Castle of Horror Podcast

Professors Guadalupe Garcia McCall and David Bowles discuss their new translation of McCall's book Summer of the Mariposas-- a magical Mexican American retelling of The Odyssey about four sisters traveling from Texas through Mexico.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) stands as a film in dialogue with 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still with two main points: aliens are not to be trusted and monuments look amazing when being blown up.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We discuss the deeply weird Cobra Woman, a South Seas adventure featuring evil twin Maria Montezes, cobra dancing, and a mute Lon Chaney, Jr.   Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

Another WolfCop, new in DVD, is a Canadian horror comedy film written and directed by Lowell Dean, who also directed the 2014 film WolfCop as well as the zombie thriller 13 Eerie (2013) and the post-apocalypse action film SuperGrid (2018).. The Wolfcop series is an irreverent horror comedy about a cop in a depressed town who becomes a werewolf but retains his identity as a police officer. Become a...

We augment the Atom Age Horror Retrospective with a strange, deeply problematic expedition movie from 1960 by adventure/disaster maestro Irwin Allen: The Lost World, about an expedition to a plateau where cannibals and dinosaurs played by lizards with glued-on fins roam. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

Paul Tremblay's new book is a terrifying home invasion story about a small family under attack from four strangely polite, very scary people. We talk about the home invasion genre and how evil can sometimes sound so darn nice right up until the worst moments.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We discuss the 1958 film The Blob, often cited as the film debut of Steve McQueen. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

Tiki Culture was marked by a desire to explore lost worlds, particularly of Polynesia, but always from the comfort of your own home. This urge to explore found its voice in music but also in film. Voodoo Island (1957) is a prime example of the fascination/exploration/exploitation of the South Seas. We talk about this odd feature starring Boris Karloff and others like it. Become a supporter of this...

We talk to Halloween Man creator Drew Edwards on his new special from Sugar Skull Media, Lucy Chaplin: Science Starlet, and about creating a new heroine who has garnered surprising attention. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We take on the best giant lizard movie ever to be filmed around Lake Dallas, 1959's The Giant Gila Monster. Along the way we talk about small towns and the roles people play within them, and how films like this one can help understand the need for vaccinations. Also, a few thoughts on Godzilla 1985. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268...

This week we introduce California Tiki, a new podcast on America’s fascination with Tiki, that odd culture that made everyone suddenly put on Hawaiian shirts and start downing rum drinks. Tiki Culture was everywhere from the 40s to the 70s, and the reasons why are surprising, often involving exorcising America’s wartime demons. We start out with a look at Beach Party, the 1963 film that kicked off...

David Bowles, professor at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, talks about his sweeping new book of Myths of Mexico: Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We look at giant-bug movie Tarantula, which actually has a lot to say about small towns and the real fear of radioactivity. Plus we discuss whether there ever can be something "so bad it's good." Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

Welcome to the new home of the California Tiki Podcast!  Hosts Adam Foshko and Jason Henderson will be discussing Tiki Culture in the runup to the release of our new book California Tiki from the History Press. What is California Tiki? After World War II, suburbs proliferated around California cities as returning soldiers traded in their uniforms for business suits. After-hours leisure activities...

Gary Rhodes talks about his new book culled from thousands of primary sources and long-unseen illustrations, The Birth of the American Horror Film. The book  explores the influence of horror-themed literature, theatre and visual culture in America, and how that context established a foundation for films produced between 1895 and 1915. Exhaustively researched, bridging scholarship on Horror Studies...

We look at a film that set the vocabulary for paranoid film from its release in 1956 to today: the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers starring Kevin McCarthy. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We cover the paranoid SF movie with the strange name, I Married a Monster from Outer Space-- a movie rife with subtext about homophobia, gender roles, and the claustrophobia of small-town America.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We kick off our new series on Atom Age Horrors, from Big Bugs to Teenage Monsters, with Them!, a well-made, high-budget-for-its-time 1954 story about giant ants threatening America.  Then we have a spoiler-filled discussion of Avengers: Infinity War, because we've been aching to compare notes. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/su...

Jason and Drew chat with Larry Blamire, creator of affectionate, keen parodies like The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again and Dark and Stormy Night, among others.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

We chat with Cutter Wood, author of Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Crime from Algonquin Books. A gripping piece of creative nonfiction in the tradition of Capote's In Cold Blood, Wood's book tells the story not just of the murder and its three suspects but of his own journey in telling the story. We chat about nonfiction, true crime, and writing. Become a supporter of this po...

We talk about Larry Blamire's knowing ode to 1950s low-budget sci-fi films like Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. We ask, what is this movie? Is it camp (deliberately bad) or parody (good, observing the bad?)  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

RS Belcher is known for the urban-legends-based horror novel The Brotherhood of the Wheel, which has been optioned for TV and compared by The Wall Street Journal to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Belcher's new book is The Night Dahlia, new from Tor, a noir fantasy about Laytham Ballard, a modern mage hired to find the missing daughter of a faery mob boss. To find Caern Ankou, Ballard will have to co...

Chris Pardal co-stars in the new film CORBIN NASH, as the partner of a rogue detective (Dean S. Jagger of  Game of Thrones) who is murdered and reborn as a demon-hunting vampire. Chris was a professional dancer before becoming an actor, and we talk acting and making it in the professional scene. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/...

On Friday, April 13, 1984, the world saw the release of a movie Roger Ebert called "an immoral and reprehensible piece of trash"-- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. That's enough to get *us* interested in looking once more at this film, which features Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support .

This week's discussion is on the 1972 thriller FRENZY directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film, about a serial killer at large in London and an unlikable jerk framed for the murders, is daring, clever and sometimes very hard to watch. TRIGGER WARNING for those who are sensitive about violence against female victims.  Then we wrap it up with a conversation about Ready Player One-- the book, the movie...