Horror Podcasts

I listen to a fair share of podcasts. A lot, really. I fill my chore hours with podcasts to take my mind off of the task at hand...and to drown out the voices in my head. heheheh  I took a look at my growing list of podcasts recently when I found myself running short on iPhone space and thought, "Wow...that's a lot of horror podcasts in there. Maybe I'll spread the word about some of the ones I like today." So, here is the current list of items on my phone.

 
1951 DOWN PLACE
http://1951downplace.com/ 
A great HAMMER HORROR podcast. These three gents do a fantastic job of covering the Hammer offerings and dive into some of the backstories and details nicely.





THE BLACK TAPES
http://theblacktapespodcast.com/ 
This falls under story podcasts and I love it. THE BLACK TAPES is a paranormal serial, really, going over the Black Tapes - a series of cases of a paranormal de-bunker with an interesting past.

The Black Tapes is a weekly podcast from Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale, and is hosted by Alex Reagan. The Black Tapes Podcast is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's search for truth, her enigmatic subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both. 
How do you feel about paranormal activity or supernatural? Ghosts? Spirits? Demons?
Do you believe?




DARK DISCUSSIONS
http://www.darkdiscussions.com/ 
Another cool group discussion about horror films and related topics. They are a lively bunch with a vast horror movie viewing history to pull from. Good conversations and some funny banter.




THE DRABBLECAST
http://www.drabblecast.org/ 
Not strictly horror, this story podcast offers up some fantastic literature readings. It's a "smart" podcast as well with some quick and nimble writing.

The Drabblecast is a weekly podcast featuring flash fictions from a variety of genres. Its singular message is that of off beat, funny, eclecticism. It is a paying fiction market, accepting submissions. The Drabblecast is the winner of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Parsec Awards for Best Speculative Fiction Audio Magazine.



DREAD CENTRAL DINNER FOR FIENDS
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/41250/dinner-for-fiends-pretty-damn-good-horror-podcast/
Sadly, these guys don't "put out" as often as I'd like them to. hehehe They are REALLY funny and, while the audio quality can vary a bit, the content is always interesting and very humorous.





FACULTY OF HORROR
http://www.facultyofhorror.com/ 
THE FACULTY OF HORROR podcast is rather interesting in it's overall approach. It's more like a horror class in college with a bent towards women in horror and the roles of women in horror in various horror films and collections of horror imagery and tropes. They really do a grand job and it's always an interesting listen.

Tackling all things horror with a slash of analysis and research, horror journalists and occasional academics Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West are your hosts for brain plumping discussions on all things that go bump in the night.
Produced independently in Toronto, Ontario The Faculty of Horror is your best source for classic and contemporary horror film discussions that will haunt the libraries of your mind!

HAMMERED HORROR
http://www.hammeredhorror.net/ 
I used to LOVE the old MONDO MOVIE PODCAST and I was really sad when it ended. Listening to to fun English gents talk horror was a hoot. Well, HAMMERED HORROR brings it all back with two highly entertaining English gentleman talking and laughing about horror films whilst sipping adult beverages from time to time adding to the wild nature of the podcast. I love it. It's one of those, "MAN! These guys seem like they would be fun to hang with!" podcasts. :)



HORROR ETC PODCAST
http://www.horroretc.com/ 
These two may not put out podcasts regularly, but the content is well worth the wait in most cases. I keep them in my podcast list and I'm pleasantly surprised when I see a new podcast in the listing. They are just super busy, which I completely understand. One of them even makes actual horror movies, which I can get behind completely!  Very entertaining horror discussions.




HORROR NEWS RADIO
http://horrornewsradio.com/ 
I'm relatively new to this podcast, but I dig it so far. Another group situation with lively conversations. What I've noticed so far is that these folks don't always agree on each others opinions and they are NOT afraid to let each other know about it! hehehehe  I've enjoyed people having debates on execution and the like - it makes it a more lively podcast indeed!





