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

Zach and Charlie join Caitlin to cover 2015's Krampus, a holiday horror favorite. We talk about family, spirit, hope, and all things Christmas. Tangents include: hot tubs, stockings, gifts, tarot, holiday traditions, and Chrsitmas hot takes. Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Maddie and Colleen join Caitlin to once again perform character analysis on horror charcters through the lens of astrology. This time, we're talking about the "big three" signs for: Kelly Anne from Red Rooms, Annie from Hereditary, Rosemary from Rosemary's Baby, Lestat from Interview with the Vampire, Owen from I Saw the TV Glow, Jigsaw from Saw, Mulder and Scully from The X Files, Maud from Saint Maud, and Elvira from The Ugly Stepsister.

Tangents include: the concept of "big six," dreams with Neptune in retrograde, the end of summer and start of fall, Halloween hot takes, Christmas trees, and pets as Over the Garden Wall characters. 

Mary joins Caitlin to cover 2025's The Woman in the Yard, a horror movie about grief and depression. We talk about the score, the cast, the symbols, and the themes, including some monstrous motherhood and a monstrous femme figure.

Tangents include: Giada-deLaurentis-speak (ugh), pets, our vacations, meals, time off, coming home, places not to vacation, FMK Moby Dick edition, songs of the summer, monetized super powers, shampoo and conditioner fragrances, bones, and our fourth favorite colors.

Mathula joins Caitlin to cover Phenomena from 1985. Also known as Creepers, this Argento flick has a monstrous mother, a bug-obsessed Jennifer Connelly, and a razor-wielding chimp. Plus Donald Pleasence. What more could we want?

Tangents include: Eggers, Aster, vampires, Giallo movies as a whole, bugs, Lost, Florida, dystropian fiction, sneezing, and bathroom trashcans.

Be sure to check out Mathula's art at Hallelujah Dystopia!

Elizabeth generously joins Caitlin for re-record of The Birds. (I forgot to hit record last time... RIP.) Elizabeth is a Birds expert, and she's my Hitchcock Blonde. We look at themes of disaster linked to female psyche, man vs nature, and some Oedipal monstrous motherhood. We also do a deep dive into the troubling production, most of which would not fly today.

Tangents include: Nick at Nite, pregnant spiders, Reese's preferences, zoos, aquariums, and hamsters. 

Mary, Zach, and Charlie join Caitlin to cover Swimfan. It's a real time capsule of a movie; it'll take you right back to 2002. It has a monstrous femme figure in stalker Madison, and it gives us themes of obsession, deception, and troubled pasts. It also gives us an iconic pool scene.

In perhaps the most unhinged second-half of a Plug It Up episode to date, we explore the following tangents: birthdays, Twilight (and Skin of a Killer), chugga chugga as it relates to choo choo, game shows, hibachi, coitus, juice (including "doodoo juice"), lots of pool talk, DP of all kinds, Michael Shannon, and some great FMKs. 

Birthday boy Bob from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to cover 2017's Thoroughbreds, a movie that features a couple of monstrous femme figures. We look at themes of wealth, pedigree, friendship, and murder, and we do our best to tease out the distinctions between sociopathy and psychopathy.

Tangents include: physical media, chicken wings, tiki drinks, space vs ocean, snacks, antiques, puppies vs kittens, 2023 horror, and some FMKs. 

Be sure to find Bob at Straight Chilling and Let's Get Physical Media! And the book I mentioned is The Sociopath Next Door by Matha Stout. 

Soju from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to talk about Park Chan-wook's Thirst. Thirst is a beautiful vampire romance that incorporates themes of sexuality, pain, guilt, and the monstrous feminine. Soju is my vampire homie, and we give a lot of love to Thirst. We also give a lot of love to Underworld. In fact, take a shot every time we say "Underworld" (just kidding - that's dangerous). 

Tangents include: gummies, weapons, peanut butter, Twilight, other vampire media, the Culkin brothers, and some FMKs and WYRs. Be sure to check out all the cool stuff happening over at Straight Chilling. 

Pickens, Joe, and Victor join Caitlin to talk about Return to Oz - a fever dream, a cult classic, and, yes, the official sequel to The Wizard of Oz. For a kids' movie, it's got some serious horror beats, and it has a great monstrous femme figure in Princess Mombi. We chat about our favorite freaky moments and go over some fun movie trivia. Tangents for this episode include: Bugaboo Creek, malls, the Muppets, Disney parks, Elton John, and of course a few on-theme FMKs. 

Colleen and Maddie join Caitlin to cover 2022's Torn Hearts. Torn Hearts is a great look at the complexities in women's friendships, especially the competition therein. We get a wonderful monstrous femme villain (some would say "psychobiddy") in Katy Sagal, but we remember that, ultimately, the real villain is patriarchy. Also, what a unique setting for a horror movie! We don't get a lot of Nashville/country music horror.

Tangents include: bangs, nightmares, drinks, weapons we have stored around our homes, music, PDFs, bachelorette parties, weddings, colors, D&D, movie settings, and how my camera roll proves that I am obsessed with both Maddie and Colleen.