Scary Thoughts

Erik Davis (Techgnosis, Nomad Codes) joins us for a take on the first season of HBO’s True Detective (2014). We cover philosophical pessimism, cosmic horror, police procedurals, serial killers, gnostic notions, and the great state of Louisiana. We barely scratch the surface of what makes this series so thought provoking.

Mandy is way out in front as our favorite film of 2018. But not many people have seen it. It’s probably because Nicholas Cage has put out some real stinkers lately and the trailer looks way too much like Ghost Rider. Not to fear! This is Cage turned up to 11 and it works magnificently here. We also discuss homage vs. nostalgia and our two favorite topics: auteurism and violence.

Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 film Near Dark is a truly great vampire story. However, it had the misfortune of being released the same week as The Lost Boys. Though it was the superior film in every way that matters, it didn’t have the same tween star power or marketing budget, and was mostly forgotten except by hardcore genre fans. In this episode we discuss Westerns, method acting, The South, and once again, how we would live as the undead.

Chad and Marc turn treats into tricks by eating the world’s hottest chocolate bar before attempting to discuss: Hallowe’ens past and present, the true gothic of New Orleans, their best Hallowe’en costumes, Peaches Christ’s haunted house The Terror Vault, Marc (and Fauxnique’s) show ‘Girl’, and the state of horror in the wake of 43 Scary Thoughts episodes.

You should just go watch Murder Party (2007). It’s a fun Halloween movie full of laughs and mayhem. This episode also has its share of laughs and mayhem. We discuss what we like about this film, then head back into a longer discussion about conceptual art (carried over from the previous episode), the ways comedy and horror work together, and whether or not it can be funny to teach a dog the Nazi salute. We also finally talk about our fascination with the Canadian feminist horror podcast, The Faculty of Horror.

To say that Kevin Smith’s 2014 film Tusk is polarizing would be overselling it. Most people hated it. Chad is a diehard Smith fan and considers him something of a nerd folk hero, but even he isn’t completely #WalrusYES anymore. This conversation covers what makes a good-bad film successful, Kevin Smith’s legacy, and the value and legitimacy of performance art.

We had the best intentions of having a straightforward conversation about Steven Soderbergh’s 2018 film Unsane. Instead this episode will take you on a strange journey involving Gavin de Becker’s book The Gift of Fear, using iPhones to make films, the strange popularity of Jordan Peterson, self-help literature and the concept of premium mediocrity. If you like to hear us go deep and stumble through ideas, this is the episode for you.

2018’s Hereditary exploded onto the horror scene with a bold, opaque, artistic trailer. We conversate about whether or not trailers are lies, family horror, and the frequency children are being killed in horror movies now. There’s also a little bit about free will and demonic gender theory, you know, for the kids.