The Desire of Horror

What is more real than real? Why it's the "Hyper-Real" of the cinema. Jean Baudrillard formulated his theory of the Hyper-Real, which is actually the death of "the Real" by simulacrum, in part from a quote from Clockwork Orange, in which the protagonist Alex reflects on how the blood in the screen is better than real blood because its "redder than red," or realer...

Are these f**king things vampires or infected? Around this time in the early aughts there was a slue of horror movies that straddled the line with science fiction because the monsters no longer had supernatural origins but virological ones. 28 Days Later comes to mind because it featured a zombie apocalypse without any paranormal activity. Vampires have always been liminal creatures, having emerge...

In the small oil town of Barrow in the northern-most region of Alaska there are thirty days of night in the middle of winter. Sounds like a vampire's dream vacation. All the cellphones have mysteriously gone missing, all the dogs have been mercilessly murdered, and someone has destroyed the radio antenna. With no flights in or out for thirty days, it would seem that the residents of Barrow ar...

Both the 1931 Bela Lugosi version of Dracula and the 1970 Christoper Lee version claim to be sticking to Bram Stoker's original vision. When most of us think of Dracula, we either think of Lugosi or Lee, or their images switch back and forth in our minds. Join us as we discuss how each of them approached Stoker's Transylvanian aristocrat. Stoker's Dracula was an alchemist ubermensch...

A late 70s miniseries has many features to recommend it. They are normally full of odd bowl haircuts, unnecessarily long establishing shots, and sweat, but this one also includes multiple commercial-break, freeze-frame cuts, long, meaningful stares, and a battle between two mages in a tight 1970's kitchen! Come join us for Tobe Hooper's adaptation of the Stephen King classic "Salem&...

This was a difficult but rewarding episode to do. Some less brave, or possible less foolhardy, commentators might've stayed away from the Swedish, modern-day classic Let the Right One In and its American remake, Let Me In,  because of the complexity of the topics it raises, especially around Queer and Trans matters, but we dove right in. Join us as we ask the question of the desire of the Tra...

One of Charla's top five of all time! We got to lighten up and have a little fun on this one. It's got the two Coreys, a town split between punks and deadbeat hippies, and lots of pastel shirts with shoulder pads! Come and reminisce the 80's with us while we discuss what the Lost Boys desire besides never growing up. Follow us @thedesireofhorrorpodcast: Instagram

One of my favorites of all time! Coppola's over the top extravagance at its best. Charla likes it okay. Join us as we discuss Coppola's lush depiction of vampiric desire. Follow us @thedesireofhorrorpodcast: Instagram

Louis doesn't know how to be a vampire, so he goes to Paris to find out. What can we learn about the desire of the vampire from Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire ? Anne Rice portrayed the difficulty of being a vampire as the all too familiar dilemma of human desire, whether mortal or undead, nobody seems to know what to do with themselves. Join Charla and Marty as they dive even deepe...

Nosferatu 1922 originally came into being because Bram Stoker wouldn't come off the rights to Dracula . Dracula's aristocratic suavity was transmuted into Count Orlok's impish vulgarity to avoid a lawsuit. But the desire of both were for the blood of the living. When Orlok recently returned in 2024's, he appeared as the transmuted, self-consuming desire of a fourteen year old g...