Drawn to Darkness

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we examine David Fincher’s tragically incomplete Netflix series Mindhunter . Set in the late 1970s, the show follows FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, along with Dr Wendy Carr, as they begin interviewing imprisoned serial offenders in an attempt to understand patterns of behaviour, develop the science of criminal profiling, and prevent f...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we dive into Jonathan Demme’s classic and deeply unsettling 1991 psychological horror-thriller, Silence of the Lambs.  We unpack the film’s use of dread over jump scares, the power of what is left unseen, the terrifying precision of Anthony Hopkins’ performance, Jodie Foster’s Clarice navigating the male gaze in a man’s world, and why Catheri...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we celebrate one year of Drawn to Darkness by raising a glass to Edgar Allan Poe’s revenge-soaked classic, "The Cask of Amontillado", a story about wounded pride, wine snobbery, and one extremely committed masonry project. Expect talk of Poe’s tragic life, literary feuds, mysterious deaths, buried-alive panic, Freemasons, creepy crypts, and why you shoul...

Send us Fan Mail Devil in the White City by Erik Larson In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we dive into Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City , a packed, fact-filled account of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the terrifying crimes of H. H. Holmes. Along the way, we unpack Daniel Burnham’s impossible project management nightmare, Frederick Law Olmsted’s dramatic hatred of flowerbeds, powe...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we ask the important questions: Is Jurassic Park actually horror? And would not having a favourite dinosaur be a dealbreaker? We dive into Steven Spielberg’s iconic dinosaur summer blockbuster, from trembling cups of water and bloody goat legs to whatever chaos theory is, Chekov’s electric fences, and Jeff Goldblum’s unbuttoned shirt. Along t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we dive into Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas , the “glorious,” “classic” mob epic that somehow feels both iconic and unsettling. From razor-blade-sliced garlic in prison to cocaine-fuelled paranoia and helicopter chases, we unpack the rise and fall of Henry Hill, a kid who always wanted to be a gangster, and ended up a broke, bored “schnuck” in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we dive into Ryan Coogler’s Sinners , a genre-bending vampire period drama set in 1930s Jim Crow Mississippi. Joined by special guest Makeda Pennycooke, life and anti-racism coach, we unpack a film that is as gorgeous as it is unsettling, layering horror, history, and music. We break down vampire lore, our favorite characters, standout perfor...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness. This week, we are joined by special guest Gillian Pensavalle from True Crime Obsessed to discuss West of Memphis (2012), Amy Berg’s documentary that revisits the case of the West Memphis Three. In 1993, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were murdered and with little evidence and rising panic about satanic rituals, police quickly...

Send us Fan Mail In this bonus “Chatroom” episode of Drawn To Darkness , I (Annie) chat with horror author Josiah Furcinitti to discuss his chilling short story Bedguard , featured in the anthology Lies Beyond , a horror anthology exploring death, fear, and the unknown. In Bedguard , Anna is at first only worried about the growing distance between herself and her husband David. But when he starts...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss the National Geographic documentary Sugarcane , which investigates the legacy of St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in Canada. Prompted by the discovery of unmarked graves at former school sites, the film follows members of the Williams Lake First Nation, including Julian Brave Noisecat and his father Ed, as they search for truth about what happene...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we descend into Mexican Gothic , Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 2020 bestselling novel set in 1950s Mexico. When glamorous socialite Noemí Taboada receives a disturbing letter from her cousin Catalina, who claims she’s being poisoned in her new husband’s remote mountain mansion, she travels to High Place to investigate. There she finds a crumbling English manor transplant...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we pivot back to true crime with Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story, a three-part docuseries about the kidnapping of Steven Stayner and the traumatic ripple effect. We’ll discuss Steven’s story, how he was abducted at age seven while walking home from school and held captive for seven years by Kenneth Parnell. What makes the story...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive into Trainwreck: Poop Cruise , Netflix’s lowbrow, sensational documentary about the 2013 Carnival Triumph disaster, when an engine room fire left more than 4,200 passengers and crew stranded in the Gulf of Mexico with no power, no air conditioning, no refrigeration, and, most importantly, no functioning toilets. We begin with discussion about losing power...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we tackle Hereditary , Ari Aster’s devastating 2018 debut and one of the films most often credited with launching a new era of “elevated horror.” After the death of her estranged mother, miniature artist Annie Graham struggles to process her complicated grief. When her daughter Charlie dies in a shocking accident, the family fractures under the weight of blame, gu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers , Emily Turner’s documentary about Aileen Wuornos, a rare, hands-on female serial killer whose life is steeped in trauma, exploitation, and state violence. We discuss our views on the death penalty and then unpack whether Aileen’s childhood abandonment, sexual abuse, homelessness, and years of sex work made her into a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeous and gothic adaptation of Frankenstein, an epic, operatic exploration of creation, obsession, abandonment, and the horror of living after being rejected by the world. We discuss our own life goals and the hollowness that can follow achieving your greatest ambition, before diving into this reimagining of Mary Shelley’s  groun...

