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The Spooky Scholars Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by dubs
The best horror analysis podcast for the BIG questions we ask of horror movies and books: The symbolism of slime? A zombie zeitgeist? Your weapon choice to survive a slasher? Anyone can summarize and review a horror movie but there's SO much more to horror than the list of shrills and kills. Horror is the genre pushing boundaries and taking society to task with monsters and mayhem, slashing and sex/gender play. Horror is EXTRA, and you need a friend (or podcast host) to ask, "WTF did I just watch?" Let's slice open the underbelly of horror and get schooled in what's spooky!
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- 4 days ago27 min
Stories, Support, and Speculative Fiction with Author Dianna Gunn
This week, I’m joined by author Dianna Gunn to talk about writing across genres, finding inspiration in tabletop gaming and fantasy worlds, and why online communities remain such an important part of the literary ecosystem.We discuss the realities of indie publishing, creative burnout, weaving trauma and healing into speculative fiction, and the surprising ways horror and fantasy often overlap. Dianna also shares how community support has shaped her career and why no writer should do it all alone.Plus learn about the latest and greatest drinking game taking the B-horror world by storm;)This episode does not contain spoilers but we discuss:Lobster Man from Mars (1989)Oculus (2013)Sharks in a Cornfield (2021)Shark Side of the Moon (2022)Follow Dianna on Bluesky and InstagramCheck out her work: Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive HorrorMoonshadow Rising DuologyKiller Debt💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholars
- 1 weeks ago25 min
Monster Mentors: What Your Favorite Monster Says About You - Part One
What if we thought of monsters as the self-help gurus of the goths?!In this episode we explore what our favorite monsters can teach us about our shadows and how we can be better humans. I know, ewww. We get into how vampires reveal our fear of mortality, how werewolves reflect the struggle to control our impulses, and how we all have ghosts in our past that we just can’t let go of. This is Part One of looking closely at the shadow sides of monster lore and the very human flaws they reflect back at us.Stay tuned for Part Two, where we'll explore the lessons hidden within even more iconic monsters we all love. *This episode may contain spoilers for:We Have a Ghost (2023)💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars and @sass.ashe💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholars
- 2 weeks ago25 min
What Shadows are Hiding in Horror’s Greatest Monsters? With Professor Shadow
What do classic horror icons reveal about us?In this episode, I’m with horror narrator and creator, Professor Shadow to explore the human shadow hidden inside classic monsters and those of his own creation.We talk about why horror continues to resonate across generations, how monsters embody our fears, desires, shame, rage, and loneliness, and why horror can sometimes reveal truths that everyday life tries to suppress.Plus, we talk about the monster in the room—AI (yes, that’s an em dash, bitches!)...and how it’s coming for all of us to prove beyond a “shadow” of a doubt (see what I did there?) that we are humans creating human content for other humans. *This episode contains spoilers forCat People (1942)...but like, you've had time.Find Professor Shadow on YouTube or at professorshadow.com💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholars
- 3 weeks ago27 min
Society's Shadow Side: How Horror Takes Systems to Task
What does horror allow us to feel safely that everyday life often punishes?In this episode, we explore horror as an emotional classification system that shows us how socially forbidden emotions finally get permission to exist under certain subgenres of horror: possession films, body horror, slashers and paranormal hauntings, different horror subgenres may reflect different emotional states we’re taught to suppress in real life.It’s what society tells us is appropriate to fear and how we’re supposed to react. And we rarely break to the rules or let our humanity loose…and that’s really what’s scary.💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes and online community of corpses at patreon.com/spookyscholars
- May 12, 202635 min
Monster Men: Masculinity in Horror with Author Eric Miller