HYPNOBOBS / HYPNOGORIA
http://www.hypnogoria.com/html/podcast.html 
I love this podcast. It's fantastic. Jim Moon really knows his subject matter and I look forward to the podcast content every time. He covers a wide variety of offerings as well, which makes things interesting and highly entertaining. He covers film, literature, authors and more. His research is fantastic - a comprehensive coverage of the subject at hand for sure. One of my all time faves - especially when he does Christmas Ghost Story readings around the holidays!




KNIFEPOINT HORROR
http://knifepointhorror.libsyn.com/ 
Another favorite of mine, this horror story podcast is fantastic. It's presented in a very interesting way as well. Hardly any music or background sound effects. It's like you've walked into a room where someone is waiting for you. You sit down and listen to their story - a true telling of an even or happening in that person's life. Some of them are really chilling. Fantastic podcast.






THE NO SLEEP PODCAST
http://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/ 
For those who prefer a little more production in their story telling, there's the NO SLEEP PODCAST. Great acting and presentation for some truly creepy tails. Very NIGHT GALLERY in feel, these tales really do promote insomnia! :)

In the spring of 2010, a new forum appeared on Reddit.com. It was called “Nosleep” and the concept of this forum (or “subreddit”) was to be a place for people to post original scary stories about frightening experiences. It was an online version of telling spooky stories around the campfire.
A year later, as Nosleep was growing at a rapid pace, one member named Matt Hansen proposed the idea of doing a podcast where some of the top stories from Nosleep would be narrated in audiobook style. The response was quite positive and over the next few months a small group of members endeavored to put together what would come to be known as The Nosleep Podcast. On June 13th, 2011 Episode #1 was released.




PSEUDOPOD
http://pseudopod.org/ 
A wide variety of horror tales can be found here. PSEUDOPOD has been around for a long time and you can see why when you listen. It's really one of the best horror story podcast offerings out there.

WARNING: This is a podcast of horror fiction. The stories presented here are intended to disturb. They are likely to contain death, graphic violence, explicit sex (including sexual violence), hate crimes, blasphemy, or other themes and images that hook deep into your psyche. We do not provide ratings or content warnings. We assume by your listening that you wish to be disturbed for your entertainment. If there are any themes that you cannot deal with in fiction, that are too strongly personal to you, please do not listen.




THE SCREAM CAST
http://www.thescreamcast.com/ 
Horror discussion on the hip (...but not lame hip) side, these guys play well together and present a lot of interesting info and banter for sure. Lively and entertaining horror discussion. 

The ScreamCast is a podcast hosted by Sean Duregger, Brad Henderson and BJ Colangelo. It began as a celebration of one of our favorite Horror flick label, Scream Factory. Since then, however, we’ve moved into celebrating the many other boutique horror labels like Synapse, Vinegar Syndrome, Cult Epics and more.
With special guests, celebrity interviews, top 10 lists and reviews we celebrate all things retro, cult and fringe in horror!

 
THE SCRIPT
http://thescript.podbean.com/ 
These folks focus on the script of films and cover a wide variety of topics and films, not just horror related. They manage to focus on the script without being too dry about it, which is grand. This could be a super dry, saltine cracker of a podcast, but they manage to keep the conversation lively and interesting, bouncing from the film overview to how the script is structured. Very cool stuff.




 
WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
http://commonplacebooks.com/ 
This is one wild podcast. It's played out like a small town radio station broadcast about the ULTRA-FRUCKING STRANGE goings on in NIGHT VALE, a location that one could look at as the place where every NIGHT GALLERY, TWILIGHT ZONE and RICHARD MATHESON story originates from! hehehehe  I love it! It's strange and fun and funny and the production is tight and crisp. ALWAYS entertaining. ALWAYS strange.

