Maxxxine is the final neon-soaked chapter of Ti West's trilogy, blending genres influenced by their respective decades. Gabe talks about how sexuality is explored in Ti West's trilogy and gives us a film history lesson on video nasties. Kat talks about the 1980s Satanic Panic craze.

The Witch is a psychological, folktale horror film that offers us a slow descent into a puritanical satanic panic. A witchy crucible tale that subverts the traditional empowering women narratives we're used to. Gabe shares what they took from the film and why a second watch left them terribly depressed. Kat gives a history lesson on Puritans, what brought them to the New World and what makes them different from the Separatists.

Fallout is an ambitious, gore-filled, comedic adaptation of the popular post-apocalyptic video game franchise. What Fallout and our world have in common is endless human suffering, a hatred for communism, manipulative and controlling governments, and war, which never changes.

Gabe compares the two worlds and histories. And they dive into all the horrifying experiments of VaultTec. Kat tells us what to do in the event of a nuclear war, where is the safest place to be during a nuclear attack, and if the rich are already building VaultTec-like bunkers in anticipation of a coming war.

Ghouls track a mysterious serial killer in a remote town in Poland. What is slowly picking off the hunters and poachers? Gabe unpacks this eco-feminist film that features a Lorax-like heroine, who speaks for the wildlife. Kat explains the detrimental effect overhunting has on our environment and the future of our planet. 

Sources in this Episode:
'Spoor' review: Agnieszka Holland unleashes an eco-feminist heroine
Polish Thriller 'Spoor' Is A Pulpy Murder Story — And A Utopian Fable
Fruits of the forest gone: Overhunting of large animals has catastrophic effects on trees’
What Effect Does overhunting have on the environment

Other Spoor Reviews:
Now on VOD: 'Spoor' Delivers A Revenge Thriller For Animal Lovers
SPOOR: When The Hunters Become The Hunted - Film Inquiry

Ways to Help:

More than a Feeling: Climate Emotions in Film & TV
Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors | Fix
Indigenous Environmental Network – Sacred Land
Why Indigenous Resistance is More Important than Ever - Greenpeace USA
Fresh Banana Leaves - Jessica Hernandez

Ghouls discuss the eco-horror mockumentary, The Bay, that will scare you into caring about the environment. Gabe talks about how the film is 80% true and based on ecological disaster facts, making it significantly more terrifying. Kat discusses what's really happening in the Chesapeake Bay, why you should be afraid of flesh-eating bacteria, and how to help the environment. 

Sources in this Episode:

The Bay Spikes Cellphone Footage With Environmental Horror

Barry Levinson's 'The Bay' Is A Fictional Horror Movie Meant To Save The Real Chesapeake

Experts find an average Chesapeake Bay dead zone in 2021

“5 facts about Vibrio

Ways to Help:

Protecting the Chesapeake Bay | National Wildlife Federation

Things You Can Do to Help Protect the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

More than a Feeling: Climate Emotions in Film & TV

Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors | Fix

Indigenous Environmental Network

Indigenous Environmental Network – Sacred Land

Why Indigenous Resistance is More Important than Ever - Greenpeace USA

Fresh Banana Leaves - Jessica Hernandez

Ghouls are starting a series on Ecological Horror. This week we're talking apocalypse video game series, the Last of Us. Kat discusses how in this game world, you are given characters that aren’t heroes, who have spent their time in the apocalypse as brutal as anyone else and make decisions that are incredibly human. Gabe also explains her fear of mushrooms and the very real parasite that inspired the monsters in the game.

Sources in this episode:  
Why the story of The Last of Us Part II is maddening and fulfilling (spoilers)

The Zombie Fungus in the Last of Us Is Actually Real

Zombie Fungus Enslaves Only Its Favorite Ant Brains | Live Science

The Inspirations for The Last of Us

Ways to Help:

A thrilling end to their adventure, the Dream Team talks their way out of a stinky situation and finally completes their eating competition. But will they survive the fate of the mushrooms and find their way back home?

Featuring Gabe (Gertie Matchinski), Kat (Ira Rosenfeld), Mike (Theodore Matchinski), Albin (Paris Selby), Alex (Edward Falconcrest III), Vince (Tony Stromboli), and our Keeper, Mo.

The Dream Team has descended below the Dream Village in search of magical mushrooms in hopes they'll find their way back home. However, their journey quickly turns from curious to terrifying as they battle disgusting monsters. They also encounter a Master of Stink, will they be friend or foe?

Featuring Gabe (Gertie Matchinski), Kat (Ira Rosenfeld), Mike (Theodore Matchinski), Albin (Paris Selby), Alex (Edward Falconcrest III), Vince (Tony Stromboli), and our Keeper, Mo.

