Horror Hangover

Are you trapped here... forever? Single location horror w/ Shannon Riley

This month on Horror Hangover, Ryan and Cass are joined by horror author Shannon Riley to discuss the trope of single-location horror in scary movie cinema with 2010's Frozen & 2022's No Exit. Why are we so fascinated with putting people in situations that seem impossible to escape???

If you're brave enough to hold on tight & explore why, stay tuned after the movie chat to delve into Shannon's debut horror book: Pocketknife Kitty.

 

Pocketknife Kitty

Synopsis: Jamie is a thirty-year-old banker wedged between grief and newfound freedom. Through a domino cascade beyond her control, she winds up stuck in her suffocating hometown. The monotony is broken swiftly when, following a night of spite-fueled impulse, Jamie soon begins to undergo a rapid and gruesome transformation. She finds herself teetering on the edge of her own sanity as she pieces together if rescue will ever come for her. And if not, what is she going to do about it?

Exploring themes of sexual empowerment, revenge, and loneliness, POCKETKNIFE KITTY asks the reader to explore exactly how far they’d go to save their own skin.

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• Snag a copy of Pocketknife Kitty now from from Ghoulish Books!
  

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Wolves just being wolves - even if they ate Air Bud's Dad
• Gloves! Never take them off!... Unless you want to part with your skin... or have to buy more lotion

 

Note: This episode discusses substance abuse issues. If you or someone you know needs support with substance abuse, help is available. Contact SAMHSA 24/7: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) &/or use the online treatment locator tool.

 

I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts! Laurel Hightower & horror's ghost-hunters

This month on Horror Hangover, Ryan and Cass are joined by Stoker Award-nominated horror author Laurel Hightower to delve into all things related to GHOST HUNTING in horror. Double check you packed enough flashlight batteries, turn on Find My Friends, & suit up to explore the creepiness awaiting you in a long, long, hallway cast in lurking shadows...

 

We'll stumble into the battered doors of 2011's Grave Encounters & 2018's Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. 

 

If you survive, stay tuned for an interview with Laurel about her latest book, The Day of the Door, its inspiration, & traumatic unearthing in its pages.

 

The Day of the Door

Once there were four Lasco siblings banded together against a world that failed to protect them. But on a hellish night that marked the end of their childhood, eldest brother Shawn died violently after being dragged behind closed doors. Though the official finding was accidental death, Nathan Lasco knows better, and has never forgiven their mother, Stella.

Now two decades later, Stella promises to finally reveal the truth of what happened on The Day of the Door. Accompanied by a paranormal investigative team, the Lasco family comes together one final time, but no one is prepared for the revelations waiting for them on the third floor.

Available now from Ghoulish Books!

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• Q&A: Actor Sean Rogerson Explains How To Survive GRAVE ENCOUNTERS
• Indie Horror Month 2021: Celebrating 10 Years of GRAVE ENCOUNTERS with Filmmakers Colin Minihan & Stuart Ortiz
• Navigating the dark corners of a haunted asylum
• Cass' take on using the real in found footage-style horror in "How Curse of Aurore Resurrects Aurore Gagnon: A Conversation with Llana Barron" 

 

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Long live the camera men of horror 
• Bathtub worm holes?
• The Body Keeps the Score book on trauma recovery

J-Horror & Haunted Tech, Walkscares, & Hairpeople - oh my!

This month on Horror Hangover, Ryan and Cass are joined by cinephile Charles, co-host of When Will It End? -- a podcast exploring the beauty & bizarreness behind serialized storytelling in film.

Turn your lights off ... or on ... but will either choice save you from these existentialist entries? Silence your phone. Or call a friend? We're covering J-Horror & Tech & prodding into all its dis/connections through the iconic works of Kurosawa's Pulse & Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man. 

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• Kurosawa delves into what makes ghosts so haunting in this interview with Paul Matthews
• "The Broken Technology of Ghost Hunting" by Colin Dickey
• Subscribe to WHEN WILL IT END? podcast here for more of Charles' thoughts on franchises in film 

 

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Ryan's metallic magic sound effects
• Walkscares! Twice the dread in twice the time!

Mystery twists with horror writer Scott Adlerberg!

Horror writer and host of Brooklyn's Word for Word Reel Talks film commentary series Scott Adlerberg joins us to discuss unexpected mystery twists. What makes a twist work? How do films balance this magical act without tipping their hand? Should we ever follow a spooky child in a raincoat? We answer these questions and more!

We also discuss Scott's latest book, The Screaming Child, now available from Ghoulish Books. Order a copy now...if you dare!

 

Synopsis:

Scott Adlerberg’s The Screaming Child is a mystery horror novel told by a grieving woman working on a book about an explorer who was murdered in a remote wilderness region, only to get caught up in a dangerous journey after hearing the distant screams from her own vanished child somewhere in the woods.

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• An interview with Kiyoshi Kurosawa
• More of Scott's writing on crime!
  
  

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Ryan's killer riffs!

Urban legends, aka: "Every time I go camping, I end up with a cryptid boyfriend."

We're baaaaaack & kicking off March with a deep dive into urban legends in horror films -- What are they? Where do they come from? Do they help or hurt society ... or both? 

