The Horror Pod Class: Recent Episodes
Tyler Unsell
Horror is fun and important. Orrin and Tyler look at a movie each episode and examine what is good, what is bad, and how it could be used in the classroom or out of the classroom to teach us something about ourselves.
Find the absolutely incredible.....Its pretty cool to look at slideshow at signalhorizon.com
See the slideshow in person next month or check out old versions at www.signalhorizon.com
Check out the episode along with the slides at our youtube channel or check out our show notes at www.signalhorizon.com
Head on over to SignalHorizon.com for shownotes or shoot me an email for questions (tyler@signalhorizon.com).
Screening the Mist in Glorious Black and White. Show Notes Available at www.signalhorizon.com
Check all the show notes https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-144-someones-watching-me-live-from-the-stray-cat/
All the shownotes and slideshow can be found here: https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-142-976-evil-live-at-the-stray-cat/
See the shownotes here.
https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-presents-c-h-u-d/
Check out all the show notes here
https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-138-scream-2022-with-stephen-graham-jones/
For all the details of this episode check out. https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-presents-scream-2-with-director-clayton-scott/
check out the show notes here.
https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-nia-dacostas-candyman/
Check out all of the show notes here. https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-127-targets/
Check out show notes here. https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-126-house-of-wax-2005/
Check out this week's liner notes. https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-125-the-superdeep/
https://signalhorizon.com/the-horror-pod-class-episode-124-saint-maud-with-nadia-bulkin/
For show notes please visit Signal Horizon below
https://signalhorizon.com/podcast-the-horror-pod-class-episode-114-session-9-with-matthew-bartlett/
Jessica and Tyler react to the failed coup on the capital and how we educate through insurrection.
This week Jessica and Tyler talk about coming back from virtual teaching, angry emails, and how we build an inclusive classroom.
Here is the Atlantic article we are discussing
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/12/school-wasnt-so-great-before-covid-either/616923/
Orrin and Tyler chat In the Mouth of Madness, HP Lovecraft, The Tome of Eldritch Trope and lots of other Carpenter stuff. Check Signal Horizon for full show notes.
2016's Don't Breathe happened to strike a chord with the public, making ten times what it cost to make. To Dawn Keetley, a Professor of English at Lehigh University, it signifies a growing trend in our cultural subconsciousness. We use her essay, "Lock Her Up! Angry Men and Captive Women in Post-Recession Horror" as a jumping-off point to discuss the movie and what trends we are currently seeing at the nexus of politics, culture, and horror.
Today we are joined by a very special guest, Larry Fessenden. His latest movie, Depraved, is a modern retelling of Frankenstein and Tyler and Mike loved it so much we just had to get Larry on to discuss the movie. We have a wide-ranging discussion including Larry's early '90s cult hit Habit, what draws Larry to the classic movie monsters, which themes in Frankenstein still have cultural significance, and how your kid son rebels against you when you are a horror movie maker.
Welcome back class! Today we are diving into a 2016 movie that you may have missed, The Monster. It's out on Netflix right now and it totally got Tyler right in the feels. Mike too. It's a good flick that does a whole lot of stuff right, including its depiction of an alcoholic parent. So today we are discussing how The Monster gets that so right when other movies and TV shows (looking at you Cheers and The Shining) get it totally wrong.
Hey Class. This week we have John Langan on to talk about the 1996 Larry Fessenden directed flick Habit. John and Tyler talk really smart about the movie in relation to Mark Fisher and many of the concepts that he pioneered. Mike just tries to keep up!
Welcome back class, glad you could join us for another Horror Podclass where we dissect and define some of the concepts and ideas in horror. To that end, we are looking at Haunted House stories! When did they first appear? What elements do they all have? How can you tell if YOUR house in haunted? Are any of the Paranormal Activity sequels or prequels worth seeing?
Welcome back class, hope your summer was good! No rest for the wicked here, we have to keep deep-diving into horror and today it's the super unique brand of Corporate Horror brought to you by none other than Thomas Ligotti. We look at what defines corporate horror and try to apply it to a recent movie, "The Belko Experiment."
