Advertise on podcast: Horror Homeroom Conversations

In our second episode, we take up Endless Night and its literary and cinematic tentacles. As a fascinating example of story evolution, Endless Night's origins and adaptations give insight into Christie's creative process, with each iteration worthy of consideration

From a highly anticipated exhibition at the British Museum debuting in October to a new BBC series centering Hercule Poirot to the imminent debut of a modern Miss Marple mystery novel, Agatha Christie and her characters remain firmly in the popular culture zeitgeist an astounding fifty years after her death. In some ways, this is not unexpected of an author who has sold over a billion books. And yet, the modern agility and resonance of her stories when compared against her writing contemporaries is worth thinking about - and that is exactly what we hope to do in this seven-part podcast examining the enduring legacy of Christie’s works. We will also consider how Christie’s position as “Queen of Mysteries” has potentially erased her contributions to horror and gothic storytelling by offering an assessment of both her most famous and less so storytelling devices. In our first episode, we take up The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a story that will reach its 100th year milestone this year and whose unexpected twist continues to divide readers. Please be mindful that this podcast series will contain spoilers.

In this episode, we’re talking all things I Know What You Did Last Summer. Loosely based on the novel by Lois Duncan, this story of adolescent guilt and moral consequence has demonstrated remarkable cultural longevity but why? We’re breaking down this legacy sequel with spoilers, so stay tuned. Works Cited Khalid, Haliyana, and Alan Dix. "I Know What You Did Last Summer: What Can We Learn from Photolog." ECSCW Conference, 2007. Och, Dana. "Beyond Surveillance: Questions of the Real in the Neopostmodern Horror Film." Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015, pp. 195-212. Schneider, Steven Jay. "Kevin Williamson and the Rise of the Neo-stalker." Post Script, vol. 19, no. 2, 1999, pp. 73-87.

We're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws by looking back at Spielberg’s genre-defining original and its progressively wilder sequels. A quartet of films that not only redefined summer horror but also played a pivotal role in shaping contemporary fears of the ocean, the Jaws franchise embraced genre hybridity, influenced public perception of sharks, and contributed to the rise of the summer blockbuster. But are there other reasons that explain the original film’s enduring cultural relevance? We’re diving in today with spoilers, so stay tuned! References Caputi, Jane E. "Jaws as Patriarchal Myth." Journal of Popular Film, vol. 6, no. 4, 1978, pp. 305-326. Caputi, Jane. "Jaws as Patriarchal—and Ecocidal—Myth." "This Shark, Swallow You Whole": Essays on the Cultural Influence of Jaws, edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and Philip L. Simpson, McFarland, 2023, pp. 9 - 17. Edgerton, Gary R. “Summer Spielberg, Winter Spielberg: Generational Transitions from Jaws to the Age of Convergence.” "This Shark, Swallow You Whole": Essays on the Cultural Influence of Jaws, edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and Philip L. Simpson, McFarland, 2023, pp. 227-244. Howe, Andrew. “Amity Means Friendship: Jaws and the Post-Vietnam Politics of Perception.” "This Shark, Swallow You Whole": Essays on the Cultural Influence of Jaws, edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and Philip L. Simpson, McFarland, 2023, pp. 31 - 45. Jackson, Kathy Merlock, and Philip L. Simpson, eds. " This shark, swallow you whole": Essays on the Cultural Influence of Jaws. McFarland, 2023. “Jaws (franchise).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 May 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity. Accessed 6 June 2025. Le Busque, Brianna, and Carla Litchfield. "Sharks on Film: An Analysis of How Shark-Human Interactions Are Portrayed in Films." Human Dimensions of Wildlife, vol. 27, no. 2, 2022, pp. 193-199. Lucken, Melissa Ford. “Struggling Against the Tide: Narrative Structure and the Human Connection in Jaws.” "This Shark, Swallow You Whole": Essays on the Cultural Influence of Jaws, edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and Philip L. Simpson, McFarland, 2023, pp. 46 - 58. Melia, Matthew. "Relocating the Western in Jaws." The 'Jaws' Book: New Perspectives on the Classic Summer Blockbuster, edited by IQ Hunter and Matthew Melia, Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.McFarland, 2023, pp. 46 - 58. Rubey, Dan. "⁠The Jaws in the Mirror⁠." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, no. 10-11, 1976, pp. 20-23. Copyright Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 1976, 2004.

