Plug It Up: A Horror Movie Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Eric from Bloody Good Horror joins Caitlin to cover 2004's Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed. We revisit monstrous menstruation as a trope and praise the movie for being a truly excellent sequel.

Tangents include: podcasting, snacks, PSLs, urban legends, easter eggs in horror movies, legs vs eyes count, werewolves vs regular dogs, soups, flaws that would save us in a horror movie, and animated movies.

Be sure to check out Eric's music HY-FY, especially his new album, dropping Friday, September 13th.

Soju from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to cover 2002's Queen of the Damned, a movie about fame, loneliness, and desire. It's got soundtrack for the ages, and it hits some of our favorite vampire tropes. We also talk about Aaliyah and the tragic circsumtances surrounding her death.

Tangents are mostly vampire related, as we got a ton of great vampire questions from the audience. We also talk about card suits, good advice, body parts, and 2024 horror.

I had the honor of interviewing writer, director, producer, actress, and film festival organizer Heidi Honeycutt. Heidi discusses her new book I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies, which is available for pre-order from Headpress Books.

We talk about the making of Heidi's book, including her inspiration, her impressive research, and her findings. We also talk about how she became a horror fan, feminism in horror in general, lost films, and our shared love of films and filmmaking. Heidi is so knowledgeable and passionate; I can't wait to get my hands on the book. Find her on instagram at @honeycuttheidi to stay updated about her projects. 

Colleen and Mary join Caitlin to cover the new release Barbarian. Go into the movie blind! You'll be glad you did. If you've seen it, you'll know that we had plenty to talk about. We have a great monstrous femme figure in the barbarian mama, we get some creepy monstrous motherhood moments, and we explore the different ways men and women approach danger. We also got into creepy basement stories, and how nothing is scarier than "when the scary thing gets scared." We really loved this movie! Hope you enjoy the episode.

Eli goes by many names: the loremaster, the campfire master, the mole king, and Mary's husband, among others. I was delighted to have him on to help me cover 2017's Pyewacket. Pyewacket is cool Canadian horror movie about the occult. We dig into themes of monstrous motherhood, grief, and the old "be careful what you wish for" adage. We also talk about the witchfinder general Matthew Hopkins, public bathrooms, popsicles, fast food, Eli's childhood in West Virginia, the mole kingdom, and the good old days of the IFC channel. Be sure to check out The Wicked Wild and Loremasters of the Absurd! 

Christian and Ian of It's Only a Podcast join Caitlin to cover the 2016 horror comedy Prevenge. Prevenge is a revenge-centered monstrous motherhood movie, and it hits its comedic beats exactly right. Alice Lowe really pulled off something special here. We also talk about upcoming releases for spooky season, vidja games, and air travel. And we even play Smash or Pass with some of our favorite final girls. Be sure to check out It's Only a Podcast! It's good stuff.

Vulnerable o'clock! I got to thinking about why I like body horror so much, and I wanted to share that with you all. I think it comes from my experiences as viewing my own body as horrific (or capable of horrors). That comes in the form of chronic illness (crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis), unusual body conditions (vaginismus and vulvodynia), and good old fashioned fatphobia. It's hard when others view your body as gross or monstrous, and even harder when you view your own body that way. We're all working through our stuff. I'm glad we have horror to help us through.

John from The Wicked Wild joins Caitlin to cover Prey, the newest installment in the Predator franchise. John is an expert on Predator, and he was able to walk me through some of the lore and easter eggs that I missed. And we both loved this one! It has cool themes around gender, siblings, and the dynamics of predators and prey (and prey that becomes a predator herself). Thanks for joining, John!

To quote my beloved American Horror Story: surprise, bitch! Here's an American Horror Story mini episode! Just talking into a mic about Ryan Murphy stuff - what could possibly be more fun, or more insane? Big thanks to Whitney and Elizabeth for sending in AHS questions! I give a rundown of my favorite seasons and characters, talk a little about Stories (the spin-off), and think about where I hope to see AHS go in the future. American Horror Story has a lot of good Plug It Up themes: monstrous motherhood, monstrous menstruation / coming of age, women battling horrors, and women who are themselves horrific. Feel free to send any AHS questions my way! BALENCIAGA!

Colleen joins Caitlin to cover what might be the ultimate Plug It Up movie: 2016's Raw. We bring sleepover energy to this one! We chat about many aspects of the monstrous feminine: monstrous menstruation, monstrous motherhood, monstrous sisterhood, forbidden appetite, and body horror (among various other things that make me love Raw). Ducournau is a favorite, and Raw is a top 10 movie of all time for me. Thanks again for the great questions! And come see me, Colleen, and Maddie at horror trivia in Richmond.