Today we are talking about the 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust and while it has its problems and its problematic elements, it is often cited as both a horror classic and the first found footage film. Today, we are diving into the film that everyone always mentions but maybe hasn't watched start to finish. We both watched the whole movie and did some research about where a movie like this comes from and what cultural significance it might still have in our internet age.
The beauty of small theatres is that they act as little pockets of experimentation. They are smaller and more adaptable and willing to try lots of different things to get people in the door. That's why last week Screenland Armour hosted a kick ass free screening of The Ranger directed by Jenn Wexler. A small budget slasher film with a fiesty indepededent spirit was exactly what I needed to start the work week.
The Ranger at its core is a movie about a girl whose uncle dies in the woods only to be rescued by a forest ranger. The titular ranger (Jeremy Holm) is not the good guy he seems. Years later Chelsea(Chloe Levine) now a young woman runs with a group of punk rockers. During a raid on a night club they are hanging out in the group shoot a police officer and decide a cabin in the woods is the perfect place to run to. Chelsea leads the group to the cabin her deceased uncle bequeathed her. The ranger recognizing Chelsea begins to come after her and her friends.
The Ranger leans into its label as a a punk rock slasher. All of the characters would willingly define themselves by that label. They go to punk rock concerts, they dress punk, and most importantly they have that fuck you mentality we commonly associate with that genre. That being said as we are establishing our main characters the punk rock label is never a mask our characters can hide behind. If they are assholes, they are punk assholes. If they are ditzy and silly than they are ditzy and silly punks. In short punk rock is not a panacea for everyone's personality issues. I appreciate that level of introspection. It gives a fullness to the characters that makes the punkness of the movie feel more like a contribution as opposed to a contrivance. The soundtrack is absolutely bonkers. Comprised mostly of west coast punk the sountrack is a wonderful hodgepodge of new and old. You will find Rotten UK, The Polyester Wags, and The Lobstrosities to name a few on this absolutely killer mix tape. It is clear that the soundtrack was handled with the same loving care the movie was given which is a truly rare thing nowadays.
The acting in this movie by the supporting cast is servicable. There is no one stealing scenes from Chelsea or the ranger. They are mostly standins for traditional slasher archtypes only with punk and modern sensibilitites. Two of the punks happens to be gay which interjects a level of modernity to the slasher subgenre that some are all too fast to label conservative. Chloe Levine is an absolute star. She emotes more with her giant eyes than most do with their entire bodies. Levine plays Chelsea with a richness that helps the audience grasp her level of damage without painting her as a victim. She is a survivor and in a punk rock fantasy that is about as good as it gets. Jeremy Holm plays a great goofy villain. I am not quite sure if he is going for campy or realism and this indescsion prevented me from ever deciding if this character is really fully developed. There is a bit with some wolf skin and some howling that totally lost me towards the end of the film. That being said if his only job is to create pe
Welcome back to the Horror Pod Class! Today we are talking about the movie, Mother! Not the Danzig Song. Not the Mike Pence catchphrase. No, we are talking about the super weird fever dream of a movie that captured our hearts (pun intended). There is a lot to unpack about this movie, including the biblical imagery and the discussion about how art is perceived, but there is a really cool undercurrent of philosophical themes related to Deep Ecology and Eco-Feminism.
Watching and Reading
Tyler: I am reading loving Found Footage and Horror Films: Fear and the Appearance of Reality by Alexandra Heller Nicholas. Also watched The Wandering Earth pretty awesome.
M: GoT. Finished Jean Rey. Hey also Written in Darkness Mark Samuels
OR: hey, wanna read some Canadian Horror? Gemma Files http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/drawn-up-from-deep-places/
Essential Question: How does Ginger Snaps handle Puberty, the Female Monster and Transfiguration.
