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© Copyright 2026 Sarah Spurlock and Kellie Nicole Hill
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Final Girls is a dynamic podcast that dives deep into the world of horror by examining one iconic final girl per episode. Co-hosted by Kellie and Sarah — both UC Davis alumni with strong academic backgrounds — each installment dissects the tropes, triumphs, and challenges of these resilient characters. Drawing from Kellie’s expertise in Human-Computer Interaction and Film, and Sarah’s insights from History and Political Science, the show brings a unique blend of sharp analysis and genuine passion to every discussion.
Each episode explores the final girl's journey in detail, from the creative escape scenes that have become cult favorites to the narrative complexities that define their battles against overwhelming odds. Final Girls celebrates the spirit of women who fight back, inviting listeners to rethink classic horror tropes and appreciate the empowering narratives that make these characters enduring cultural icons.
This podcast is not only a must-listen for horror enthusiasts but also for anyone interested in the intersection of storytelling, gender, and cultural critique.
Each episode explores the final girl's journey in detail, from the creative escape scenes that have become cult favorites to the narrative complexities that define their battles against overwhelming odds. Final Girls celebrates the spirit of women who fight back, inviting listeners to rethink classic horror tropes and appreciate the empowering narratives that make these characters enduring cultural icons.
This podcast is not only a must-listen for horror enthusiasts but also for anyone interested in the intersection of storytelling, gender, and cultural critique.
64 Episodes
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Good evening, Clarice! This week, we're covering the Final Girl story of Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs (1991), one of our most competent Final Girls so far. Portrayed brilliantly by Jodie Foster, Clarice ABSOLUTELY is a Final Girl because she is vulnerable, strong, thoughtful, intentional, and just an overall badass. She feels like she has a lot to prove as a cadet in the FBI academy surrounded by a bunch of dudes who hit on her, and she does it all in spades. Warning, there are spoilers ahead!Note: we use he/him pronouns for Buffalo Bill in this episode, as the character has been universally accepted as identifying as male.Please leave us a rating and review!Visit us at final-girls.com and check out our Patreon!
Happy Valentine's Day! Heart Eyes (2025) was a fan favorite last year, so we couldn't let this romantic holiday pass without covering Ally, its Final Girl who is afraid of blood and cynical about true love. And luckily, to celebrate the day of love, we have our podcast besties Matt and Katie from Getting Offed to help us break down the whole thing - from the 50/50 split of rom-com and horror to suction cup dildo weapons to red night vision masks and Detective Devon Sawa. Listen now before the Heart Eyes Killer comes to YOUR town! (Warning: spoilers!)PLEASE BE OUR VALENTINE AND LEAVE US A RATING AND REVIEW!Find Matt and Katie here: Getting Offed - LinkTree and YouTubeSheLite Showcase - LinkTreeVisit us at final-girls.com and subscribe to our Patreon!
It might be a stretch to call Maud from Saint Maud (2019) a Final Girl, because there’s no slasher, no chase sequence, no one coming to save her — not even God. Her horror is internal, spiritual, and exquisitely lonely. This episode explores Maud as a woman desperate for meaning in a world that offers her none, and how that desperation turns her inward, toward Heaven, and then outward with devastating consequences.Spoiler Warning: This episode spoils everything and if you’ve seen it, yes – including the part you’re thinking about.PLEASE LEAVE US A RATING AND REVIEW! It will get you into Heaven!Visit us at final-girls.comOur Patreon is live!
This week, we cotton-candy-cocoon our way into the colorful, twisted world of Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), discussing the film’s creative visual effects, memorable kills, and the unique quirks of our Final Girl, Debbie Stone. We also explore the movie’s cultural impact, comparing the dreaded clowns to modern horror icons and reflecting on Debbie's assertive, fearless nature. Join us for a hilarious and nostalgic breakdown of this iconic horror film! And make sure not to get popcorn in your bra. So uncomfortable.Visit us at final-girls.comOur Patreon is alive!
Put on your brightest 80s gear, listeners, for this week's discussion about Lisa from Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams' 2024 technicolor fever dream, Lisa Frankenstein! High school can be hell, but bringing a hottie gentile man from a different time period back to life can certainly help. In this episode, we breakdown Lisa's story and what we learned from it - like never chug a mystery concoction in a red solo cup at a party, and never use a tanning bed. But wait, there's more! Listen now!Visit us at final-girls.comOur Patreon is alive!
