Horror Queers

Lay down a line of protective brick dust and scream "I don't believe!" because we are discussing Iain Softley's 2005 Southern Gothic thriller, The Skeleton Key.

Starring Kate Hudson and Gena Rowlands, this Ehren Kruger joint has a great twist (or is it a reveal?) that may or may not have dicey racial implications.

Plus: not trusting Peter Sarsgaard, Black character exposition, the difference between hoodoo and voodoo, and the ending we still can't believe a studio signed off on!

Reference: Max Schiersner Caodaglio. "The Skeleton Key, Historical Erasure, and Cultural Appropriation." HCA Graduate Blog. 

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram) 

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada  

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Here's a sneak peek at our all new full-length Patreon episode on Tina Romero's debut feature film, Queens of the Dead (2025).

Like what you hear? Head on over to www.patreon.com/horrorqueers and become a Patron for more exclusive bonus content today!

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada

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Toss that girl in the pond and break out the good champagne because we're discussing James Whale's seminal horror film Frankenstein (1931) to celebrate the release of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (2025)!

Join us as we discuss how Frankenstein's success (along with that same year's Dracula), helped kickstart a series of Universal monster films. We also discuss what made this film so terrifying for audiences in 1931, despite the fact that the creature itself is one of the most sympathetic characters in horror history. 

Plus: another lesson in German Expressionism, lamenting the uselessness of Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), heaping all the praise on that dummy shot, and recounting a funny anecdote about....hard-boiled eggs??? 

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram) 

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada   

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After contributing to The Pod and the Pendulum's 300th episode on the 25 best horror films of the 21st century, we decided to run through our individual lists for listeners.

How did we each approach the task? (hint: thank god for Letterboxd) Which film(s) appear on both lists? And what movies will top our individual lists?! Don't scroll if you don't wanna know!

Joe’s Top 25 Horror Films of the Century (Ranked)

1. The Invitation (2015)
2. Knife + Heart (2018)
3. Hereditary (2018)
4. Train To Busan (2016)
5. Relic (2020)
6. Saint Maud (2019)
7. The Descent (2005)
8. The Perfection (2018)
9. Inside/A L’Interieur (2007)
10. Raw (2016)
11. Better Watch Out (2016)
12. Under The Skin (2013)
13. Black Swan (2010)
14. Let The Right One In (2007)
15. Stoker (2013)
16. Femme (2023)
17. Annihilation (2018)
18. Blink Twice (2024)
19. The Skin I Live In (2011)
20. The Strangers (2008)
21. The Invisible Man (2020)
22. Hostel Part 2 (2007)
23. Ginger Snaps (2000)
24. The Substance (2024)
25. Midnight (2022)

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Trace’s Top 25 Horror Films of the Century (Ranked)

1. The Substance (2024)
2. The Descent (2005)
3. The Den (2013) - Listen to our guest spot on TGIF
4. Hereditary (2018)
5. The Invitation (2015)
6. Martyrs (2008)
7. The Perfection (2018)
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
9. It Follows (2014)
10. The Outwaters (2022)
11. Drag Me To Hell (2009)
12. Grindhouse (2007)
13. Trick 'r Treat (2007)
14. Insidious (2011)
15. The Witch (2018)
16. The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
17. Bug (2006)
18. The Mist (2007)
19. Evil Dead (2013)
20. Green Room (2008)
21. [Rec]² (2009)
22. Doctor Sleep (2019)
23. Don't Breathe (2016)
24. Detention (2011)
25. Zombeavers (2014)

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Spit out that cherry pit and get ready to meet a horny little devil because we're discussing George Miller's 1987 adaptation of John Updike's satirical feminist(?) novel The Witches of Eastwick!

Join us as we go all in on the production troubles this film had. From the studio putting the pressure on Miller to some casting snafus with Susan Sarandon and Cher, it's a wonder this thing turned out as well as it did! 

Plus: Jack Nicholson's scene-stealing performance, gagging over cherry pit-laden vomit, debating sequel ideas, and wondering why Michelle Pfeiffer has nothing to do in this movie?

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram) 

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada   

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Here's a sneak peek at our all new Patreon episode on Scott Derrickson's sequel Black Phone 2, a film that confounded us almost as much as it bored us.

*Correction: We refer to the stylistic choice during Gwen's dream sequences as 16mm when it's actually Super 8. Our apologies!

Like what you hear? Head on over to www.patreon.com/horrorqueers and become a Patron for more than 400 hours of exclusive bonus content today!

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada

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Don your mask for the treasure hunt because we're discussing J.A. Bayona's The Orphanage (2007) along with Spanish horror scholar (and returning guest) Shelagh Rowan-Legg.

Join us as we praise Belén Rueda's lead performance, the film's unsettling set pieces, its curious lack of Spanish cultural signifiers, and speculate on the film's use of HIV in the plot.

Plus: the film's obsession with jaws, Joe's suspicions of Carlos' infidelity, and multiple interpretations of the bittersweet ending! 

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram) 

> Shelagh: @shelaghrowanlegg (BlueSky) / https://shelaghrowanlegg.com/

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada   

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We're headed to the cottage for some R'n'R (that would be rape/revenge) with screenwriter Stuart Morse and director Steven R. Monroe's 2010 remake of I Spit on Your Grave for its 15th anniversary.

Beyond asking who is this for and why are there no female creatives involved (!), we're digging into the revenge, questioning the gaze, and talking about queer actor Daniel Franzese dropping his voice to play redneck. 

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram) 

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada  

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Wipe that popcorn off your jacket and take the longest shower ever because we're discussing the queer-leaning throuple at the center of Stephen Chiodo's cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)! Tagging in for the conversation is Dead Ringers Podcast co-host Paul Farrell!

Join us as we dive into this plot-lite gem of a film, thanks to some impressively resourceful practical effects and set design, courtesy of the Chiodo Bros.. It's a gateway horror film that aims to entertain, and at that it most definitely does.

Plus: The Dickies' super fun theme song, "Klown mayhem," debating the usefulness of Debbie and why Trace can't stop laughing over the line "big boobs!"

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram)

> Paul : @paulisgreat2000 (BlueSky) / @paulisgreat2000 (Instagram)

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada   

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We're checking out a new horror short in the form of Picture, a 7-minute-long short about a haunted Polaroid camera from director Sadé Sellers (guest on our previous episodes for Alien 3 and Orphan).

Watch the short here.

Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on BlueSky, Instagram, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group or the Horror Queers Discord to get in touch with other listeners.

> Trace: @tracedthurman (BlueSky)/ @tracedthurman (Instagram)

> Joe: @joelipsett (BlueSky) / @bstolemyremote (Instagram) 

Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!  

Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada  

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.