Nightshade Cult; A Podcast Macabre

Cultists, continuing with the Sinners theme. Another one of the film's often cited influences was Stephen King's Salem's Lot. Adapted as a two part TV movie by Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, this Gothic Horror throwback scarred the Gen X kids that grew up with it on television, and gave us one of the '70s most iconic vampires the Nosferatu-esque Kurt Barlow. Please join us for the d...

Cultists, Sinners was a film that wore its influences on its sleeve.  One obvious influence was the '90s Cult Classic From Dusk Till Dawn. The film kicked off a series of Grindhouse collaborations between directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, but does it really have more than superficial similarities to Sinners? Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic  https://www.imdb.com...

Cultists, because you demanded it (and because it became available to stream) your Horror Hosts are finally putting Ryan Coogler's Sinners on the exam table.  This genre defying Vampire film has held online film discourse by the jugular since its release in April and continues to do so. Please join us for the Dissection.  #sinners, #ryancoogler, #michalebjordon, #HaileeSteinfeld, #MilesCaton, #Jac...

Cultists, hopefully we're not disappointing the hardcore 28 Weeks Later fans but your Horror Hosts have opted to skip that splatter fest, and jump directly to Boyle and Garland's return to the franchise: 28 Years Later. Taking place nearly three decades after the original film, it's an ambitious follow-up that makes some big tonal shifts and big thematic swings, so it should make for an interestin...

Cultists, in 2002 director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland dropped 28 Days Later and inadvertently ignited a new Zombie craze that's arguably still ongoing. This month they're returning to that world they created so your Horror Hosts are going back to where the Rage Virus Infection first began. Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/?ref_=ext_...

Cultists, we hope you didn't think it'd be safe to go back in the water this summer. Because this year is the 50th anniversary of Jaws. This episode, we're putting the film that catapulted the career of Steven Spielberg and changed everything about how movies are marketed and released on the Exam Table. Please join us for the Dissection of the original Blockbuster.  #jaws, #stevenspielberg, #spiel...

Cultists, what do you think of when someone mentions Friday the 13th? A hulking hockey masked machete wielding ghoul stalking teens around a summer camp? Well, in Sean S Cunningham's original 1980 Summer Camp Slasher, very little of that iconography was in place yet. So for it's 45th anniversary your Horror Hosts are putting the original Friday The 13th on the Exam Table. Please join us for the Di...

Cultists, your Horror Hosts are finally putting an Alfred Hitchcock film on the Exam Table: his Proto-Slasher Psycho. The boundary-pushing film is celebrating its 65th anniversary, and it continues to be influential to this day. Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/?ref_=ext_shr   https://www.netflix.com/title/879522?preventIntent=true&source=35...

Cultists, this episode your Horror Hosts are again returning to Y2K for another Cult Classic celebrating its 25th anniversary, American Psycho. The Neo-Noir Quasi-Slasher that generated countless memes, and propelled Christian Bale into Superstardom. Please join us for the Dissection.     Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/?ref_=ext_shr   https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Americ...

Cultists, there are a number of films celebrating significant anniversaries in 2025. So your Horror Hosts are using that as an excuse to put some real gems on the Exam Table. First up the film that introduced most of the world to Christopher Nolan, Memento. The mind-bending Neo-Noir was an instant Cult Classic and, over the intervening quarter century, has become a Classic Classic. Please join us...

Cultists, Nick and David have escaped from the Black Lodge just in time to bring you the fourth and final installment of our series Dissecting Twin Peaks. In this episode, your Horror Hosts put the 2017 Limited Event Series, Twin Peaks: The Return, on the Exam Table. Please join us for the Dissection.  #twinpeaks, #davidlynch,  #markfrost, #kykemaclachlan,  #whokilledlaurapalmer, #laurapalmer, #da...

Cultists, less the week after Twin Peaks Day we're back with the third in our Twin Peaks series. In this episode, your Horror Hosts will put Lynch's controversial film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, on the exam table. A critical and commercial disappointment upon release, it has been reappraised in recent years but remains a challenging film. Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic ...

Cultists, we are back with the second part of our Dissection of Twin Peaks. In this episode, your Horror Hosts will put Season 2 of the cult series on the Exam Table. Notoriously the second season struggled, with studio interference, friction between the creators, plus a ballooning cast and episode count. And yet still, Season 2 produced some of the series' most iconic moments, so please join us f...