As the Dream Team begins their quest to find mushrooms, they run into some peculiar and grotesque challenges. Will they ever find these fungi? Will they even want to?  Featuring Gabe (Gertie Matchinski), Kat (Ira Rosenfeld), Mike (Theodore Matchinski), Albin (Paris Selby), Alex (Edward Falconcrest III), Vince (Tony Stromboli), and our Keeper, Mo.

Continuing their adventure in the surreal Dreaming Village, the Ghouls and co. find themselves in a strange town. They meet two peculiar pondering townspeople who send them on a delicious quest. They also meet a little old lady who's very busy.

The Ghouls and their new friends have found themselves in a spooky situation in an unknown land. After a run-in with some terrifying and disgusting creatures, they wander forward in search of civilization.

Ghouls play the Call of Cthulhu campaign with a colorful cast of characters. Each character is plucked out of their everyday lives and plopped down into another world full of monsters and suspicious townspeople. How will they find their way back home?

Ghouls talk about the underrated Netflix show, Alice in Borderland. This show features an apocalyptic world where people play games not only to survive but to live another day.

The Fall of the House of Usher is a gory, vicious story that sees the end of a villainous family line, the Ushers. Gabe explains many of the Edgar Allan Poe references. They also unpack some of the lines in the show that criticizes the wealthy. Kat shares about the real Ushers, the Sackler family behind the Opioid Epidemic in America.

Ghouls chat with filmmaker, Shameka Sawyer about their social media short horror film, GRWM.

The Ghouls talk about the thrilling, horror-anime Death Parade where the recently deceased‘s morality and goodness are put to the test.

Squid Game is a hit and hopefully a gateway show to more Korean shows but also content that covers the horrors of capitalism. Why would people willingly enter a murder-game?

Ghouls chat with Alice Maio Mackay, director of the queer vampire film So Vam! Full of phenomenal drag performances, fashionable vampires, and queer representation - So Vam is an absolute delight!

Hosts from the Ghouls Next Door, Gabe and Kat talk with horror creators, Wi-Moto Nyoka (Dusky Projects) and Eunice Levis (InVade) about how horror can be a form of community care. They discuss gate-keeping, catharsis through shared trauma on screen, and learning/educating on different cultures through horror media.

Ghouls have survived 4 years of podcasting and all they got was this amazing and fun show with their friends. Ghouls are joined by special return guests, Isaiah Luck, Mike Levitt, Wi-Moto Nyoka, Roland Boyden, and Sergio Galeano. We played a super spooky and sexy version of Wed, Bed, Behead with some of your favorite horror characters. And Kat provided us with some horrifying and exciting horror scenarios from some of our favorite films to see how we would survive. 

Sweeney Todd is a gloomy, dark musical pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it. We‘re talking about the Penny Dreadful tale of the demon barber of Fleet St and his partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett. Learn all about how cannibalism is NOT the answer to poverty but perhaps seizing the means of production instead, is.

Ghouls are live with a special guest and cinematic genius behind all of our Ghouls shorts, Roland Boyden! We're talking about everyone's favorite stop-motion animated musical, The Nightmare Before Christmas! Ghouls spill the tea on how this film had little to do with Tim Burton, the cultural appropriation of Christmastown, and how cringey Burton truly is. Also, we chat our love of horror and how the film is a home for some of us weirdos and outcasts.

Follow our guest: @FreshShowFilms FreshShowFilms.com

K-12 follows Melanie Martinez’s character Cry Baby as she navigates her way through the hellish landscape of school. Gabe discusses Martinez's lyrics that explore themes of bodily acceptance, the pressures of society, and how to learn to love yourself. When schools suck, but education is essential - Kat discusses our hidden capitalist agenda within our education systems.  Featuring clips from Melanie Martinez's film and album, K-12.  

Sources in this episode:
https://medium.com/@debarrosedd/the-unspoken-secret-of-capitalism-destroying-education-59041385aabf https://www.inquirer.com/education/school-funding-pennsylvania-lawsuit-report-20201027.html
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/06/schooling-in-capitalist-america-progressive-education-reform

Joined by musical talent and Lindsay Ellis' co-creator, Angelina Meehan, the Ghouls discuss musical theatre, using liberal arts degrees to make awesome content, and how to grow into loving yourself. They also discuss the film version of Phantom of the Opera (pros and cons), the many adaptations, and the great impact the story has had on their guest.

Midnight Mass is a slow-burn horror series exploring the impact of spirituality, our place in the universe, and the horrors that we face when religion is contorted and weaponized. Gabe talks about how this is a personal story for Flanagan and shares their own personal history with religion. Kat talks about the inevitability and inequity of death. Both Ghouls discuss the moments of the show that have forever changed them.

