Horror in the Margins

On this very special episode, Nikki interviews Horror in the Margins' very own Co-Host Tiffany Michelle Brown about her new feminist horror collection, How Lovely To Be a Woman: Stories and Poems.  We discuss the inspiration behind her most personal work, examine the terrifying consequences of societal conditioning and failings of white feminism, and celebrate unapologetically monstrous women...

We discuss the genre-defying Polish film The Lure directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, based loosely on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale The Little Mermaid. We talk about man-eating sirens, the tension between fame and family, the themes of exploitation and agency, and monstrous sexuality. Also, did we mention this one's a musical? Content warnings for discussions of sexual exploitation and...

We talk to Bram Stoker Award-nominated author J.A.W. McCarthy about her rock and roll succubi novella Sleep Alone. We discuss the best live shows we've ever been to and what made them memorable, our belief that succubi and vampires are inherently queer, body horror, intergenerational trauma, and the undeniable importance of belonging.  AND because Sleep Alone is very much a novella about musi...

Happy Pride, Pod People!  During June, we're spotlighting works that explore gender and sensuality and represent the queer experience.  Pride is a time to celebrate but also a time to recognize the LGBTQIA community is under attack and needs our support. Please consider supporting the queer community however you can, not only this month, but year-round. For our Pride film discussion, we watch...

We discuss Piggy directed by Carlota Pereda, based on her 2019 short film of the same name. We talk about the ways in which Piggy subverts the classic revenge narrative through a rich and nuanced coming-of-age story, the often-problematic portrayal of fat characters and bodies within the horror genre, and how tempting it is to fall for the bad boy...even when he's, you know, a serial killer....

We talk to Nebula Award-nominated author Ai Jiang about her latest release, Linghun, now available through Dark Matter Press. We discuss the myriad ways in which grief can haunt us, the capitalistic exploitation of sorrow in the town of HOME, the innate power of names, loss in the context of immigration, and the importance of letting go of the dead in order to live.  Also, we forgot to mention it...

We discuss Tigers Are Not Afraid directed by Issa López. We talk about magical realism, fairytales, the price of magic, and the powerful lens of horror filmmaking to explore harrowing reality of gang violence, human trafficking, and missing women and children worldwide. Content warnings for discussions of violence against women and children, school shootings, and human trafficking. Tigers Are Not...

We talk to Bram Stoker Award-nominated author Laurel Hightower about her latest release, Every Woman Knows This: A Horror Collection, released by Death Knell Press. Laurel provides bourbon pairings for four of the stories from her collection, and we discuss the perils of motherhood, people who ask us to smile, generational trauma, body dysmorphia, and the feminine urge to come back from the dead b...

We discuss Daina Reid's Run, Rabbit, Run, which premiered at 2023 Sundance Film Festival. We talk about the complexity of motherhood, the innate viciousness of little girls, and our love of ghost stories. Also, the dad jokes and puns are out of control in this episode. You have been warned! Run, Rabbit, Run has been picked up by Netflix and will available to stream later this year. Podcast in...

We talk to Eric Raglin, author of the short story collections Nightmare Yearnings and Extinction Hymns and the creator of Cursed Morsels Press, about keeping horror weird, the immaculate Midwestern vibes in his work, anti-capitalist fiction, and what's next for Cursed Morsels. Eric also treats us to a reading of Heirlooms, a story from Extinction Hymns. Purchase Extinction Hymns on Amazon, ba...

We discuss Nikyatu Jusu's Nanny and along the way, the false promise of the American dream, the ways in which white feminism often excludes women of color, power dynamics, and African folklore as presented in the film.   Nanny is available to stream on Amazon Prime.  The song we reference toward the end of the podcast during a pivotal scene in the film is Fully Lost, Fully Found by YATTA. Go...