How is horror handling masculinity?In this episode, I’m with horror author Eric Miller for a fascinating deep dive into masculinity, vulnerability, trauma, loneliness, and why horror may be the perfect genre for exploring all of it.Together, we dissect iconic male characters, examining the stark contrast between toxic masculinity and authentic heroism. We bring in emotionally repressed antiheroes compassionate survivors, and villains for villains’ sake. This conversation explores horror, sci-fi, fantasy (and wrestling!) and how these genres reflect and challenge our cultural ideas about what it means to “be a man.”Truly, we're exploring a poignant cultural moment where we are all seriously craving nuanced and emotionally grounded male characters in art and film to begin to show us what positive masulinity could look like going forward.This episode contains spoilers for:Shaun of the Dead (2004)Thor: Ragnarok (2017)Midsommar (2019)Weapons (2025)💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholars
- May 5, 202620 min
Shadow Selves of Horror: Facing Your Dark Side & Surviving It
We're back after a two month break of processing a... nightmare. In this personal, solo episode I'm sharing what I've learned about dark nights of the soul and shadow work, through the lens of horror. And you're gonna want to hear this!I share what I’ve been moving through with divorce, processing pain, and the patterns I've missed in horror movies I love.Because that’s what they do. They show us the patterns in ourselves we desperately try to avoid. In this episode, I'm sharing how I see even more how horror reflects our fears, insecurities, and survival instincts. And how, if you let it, horror will show you your own shadow work that you've been avoiding or not processing. Basically we’re getting into shadow work, personal growth, healing after heartbreak, and why horror might be one of the most honest tools we have for self-reflection. Hope you're up for it!*This episode contains spoilers for:Halloween (1978)Scream (1996)Hereditary (2018)Ready or Not (2019)Hear Ashe on the Freaky and Geeky podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7K2Qjuc9iQaWXRVtMatVs1?si=8ebd4c07fb8c470b💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Join the crew and get full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholarsEnjoy the show? Leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐review!
- Feb 24, 202635 min
La Fulci Vida: A Love Letter to an Italian Horror Auteur with Matt Rogerson
Lucio Fulci is often remembered as the “Godfather of Gore” or the director of ruptured eyes, melting flesh, and apocalyptic endings. But my guest today says we don’t really know the real Fulci, and there’s so much more to this important figure in horror. Matt Rogerson has written extensively on Fulci’s relationship to faith in his new book Fulci’s Inferno: Fulci's Inferno: Faith in the Films of a Horror and Giallo Auteur. And in this episode we explore how Catholic imagery, spiritual crisis, and Dantean architecture shape films like The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, Zombi 2 and more. Listen if you want to understand why Fulci’s horror feels less like shock and more like a horrific revelation.*This episode contains spoilers for:Don’t Torture a Duckling …but as Matt says, you’ve had since 1972…Find Matt @bavalamp and @1428publishing on Instagram💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholars
- Feb 17, 202642 min
Wild Women with Expert Cinda Gault
In this episode we’re with Canadian historical fiction author, Cinda Gault.Cinda schools us on incredible Canadian women of history we all should know more about and how she is remedying that with her fiction. We also discuss the roots of the horror genre, slaying vampires, 18th century final girls, Canadian abortion law, and Cinda's own incredible work in the feminist movement in the 1970s.Cinda brings a deep reverence for women’s stories, and through her historical fiction, she continues to illuminate the voices that history tried to hush, but that refuse to stay silent.This episode is spoiler free!Follow Cinda on Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/6170707.Cinda_Gault💀💀Follow us on Instagram @spooky.scholars💀Join the ongoing conversation and LIVE salon each month at spookyscholars.com🖤Full show notes at patreon.com/spookyscholars
About The Spooky Scholars Podcast
The best horror analysis podcast for the BIG questions we ask of horror movies and books: The symbolism of slime? A zombie zeitgeist? Your weapon choice to survive a slasher? Anyone can summarize and review a horror movie but there's SO much more to horror than the list of shrills and kills. Horror is the genre pushing boundaries and taking society to task with monsters and mayhem, slashing and sex/gender play. Horror is EXTRA, and you need a friend (or podcast host) to ask, "WTF did I just watch?" Let's slice open the underbelly of horror and get schooled in what's spooky!
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