The Lure is a phenomenal Polish horror musical featuring monstrous mermaids that want to be loved and also snack on the flesh of men. Gabe talks about the many layers of this artistic and catchy musical. How does this film better represent Hans Christen-Anderson's Little Mermaid?  Also Kat talks about real mermaids or rather the poor sea creatures men wanted to f*ck.   

Sources in this Episode:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/43gv8n/new-polish-cannibal-mermaid-musical-is-a-story-about-immigration-and-girlhood https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/what-mermaid
https://www.wired.com/2014/10/fantastically-wrong-strange-murderous-sometimes-sexy-history-mermaid/

Ways to Help: Don't f*ck sea creatures.

Ghouls cover the incredibly interesting experimental-horror dance film, CLIMAX. The film is mostly improvised and had the Ghouls truly shook. Joined by a special guest and extremely talented dancer, Allie Gee to discuss some of the real-life horrors in the dance world including pressures, drugs, and the toll it takes on their bodies.  Follow our guest: @AMGee92 on Instagram!

Repo! the Genetic Opera tells the tale of a distant dystopian future where the healthcare system is managed by the incredibly wealthy and innocent people die if they can‘t afford treatment...hmmm sounds familiar.

Ghouls talked with fellow horror creator, Bobby Torrez about our favorite horror films, geeked out about the new Candyman, and more! We also talked about the zombie Christmas musical, Anna and the Apocalypse that has some songs that hit a bit too close to home.

Jeff Barnaby rocked our world again and educated us about the horrors indigenous people face in Canada. It follows the story of teenager Aila as she navigates a complicated native world that is actively being “reformed.” Traumas include accidental deaths, suicide, incarceration, Indian agents, and forced residential school abuses.  

Sources in our Episode:
Rhymes for Young Ghouls’ and the Legacy of Residential Schools
Muskrat Magazine
Unsettling the Settler Within Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling and Reconciliation
Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition
Indigenous Foundations
Canada’s Grim Legacy of Cultural Erasure, in Poignant School Photos

Ways to help:
Indigenous Works
National Voice for Communities in the Canadian Arctic
Native Land Disclaimer
Assembly of First Nations
Native Womens Association of Canada
Legacy of Hope

Ghouls are joined by spooky hosts, Adrian and Stormy of Slash Her pod to talk about their love of horror. What kind of horror gets under their skin and how has loving horror made us stronger/better than other people? We also talk the late 90's silly aquatic horror film, Deep Blue Sea.

Ghouls talk with the director of the magical ecological documentary, The Seer and the Unseen where we follow Ragga who is working to protect the community of elves in the lava fields in her town. Sara Dosa is a filmmaker who finds the intersection between human relationships, magic, and nature.

John Lee’s False Positive offers up thin layers of horrors around pregnancy but never actually explores them in the film. Gabe talks about the missed opportunities and many lackluster scenes that left her wanting more. Kat talks about the real-world cases that are represented in the film's ending. She also discusses the misinformation around childbirth and women, the patriarchal shift of childbirth, and how to decolonize it.

Sources in this Episode:
Hulu's False Positive Isn't Horror But It Will Freak You Out
‘False Positive’ Review: Ilana Glazer’s Pregnancy Thriller Isn’t a Bad ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Riff, It’s Worse
Families say a fertility doctor used his own sperm to impregnate patients. Now, he must pay them millions
Fertility Doctor Donald Cline’s Secret Leads to New Law
Doctor is Found Guilty in Fertility Case
Patriarchy Constructs Motherhood
It is time to reassess our obsession with women’s fertility and the number 35
What Does it Mean to Decolonize Birth
Male appropriation and medicalization of childbirth: an historical analysis

Ways to Help/Get Help:
9 Organizations Working to Save Black Mothers | Black Maternal Health Caucus
HEALTHCARE AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSICE — NATAL
Research Centers and Organizations that Support Women's Health | Research Centers and Organizations that Support Women's Health

Other Reviews on False Positive:
​​‘False Positive’ Review: Ilana Glazer’s Pregnancy Thriller Isn’t a Bad ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Riff, It’s Worse
Ilana Glazer Talks 'False Positive' and Pierce Brosnan

Ghouls Next Door, Gabe and Kat, talk with creators of new horror film, Take Back the Night. Director Gia Elliot and Co-Writer Emma Fitzpatrick formed the idea after working in the justice system and seeing how assault victims were treated.  