Movie
Hey, BTW there were two sequels: https://www.thoughtco.com/ginger-snaps-movie-franchise-1873037
Theory
https://modernmythology.net/weird-horrors-conceit-807fde7e5170
Out by Sixteen”:Queer(ed) Girls in
Ginger Snaps—Tanis MacDonald in Jeuneese, Young Poe
Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures 3.1 2011
I am your worst fear, I am your best fantasy: new approaches to slash fiction
Brennan, Joseph Carl Linden
https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/5872
Application of Theory to the Movie
http://www.brattleblog.brattlefilm.org/2019/01/23/lunatics-and-riot-grrrls-how-ginger-snaps-reclaimed-the-feminine-power-of-the-werewolf-14629/
We talk all things Ginger Snaps, Transfiguration and High School. Its a rough time for everyone.
Tyler with the show notes....Spectrum Sucks
This week we are all about The Dibbuk Box....DONT OPEN IT!
What are we watching!
Tyler: Avengers End Game, Possum, Nick Cutter's The Troop
Mike: Game of Thrones. History of Westeros Podcast.
Time is a Flat Circle: Examining True Detective, Season One
Melissa Milazzo
with Adam and Mark Stewart
Dark Corners of the Web
From The Tablet: The Second Wife
Essential Question: Is there such a thing as Jewish Horror...Also Mike is an Anti Semite
The Movie:
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Not really old testament more like apocryphal religious.
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Some background information for the Actual Dybbuk Box
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Truman State University connection.
Theory
Judaism, The Dybbuk Box, and Possession by Yoram Bilu
Too Holy To Print by J.H. Chajes on Tablet
Spirit Possession in Judaism (Hardcover) Cases and Contexts from the Middle Ages to the Present (Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology)
Matisyahu is great
The Application
The Witch of Endor
The Disembodied Evil of Jewish Horror by Nathan Abrams
Other Jewish horror. The new Golem!.
NEXT WEEK: GINGER SNAPS and Transfiguration
On this week's episode, we discuss the horror film American Mary and how it views body modification, in what we think is a positive light, through a horror movie.
We are excited to announce the finalists for our April Flash Fiction Contest. April's topic was "The Global Weirding", and we were all truly impressed with the quality of work submitted. If you did not make the finals this month feel free to submit next month as we will announce the flash fiction topic on May 1st for the May Flash on the Horizon contest.
Welcome back to The Horror Pod Class, this time with more guardian angels. Today we are talking to one of our favorite horror and weird fiction authors, Nadia Bulkin! We discuss a really great movie that she turned us on to on Netflix called A Dark Song. Specifically, we discuss the concept of the Sublime and how it interacts with horror fiction.
Welcome back to The Horror Pod Class, this time with more science. Maybe not real science, but more how we fear and distrust scientists and science in general. Don't think that's true? Well just look at the kind of movies we keep making, Splice being the poster child. Also, Mike totally gets a car in a movie wrong.
PART 2 BECAUSE THE INTERNET IS HARD
Tyler is back and he has hijacked the show notes.
Short and Sweet here we go
What have we been watching/drinking/reading
I saw US. Some good information about it. https://shadowandact.com/the-ending-of-us-explained-review
The Best Science Fiction of the Year Neil Clark
Getting Ready for Zombie 101
Dark Corners of the Web
3rd bear
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vandermeer_04_07/ Also Listen on StarShipSofa Podcast
"
Essential Question:
What does Tragedy Girls have to say about SM….PS its on Hulu
- The Movie
Reviews
https://www.signalhorizon.com/single-post/2018/02/11/Movie-Review-Tragedy-Girls-Is-the-Horror-Satire-We-Want-and-Need
http://collider.com/tragedy-girls-review/
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/16449404/tragedy-girls-horror-comedy-review-slasher-satire
- The Theory
https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/03/19/5-ways-social-media-can-be-good-for-teens/?utm_term=.2f9cc063c21d
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/books/review/podcast-roger-mcnamee-zucked-facebook-catastrophe.html
- Theory Application
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/08/social-media-copies-gambling-methods-to-create-psychological-cravings
Next on The Horror Pod Class: Splice and Genetic Engineering
Welcome back class! This week we take a look at the movie Tragedy Girls and how it takes a critical look at social media. Which we all love to hate but still use anyway.