To investigate this further, we push up our nerd glasses with the triple threat of Scarred for Life Podcast co-hosts Mary Beth McAndrews & Terry Mesnard plus horror writer & teacher (& amazing hubbie) Chris Poole to chat all things Candyman & the indie darling Butterfly Kisses.

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• "They Came in Through the Bathroom Mirror" by Steve Bogira (1987) at Chicago Reader
• "Candyman, the Scariest ‘Leave Them Damn White Girls Alone’ Movie Ever, Is 25 Years Old This Week" by Lawrence Ware at The Root
• "Candyman: Why This Racially Charged Horror Movie Is Scarier Than Ever" by Evan Narcisse
• "Candyman: How Bernard Rose and Clive Barker Created the Horror Classic" by Jack Beresford at Den of Geek
• "Cabrini-Green: A History of Broken Promises" by Alejandra Cancino, Better Government Association
• "I Could Move In There: When Jane Byrne Moved into Cabrini-Green" at WTTW
• "Erik Kristopher Myers: The Lost Interview" by Benjamin Radford at the Center for Inquiry

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Ryan's killer riffs!
• Nia DaCosta - give her all the work!
• Ruthie McCoy - rest in power
• Erik Kristopher Myers' Peeping Tom legacy

Hell is a teenage girl w/ horror writer E.M. Roy

Things are about to get moody and bloody as Ryan and horror author E.M. Roy chat all things related to 1976's Carrie, and 2000's Ginger Snaps! Grab that scrunchie and pull up those low-rise jeans as we explore the "hell is a Teenage Girl" trope in horror films new and old.

Also, Ryan interviews E.M. Roy about their recent scary and reality-bending book, Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies.

 

Synopsis:

Leo Bates knows what’s behind every corner in her hometown of Eston, Maine, where she’s lived her whole life. Some bad memories and grief for her late parents, sure, but nothing dangerous...

All of that changes when her girlfriend Tate goes missing, and the lead detective on the case blames Leo for the disappearance. Haunted by self-doubt, Leo can only watch as the town she thought she knew deteriorates around her. She is forced to confront the painful truth about her parents, this town, and her relationship if she is to survive the following onslaught of conspiracies, cryptic monstrosities, and whatever is hiding in the woods where Tate was last seen.

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• Craving a woodsy horror treat? Snag your copy of E.M. Roy's Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies from Ghoulish Books!
  

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Ryan's killer riffs!

Body Horror - Reading the Body as Text with R.A. Busby

Instead of ending 2023 on a very special holiday episode, we're throwing listeners a curve ball this season & diving DEEP into body horror. Joined by Shirley Jackson Award-winning author R.A. Busby, this month Cass & Ryan chat about 1981's Scanners and 2016's The Autopsy of Jane Doe. 

 

Once we return from our ... well, holiday hijinks, you can expect even more horror chats, games, & surprises coming to you in 2024. Take care of you & yours gals, ghouls, & badass they's of the world. 

 

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• André Øvredal's interview at Den of Geek and Dread Central
• Craving more body horror? Read Busby's latest book, Corporate Body, published by Cemetary Gates Media.

 

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Ryan's killer riffs!
• Jane for enduring everything & more
• Head explosions!
• That fly's commitment to staying in character
• Olwen Kelly! Give her everything!

Scottish Horror 101 with Ghoulfriends Podcast & Lucy!

As the weather turns brisk & the night brings darkness sooner to our doorsteps, we're delving into what lurks in the best of Scottish Horror. Joined by the Ghoulfriends Podcast's Lindsay & horror researcher Lucy, Cass & Ryan chat about 2014's White Settlers & 1973's The Wicker Man.

 

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix

BONUS: A very special Halloween episode ft. KILLER RIFFS & Samhain

Hello gals, ghouls, & badass they's of the world. Tune in this time to catch me & my lovely co-host Ryan C. Bradley's very creepy Halloween special! This season, we're mixing things up a bit & playing a game called Killer Riffs!? After, we'll also have a live commentary watch of Trick R' Treat for ya'll to kick back & watch with us & make our Sammy-boy proud. Happy Halloween!

 

Don't forget: candy is for everyone, our faces are costumes enough, & there's no better time to jump-scare your friends & blame it on us. Now, let's play...

 

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Sam! Don't forget to light a pumpkin for him!

Why are you still filming?! A Found footage tribute episode

To kick off the Halloween season, we're bringing you a lovely (& spooky) chat we had with director, writer, podcaster, producer, & Dread Central's Editor-in-Chief Mary Beth McAndrews on the powers of found footage horror. We cover the OG 1999's The Blair Witch Project & 2022's gore-filled entry into the shaky subgenre, The Outwaters.

CLICK IF YOU DARE:

• Edgar Allan Poe's "gotcha" fiction that people thought was real at the time of publication: "The Balloon Hoax"
• Interview with Joshua Leonard on the 1999 film's casting & production process 
• "Blair Witch and the Rise of Viral Movie Marketing," an essay by Ryan Lambie
• Mary Beth's review of The Outwaters at Dread Central

 

OUR SACRED OFFERINGS GO TO:

• FeliceY for our logo design
• Cano Jaguar for our creepy intro. mix
• Rei Hance!
• Mary Brown's quest to find a woman-horse-monster-friend to brush her mane forever
• Wormholes... may they never find us!