Follow Take Back the Night
https://www.instagram.com/takebackthenightmovie/

Ways to help:
https://takebackthenight.org/
https://www.rainn.org/
https://civicnation.org/initiative/eroc/
https://www.knowyourix.org/hands-off-ix/

This week's Ghoul guest is Wi-Moto Nyoka, writer/creator of horror media with Dusky Projects and the horror story podcast, Black Women are Scary. Join us as we talk horror and about another Joko Anwar film, Gundala. Gundala is an Indonesian superhero story that was exciting and politically intriguing.

The Haunting of Bly Manor is a slow-burn, creeping horror show that critiques classism, softly embraces queer love, and haunts its audience with tragedy. Gabe discusses the overall theme memory plays in the show and how this is a love story more than a ghost story. Kat talks about why people want to be remembered when they die and how to assure you will be.

She Never Died tells the tale of a cannibal woman who eats bad men. An unlikely feminist anti-hero that means much more than the creators intended. Gabe talks about the character's power and the significance of casting a black woman in the role. Kat discusses the history of medical violence against black women in America.

Sources in this Episode:

Medical News Today Structural racism in medicine: Ways to promote meaningful change

What is Medical Racism?

How We Fail Black Patients in Pain

Other Reviews on Tag:

Film Review: She Never Died - The remake we didn't realise we needed

Feminism and cannibalism: SHE NEVER DIED (Audrey Cummings, 2019)

Review: 'She Never Died' Brings Female Fury to an Immortal Tale

GRIMMFEST — Cannibal Horror ‘She Never Died’ is a Socially Conscious Sequel Worth Talking About

Ways to Help/Get Help:

Black Doctors Consortium

Ghouls are joined by Kat & Jazz of Girl, That's Scary podcast to talk about their mutual love for found-footage horror, the creep from Creep, and more!  They also discuss a new fave, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. This Korean found-footage film rocked Gabe's world and may've given her some crazy ideas for future content!

Sion Sono's Tag (2015) is a gore-filled, insane mind-bending trip through fan service, the male gaze, and the queer identity. Gabe talks about subverting horror tropes to make a statement and yuri love. Kat talks about the oppression of LGBTQIA+ folx in Japan.

Sources in this Episode:

Fantasia Fest 2015: Sion Sono Plays a Riotous Game of TAG. With Schoolgirls. Things Get Weird.

Violent Japanese Horror Movie Tag is a Strange, Surreal Yuri Metaphor

The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered Down” LGBT Bullying and Exclusion in Japanese Schools

Why Japan Can’t Shake sexism?

Other Reviews on Tag:

'Tag' Review: Sion Sono Channels 'Alice in Wonderland'

Japanese Movie Tag or Riaru Onigokko Unpacked

Tag: A Reclamation Story For Survivors - Film

Your Ghoulfriends are back after their break and were live with special guest Lovely Dorrie of Beyond the Bot to talk about spooky video games, Omori & Doki Doki Literature Club. Both games cover incredibly deep and traumatic content while under a cute, adorable facade. How invested can you get into a visual novel and RPG?

Relic tells the story of the effects on a family when one of its members starts suffering from Dementia. A horror film that's unsettling and heartwrenching. Ghouls discuss how the house symbolizes Edna's mind, why Kat refuses to investigate spooky hallways, and Gabe shares a personal experience of a caretaker caring for someone with Dementia.

Sources in this Episode:
‘Our hearts beat in unison’: Maryland family learns to cope with dementia
Dementia: Symptoms, stages and types
'It feels like a horror film': New dementia dramas 'Falling,' 'Supernova' aim for truthfulness over tears
Lifestyle Interventions Provide Maximum Memory Benefit When Combined, May Offset Elevated Alzheimer's Risk Due to Genetics, Pollution

Ways to Help/Get Help:
Alzheimer's Help Line
7 ways to be a mental health ally
behavioral health crisis intervention services
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

Joined by our friends Captain Nostalgia and Black Nerd Magic of the Victims and Villains Podcast, Ghouls talk about Ari Aster's Hereditary. How does the film hold up when we wear our media-analysis glasses and how does it make people feel about inheriting mental illnesses?

Follow our Guests:

https://www.victimsandvillains.net/

https://www.victimsandvillains.net/hope 

Sources in this Episode:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a21526807/hereditary-movie-mental-illness/

https://www.bustle.com/p/10-mental-health-issues-that-are-more-likely-to-run-in-families-7919880

https://ct.counseling.org/2019/08/challenging-the-inevitability-of-inherited-mental-illness/

Ways to Help/Get Help:

7 ways to be a mental health ally

behavioral health crisis intervention services

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

For our Mental Health Awareness series, Ghouls discuss the Psychological bromance film, They Look Like People. Gabe talks about the horrors in phenomenal sound design and what it means to be a good friend. Kat shares the real experiences of someone who suffered from psychosis and how they got through it.

