Scary Thoughts

Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) is responsible for dozens of film studies books and an inexhaustible number of undergrad student theses–and now a new episode of your favorite podcast featuring our unofficial third co-host Monique Jenkinson (AKA Fauxnique).

We cover all of the hits: color theory, suspense, costuming, heroic ladies, weird cops, set design, relationships, whether or not Marc should powder his whole body to combat global warming, and of all things, rolling suitcases.

Chad and Marc return from the prison of their career commitments to the nihilist hellscape of Amazon Prime’s dystopic series Fallout

Marc is a noob to this take on this apocalypse-as-western. His guide Chad, has spent some time building his own vault in the time-incinerating Fallout Shelter game. 

They discuss Walton Goggins’ reign, Prime vs. Netflix, Cormac McCarthy, how Lucy is no Mary Sue, Kyle MacLaughlin’s classic Americana charm and whether a positive mental attitude will serve you as you navigate the wasteland.

Clueless (1995) is one of those films that almost everyone has a soft spot for. It defined a time and place, riffed on a classic, upholds pretty good values, is extremely quotable, and makes you feel happy when you watch it (unless you are truly dead inside).

So why are we covering it on a horror podcast? Well, it’s Marc’s favorite movie, and Chad prefers it to all horror movies. It’s an episode we’ve joked about doing forever.

Recently, we both read “As If!: The Oral History of Clueless, as Told by Amy Heckerling, the Cast, and the Crew” by Jen Chaney, so what better time than now? (It’s a fun book that goes deep into everything we missed in our episode, so if you’re a Clueless fanatic, it’s essential reading.)

We also chat about whether or not the elevated horror wave has crested. And we sneak in some Barbie vs Oppenheimer talk near the end. It’s a real rambler.

When faced with the recent dreary Christmas horror offerings of the past year or two, we felt nothing but apathy. Which is a terrible position to be in when you’re looking for a holiday episode idea.

But fear not! Or rather—Fear No Mort—the season seven finale of Rick and Morty is pretty great.

It sticks the landing on an overall decent season that could’ve been much worse. But it’s smart, funny and brings up a lot of themes that we’ve spent years covering: the nature of fear, creativity in mass entertainment, hypersanity, really all of the hits.

So sit back, and enjoy the last few days of 2023 with your favorite parasocial conversationalists.

It’s been a while—but fear not—we have returned, just in time for Halloween!

This episode covers 10 loosey-goosey horror themes that we’ve been pondering as of late. We praise stuff we love and do quite a bit of bitching about the state of the world.

There’s a little bit of optimism and a lot of that old time hate. Something for everyone!

We don’t focus on any particular films. However, fans of Alien, Barbie, and Jack Ryan are in for a treat. Or maybe a trick.

Andy Weir’s novel The Martian (2011) is top-shelf hard sci-fi for nerds who love space and MacGyver situations.
Just four years after (official) publication, Ridley Scott made a film version starring (South Park voice) Matt Dayyyyyymon.
Both versions of the story are fast paced and fun. They aren’t exactly horror, but survival stories are often horrific. And this one has a touch of terror and a dash of body horror to make it on the show.
We get into how artists and engineers see the world differently, the promises and pitfalls of space travel, and wave our fists at the state of science.

The Craft (1996) is a beloved teen witch movie that helped define the 90s mall goth experience. It also made supporting actress Fairuza Balk a bit of an icon for the heavy eyeshadow crowd.

Does this movie still hold up? Blessed be, yes! Other than a lame soundtrack, this is a fun movie with memorable scenes and decent actors. 

We talk about what it was like to be a neophyte goth in New Orleans during the late 1900s, witchcraft as a thing that’s cool and corny, and the role of life coaches/therapists/Tarot readers in the modern world.

Veteran listeners may notice a slight uptick in incoherence from one of the hosts as the episode unfurls its dark wings. It’s the curse of edibles. If it all made sense, good job opening your third eye.

This episode we talk with our comrade Alexander Herbert about his great new book, Fear Before the Fall: Horror Films in the Late Soviet Union.
Alexander is a PhD candidate in Soviet History at Brandeis University, specializing in environmental activism and the history of technology leading up to collapse.
He gives us the scoop on Soviet horror films, the punk scene in Moscow, and a behind the scenes look into how the Zero Books sausage is made.

Hear Chad and Marc tackle the monolithic drones of metal duo Sunn O))). They discuss witchery and ritual, gear and sculpture, fandom and influence, and (as usual) capitalism and art.

Nick “The Tooth” Gullo is a 2x IBJJF Jiu Jitsu Black Belt world champion, co-host of the Infinite Worlds podcast, a writer, lawyer, world traveler, TV Star—and most importantly for this NYE resolution conversation, is absolutely shredded in his 50s.

He joins us for the second time to discuss discipline, keto dieting, being kind to yourself, internet hucksters (Liver King, etc.), toxic masculinity, toxic acceptance, male energy, self-help cults, goal setting, and a lot more.

This episode doesn’t have any horror movie content, but you’ll like it if you enjoyed the previous Self Help for Nihilists episodes.