"The new dog park is now open. Remember, there are no dogs allowed in the dog park. Do not talk to the hooded figures that you may see in the dog park. Stay away...from the new dog park."   :)

MADHOUSE

I finally made time to see the 1974 classic MADHOUSE recently. I tossed it one while working on a project thinking that it was going to be some fluffy, empty horror comedy. I'm not sure where I got that idea - it was far from comedy.

In this tale, we meet Paul Toombes (Vincent Price) - the actor behind the famous movie madman Dr. Death. Toombes created the character with his dear friend Herbert Flay (Peter Cushing) and movie after movie was made. However, after tragedy strikes Toombes, we're not sure if Dr. Death will return.

Enough said about the plot. We have PRICE and CUSHING together here! It's a fantastic pairing. Like wine and cheese or cookies and ice cream! :) The performances are fantastic and well worth a watch. The 70s film making could be tough for those who love today's BOURNE bouncing camera and rocket edits, but the charm and grace of this film made it for me. What we really have here is a who-done-it in a classic giallo style. We know something is amiss, but we're not sure what it is exactly.

The film does run off the rails a bit at the end. I found myself blinking at the screen and wondering what it was I just saw. However, I was so invested in the film and it's characters that this small plot swerve merely got a raised eyebrow and a audible "Huh?" out of me before I slipped right back into it's delicious, Hammer Horror-style glory.

If you're a Price fan, you'll love the use of many of his previous films as the films of Dr. Death. FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM and clips from many more Price classics are  shown and it turns into a lovely homage to Price and his work.

The film is also Directed by Jim Clark. While this seems to be his biggest Director outing, he's been an editor on some major titles - The World is Not Enough, Marathon Man, Charade and The Killing Fields just to name a few. Nothing to shake a stick at, as they say.

All in all, you can't go wrong with MADHOUSE. Put it on one dark and rainy night, pour yourself a glass of wine, sit back and enjoy!

Available on NETFLIX streaming at the time of this post.

Twins of Evil

The HAMMER FEST continues with TWINS OF EVIL from 1971.

Here we have the return of the Karnsteins in the final film of the Karnstein trilogy...of evil. Frieda and Maria Gellhorn - adorable twins - come from Vienna to stay with their uncle Gustav (The most awesome Peter Cushing) after their parents pass away. They are proper young ladies, but not proper enough for their witch burning, bible loving Uncle - the leader of THE BROTHERHOOD of witch hunters. And we soon find out that the young twins have very different personalities, too. One is good...and the other has the touch of evil. This makes her most desirable to Count Karnstein, especially after he gives his soul to the devil and becomes a vampire. Can Gustav and the townspeople reach the Count before he and the wicked Frieda escape?


This film is in line with the others in the trilogy. I'd say this is my second fave of the three behind THE VAMPIRE LOVERS and before LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. We hear about Mircalla Karnstein (I believe she even makes an appearance) and the Karnstein line and their wicked deeds. We see the Karnstein devil influences. All in all, it's an enjoyable addition.

We get the usual Hammer cleavage as well, but it pales compared to THE VAMPIRE LOVERS. The Collinson twins are very cute and work well as the films leads. They don't have the same presence as Ingrid Pitt or Yutte Stensgaard, however, but it is hard to keep that level of screen presence. Especially casting true twins.

The film has some nice gimmics in it. When Karnstein signs his soul away, he can not be seen in mirrors. They did a simple trick where the mirror was taken out and a duplicate of the room was created so that it looked like there was no reflection. Simple, but effective. There were several "witch burning" scenes with the classic "fire in front of the camera" routine. Again, effective. This was another almost bloodless vampire film. When someone is bitten, small dribbles of blood are shown on the neck. It was truly a more simple time when it came to horror.

The story is simple, but the real fun comes from the relationships between characters - one of my favorite parts of Hammer films. I don't watch them for the "horror" (they are really tame) , but LOVE their character interactions. TWINS has some fantastic interplay.