Hey Class. Its Tyler doing the show notes today. So they will be short and crappy probably. We both took trips so its great to get back to class. What we are Watching and Reading Tyler: Camp Ghoul Mountain Part 4 by Jonathan Raab Mike: Synth edited by CM Muller and Lego Movie 2 Dark Corners of the Web Nightmare Magazine Podcast Pitcher Plant Steps for..... Essential Question: What immigration questions come from a close viewing of It Came at Night Act 1 About the Movie It Came at Night won some awards Act 2 About the Theory Atlantic article from David From: Border Security and Fascists. Act 3 What the Movie has to say about the Theory Great Interview with the lead actor from Inverse. The Horror Homeroom and It Comes At Night
Slate's discussion from the Director about Immigration
Tyler and Orrin are at the Outer Dark Symposium of the Greater Weird
Mike is touring Columbia
Enjoy one of our favorite topics from Season 1 as we revisit The Weird.
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Hey Class! On this episode of Horror Podclass we talk about the upcoming movie Annihilation and one of our favorite genres, The New Weird. We discuss weird fiction, what it is, what it isn't, how it works, and where you can find more of it!
Here are some useful links to some things we discuss in the show:
Annihilation News and Trailer Worry Fans of the Book at our website, SignalHorizon.com. You can see the trailer for the upcoming movie and read a little bit about the problems adapting the book into a film.
You can also read for yourself what H.P. Lovecraft wrote about the genre, why it works, and how to write it.
Don't forget to head on over to Audible.com and start your free trial! We recommend that you get a copy of Area X by Jeff VanderMeer, which contains the entire trilogy that starts with Annihilation. Tyler recommends Karin Tidbeck as another great weird fiction author you can check out.
If you are looking for some weird fiction podcasts, check out Pseudopod, an excellent short horror fiction podcast with excellent stories and equally excellent narration. We recommend you start your weird fiction journey with episodes 574: While the Black Stars Burn by Lucy Snyder, episode 568: The Room in the Other House by Kristi Demeester, and Episode 578: Alarm will Sound by Christopher Shultz.
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Welcome back to another exciting lesson in classroom management with The Horror Pod Class. Not really. We just talk about horror here. Anyhow, this week we are talking all about secret societies, why we love to talk about them, what they are up to, and why audiences seemed so lukewarm about the movie Kill List. Also, IMDB tags can help you find movies with similar themes. Like public nudity. Before we get there, we talk about some of the great works of horror fiction we are currently reading and watching.
On this week’s Horror Podclass we are talking all about one of our deepest anxieties: how to feel about a movie that you thought was pretty good, but not really good at the same time. That and our other big anxiety, money. Specifically, the burgeoning subset of financial horror movies, Stakeland being our current target. Also, what do horror and finances have to do with each other?
The Writer/Director Al White joins Tyler to discuss his 2018 festival darling Starfish which opens its wider release very soon.
Hey Class. Its Tyler doing the show notes. So get outta here. It's time to Party!!!
It's all about loser teachers!!!
Mike is excited about socialism...mostly libraries and the USPS. Pretty Pinko commie stuff if you ask me.
I am excited about Ararat. It’s awesome. Also Books in the Freezer is great. Here is the episode we were on. It was a ton of fun. Jonathan Janz The Dark Game. Also Meta found footage movie Butterfly Kisses
Mike: True Detective. Open Curtain by Brian Evenson.
Dark Corners of the Web
Body Parts Magazine
Bad Boy Kristen Roupenian. Bad Boy
Essential Question: How do the invasion of the body snatcher movies reflect the different cultural anxieties of the time.
Screen Prism has a great body snatcher article
Capgras Delusion is pretty messed up.
Dudes that use logic
Teaching The Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Weird people who don’t exist
Teachers in the era of accountability and testing. We are the POD PEOPLE. Emotionless and robotic. Found in:
Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue Volume 18 2016 by Michael Bailey
Not linking to the Washington Examiner. Go find it yourself.