Cultists, on January 20th, 2025, just five days short of his 79th birthday, the world lost David Lynch. A true auteur director, Lynch was someone we held very high esteem at Nightshade Cult. In response to his passing, we will be putting Twin Peaks, the show that was the gateway to Lynch for so many, on the Exam Table. Please join us for the Dissection Dissection Topic  https://www.imdb.com/title/...

Cultists, there's a new interpretation of the Wolf Man releasing this weekend. That means it's time for your Horror Host's to put george waGGner's 1941 classic on the Exam Table. This was not Universal's first Werewolf film but it proved to be their most iconic. Please join us for the Dissection  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034398/?ref_=ext_shr Unholy Sacrament https://untp.beer...

Happy New Year, Cultists. We're doing things a little differently this year. Because you demanded it, your Horror Hosts are going to deliver their Hot Takes on Robert Eggers's Nosferatu before they get into the annual rundown of their Year End Faves. Please join us for the dissection…dissections?  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5040012/?ref_=ext_shr https://www.focusfeatures.com/nos...

Cultists, we've arrived at the third instalment in our Nosferatu series. This episode your Horror Hosts are putting E. Elias Merhige's 2000 Metatextual Gothic Horror on the exam table. This fictionalized telling of the making of Murnau's expressionist masterpiece earned two Academy Award nominations and has long been a favorite with N & D. Please join us for the dissection.  Dissection Topic https...

Cultists, for round two of our Nosferatu series your Horror Hosts will be putting Werner Herzog's 1979 homage to Murnau's seminal piece of German Expressionism on the exam table. The Bavarian auteur brought an art house sensibility to his reimagining of the Gothic classic. Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079641/?ref_=ext_shr Unholy Sacrament https...

Cultists, in anticipation of Robert Eggers upcoming adaptation of Nosferatu, your Horror Hosts are going back to the original. In this episode, we put F.W. Murnau's 1922 Symphony Of Horror on the exam table. Please join us for the Dissection  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/?ref_=ext_shr https://youtu.be/3OZ5Wam2_Uc?si=IDvrPmbp360v7F9T Unholy Sacrament https://untp.beer/XPb4W...

Cultists, with election day just around the corner, the time feels right to put John Carpenter's They Live on the exam table. The horror maestro hid a scathing rebuke of the '80s capitalist culture under the thinnest veneer of sci-fi action, and gave a Pro Wrestler the lead role. Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/?ref_=ext_shr Unholy Sacramen...

Cultists, just in time for the fall holidays, your Horror Hosts are putting two of Maestro John Carpenter's classics on the exam table. First up the blueprint for the Slasher genre 1978's Halloween! Please join us for the dissection. Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/?ref_=ext_shr Unholy Sacrament https://untp.beer/7bvJK Dark Tidings https://killerburlesque.com/portland/ https:...

  Cultists, just as your Horror Hosts are concluding their series Dissecting his Imperial Phase, Tim Burton graduated to becoming one of the Top 10 Highest Grossing Directors of All Time! Certainly, 1992's Batman Returns was a significant contributor to that total. Please join us for the Dissection. Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/?ref_=ext_shr   Unholy Sacrament https://untp...

Cultists, for the second installment in our examination of Tim Burton's Imperial Phase we come to what has often been called Burton's "Most Personal Film" 1990's Gothic Fairytale, Edward Scissorhands. This is the first time Burton worked with a young Johnny Depp, kicking off a collaborative relationship that would continue across three decades. P.S. For your Horror Hosts thoughts on 1989's Batman,...

Cultists, with The Ghost With The Most making his long awaited return to the silver screen, the time felt right for your Horror Hosts to put the films of Tim Burton's Imperial Phase on the exam table. First up of course is 1988's Beetlejuice, please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/?ref_=ext_shr Unholy Sacrament https://untp.beer/8f987f9c3f Vault O...

Cultists, it's hard for your Horror Hosts to believe that it's been twenty years since Shaun Of The Dead was released. But that's all the excuse we need to Dissect Edgar Wright's breakout 2004 Rom Zom Com! Please join us for the dissection.   Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/?ref_=ext_shr Unholy Sacrament https://untp.beer/x9N1 https://www.stashtea.com/products/wild-raspberry-...