In this episode, we're exploring the intersection of environmental anxiety and horror cinema via the tangled roots of eco-horror. In Day of the Animals (1977), high altitude radiation stemming from the hole in the ozone layer triggers an animal uprising in the mountains and leaves a group of stranded hikers battling the elements and each other. In Nature's Grave (2007), a troubled couple descends upon a remote beach where their careless and, at times, cruel treatment of the natural world finally causes nature to push back. Both films serve as generative time capsules in understanding our current escalating climate crisis and leave us wondering what happens when the natural world refuses to stay silent. We're breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.

On today’s episode, it’s Nicholas Cage unleashed to somewhat questionable results in Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs.In the film, FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), a woman with possible clairvoyant abilities, is drawn into a series of murder-suicides spanning decades. A Lynchian crime procedural that leans into a fusion of supernatural and religious horror, Longlegs is a highly stylized descent intodarkness that has left audiences divided. We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.

In this episode, plastic smiles and perfectly coiffed doppelgängers are a veneer of perfection obscuring suburban darkness in Bryan Forbes’ The Stepford Wives (1975). Based on the novel by Ira Levin (1972), the film follows a woman named Joanna (Katherine Ross), who moves to a seemingly perfect suburban town only to discover that the women are being replaced with emotionless, submissive robots created by their husbands. Blending social commentary, satire and suspense, the film has been criticized for its “vision of feminism.” But given the current political landscape, does its themes deserve reconsideration? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

With multiple Academy Award nominations under its belt, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) is one of the most talked-about films of the year. Fusing body horror with a feminist twist, the film follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a Hollywood star celebrating her fiftieth birthday. When she is unexpectedly released from her contract by network executives who suddenly deem her too old to host her long-running aerobics show, Elisabeth turns to "The Substance," a secret serum that promises to rejuvenate her appearance by generating a younger version of herself, named Sue (Margaret Qualley).  But as the two grow to resent each other, it becomes clear that perfection comes with a cost. With awards buzz and an imminent second theatrical run, The Substance is connecting with audiences and critics alike. But is the hype earned? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

In today's episode, it’s Tim Burton’s fever dream masterpiece Beetlejuice—a horror-comedy classic with shades of surrealism that’s as colorfully bizarre as its namesake character! The film follows Barbara and Adam Maitland, a recently deceased couple, intent on scaring off the new living occupants of their home, the Deetz family. When their best ghostly efforts prove futile, they decide to enlist the services of Betelgeuse, a freelance bio-exorcist more interested in causing havoc than in helping. With its long awaited sequel set to hit theaters September 6, we’re taking a look back at Burton’s first commercial success so stay tuned.

In today’s episode, it’s creature feature, B-movie summer horror with 1979’s The Great Alligator and 1980s’s Alligator. Despite their very different settings, both films lean into the carnage caused by their snappy, tail-spinning reptilian monsters while simultaneously suggesting that the true villains are more of the two legged variety. But do their eco-critical considerations resonate with today’s audiences? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

In today’s episode, Vincent Price helms House of Usher, a dark tale of decay inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s 1839 short story "The Fall of the House of Usher.” Released in 1960 as the first in the Corman-Poe cycle of films, the film follows Phillip as he visits the Usher mansion in the hopes of convincing his runaway fiance, Madeline, to return to him. But his efforts are continually thwarted by Madeline’s brother, Roderick, who warns Phillip that marriage to Madeline will result in total, personal destruction. Merging elements of the gothic sensibility that marked Poe’s illustrative career with a specific brand of 1960s film affect, House of Usher is a surprisingly overlooked film in the gothic horror canon. But should it be? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned! Recommended Reading: Avelar, Mário. "The Colors of Melancholy in Roger Corman's House of Usher." The Edgar Allan Poe Review 11.1 (2010): 174-181. Hendershot, Cyndy. "Domesticity and Horror in House of Usher and Village of the Damned." Quarterly Review of Film & Video 17.3 (2000): 221-227. Reyes, Xavier Aldana. "Gothic Horror Film, 1960—Present." The Gothic World. Routledge, 2013. 388-398. St. Armand, Barton Levi. "Poe's Landscape of the Soul: Association Theory and" The Fall of the House of Usher"." Modern Language Studies (1977): 32-41. Thompson, James. "Alternative Treasures: The Fall of the House of Usher and The Terror within Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle." Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture 6.1 (2021): 168-190.

