Castle of Horror Podcast

Tonight we’re chatting with Brian Asman, who’s been called “a singular voice in horror fiction,” author of MAN, F*CK THIS HOUSE (AND OTHER DISASTERS) from Blackstone Publishing,  a collection of six brand-new stories of hauntings and California Weirdness. Brian Asman is a writer, actor, and director from San Diego. He’s the author of Good Dogs from Blackstone Publishing. His other books include I’m Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today, Neo Arcana, Nunchuck City, Jailbroke, Our Black Hearts Beat as One, and Return of the Living Elves. Find him on social media (@thebrianasman) or his website (www.BrianAsmanBooks.com).In the titular “Man, F*ck This House,” Sabrina Haskins and her family have just moved into their dream home. At first glance, the house is perfect. But things aren’t what they seem. Sabrina is hearing odd noises, seeing strange visions. Their neighbors are odd or absent. And Sabrina’s already-fraught relationship with her son is about to be tested in a way no parent could ever imagine. Because while the Haskins family might be the newest owners of this house, they’re far from its only residents…Join us!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we kick off a cycle of Mario Bava films curated by special guest John Logan (Penny Dreadful, Skyfall, Gladiator) with a look at the 1963 film The Whip and the Body.  This is Episode #468!  The Whip and the Body (Italian: La frusta e il corpo) is a 1963 gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava under the alias "John M. Old". The film is about Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee) who is ostracized by his father for his relationship with a servant girl and her eventual suicide. He later returns to reclaim his title and his former fiancée Nevenka (Daliah Lavi) who is now his brother's wife. Menliff is later found murdered, but the locals believe his ghost has returned to haunt the castle for revenge.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tony Salvaggio checks in to discuss the highlights of Fantastic Fest 2023, where he watched an impressive 35 movies across various genres. From horror films exploring trauma to unique international cinema, Tony breaks down standout films like "Marama," "Obsession," and the newest "Silent Night, Deadly Night." He shares insights into the current state of genre filmmaking, emphasizing the importance of independent film festivals in showcasing diverse storytelling. Hear about secret screenings, unexpected gems, and Tony's passionate take on why genre cinema remains vibrant and essential.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tonight we’re chatting with Linus O’Brien, director of STRANGE JOURNEY: THE STORY OF ROCKY HORROR in Theaters on September 26. The documentary is written by Avner Shiloah, and Produced by Adam Gibbs, Garret Price, Avner Shiloah, Linus O'Brien. Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is a joyful and wild ride through the tale of the cultural juggernaut that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which began as a 1973 musical stage production and became a 1975 film with Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Charles Gray, and more, with a historic following. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 2001 film From Hell.  This is Episode #467! From Hell is a 2001 mystery horror thriller film directed by the Hughes Brothers and written by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias and based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell about the Jack the Ripper murders. The film stars Johnny Depp as Frederick Abberline, the lead investigator of the murders, and Heather Graham as Mary Kelly, a prostitute targeted by the Ripper. Other cast members include Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson and Jason Flemyng. From Hell was theatrically released in the United States on October 19, 2001, by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed over $74 million worldwide.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tony Salvaggio reports live from Fantastic Fest 2025, sharing exciting insights on standout films like the atmospheric "The Ice Tower," the intense Indonesian martial arts film "Ikatan Dara," the Euro-spy pastiche "Reflections in a Dead Diamond," and more. Join Jason Henderson as Tony breaks down the festival's medieval-themed highlights and must-see genre cinema.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

