Perdition City Station

Send us Fan Mail In a precursor to a discussion about non-vampire revenants, Julie and Jarad discuss how the instead of overcoming Death, theology centered on Hell gives Death ultimate power. Come think about the (maybe) ultimate ending with us.  Support the show Meet us here at Perdition City Station every week for another excursion into Hell.  Hosted by Julie Price Carpenter and Jarad Johnson. P...

Send us Fan Mail Julie and Jarad discuss how vampires represent the voracious nature of Hell, how vampires became erotic figures, and how rampant, unregulated capitalism may be changing the way we think about these undead creatures. Sources: A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture: Love at First Bite Support the show Meet us here at Perdition City Station every week for another excursion into...

Send us Fan Mail Warning ahead listeners! Julie lost her research glasses and went on a rant instead of writing a script. Listen as Julie asks her sixteen-year-old evangelical self to weigh in on whether picturing yourself as Jesus would have been theologically acceptable in her church. From there our hosts go off on a right old rant about politics in general.  Content warning: Tangential discussi...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Julie and Jarad talk to writer Naomi Ulsted about her upcoming memoir, her book, The Apology Box, and how the fires of Hell from her evangelical upbringing influenced her work. Our conversation runs the gamut from Hell on Earth to finding a little hope along the way. Naomi writes about family connections, church connections, lasting damage and the healing power of the e...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode Jarad and Julie discuss the movie Sinners (with spoilers) and some of the rumination they had afterwards about racism and religion. If you didn't like this movie, you won't like this episode, because our hosts were all in. If you haven't seen this movie, it's a beautiful rendering of American mythology and folk horror and we highly recommend it....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Julie and Jarad try to understand how what we believe about belief affects theology and society at large. How does a belief system that rejects doubt lead to authoritarianism? Should Jarad get a prophet robe to go with his flowing hair? Join us for the discussion. Sources for this week's discussion—we used these sources more for thinking than discussion this...

Send us Fan Mail Julie and Jarad discuss an upcoming book with the author, Robert Roper, author of Shut Up and Drink, Goblin Girl, due out in 2027. We discuss demons, tropes of Hell, how monsters attract outsiders, and how we deal with darkness when we write.  Along the way we discuss Hitchhikers Guide, WWI, medieval folklore, names for Polka Bands and occasions when there may be no time for pants...

Send us Fan Mail After a tough week in this dystopian hellscape, Julie and Jarad discuss why everyone has to meet the devil—and why this is probably a good thing. They also discuss how chasing the appearance of goodness can lead to doing some really bad things. (And somehow they manage to drag Nathaniel Hawthorne into the conversation. Poor Nathaniel Hawthorne. He didn't ask for this.) This e...

Send us Fan Mail This week Jarad contemplates his "Hell on Earth" and why the universe seems to dislike his pants. Our cohosts discuss how Satan got so involved in magic in the Middle Ages and how that led to attitudes and misconceptions that haunt us to this day. They also discuss how sometimes people invoke Satan to make the bar for being "good" really, really, really low.  C...

Send us Fan Mail Julie and Jarad discuss some news stories about Hell, say a prayer for 2026 (to be addressed to the god of your choice, or none at all), and discuss their own brushes with the infernal realms this year. Here are the stories we discussed:  Gates of Hell Update   - Was the Last Train Out of Hell Prophetic? If Kirk Cameron Isn't Safe, How Can You Be? by Joe Boyd How Christian Na...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Julie and Jarad discuss Brom's book, The Yule Lord , where Krampus goes head to head with Santa with some weird results. Along the way, we are annoyed by cats and come up with pithy slogans for possible Christmas merch way too late in the season. Join us and find out what happens when Santa and Krampus square off. (There will be spoilers ahead...so read the b...

Send us Fan Mail This week Julie and Jarad explore the dark side of Christmas discovering that Christmas has a shadow that won't be denied. And maybe, we need a little Krampus after all. So join us to talk about Santa's furry helper with horns, but behave...because Krampus is out here getting weird with the birch sticks if you're naughty. We have lots of sources this time, so here g...

