Scary Thoughts

Dan Trachtenberg's 2022 Predator offering, Prey , is one of the better films in the franchise. If you're a truly misguided soul, (like Marc) it might even be your favorite. We talked about what it did well and what could've been better. Before getting to the choppa, we start with a little bit about where Marc's academic journey is taking him.

Karyn Kusama's 2009 film Jennifer's Body, is finding an audience thanks to a mix of #metoo reckoning, queer analysis, oughts nostalgia, and public fascination with Megan Fox's hematophagic pairing with male scream queen Machine Gun Kelly. This film hasn't aged well, but our age is treating it well. We discuss whether that old-time patriarchy or a messy script with boring kills led to the initial c...

The second half of Stranger Things 4 was fun. Even Argyle and Lucas managed to have great moments. In this episode we talk about why this season won us over, how drugs help with the enjoyment of art, whether or not there are epochs (and if music in the 80s was one), and whether or not it makes sense to have naked heavy metal girls on a character's wall if it upsets modern sensibilities.

We started our show talking about the first season of Stranger Things , so we are compelled to continue. Thankfully for everyone, the end is nigh. But as Marc is fond of saying, "Don't let our yuck interfere with your yum." There's still a lot to like about the show, even if it is circling the drain of mediocrity on its way to the septic tank of nostalgia. Our next episode covers the finale.

The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead 2 (1987) are both unimpeachable classics of horror comedy. After our longest hiatus, we delve into the cult lore of these films and their influence on horror. This episode isn't exactly philosophical, but it's a fun one, especially if you grew up with Sam Raimi's madcap brand of cabin-based mayhem. And for the first time–no major spoilers!

We started Scary Thoughts back in 2016. The years since have been–eventful. This episode rambles hard as we attempt to answer the question, "what have we learned?" Think of it as a director's commentary. We talk about what we thought the show would be, where it's going, our friendship, horror podcasting as a phenomenon, being rooted in the Bay Area, and we tell a bunch of bar stories, which people...

Let us help you slide into this not-quite-new not-quite-normal-not-quite-post-pandemic with some answers to your questions. You asked about news consumption, movie theaters, horror trends, Disney character team-ups, nostalgia, algorithms, the hunt for Joe Rogan, meditation—and we answered. It's all very on-brand for our Self-Help for Nihilists series.

Julia Ducornau's Titane (2021) features a lot of dancing and gender theory. So who better to have as a guest than Monique Jenkinson, AKA Fauxnique ? We talk about her new book Faux Queen: A Life in Drag , body horror, female violence, Sharon Stone's directing ambitions, film criticism, tarot cards, body horror, and French flatulists. Opinions were divided on this film, so it's an exciting episode.

Don't Look Up came out on Netflix just in time to brighten everyone's 2021 holidays. The director, Adam McKay, is one of the most successful comedy directors ever, but this movie isn't exactly a winner, even if it does have a ton of actors we love. In an episode almost as long as this too-long film, we discuss the few things we liked—and spend most of the episode deriding it. We veer into slightly...

Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) isn't horror. But this episode was requested by quite a few people, and we aim to please. We discuss this version, the first book in Frank Herbert's series, David Lynch's superior take, and Jodorowsky's Dune. There's a little distortion in the audio up front, which is obviously Harkonnen treachery.

Halloween Kills (2021) is Blumhouse's second film in what will undoubtedly, and unfortunately, be an ongoing series. Like many entries in this classic franchise, it is awful. We discuss where it goes wrong, the few things that work well, mob violence, the relevance of the series as a whole, Rob Zombie's versions, slasher character actor fandom, and if you stick to the end, a story about Fabio.

James Wan's Malignant (2021) is a lot of things. Giallo homage. Action film. 90s horror. But even when it feels familiar, it delivers some genuinely original moments and ideas. We cover the film itself, its references, seeing films in theaters post-COVD, indie fetishism, simple pleasures, and whether or not Wan is the Dave Grohl of horror.

Grady Hendrix's Final Girl Support Group (2021) is a love letter to the golden age of slasher movies. This episode is essentially a love letter to the author—even if we do have our crusty quibbles about a few bits. We talk about the difference between metafiction and nostalgia, Harold Bloom's Anxiety of Influence, murderabilia, Final Girls as a concept, and a little background on how you might end...