We chat with co-host Tony Salvaggio on this year's Fantastic Fest, the world-renowned genre film festival that kicks off this week in Austin, Texas.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1972 film The Legend of Boggy Creek.  This is Episode #466! And it's a special episode as we're joined by our friends from the Monster Movie Happy Hour!The Legend of Boggy Creek is a 1972 American docudrama horror film about the "Fouke Monster", a Bigfoot-like cryptid reportedly seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas, since the 1940s. The film combines staged interviews with local residents who claim to have encountered the creature, along with reenactments of these encounters. Director and producer Charles B. Pierce, an advertising salesman, secured funding from a local trucking company and hired local high school students to help complete the film. Made on a budget of $160,000, the film was released theatrically on August 8, 1972.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tonight we’re chatting with Drew Edwards. Drew is the writer/creator of Halloween Man, a new trade paperback collection out later this month from Red 5 Comics distributed by Simon & Schuster. He is a Best Writer Ringo nominee, Austin Chronicle "Best of Austin" award winner, and a member of the Pen America Fellowship. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Scream of the Wolf is a 1974 American made-for-television horror-thriller film starring Peter Graves and Clint Walker and directed by Dan Curtis with a script by Richard Matheson (for context this is a year after he did Legend of Hell House and the same year that he and Dan Curtis would do Dracula with Jack Palance. It originally aired as the ABC Movie of the Week on January 16, 1974.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1972 TV film MOON OF THE WOLF.  This is Episode #464! Moon of the Wolf is an American TV movie broadcast on September 26, 1972 on ABC Movie of the Week. It stars David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Geoffrey Lewis and Bradford Dillman, with a script by Alvin Sapinsley (based on Leslie H. Whitten's novel of the same name). The film was directed by Daniel Petrie and filmed on location in Burnside, Louisiana. All of the downtown footage was from Clinton, Louisiana.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tonight we’re chatting with director Chuck Russell, whose new film Witchboard which is out August 15  and is a re-imagining of the 1986 classic. The new film stars  Madison Iseman, Aaron Dominguez, Melanie Jarnson, Charlie Tahan, Antonia Desplat, and Jamie Campbell Bower. Russell is a horror veteran, having directed  the films A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), "the highest grossing independent film ever made" at that time, The Blob (1988), which was itself a re-imagining of a film made 30 years before that, The Mask (1994), Eraser (1996), and The Scorpion King (2002).Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1970 Hammer Dracula film TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA.  This is Episode #463! Taste the Blood of Dracula is a 1970 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Peter Sasdy from a script by Anthony Hinds, it is the fifth installment in Hammer's Dracula series, and the fourth to star Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the titular vampire. The film also features Geoffrey Keen and Gwen Watford.Taste the Blood of Dracula was followed by Scars of Dracula, also released in 1970.Once more we are joined by a very special guest. This writer received the Tony award for his play Red and wrote the book for the Tony award-winning Moulin Rouge. As a screenwriter, he has been nominated for the Oscar three times and has received Golden Globe, BAFTA, WGA and Edgar awards. His film work includes Skyfall, Gladiator, The Aviator, Hugo, Rango, Sweeney Todd, They/Them, The Last Samurai, and Any Given Sunday. He also created the television series Penny Dreadful for Showtime.  next year will see the release of his movie Michael, about Michael Jackson. We are joined tonight by JOHN LOGAN.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

ANTHOLOGY SERIES. Tonight we’re chatting with T. D. Severin, whose novel DEADLY VISION has just been released by Penmore Press. The book is a medical thriller that peole are comparing to Michael Crichton and Dean KoontzDeadly Vision is a high-concept medical thriller that follows Dr. Taylor Abrahms, a pioneering surgeon and researcher in the field of Medical Virtual Reality. Abrahms leads the Virtual Heart Project (VHP), a revolutionary initiative that fuses virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and microsurgery to transform cardiac care. The technology allows doctors to perform intricate, life-saving surgeries inside a virtual recreation of a patient’s heart. However, as the project gains media attention during a heated presidential election, it becomes a political flashpoint. Abrahms faces relentless attacks from political operatives, established medical professionals threatened by new technology, and even murder, as those connected to the VHP are targeted one by one. The story is not only a fast-paced thriller but also explores themes of innovation, resistance to change in medicine, and the personal cost of pursuing groundbreaking science in a hostile environment.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1968 Hammer Dracula film DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.  This is Episode #462! Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is a 1968 British supernatural horror film directed by Freddie Francis and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the fourth entry in Hammer's Dracula series, and the third to feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the titular vampire. The film stars Rupert Davies as a clergyman who exorcises Dracula's castle, and in doing so, unwittingly resurrects the Count back from the dead. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave also stars Veronica Carlson, Barry Andrews, Barbara Ewing, Ewan Hooper, and Michael Ripper. It was followed by Taste the Blood of Dracula in 1970.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tonight we’re chatting with Christopher Micklos, author TICK TOWN, which comes out this month from Castle Bridge Media.In the book, “When a northern Wisconsin tourist town becomes the feeding ground for a band of giant, mutant ticks, a young reporter, her cop ex-boyfriend, and a veteran newspaperman must track down and destroy the queen tick and her nest before the monsters overrun and slaughter the entire town.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tonight we’re chatting with Illustrator Clint Langley and writer Chris McAuley about SHADOWS OF THE STOKERVERSE, a new illustrated story book launched on Kickstarter and soon to come out from Scratch Comics.  After the hugely successful launch of the comic book series "Dracula The Return: Cult Of The White Worm" Scratch Comics and the equally successful launch of the Stokerverse Role Playing Game released by Nightfall Games, which featured the stunning artwork of 2000ad comic art legend Clint Langley (ABC Warriors, Slaine, WarHammer 4000), ideas started to flow between Chris McAuley, Clint Langley and team to find an exciting way to expand the Stokerverse beyond Dracula himself.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