Beware of The Beast! To celebrate one year of Final Girls Podcast, we have our friend Reggie from Movie Postmortem Podcast helping us break down the Final Girl journey of Casey from M. Night Shyamalan's 2016 thriller Split. Is Casey the only Final Girl in this movie? We're pretty sure there are multiple with FG energy, but Casey is a great one all the same. Listen now and remember: always be aware of your surroundings in a parking lot!Spoiler Warning: This movie spoils plot points in Unbreakable, Split, and Glass. Proceed with caution!Find us at final-girls.com and join our Patreon!Find Reggie and Movie Postmortem on Bluesky and all of the streaming platforms!
Let's all just agree now that we should not take shots of snake venom, even if Channing Tatum is giving it to you. K? This week, we're discussing the 2024 thriller-horror film Blink Twice and its Final Girl, Frida (played by Naomi Ackie), who finds herself on a billionaire's private island with a bunch of people she doesn't know. The island looks beautiful and colorful and fun, but is it... really? And is this movie's message that rich white guys get away with literally anything? Maybe. Listen to find out.Spoiler Warning: We're spilling all the tea on this one. Enter if you dare!Content Warning: The film and this episode alike discuss SA. If that is something you are sensitive to, please skip this week.Visit us at final-girls.comPatreon here!
Is the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre one of the best remakes ever, and is Erin one of the best homages to one of the most classic Final Girls? Half endurance runner, half feral fighter, Erin (played by Jessica Biel) is one for the books. This week, we explore the remake that kicked off a decade-plus of remakes, the elements it added and freshened up (the hitchiker!), and the things it sadly missed (no astrology?!) and why Erin deserves her spot in the canon all the same. Do not listen or watch while you're eating. Don't say we didn't warn you.Spoiler warning: Spoilers for both the original 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the 2003 remake ahead!Theme by Max Ansonwww.final-girls.comPatreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/FinalGirlsThePodcast
The call is coming from inside the house! This week, we’re getting festive while diving into one of the most seminal Final Girl stories of all time, Jess from 1974’s Black Christmas. This movie has so much to say about bodily autonomy, feminism, sisterhood, and 1970s telephone infrastructure, and we get into it all with our friend Brucker Nourse from Autopsy of a Horror Movie podcast! Find Brucker: Instagram Threads Bluesky Our episode on Autopsy of a Horror Movie Spoiler Warning: This episode reveals all the twists and plot points. THE MOAN-AH!www.final-girls.comCheck out our Patreon!
The Final Girl who inspired it all (and by all, we mean, this podcast!) Art the Clown is back, the violence is somehow even more unhinged, and once again, Sienna Shaw refuses to go quietly. In this episode of Final Girls, we dig into Sienna’s evolution in Terrifier 3 from traumatized survivor to fully weaponized Final Girl. We love Sienna because she survives through rage and resilience and an almost mythic (or biblical) refusal to break. And whether you love or loathe the Terrifier films, there’s no denying that Sienna is one of the most extreme Final Girls of the modern era.Spoiler warning: FULL Terrifier 1- 3 spoilers here.Theme by Max Ansonwww.final-girls.comPatreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/FinalGirlsThePodcast
Tess from Barbarian (2022) is a Final Girl who deserves her flowers (and a hot shower.) She doesn’t make all the right calls, but she has empathy and grit and makes it out alive, despite the odds stacked against her. This week we’re unpacking all of the gendered horror of this modern classic, including a whole first act written to be the screenplay version of Gavin de Becker’s Gift of Fear as well as three loose stages of male predator explored in this film.Spoilers for Barbarian throughout!Find us at final-girls.com and join our Patreon here.
Final Girl meets haunted Chuck E. Cheese! In a world of killer animatronics, flickering security monitors, and childhood trauma, Abby might be the smallest Final Girl we’ve covered, but she’s also one of the fiercest. This week, we dive into Five Nights at Freddy’s and its pint-sized protagonist who manages to survive a gauntlet of ghost kids and malfunctioning mascots with her empathy, resilience, and a seriously uncanny ability to communicate with the dead.Spoiler warning: This episode contains major plot points from Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023).Theme song by Max AnsonMore at final-girls.com, and join our Patreon!