In this episode we take a look at Halloween (2018), the third film of the same title, in the same franchise. Yes folks, this is the age of the reboot. We discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of Blumhouses's formula, old-timey firearms vs. modern firearms, why book clubs are lame, and we heap praise upon Jamie Lee Curtis. While this episode isn't a direct prequel to our next episode, it does begin a...

Bo Burnham's Inside (2021) is one of the most unique things you'll see on Netflix. It's an angsty and existential one-man musical comedy about isolation. Though COVID-19 is never mentioned in the piece, it looms large, giving it the kind of "horror" vibes one can pick up from a pandemic thriller like Contagion . Like the film, we find ourselves in a few ranty digressions that will make total sense...

This episode we cover the 1997 sci-fi horror film Event Horizon—with deep digressions into the nature of reality, L. Ron Hubbard, QAnon, martial arts nerds, psychedelics, UFOs, and cosmic horror.  We're joined by Nick Gullo, AKA Nick the Tooth. His career bio is about as complex as Buckaroo Bonzai's. To keep it short, he's the co-host of the excellent Infinite Worlds podcast, wrote a book about th...

Dungeon Synth is as obscure as it gets for music genres, but it might be everywhere soon. We explore the fetid foundations and eldritch evolutions of this bizarre scene with extreme music authority, Andee Connors. He co-owned the notorious Aquarius Records, curates Pandora's unholy Black Metal station, was a member of A Minor Forest and now creates infernal music with Common Eider, King Eider, and...

This episode follows a long and unplanned break caused by a plethora of personal calamities (spoiler: Chad got The 'Rona). Rather than focusing on a single film or book, we use the episode to discuss the future direction of the show and gab about broader trends in visual art. We cover The Snyder Cut, The Overlook Theatre's Unknown Film Fest, our returns to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the compelling world...

Back in October of 2020 we hosted an online screening of the 2020 indie sci-fi film, The Vast of Night. The event was put together by Fulcrum Arts. This episode is a recording of the post-watch Q&A with the film's production sound team: Crow and Erik Duemig and Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer Johnny Marshall. Ironically, the sound quality of this episode is a bit rough thanks to Zoom,...

The Purge franchise's first film was released in 2013. There are now four flicks, two seasons of a TV series, and a host of questionable fan content online. We discuss the appeal of this story, what Purge politics would actually mean in real life, why Rick & Morty's "Look Who's Purging Now" is the best Purge movie, and some gabbing about the current apocalypse. In other words, a classic Scary Thou...

Jordan Peele is an important Black filmmaker and a horror nerd's horror nerd. His 2019 film Us is packed full of references to obscure classics—but does that make it less original? Boston and J from one of our favorite podcasts, Race Trader , join us to discuss it (along with a little sidetalk about Get Out and Tyler Perry).

Glenn Danzig's Verotika (2019) is a failure. But has it failed in an interesting way? That all depends on how much you like boobs. In this episode we discuss bad acting, bad effects, bad music, and bad films. We also touch on things we like: Tommy Wiseau, outsider art, The Mandalorian—and yes—boobs. Also, keep your ears alert for Marc flexing on the whole cast of Verotika with his own French accen...

Gather 'round boils and ghouls, it's our annual Halloween episode! This year we're covering It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966). Short and sweet like a peppermint patty, we talk about television, made up holidays, bad boomer ideas, belief, trash cinema, The Boys, and renting movies in the 90s.

Writer Michelle Tea, writer Meg Elison, and composer Lawrence English join us for a trio of COVID-19-era conversations. We ask them each, "Is this how you thought it would all end?" All three guests have great perspectives on the apocalyptic vibrations affecting us all, but are any of us truly ready for the end?

Rick and Morty is one of those shows people love making video essays about. It's smart, it uses philosophical ideas to deliver dick and fart jokes, and it includes a lot of high-level sci-fi/cosmic horror. This classic Scary Thoughts adventure is just Chad and Marc. Depending on what universe you're listening to this in, that might be a very big deal.