This week we have a look at the 1963 Hammer film KISS OF THE VAMPIRE.  This is Episode #461! KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (also known as KISS OF EVIL on American television) is a 1963 British vampire film directed by Don Sharp and starring Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel. It was written by producer Anthony Hinds (as John Elder) and made by Hammer Film Productions.It was Sharp's first movie for Hammer. He went on to make two more non-vampire films for the company, The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), and Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966). He also made Witchcraft (1964) with Lon Chaney, a film we’ve covered.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Join our panel on writing, reading, and getting out there with Urban Fantasy, or what we call "Fantasy Without Elves." In honor of the release of TUNNELS OF BUDA (https://amzn.to/4mNSWFs) by Don Sawyer. Panelists:Tricia Copeland -Critically acclaimed and Award-Winning author, Tricia Copeland has been acknowledged as an Award Winners in two separate book categories for the prestigious 2024 Global Book Awards– acclaimed novel, To Be A Fae Queen which is the first book in her Realm Chronicles series was the recipient of the Gold Award in the Teen and Young Adult Action/Adventure category. In addition, Tricia also received the Silver Award in the Teen and Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Category for her stand-alone novel, Azreya, Aztec Priestess. Mark Morton - Noted Canadian non-fiction author and long-time CBC columnist Mark Morton has a debut as a novelist with The Headmasters, from Shadowpaw Press; he has DEEP experience in nonfiction as well, Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities (was nominated for a Julia Child Award Don Sawyer He has authored over 12 books in several genres, including two Canadian bestsellers, his new book is THE TUNNELS OF BUDA which launches TODAY Mickey Mikkelson is the founder of Creative Edge Publicity. Since founding Creative Edge, Mickey has signed some of the top talents in the literary industry, including multiple award-winning authors, New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, and successful indie authors.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.

Tonight we’re chatting with Mark Stevens, author of the new thriller novel NO LIE LASTS FOREVER out in June from Thomas & Mercer, who call NO LIE LASTS FOREVER “Zodiac with a terrifying twist, in a taut thriller from author Mark Stevens about a reformed serial killer and the disgraced journalist he coaxes into finding the imposter trading on his name.” Stevens’s book The Fireballer (Lake Union, 2023) was named Best Baseball Novel by Twin Bill Literary Magazine and named one of Best Baseball Books of the Year by Spitball Magazine, and his books Buried by the Roan, Trapline, and Lake of Fire were all finalists for the Colorado Book Award (2012, 2015, and 2016, respectively). Trapline won the Colorado Book Award in 2016 and also received the best genre fiction award from Colorado Authors League.  In September 2016, Stevens was named Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year, and again in 2023. Stevens hosts a regular podcast for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and has served as president of the Rocky Mountain chapter for Mystery Writers of America. And like me he lives in Colorado.CONNECT WITH MARK STEVENS ONLINEOfficial Website: WriterMarkStevens.com Facebook: /writermarkstevens X : @writerstevens Instagram: @mark54stevens TikTok: @mark54stevensBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/castle-of-horror-podcast--4268760/support.