FREE PATREON PREVIEW - SHE'S ALIVE! Our Patreon, that is. This is a FREE preview of our Patreon-only Final Daddies series, in which we break down the Final Daddy journey of Jacob Elordi's Creature from Guillmero del Toro's 2025 Frankenstein remake. We cover the design, the gorgeousness, the tenderness, the tragedy, the male loneliness epidemic, the queer codes, and whether this version of the Monster is a certified Final Daddy or not. SIGN UP FOR OUR PATREON HERE!www.final-girls.com
This year, there will be no leftovers! Let’s carve into the surprisingly sharp Thanksgiving (2023) and shine the carving knife spotlight on Jessica, our privileged but persistent Final Girl with a… locket (?) We talk all about her arc, Black Friday madness, and the camp vibes of this Eli Roth holiday slasher. We also dig into the film’s commentary on consumerism, social media rot, and the absurdity of American traditions. Spoiler warning: We talk plot twists and dinner-table deaths and everything in between.Theme by Max Ansonwww.final-girls.comPatreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/FinalGirlsThePodcast
Join us this week to revisit the gloriously grotesque 2005 cult favorite House of Wax, and our Final Girl Carly, played by the scream-worthy Elisha Cuthbert. We dig into Carly’s transformation from fashion intern and Waffle House waitress to one of the grimiest, grittiest Final Girls of the 2000s. We also unpack the heavy 2000s vibes: the Interpol and Deftones soundtrack, the roadside voyeurism, the Paris Hilton-era celebrity spectacle, and the cultural moment this movie captured. Plus, we talk about how the marketing made Paris Hilton the real horror bait.Spoiler warning: We reveal who melts, who shatters, and who walks away covered in wax and ready to fight.Theme by Max Anson www.final-girls.com
We’re heading to the suburbs with Night of the Reaper (2025), a love letter to 80s slasher classics with a modern, blood-soaked twist. Our Final Girl is Deena, a criminology major home from college for what should’ve been a cozy fall break. Instead, she finds herself at the center of a violent, terrifying mystery… and face to face with a masked killer who is dragging the past to the surface.Find our recent guest appearances hereSpoiler warning: If you haven’t watched Night of the Reaper, now’s your chance to press play before the body count rises.Theme by Max AnsonVisit us at www.final-girls.com
In this episode, we’re slipping into glass slippers and fairy-tale trauma with The Ugly Stepsister (2025). This gruesome, pink cottagecore fever dream reimagines the story of Cinderella from the perspective of Elvira, the not-so-fair stepsister in a kingdom obsessed with perfection. In a world where beauty is currency, conformity is survival, and every flaw could be fatal, Elvira’s transformation arc is a brutal, bloody reminder of how far women are expected to go to be “enough.”We dive deep into this film’s feminist body horror, unpacking its commentary on societal pressure, cosmetic violence, and the cost of chasing beauty in a culture that demands it at any cost. We also talk about why we need way more horror films that get real about the psychological and physical toll of being a woman in a world built to break us.Spoiler warning: We’re spilling all the tea and the beauty serum. You’ve been warned.BUY SARAH'S BABY BOOKS!Theme by Max Anson Visit us at www.final-girls.com
This week, we’re worshipping at the altar of cleavage and camp with Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. She may not be your traditional Final Girl, but make no mistake, Elvira is horror’s ultimate Final Baddie. Armed with quick wit and zero tolerance for puritanical nonsense, she battles small-town hypocrisy and misogyny and slays while she does.We dig into Elvira’s iconic blend of sex positivity and self-possession and why this 1988 cult classic still stands out in 2025. Elvira outlasts the villains AND she roasts them alive with double entendres and drag-queen-level charisma.Elvira's Cookbook from HellListen to The Hesh Files (Eric's podcast)Listen to Dead Man's Mic podcast (about Halloween Horror Nights)Spoiler warning: We’re opening the spellbook and the movie vault. You’ve been warned.Theme by Max AnsonVisit us at www.final-girls.com
We’re entering the twisted trap of Heretic (2024), a psychological survival thriller that pits two Mormon missionaries against a villain who tests their belief in God and themselves. We dig into what makes Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton unlikely Final Girls: their young and indoctrinated moral rigidity, growing doubts, and eventual transformation from passive believers into active resistors. Plus: we unpack the film’s commentary on purity, obedience, and the dangers of not asking questions. Spoiler warning: We’re going full Book of Revelations on this one: expect plot details, intense themes, and some side-eye at organized religion.Kellie’s 31 Days of Shudder Originals minisodeThe Gift of Fear by Gavin de BeckerTheme by Max AnsonVisit us at www.final-girls.com
She babysat, she survived, and she started it all. This week, we go back to where the slashing started (Haddonfield, 1978) to honor the OG Final Girl, Laurie Strode. Played with brilliance by Jamie Lee Curtis, Laurie is smart, watchful, responsible… and unknowingly marked. As her friends get picked off one by one, Laurie arms herself with knitting needles, coat hangers, and sheer willpower to face down the Boogeyman.We dig into the birth of the Final Girl trope, how Laurie’s character helped define it, and why her survival still resonates nearly 50 years later.Spoiler warning: We’re talking all things Halloween — expect major plot details, lots of love for Laurie, and some strong opinions about men in jumpsuits.Theme by Max AnsonVisit us at www.final-girls.com
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