Send us Fan Mail It's another field trip! Pack a water bottle and a first-aid kit. Take the Bus from Hell to Heaven with our brave cohosts. In this episode, Julie discusses how The Great Divorce , started her on a path out of the church. (Probably not the author's intent, but this podcast is rife with unintended consequences, as evidenced by the lives of the hosts.) Along the way, Julie...

Send us Fan Mail Julie and Jarad discuss the ways that supernatural stories can challenge the religious systems we're born with and force us to consider whether we can actually know everything about something so much bigger than we are. Come for the ghost stories, stay to see what it's like to be in Julie's head. Find out whether or not Jarad managed to summon a demon when he was ni...

Send us Fan Mail Julie and Jarad discuss their findings from their first season, whether or not Crowley is an entity from the dark lord, and then ask themselves how they can change Hell. (Jarad is leaning towards hiring a new decorator.) Come wrap up season one with us. You can use this episode to fondly remember your own favorite episode, compose a letter of stern disagreement, or even use it as...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jarad and I discuss The Witch of Briar Hollow , by Wes Wickley. Among our many tangents, we talk about what it means to be evil and whether it's even possible to write a horror story that fully embraces the traditional morality of folklore. The tropes and motifs that represented good and evil seem to be in flux right now and writers need to walk a fine balanc...

Send us Fan Mail We have our first guest, horror lover and expert Josh Brandon and we ask the question: Why in the world don't evangelicals LOVE horror films? Maybe they should.  After Josh gives us a brief intro into Hell in Horror films, we get into how some horror films have carried on Puritan morality traditions, how they treat women, and whether we're going to Hell for secretly (or...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Julie and Jarad discuss how the brain creates things that may have very little to do with this reality. How do we take the nuances of words and ideas, and our own histories to create whole new worlds? This episode is a good one for writers who are thinking of creating their own worlds. If you come up with some ideas about the Netherworld, write in and let us know....

Send us Fan Mail Julie braves her memories of the field trip to Tartarus to ask the question, how did Hell, as we know it, come to be? Like Rome, it wasn't built in a day. Like the snowball in Scooby Doo's That's Snow Ghost , it picked up a lot of stuff as it rolled downhill, gathering speed, preparing to wreck our mental health and terrify us into heaven. So join Julie and Jarad as...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Julie and Jarad discuss the Haunting of Hill House and the authorized sequel, The Haunting on the Hill.  Are there places where the soul can be trapped by absolute reality? Unable to leave or dream? Can stories crack open the hellish holes we can fall into?  In this episode there are tangents and ghost stories and rampant speculation. Join us to discuss just what the he...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Julie and Jarad discuss whether the church's obsession with Heaven and Hell has influenced our modern American tendency to live in the future to the detriment of the present (and history)—or whether it's the other way around. Or both.  This episode is an exploration of the topic that we've just begun considering. If you have any thoughts, please let...

Send us Fan Mail This week Julie and Jarad discuss Slewfoot by Brom. You know how much we talk about giving power to Hell and reserving none for Heaven? This book is a great example of the ramifications of that theology (among many other things.) Give it a read then give this episode a listen. We also go on many tangents, like the difference between Southern and New England horror. So join us and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jarad tells us about his religious beliefs so we can see where he's coming from during our conversations. We discuss witchcraft, paganism, folklore, and how Jarad ended up in Maine.  Check out the episode for Jarad's recommendations on books to read if you're interested in the topic. Support the show Meet us here at Perdition City Station every week...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Julie and Jarad consider how people get assigned to go to Hell in the first place. They ask themselves a lot of questions. How is sin different from a moral wrong? How can Biblical interpretations of sin be dangerous? What do Christians consider sin? Why? Do all sins rate a trip to Hell?  We also explore a few subplots such as: How can you break a dictionary of phi...

Send us Fan Mail Jarad and Julie finally come to the end of their ruminations on the Fall of the House of Usher...and it's finally time for Jarad's favorite death! They discuss the role of fate and death and the consequences our actions carry.  "And darkness and decay and the red death held illimitable dominion over all." This weeks sources are the Netflix series, The Fall of t...