Send us Fan Mail In this Christmas special of Drawn To Darkness , we swap favourite festive films (from Die Hard and It’s a Wonderful Life to The Muppet Christmas Carol and Scrooged ) before diving into Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol . We’ll discuss the plot and characters (Scrooge, Marley, the three spirits, Fezziwig, Tiny Tim, Fred), unpack life in Victorian London with its filth, disease, c...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we unpack the history and ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972), guided by Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall’s reporting in You’re Wrong About . We recount how U.S. Public Health Service researchers recruited 600 Black men in Macon County, Alabama under the promise of treatment for “bad blood,” then withheld effective care, even after penicillin became...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime. In this episode, we head deep into the peeling wallpaper, raccoon-infested attic, rotting walls and shingles, and extraordinary psychology of Grey Gardens, the 1975 direct-cinema documentary that follows Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, two formerly glamorous socialites now l...

Send us Fan Mail In this extra-long deep dive, we unpack  the entire “epic” and “metal” Stranger Things Season 4. This season is a tonal shift from goosebumps to true horror. We’ll explore Vecna/Henry Creel/001, Max’s near-death escape thanks to Kate Bush, as well as the way the show blends horror, sci-fi, action, and 80s nostalgia. We discuss each character’s best moments and arc, as well as our...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime. In this episode, we discuss Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel , the Netflix documentary about the disappearance of Elisa Lam, the 21-year-old Canadian traveller whose tragic death in a Los Angeles hotel sparked global obsession, online conspiracy, and some of the...

Send us Fan Mail Do you like scary movies? We do! In this episode of Drawn to Darkness , we discuss Wes Craven’s Scream , the self-aware slasher that revived the genre and was a gateway to loving horror movies for so  many of us. From Drew Barrymore’s unforgettable 12-minute opener to the Woodsboro house party, we explore how the film subverted horror tropes, dissect Sydney Prescott’s role as trau...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we discuss Rosemary’s Baby , the 1968 horror classic that turned pregnancy into psychological nightmare fuel. We unpack gaslighting husbands, demonic covens, and the claustrophobia of a New York apartment with a high incidence of unfortunate happenings. Rosemary and her husband Guy move into a grand old New York apartment, despite eerie warnings and a mysteriously block...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s gothic gut-punch, The Yellow Wallpaper —a claustrophobic descent into isolation, medical misogyny, and one very cursed interior design choice. Expect talk of gaslighting physicians, barred windows, nailed-down beds, and that unforgettable last line. Spoiler and Content Warning: We cover the full plot of The Yellow Wallpaper ....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow, the explosive exposé that revealed how Harvey Weinstein and a network of enablers in Hollywood, politics, and media silenced victims of sexual assault for decades. Farrow’s investigation was blocked by NBC, he was stalked by private investigators, and threatened with legal intimidation, but ultimately published in The New...