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