World Health Organization best practices guide for medical professionals to respond to vaccine deniers. Or, HOW TO ARGUE WITH IDIOTS
Patreon for Signal Horizon
Twitter for Signal Horizon and The Horror Pod Class
Facebook Group for HPC
Facebook for Signal Horizon
On this week’s Horror Podclass we are doing a deep dive into the brand new Blue-Ray release of the 2018 movie Overlord. This movie has everything: Nazis, zombies, motorcycles with sidecars, explosions, and jumping out of airplanes. It just doesn't really have much to say about the horrors of war or the nature of evil... but hey, that's OK. It is still a really fun movie. Plus, Tyler gives us a sneak peek at some of the cool features on the Blue-Ray disk.
On this week’s Horror Podclass we are doing a deep dive into the 2008 zombie horror movie Pontypool, language, philosophy, and rhetoric. Pontypool is easily one of our favorite movies, but not everyone liked it. As evidenced by our anonymous Amazon reviewer, not everyone thought it was a zombie movie. Whether you liked it or hated it, the movie does offer up some very interesting critiques on language and at least makes you think.
This week we are talking with writer and director Phil Gelatt about one of his favorite movies of all time, The Ninth Gate. Phil also gives us a bit of a heads up about a new Netflix project that he worked on entitled Love, Death, and Robots. Then we get down into the gritty rare book dealing world of The Ninth Gate, how and why it has captivated Phil's attention, and what the creepy, magical, and powerful book trope means to the genre.
On this week’s Horror Podclass we are jumping back into one of our favorite subgenres: the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! Specifically, we are discussing the rather subdued movie, The Night Eats the World. It's French. It lacks machine guns. Not too much gore. But don't let that hold you back, as we have found Night Eats the World is a wonderful character study and a really complex exploration of loneliness.
On this week’s Horror Podclass we invited two friends of the podcast, the first is JR Hamatachen one of our favorite horror writers of 2018. The other is Carson Winter, who writes about punk rock on Dying Scene and also happens to write about horror on Signal Horizon. We discuss the 2015 movie The Green Room, all things punk rock, bad reviews, and Nazis.
Welcome back to The Horror Pod Class! Today's discussion will center around the awesome Benson and Moorhead flick Resolution, with a bit of a continued discussion about their latest movie, The Endless. Specifically, we discuss how the film uses addiction to tell a compellingly weird horror story and how they get it right when so many others don't. Also, we make fun of some random guy who left a less than positive review on Amazon. It's a good time.
Welcome back to The Horror Pod Class! Today's discussion will center around the brand new Netflix blockbuster, Bird Box. Specifically, we discuss how the film uses a discussion of parenting styles to make an engaging narrative. Also, we make fun of some random guy who left a review of The Happening on Amazon. It's a good time.
Thanks for joining us for the second half of our favorites of 2018. Today we are talking about our favorite movies and articles we read. We are also making some bold and some not so bold predictions for 2019. Grab a seat class is about to begin.
Thanks for joining us again at The Horror Pod Class, today we are doing something a bit different for us... best of the year lists! We are going to be walking you through some of the absolute best podcast episodes of the year and the best horror short fiction. So let's jump in!
Welcome back to The Horror Pod Class! Today's discussion will center around the 2008 Swedish film, Let The Right One In. Specifically, we will be discussing why this movie is better than your average vampire move and how it captures the stages of adolescence.
Welcome back after the Thanksgiving break! Hope you all are rested and ready to learn about Psychogeography. If you have never heard of the concept, don't worry! Its really cool, fun, and not as hard to understand as its way too long and overly complicated Wikipedia entry indicates.
Welcome back class! Today Tyler and Mike are talking about The Strangers (2018) and what it has to tell us as an exemplar of the Home Invasion Subgenre. Is there even such a thing? What does it mean and why does it scare us? Did 9/11 change horror? Those are some of the topics we cover, as well as "Tyler's Taxonomy of Home Invasion Movies."
