kristen Stewart(!)(?), spends in the countryside with the royal family. It is the epitome of a gothic Christmas horror. Totally worth the watch. Merry Krampus, y'all! *** "Is she eating the g*...

Filmmaker, Letterboxd Horrorville HQ Editor, and Co-Founder of Hyperreal Film Club (a microcinema on Austin TX's Eastside), Jenni Kaye, joins Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez in the basement to talk about SCREAM (1996). SHOW NOTES Jenni Kaye's Insta! | ⁠instagram.com/jenni.video⁠ Hyperreal Film Club | hyperrealfilm.club Horrorville HQ on Letterboxed | letterboxd.com/horrorville ADDITIONAL S...

"The devil says the darndest things." Author and illustrator C.S. Fritz joins Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez in the basement to talk about the horror classic that kinda started it all: THE EXORCIST (1973). Additionally, they discuss the original EXORCIST novel (1971) by William Peter Blatty, Satan's charms, hot priests, and Fritz's own devilish novel, A FIG FOR ALL THE DEVILS. SHOW NOTES A FIG FO...

Plot twist: it wasn't the final Friday. Bianca is joined by poet & teaching artist, Christian J. Collier, to talk about the 1993 horror/fantasy classic JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY . Additionally, they discuss so-bad-it's-good horror slashers, how to keep horror fresh, Black horror motifs in film, monsters, and of course Christian's poetry collection, THE GLEAMING OF THE BL...

Steph had a baby in August. Bianca currently has, like, 5 jobs. BUT we're excited to return to the basement in 2025, with the goal of releasing an episode every 2-3 months. In the meantime—and with the 2024 Christmas season upon us—enjoy this Holiday re-post of one of our favorite episodes ever. Be merry, ho ho ho's! *** "Never put on a dead man's clothes." Author and culture critic Peter Counter...

"Sometimes the Death card means transformation—and sometimes it just means death." Cecily Sailer, founder of Typewriter Tarot and host of YOUR CREATIVE AND MAGICAL LIFE podcast , joins Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez in the basement to discuss the new horror film TAROT (2024), directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, and (loosely) based on the 1992 YA horror novel Horrorscope by Nicho...

Never put on a dead man's clothes! Author and culture critic Peter Counter joins Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez in the basement to discuss how THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994), starring Tim Allen, is actually a movie about body horror, possession, and the sublime. It's basically a yuletide HEREDITARY (in fact, we're pretty sure Santa Claus knows Paiman...). SHOW NOTES Peter Counter | ⁠peterbco...

With Bianca Pérez out for her Hallowedding (!), WIRED 's Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast host David Barr Kirtley joins Steph Grossman in the basement to discuss the '90s animated Halloween classic, The Halloween Tree (1993), as well as Ray Bradbury’s 1972 novella of the same name that inspired it. SHOW NOTES Geek's Guide to the Galaxy Podcast | geeksguideshow.com & wired.com...

It ain't fall 'til September 23rd y'all. Hold onto sweet, scary summer for one more day by joining your resident basement girls in their discussion about the summer camp horror film that started it all: the original Friday the 13th . Topics include a brief history of summer camp, the "whodunnit" aspect of the film, cozy horror, feminist subtext, final girls, motherhood, and h...

Screenlife = Screamlife. In this second installment of their found footage series, Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez discuss how recent innovations in the genre tap into our internet addictions and round-the-clock "screenlife" to create uniquely contemporary horror stories. Scream life found footage films discussed include: Megan is Missing (2011), Unfriended (2015), Unfriended: Dark Web (...

Is she eating the g*dd*mn pearls?!  Author and film critic Adam D. Jameson joins Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez to discuss the horror and gothic elements of Pablo Larraín's princess Diana movie SPENCER (2021), written by Steven Knight, and starring Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, and Sally Hawkins.  Show Notes: Adam D. Jameson's website: https://adjameson.wordpress.com/ Buy...

My cam shake brings all the fans to the yard. Steph Grossman and Bianca Pérez present the history of found footage, a beloved sub-genre of horror, starting with its literary origins, and then discussing the earliest and most iconic FF horror films: David Holzman’s Diary (1967), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), The McPherson Tape (1989), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Last Broadcast (1998), and Para...

Dance until you die/get pretzeled. Literature scholar Bryce Jeter joins Steph Grossman and Bianca Perez to discuss the similarities and differences between Dario Argento’s original Suspiria (1977), and Luca Guadagnino’s remake of it (2018), written by David Kajganich, and starring Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton (who goes above and beyond—as always—playing not one but two witches, and also an 82-...

Alex Amick, editor of the feature film The Wind , joins us to discuss breaking into the movie industry via film editing, what it was like on the set of The Wind (hint: it involved creepy night horses…), and her favorite horror, The Witch . The Wind (which we reviewed in Episode 1) is a western horror film set on the American frontier, where a woman is left to deal with the darkness of the prairie—...

We really, really need to talk about Kevin. Steph Grossman and Bianca Perez discuss the differences between Lionel Shriver’s 2003 novel WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and the 2011 film adaptation of it directed by Lynne Ramsay, and starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, and kids who look exactly like Ezra Miller. SHOW NOTES: Check out the Basement Girls Soundtrack playlist on Spotify ,...

Being punishers for Punisher. In this first-ever Whatnot Minisode (45 mins instead of the usual 90 mins, lol) Steph Grossman and Bianca Perez take a break from discussing horror films and instead “fangirl” over Grammy-nominated musician, Phoebe Bridgers, and her haunting horror/true crime inspired music. Show Notes Check out the Basement Girls Soundtrack playlist on Spotify , which features a bunc...

Learning to skateboard in Bad City (if you’re a vampire). Steph Grossman and Bianca Perez discuss genre-bending Iranian vampire film A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (2014), written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, and starring Sheila Vand and Arash Marandi. Show Notes Check out the Basement Girls Soundtrack playlist on Spotify , which features songs from A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night , and o...

Facing our Chucky fears. Bianca’s big brother, Hector Perez (the creator of our snazzy intro music) joins us to discuss the original CHILD'S PLAY film (1988), directed by Tom Holland, written by Don Mancini, and starring the mom from 7th Heaven .

There's something about prairie. Steph Grossman and Bianca Perez discuss the movie THE WIND (2018), a horror western directed by Emma Tammi, written by Teresa Sutherland, and starring Caitlin Gerard.

In this "first" episode, meet your resident Basement Girls, writers Bianca Perez and Steph Grossman, as they talk about why they love horror films, dark literature, basements, and hot Cheetos.