Freaks and Psychos: The Disability in Horror Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

AnDread interviews director Daniel Lane Baker, writer Benjamin Roberts, and actor Daniel Aaron Harris to discuss their horror short Able Bodies. We discuss how incorporating the real experiences of disabled people (Harris has cerebral palsy, and Baker and Roberts have their own personal experiences with disability as well) and centering disability changes the story they tell. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode021/

AnDread and returning guests Josh Anderson and Matt Connolly discuss John Carpenter·s Halloween (1978), mental illness, evil, and the mad psychiatrist Dr. Loomis. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode020

AnDread, Pastor Matt, and Jackson of Father and Son Watch Horror Movies dive into Wait Until Dark (1967). We discuss self-reliance, victimization, and discovering abilities through trial. Also reviews of the Evolution of Horror Podcast and Philip K. Dick’s Ubik (1969). Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode011

AnDread and Nichole Goble dive into Run. We discuss caregiver abuse, overcoming vs. living with disability, and factitious disorder imposed upon another. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode010

AnDread and Lauren Strand dive into Hush to discuss deafness, social isolation, and disabled female protagonists. Show Notes at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode009

AnDread briefly reviews horror movies from 2020 that feature disability and discusses common themes such as trauma, grief, family dysfunction, independence, delusion, paranoia, and diversity within disability representation. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode008

AnDread and Dark Mark (creator of the show’s theme music!) dive into disability in Christmas horror. We discuss obsession, PTSD, and Down syndrome in Christmas Evil, Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Red Christmas. Also reviews of the Faculty of Horror Podcast and and John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Old Dreams Die. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode007

AnDread and horror podcasting legend Jay of the Dead dive into Ari Aster’s Hereditary. We discuss mental illness, family dysfunction, and how these relate to the film’s supernatural aspects. Also reviews of the Stephen King Cast and Stephen King’s The Stand. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode006

AnDread and author Vicious Victor Rodriguez dive into one of the show’s namesakes, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). We discuss mental illness in horror, the Other, and the film’s shifting perspectives and sympathies. Also reviews of the Psychoanalysis Podcast and Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel that inspired the film. Show Notes available at freaksandpsychospodcast.com/episode005

AnDread is joined by his friends and fellow horror hounds Joshua Anderson and Matthew Connolly to discuss the prominence of disability in slasher films in classics such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th.