Claim OwnershipThe Horror of Nachos and Hamantaschen
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Join marginally popular dark fiction author J.R. Hamantaschen (“You Shall Never Know Security,” “With a Voice that is Often Still Confused But is Becoming Ever Louder and Clearer,” several unrequited love letters) and Derek Sotak (“Nachonomics,” “The Field Guide to Nachos,” “Nachos & You,” and a violent call to arms to be uncovered circa 2025) as they discuss the world of horror in (what is hopefully perceived to be) a light-hearted, frivolous and irreverent way. Those are all three words they’ve never previously been associated with, but here’s hoping! Expect horror fiction, horror movies, horror culture, and interviews / hang-out sessions with authors and creators in the field.
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Your work may not have given you a Christmas bonus, but we sure will! It’s not worth spending a whole episode covering Treevenge, because it’s only 16 minutes long, but talking about it for 19 or so minutes, sure. This is possibly the highest rated thing we have covered on the show, so check it out before you get a stump in the face.
Finally, the duo covers a movie J.R. is excited to see: "Saint Maud," the critically acclaimed 2019 film which is in the genre J.R. loves: psychologically unstable person with grand plans spiraling toward doom. But count on ole' Derek to spoil the party with his naysaying. Have a listen, and stay for the bickering about movie length!
A very special announcement from your very special duo. Also, if you have 80ish minutes, watch some version of Carnival of Souls. If you have 850ish minutes, watch all of The Prisoner. If you have 9600ish minutes, listen to our entire back catalog again.
Our grab bag theme continues with His House (2020) and The Block Island Sound (2020) as we move on to Netflix offerings. Give a listen to find out which was the good movie, and which had JR railing against the alien EPA.
What’s lost in an adaptation of a horror story? The gang ponders if atmosphere can be more than just a low drone, if great works will ever be adapted well. and why more people don’t go back to the original work. Also, 217 episodes in, JR finally reads The Willows.
Master of horror, or master of making movies that are almost good? You may want to get that madness out of there for you to get in that mouth, but we put on those special glasses and take a critical view of him. We break down his 18 films and decide if where we think he falls between Starman and a 5 star man.
More movies we are actually interested in watching! We give Hulu some attention by streaming Sputnik (2020), which has been called Russian "Alien" but is more like Russian "Lilo and Stitch"; and Amulet (2020), which is . . . well, where to begin with that one . . . . Come and have a listen!
The duo have a revelatory idea: why not watch some movies they've wanted to watch for a while? So they watch "The Devils" (1971) and "The Dark and the Wicked" (2020). Does it work out? Does anything work out for our hapless duo?
Is there any actual benefit to watching horror movies? It would be nice to think so, right? J.R. and Derek explore this (remote) possibility.
The Bigfoot. The Sasquatch. The Skunk Ape. It goes by many names, but why isn’t it in more horror films? The boys tell those dusty mummies, rotten Frankensteins, and goofy Loch Ness Monsters to go home and examine the quintessential American monster. They don’t call him the Wild Man of the Woods for nothing!
The duo discuss two westerns where the level of "weirdness" is ambiguous and debatable: the 2016 bleakfest "Brimstone" and the 1973 Clint Eastwood picture "High Plains Drifter." One thing that isn't ambiguous: there is some surprisingly heinous stuff going on in these movies.
It's a double-feature to the Weird West as we discuss Shudder's newest fiasco "The Pale Door," which was "presented" by Joe Lansdale (read: he cashed a check); and the classy if slow "The Wind," which features mind-rending wind demons . . .OR DOES IT!
J.R. and Derek question why, in our time-scarce modern world, horror short stories are not more popular. A bit of self-interest on J.R.'s behalf, or a way to excuse his literary failures? Sure, but genuine curiosity as well.
There are a lot of bad films with good scenes. Indeed, the whole slasher genre is pretty much predicated on this. We discuss good scenes in bad films, bad scenes in good films, and Donald Sutherland's butt in Don't Look Now. We didn't want to, but our lawyers said we had to.
The duo finish Thomas Ligotti's "Conspiracy Against the Human Race," where the topics keep coming: atmosphere in supernatural horror, painless death and anxiety, fecal build-up, Terror Management Theory, and, of all things, Sweeney Todd.
The duo continue with "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race," as Thomas Ligotti discusses the fear of the body as a mechanical process, the uncanny, the self and choice, depression, transhumanism, the delusions of religion, and other topics that would get people to move away from you on the subway.
Feeling good recently? Well, put that on hold because the duo cover Thomas Ligotti's non-fiction "Conspiracy Against the Human Race," which argues that consciousness has made humans a living paradox and it is better to never have been born. Meaning, don't listen to this on a Monday.
As Derek and J.R. age into senility and despair (cool term: senescence), will horror still hold the same appeal? And what connection is there between supernatural horror and the transcendent or divine? Pretty heady stuff for two blathering morons, but here you go!
Derek asks the question, "Can a Giant Monster Movie by Horror?" After two botched attempts to record the episode, it doesn't go well. For anyone.
It's episode 202, it's a roundup, and you know how this works. We talk The Wolf House, Books of Blood, I Lost my Body, The Third Day, The Deeper You Dig, Antebellum, Super Dark Times, and Wyrd. Hours of entertainment summed up in 53 minutes for your enjoyment.
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You guys should review some of Mark Samuels' collections, either The White Hands or The Man Who Collected Machen. They are p good. Recent ones, not so much.