In today's episode, “one, two, Freddy’s coming for you” in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Chuck  Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). In the original 1984 release, a group of teens attempt to outsmart Freddy Krueger, a supernatural killer who stalks them in their dreams. In the 1987 sequel, a band of institutionalized teens attempt to defeat Krueger and save the life of an innocent by intentionally entering Dreamland together to dire consequences. Aided by one of the most famous monsters in horror film canon, the films are considered essential viewing for fans of the slasher film, but is there more to this franchise than gore and Freddy’s razor sharp wit? We're breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned. Recommended Reading Christensen, Kyle. "The Final Girl versus Wes Craven's" A Nightmare on Elm Street": Proposing a Stronger Model of Feminism in Slasher Horror Cinema." Studies in Popular Culture 34.1 (2011): 23-47. Gill, Pat. "The monstrous years: Teens, slasher films, and the family." Journal of Film and Video 54.4 (2002): 16-30. Heba, Gary. "Everyday Nightmares: The Rhetoric of Social Horror in the Nightmare on Elm Street Series." Journal of Popular Film and Television 23.3 (1995): 106-115. Kendrick, James. "Razors in the Dreamscape: Revisiting" A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the Slasher Film." Film Criticism 33.3 (2009): 17-33. Nowell, Richard. Blood money: A history of the first teen slasher film cycle. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2010. Podoshen, Jeffrey Steven. "Home is Where the Horror Is: Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street." Quarterly Review of Film and Video 35.7 (2018): 722-729. Shimabukuro, Karra. "The Bogeyman of Your Nightmares: Freddy Krueger's Folkloric Roots." Studies in Popular Culture 36.2 (2014): 45-65.

In today’s episode, festive cheer gets a bloody makeover in Chris Peckover’s Better Watch Out (2016) and Tyler MacIntyre’s It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023). A subgenre of horror that turns beloved seasonal traditions into nightmarish fodder, Christmas horror is rife with malevolent Santas, homicidal elves, and many, many angry snowmen. But what happens when the source of the horror in these films takes a much more human form?  We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.

In today’s episode, it's an old school horror-comedy romp with Matthew Goodhue’s Slotherhouse (2023). The plot revolves around Alpha, a homicidal three-toed sloth who is abducted from her home in the Panamanian jungle by poachers. Upon killing Oliver, one of the poachers, she is taken in by Emily who believes Alpha just might be her ticket to the sorority house presidency. But when Alpha discovers Emily looking chummy with Oliver in an Instagram post, she unleashes her fury on the unsuspecting sorority house. With some fans and critics lambasting the film as the dumbest story ever committed to film and others declaring it the best horror film of the year, Slotherhouse is, to put it mildly, divisive. We’re breaking it all down with spoilers, so stay tuned.

In today’s episode, we are finally tackling the film Roger Ebert called “a raw and painful experience” that “transcends the genre of terror, horror, and the supernatural.” We are, of course, talking about William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973). Based on William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name, the film is an acknowledged classic trafficking in body horror and demonic possession, scenes of which have morphed into head turning, pea-soup laced pop culture shorthand. But is there more to this story than meets the eye? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned. References/Mentioned in this Episode Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film-Up. Princeton University Press, 2015. Collative Learning. The even darker underbelly of THE EXORCIST - film analysis. YouTube, 24 January 2017. Ebert, Roger. “The Exorcist.” RogerEbert.com, 23 December 1973. Happy Haunts Library, YouTube, 2023. Heffernan, Ryan. “The 9 Most Hilarious 'The Exorcist' Parodies in Movies and TV Shows.” Collider, 9 October 2023. Schuetz, Janice. "“The exorcist”: Images of good and evil." Western Journal of Communication (includes Communication Reports) 39.2 (1975): 92-101. Williams, Marlena. Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of The Exorcist. Mad Creek Books, 2023. Faces of Fear: Encounters with the Creators of Modern Horror. Berkley Trade, 1985, pp. 36-49.