For our Mental Health Awareness series, we're kicking it off with Undone, a show that by any other approach would be a superhero origin story. Gabe talks about how it effectively and appropriately handles the topic of mental illness and Kat talks about how to be an ally to someone with schizophrenia.

Sources in episode:

How 'Undone' Creator Kate Purdy Re-contextualized Her Mental Illness With Gorgeous Animation

Schizophrenia - Symptoms and causes

Schizophrenia by Culture

The National Alliance on Mental Illness

Ways to Help/Get Help:

7 ways to be a mental health ally

behavioral health crisis intervention services

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

Closing out their Natty 'Zasters series, the Ghouls discuss the horrors of Tornadoes. Gabe explains how accurate the film is to tornadoes and how Twister had such a beneficial impact on storm science? Kat explains what you should do in the event of wind murder. Remember to grab your shoes and your helmet!

Sources in episode:

NOAA tornado scientists inspired 'Twister' creators 20 years ago

Is Twister A True Story? How Accurate The Movie Is To Real Storm Chasing

Here's Everything They Got Wrong (and Right) in the Movie Twister

Severe Weather 101: Tornado Basics

National Severe Storms Laboratory

7 Things You Should Never Forget When Tornadoes Strike

How Do Tornadoes Form? | NOAA SciJinks – All About Weather

Ghouls discuss the found footage conspiracy film, Devil's Pass which attempts to solve the Dyatlov Pass Incident in a rather creative and annoying way (and gives found footage films a bad name). Ghouls also solve the Dyatlov Pass Incident using weather science! This film is barely about avalanches but this episode is very much about them.

Sources in episode:

Controlled avalanches, why do mountain rescue services set them off and how?

The Russian Conspiracy Theory That Won’t Die

Devil's Pass

What to Do if You’re Caught in the Path of an Avalanche

Have Scientists Finally Unraveled the 60-Year Mystery Surrounding Nine Russian Hikers’ Deaths?

Haunting of Hill House is a supernatural horror series that explores the impact of grief and mental illness under the guise of a haunted house story. Gabe dives into the characters: how the Crain children represent a stage of grief, their experience with the magical realism of the haunted house, and events in their childhood shaped their lives. Kat discusses the impact of trauma and grief on young minds and how you can help a child dealing with such things.

On this week's edition of gaslighting geologists to avoid panic, Ghouls are talking about the Norwegian tsunami disaster film, The Wave. Kat explains how the Earth intends to murder us and why that's okay.

Sources in episode:

A tsunami destroys a Norwegian town in ‘The Wave’

'The Wave' Review: A Norwegian Disaster Movie on Par With Hollywood

The Impossible True Story: How Accurate The Tsunami Movie Is 

What is a tsunami? 

Red Cross - Tsunamis

Tsunami Tracker

Japan tsunami fears grow after sightings of rare deep-sea-dwelling oarfish

How you can help make a difference:

UNICEF - Tsunami

Direct Relief - Japan

Created as a warning of the imminent disasters that await Japan which Kat explains in her section,Japan Sinks: 2020 also addresses the problems of nationalism and how to preserve your culture through social media.

Sources in episode:

Japan Sinks? – Confluence

In 2020 reboot of 'Japan Sinks' the disaster is no longer the star

Japan Sinks 2020' Review: An Emotional Departure for Masaaki Yuasa

Why Do Earthquakes Happen?

Stay Safe During an Earthquake

Devastated communities, an unseen fear: Japan's 2011 tsunami | Earthquakes News

Tokyo will probably face a massive earthquake in the next 30 years. The only thing they can do is prepare

Japan's fantasy films act as a buffer against the reality of the natural world

How you can help make a difference:

Earthquake Relief - UNICEF

Earthquake Relief - Red Cross

Global Giving

Hispanic Federation

Puerto Rico Earthquake Relief Fund

Ghouls are joined by another Beyond the Bot host to talk about one of their all-time favorite horror animes, The Promised Neverland. Cristal Marie is notoriously known for being anti-horror but in her appreciation for The Promised Neverland found that she might actually be a horror fan! What makes The Promised Neverland so good at suspense? Why are many fans disappointed with the second season?

Joined by guest, Cristal Marie. Follow Cristal on social: @CristalMarie or visit her websites:

Beyond the Bot

The Twist

Sources in episode:

Why The Promised Neverland is So Horrifying

The Promised Neverland And The Horror Behind It - The History Of Horror Anime | Get In The Robot