Dec 15, 2018

During his lifetime, Jim Thompson's masterful novels of crime, obsession, and dark Americana were published as pulp novels. Intervening years have seen a reassessment of his work, with Stephen King singing his praises and cultural historian Geoffrey O'Brien dubbing him "The Dimestore Dostoyevsky." A Swell-Looking...

Nov 17, 2018

Jack and Kate go off-mission for this very special episode in which they work through their feelings about the Luca Guadagnino-helmed Suspiria remake. Risk the boop of death and join your hosts on this emotionally-fraught journey.

Be warned that SPOILERS ABOUND!

Did the world require a nearly-three-hour-long, beige...

Nov 14, 2018

Jack and Kate dive right into the deep end of the Guy N. Smith Crabsiverse with book six in the cult (?) horror (?) series, Crabs: The Human Sacrifice, a book that combines killer crustaceans, ecoterrorism, and BDSM into a particularly grotesque gumbo. When Charles Manson-esque cult leader Pete Merrick decides to...

Oct 21, 2018

Jack and Kate celebrate the Halloween season with a visit to R.L. Stine's fictional town of Shadyside, a suburban hamlet with more than its fair share or spooky teen-centric violence. For their first venture onto Fear Street, your hosts read and dissect The Wrong Number and The Halloween Party. Surprisingly, the books...

Oct 7, 2018

Katie Skelly's graphic novel My Pretty Vampire blends an array of 60s and 70s references to create a brightly-colored, deceptively sweet-looking comic that explores repressed desires, poisonous relationships, and vampiric murder. Jack and Kate take a pop art journey into the dark corners of the human psyche, taking...