Today we are discussing a franchise that we have all heard of and watched, the Saw franchise! Yep, it doesn't matter if you love or hate Saw, you have to admit that at least the first one was pretty powerful. Instead of hating on Saw, which we do a little bit, we take a look back at Jigsaw through the lens of French philosopher Michel Foucault's conception of "biopower" and "biopolitics." Plus, hear Mike's take on S.T. Joshi's latest nonfiction work, 21st Century Horror.
Howdy boys and girls, welcome back to another Horror Pod Class! Today we are all going to learn about the "Screenlife" movie making technique, why it works or doesn't, and what it could mean to the future of movie making. What is "Screenlife?" Screenlife is an innovative digital language that tells a whole narrative within the frames of a screen. The method was created by Timur Bekmambetov, whose name Tyler doesn't even try to pronounce correctly.
Welcome back class! This week we are talking about horror movie sequels, why we love them and why we hate them. So many are so lackluster, yet every year we get a new crop. Obviously, both movie studios and moviegoers keep finding a reason to make them relevant, so seriously, what gives?
Hey Class This one is gonna be a fun one. Strap in and get ready for Gendered Violence and The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Thanks for joining us for another episode of The Horror Pod Class! Today we are going to be talking about one of our favorite movies, David Cronenburg's eXistenZ. Specifically, we are going to be exploring how the film uses body horror to accentuate the themes of manufactured reality and transformation.
On today's horror Pod Class we are discussing Fascist Horror, or more specifically anit-fascist horror. After discussing what new horror and horror related books and movies we are currently enjoying, we take a deep dive into the movie Pan's Labyrinth and discuss some of the subtext that American audiences may have missed.
Holiday time is just around the corner so the Horror Pod Class is starting the season a bit early with a discussion of Holiday Horror and why it endures as a genre. After discussing what we are reading, watching, and who we are picking fights with on the internet, we talk about our favorite holiday horror movies.
Class is back in session and today we are looking at the classic horror film Rosemary's Baby. It has quite a bit of Gothic influences, but what makes it such a great movie is how it blends those older motifs with the film style of the New Wave Cinema. We talk all out what the New Wave is, how to spot it, and how it was better (or at least more naked) in France.
Hey Class today we are talking all about Get Out
What are you reading
Tyler: Tyler is reading Brian Hodge West of Matamoros North of Hell, Edge of the Known Bus Line by Brian Gapinksi out of Etchings Press. John Langan's The Wide Carnivorous Sky
Mike: Jon Padgett's Broker of Nightmares, Charitable Chatbooks from Nightscape Press. Ashes and Entropy by Nightscape as well. An Anthology of Victory in Defiance by Apex
Dark Corners of The Web
Post Mortem Pod Cast, Event Horizon, In the Mouth of Madness, The Thing.
Bell Rings
Tyler Mentions White Zombie, and The Rainbow and The Serpent. He says Get Out is a zombie movie
We mention an article in Atlantic Monthly by Lenika Smith
Nike Advertisement
The Philosophy of Horror by Noel Carroll
- ONSET
- DISCOVERY
- CONFIRMATION
- CONFRONTATION
Hippocampus by Adam Neville
Black Bark by Brian Evenson
The Invitation
High Times Article by Tim Kohut
Lots of what we are watching and reading. Followed by a bigger conversation about the hit show Castle Rock.
Hey guys, we are back this week with a deep dive into Gothic Literature! The Gothic casts a long, dark, and creepy shadow over modern horror and has spawned many sub-genres and reinterpretations. Specifically, we are going to be discussing the "New American Gothic" and how the 1979 film The Amityville Horror breathes new life into Gothic themes.
Class is back in session and this time we are going to try to talk smart about a dumb movie! Truth or Dare made a whole bunch of money, but it wasn't exactly a deep film. It did use a very interesting motif in horror called "the liminal space" and today we are going to discuss how that space works and why it made Truth or Dare an engaging movie.