Ghouls Next Door – Details, episodes & analysis

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.