Be Afraid

This week on Be Afraid, we offer you a bonus episode in the form of a full-length, unedited interview with Chad and Carey Hayes. The Hayeses are twin brothers who launched what is now known as The Conjuring Universe, which, at over $2 billion, is the highest-grossing horror franchise in history. Together, they wrote The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, which has generated a series of sequels and pre...

This week on Be Afraid, we offer you a bonus episode in the form of a full-length, unedited interview with Pete Docter. Docter is a filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He is the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, responsible for critically acclaimed megahits like Up, Inside Out, and Inside Out 2.  More from Kutter Callaway on theology and culture: https://www.kuttercallaway.com/...

Sometimes, there’s safety in numbers. This week on Be Afraid, we offer you a bonus episode in the form of a full-length, unedited interview with Scott Teems. Scott is a screenwriter and the director of numerous films and TV shows, including Rectify, Insidious: The Red Door, The Quarry, Narcos, Halloween Kills, and most recently, The Exorcist: Believer. More from Kutter Callaway on theology and cul...

Mac Brandt discusses horror, race, and playing the bad guy. This week on Be Afraid, we offer you a bonus episode in the form of a full-length, unedited interview with Mac Brandt. Mac is an LA-based actor who has appeared in series as wide-ranging as Arrested Development, The Thing About Pam, and Lovecraft Country. More recently, he made an appearance in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and can now be seen i...

This week on Be Afraid, we offer you a bonus episode in the form of a full-length unedited interview with none other than Tony Hale. Tony is an actor and producer known for a variety of roles, including Buster Bluth from Arrested Development, Forky from Toy Story 4, and Gary Walsh from Veep. He is also a craftsman who creates bespoke rope bowls for friends and family. More from Kutter Callaway on...

This week on Be Afraid, we bring our season of horror to a close just as everyone imagined it would end - with a Christmas special. Join us as we share scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long long ago. Whenever or wherever you may be listening, Happy Holidays, from the Be Afraid family to yours.  For show notes and more information, click here Learn more about your ad choi...

This week on Be Afraid, we not only watch, but listen to the ways in which slasher films make us feel about random acts of violence. We also compare slashers to body horror, and ask the question of whether or not the horror genre might present us with a vision of human life as fully embodied.  For show notes and more information, visit: LINK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...

This week on Be Afraid, we take a look at cosmic horror, exploring the monsters we make in our quest to control that which is uncontrollable. Could it be that a world exists that has nothing to do with human cares or concerns? If so, how might we respond? For show notes and more information, visit: need link Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Be Afraid, we move from toys that come alive when we’re not looking to dolls who are possessed by Satan himself. Along the way, we think about all the footage we’re creating every day on our smartphones and social media feeds, and how that might very well be documenting the horrors that constantly surrounds us. We also create some found footage of our own… For video footage of Kutter,...

This week on Be Afraid, we take a lighthearted jaunt through a number of kids’ movies, exploring how they so often use tropes taken directly from the horror genre in order to tell compelling stories. And much to Kutter’s chagrin, we also talk a bit about why dolls and toys are so incredibly creepy. Joining us this week: Pete Docter is a filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He is the chief creativ...

This week on Be Afraid, we consider both our fear of and fascination with the world of the demonic, asking what it means to be delivered from the supernatural evil that afflicts us all in one way or another. As always, please keep in mind that the theological views and opinions expressed in this program are those of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities p...

This week on Be Afraid, we break the fourth wall, moving from the world of horror fiction to the world of nonfiction. As we do, we consider the real stuff, the stuff movies are made of, the stuff horror movies are made of. By examining the phenomenon of real-world exorcisms, we ask how it is that we can be both skeptical and scared.  Joining us this week: Dr. David Taylor is Associate Professor of...

This week on Be Afraid, we consider the ways in which Supernatural Horror helps us fear rightly by offering an invitation to see and acknowledge the reality of supernatural evil (and then to consider what it would mean if it didn’t just feel true but was actually true). The genre not only highlights the ways in which evil is mysterious, uncontrollable, and beyond explanation, but in light of this...

This week on Be Afraid, we walk through the various sub-genres of horror and consider the ways in which different kinds of horror films not only reflect our wide-ranging fears, but also provide us with models for responding to the undeniable horrors of real life. More from Kutter Callaway on theology and culture: https://www.kuttercallaway.com/ More from Uncommon Voices Collective: https://www.unc...

This week on Be Afraid, we take a hard look at the origin of our fears and consider whether films in the horror genre might actually help us face those fears rather than be held captive by them. Everybody’s story is unique, but the one thing we all hold in common is that all of our fears–whatever they may be–start somewhere. They have an origin… which means that our ability to understand how horro...

After the global pandemic shut down theaters, production studios like Blumhouse and A24 provided a shot in the arm to box offices around the world with the success of horror films like The Black Phone, Smile, and Halloween Ends. But these aren’t exceptions or isolated incidents - if anything, the demand for horror stories is only increasing. In this introductory episode, we consider whether the cu...

Hosted by Dr. Kutter Callaway, Be Afraid is an exploration of fear, faith, and stories that scare the hell out of us. You’ll hear from filmmakers, film critics, psychological scientists, and even an exorcist or two, each of whom shares their unique insights on the horror genre and its growing popularity. Listen to the trailer and subscribe today. The full series launches on October 6th, 2023. From...