Sitting in the Dark

This month, Kynan, Tommy, Kyle and Pete dive deep into the terrifying world of survival horror. They leave no dark corners unexplored, from the creepy confines of Bodega Bay in Hitchcock’s classic The Birds, to the zombie-infested mall of Dawn of the Dead, the monster-filled hive of Resident Evil, and the deadly game of hide and seek in Ready or Not. The panel examines key tropes of the genre—reso...

The world is a beautiful place—stunning vistas, the highest mountains, and most expansive rivers. But what happens when we, puny humans, decide to make our pastime of exploring these natural wonders too aggressively? The environment gets aggressive back. This month on Sitting in the Dark, we present a set of films where our characters explore these extreme environments only to discover their inhos...

Tommy is in the big chair leading us on a journey of discovery that leads… nowhere. That’s right, what do you get when you are forced to reckon the horrors of miscommunication? It’s nothing good… that’s what. The Mothman Prophecies, Dark Skies, and Midsommar are all on deck this week! And, because Tom’s new character is so satisfying, here’s the read-along version of his introduction! Hello boils...

In this inaugural episode of Cinema Scope, host Andy Nelson is joined by professors Leon Hunt and Chris Hamm to explore the captivating world of wuxia, a Chinese film genre that blends philosophy, action, and legend. They discuss the key elements that define wuxia, such as the chivalrous heroes, period settings, and fantastical elements, as well as the concept of jianghu, a unique world within wux...

The oceans hold unfathomable mysteries and horrors in their lightless depths. In this episode, Kyle Olson returns to lead the hosts of Sitting in the Dark—Tommy Metz III, Ray DeLancey, and Pete Wright—as they dive deep to confront three tales of terror from beneath the waves. They begin with 1989's DeepStar Six, recounting the ill-fated mission of an underwater military base beset by a monstrous i...

Gather round the flickering candlelight, boils and ghouls! In this special episode of Sitting in the Dark, Ray DeLancey welcomes two macabre mavens to the morbid merriment: Pete Wright and Tommy Metz III. Together, these horror hounds aim to dig up the decaying details on two Vincent Price classics given modern makeovers—the 1999 and 2005 remakes of House on Haunted Hill and House of Wax. Hunkerin...

What happens when the symbols of our holidays themselves turn against us? What if we find ourselves running not from Frankenstein or Dracula or some other manifestation of desire and technology run amok but we're running from murderous Saint Nick himself? What happens when the things we celebrate in song are recontextualized as explicit symbols of fear? Here’s the thing. A dude in a suit slashing...

On this episode of Sitting in the Dark, host Tommy Metz III is joined by Pete Wright and Andy Nelson for an exploration of found footage and epistolary films. As Tommy explains, the goal is to examine how certain horror movies have upheld the literary epistolary tradition on screen through the use of found footage techniques. The episode provides an analysis of found footage pioneer The Blair Witc...

This month, our fine teacher Ray DeLancey and his sidekicks Pete Wright and Tommy Metz III dive headfirst into the hairy world of werewolves in film. They're howling over flicks like The Wolf Man, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Howling, Wolfen, An American Werewolf in London, Wolf, Ginger Snaps, and When Animals Dream. Here’s the List on Letterboxd . As Tommy confesses, "Werewolves were never kind...

We gather 'round dim candlelight To delve where sanest avoid sight  Into twisted worlds that Lovecraft penned  Where cosmic terrors apprehensions rend These truths not meant for mortal brain But like those in Lovecraftian vein  Drawn by fascination grim and dire  To learn what none should e'er acquire As films that try to emulate The mythos they dare replicate  They court revelation of the dire ki...

One of the things we find so interesting about Skinamarink is that it might just be unspoilable. Don’t get me wrong… we try to spoil it, sure. But, just as all films are largely a partnership between viewer and creators, this one is supercharged by your own fear in a way that we find difficult to classify.  It was Tommy’s pick this month, and he went with this single film as a marker of the first...

Welcome to another month in the Dark! This time we’re taking on those head-turning, wall-clinging, priest-punching pests, DEMONS and the poor saps they possess! What business do we have doing all this? Well, some, but we level up this month with a few very special guests. Lester Ryan Clark is actor, writer, and teacher of everything, and Kynan Dias is a filmmaker and assistant professor in film at...

Hey there, horror fans! We’re back in the basement where we're talking all things The Fly. How did this underdog of a movie become such a success? And seriously, how does a movie about a man turning into a fly work so well on the screen? We're taking a trip back in time to the 1950s when paranoia and fear were all the rage after the A-bomb and World War II. We're also exploring the 1980s when Reag...

It's dark. The middle of the night. Wait, did you hear that? The sliding door to the back of your house? That creak in the floorboard? Did the dog just bark, or was that a dream? You're all alone in your home... but are you? This month, Pete Wright, Tommy Metz III, and Ray DeLancey come together for a tour of 15 home invasion horror films spanning nearly 50 years. Although Pete has always disliked...

Our very own Tommy Metz leads us on a harrowing tale of tropes this month. We start with the Book of the Vampyre as depicted in 1922's "Nosferatu" and beyond, then pose the most important question three men could ask about horror movies: is the Final Girl a feminist icon? Nosferatu Clip #1 Nosferatu Clip #2 Movies we mention:  IT The Changeling The Babadook House on Haunted Hill Oculus 1408 The Ca...

Frankenstein is one of our own Ray DeLancey’s favorite classic monsters. And as our resident scholar, he jumps to the front of the class to take Pete Wright and Kyle Olson to school. We start with Edison’s own “Frankenstein,” the first cinematic adaptation from 1910, which you can watch yourself right now on YouTube here . Don’t worry; it’s not even 15 minutes long. From there, we head to 1931 and...

A new series from TruStory FM exploring horror in film across classics and subgenres with Kyle Olson, Tommy Metz, Ray DeLancey, and Pete Wright. This week, we’re just dipping our toes in the darkness with a bit of background on our journey with film horror. Tommy and Ray are experienced explorers. Kyle and Pete are relatively recent converts. Somewhere in the middle, our interests meet monsters, s...

Welcome to Sitting in the Dark, a podcast exploring horror in film across classics and subgenres with Kyle Olson, Tommy Metz III, Kynan Dias, and Pete Wright.