Cushing as Gustav Weil is not a nice guy here. He's horrid, driven and blind to anything but leading the Brotherhood in their witch hunt. He hunts down and burns several women in his hunt for evil with no trial or mercy all in the name of good. Karnstein is his main enemy even before he's changed. He represents the impure nature of man - full of lust and impropriety. Karnstein, in turn, loves provoking Gustav because he has political ties that prevent Gustav from doing anything to him. Very handy especially after he's made into a vampire.

The twins run the same - Frieda wanting to escape the tyrannical uncle and Maria wanting to remain the good girl. They love each other, but there is a great tension between them as well. Maria is so kind that she even pretends to be her sister when her uncle checks in on them so her sister won't get into trouble.

There's also a rather forgettable love interest in the story, but the only thing I liked about him was a scene where he thinks about launching a spear into the chest of Count Karnstein even though he happens to be holding Maria in his arms...at chest level...up on the second floor. A villager stops him and says, "You can't! You might hit Maria!" and the love interest lowers the spear with a "Oh yeah, I guess you're right" look on his face. Comical.



TWINS OF EVIL is a fun little gothic horror drama and is well worth checking out.

Vampire Lovers

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) is a fantastic film.

Don't get me wrong, it's a film made in the 70s, so it has 70s pacing and 70s acting, but there's a charm in that. A charm that works so very well with the gothic vampire theme. Ideal for a cold winter night.


Ingrid Pitt the lead in the film - the mysterious Marcilla. But, is she who she says she is? She slips into the homes of families as an invited guest and the beautiful daughters of the homes start dying. Slowly.




Now, there is really nothing to spoil here - it's a vampire story. So, there are vampires. The story itself is classic. Vampire anemia making young girls waste away while strapping young men and noble older men try to find the vampire or vampires and do away with them before the young innocent dies. The Hammer Studios stamp is all over this film. Fantastic, gothic sets with fog and candles all around. Men ride horses through forests while lovely ladies with cleavage abound.   It's lovely.

The film poster above is not for the film I saw. This poster would have you believe there are women ravaging men in chains. "Not for the mentally immature." Hilarious. In truth, this film has more of a lesbian twist. Pitt makes the young, sweet ladies swoon as she drains them of their life essence. And man, it has scenes of smoldering passion, that's for sure. (Again, 1970s style) NETFLIX even has it with a Gay and Lesbian tag.  Whatever it is, it's sexually charged and fun to watch.

The pace will through a few people off, I'm sure. The story itself is sound and moves along like you're reading a novel. However, people with modern day pacing sensibilities will hate this film, I believe, kicking their feet and clawing the arms of their chairs as they wait for a car chase or explosion. Even the "gore" - little as there is - is far more tame than today's films. (I just saw PIRANHA and the first 10 minutes was more gore filled than Vampire Lovers.)


If you need another reason to watch this film, it's Peter Cushing. While he doesn't have a lot of screen time, the time he does occupy is golden as usual. He is serious as ever and his performance is top notch.

 There's another character that I wasn't 100% sure about. If someone knows who he is, please let us know in the comments below! He's a vampire who is in on the charade of Pitt and who seems to be the leader of the vampire house guest plan, yet the story never says who he is or who he could be. I read that this film is part of a Karnstein Vampire Trilogy: VAMPIRE LOVERS, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and TWINS OF EVIL. I'll have to see if the character reappears in those films. They are on my list.

So, if you're a fan of the fantastic HAMMER HORROR films of the 70s and have somehow missed this film, check it out and play along with the Karnstein Vampire Trilogy! If it's been a while since you've seen the film and remember liking it, revisit it and let us know if you still approve.

And, as always, let us know if you didn't like the film and why and maybe we can have a...dialog?

YouTube has these movies available. While not the best viewing experience, it's great for "instant grat" people like myself.

~The Vampire Lovers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRqG11LU1Oc

~~Lust for a Vampire - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0Sdc1TiOeM

~~~Twins of Evil - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WH699V9iro