Spooky Bitch Gang

It's the inaugural meeting of the SBG Book Club and we hope you've done your homework! We're talking about J. Sheridan Le Fanu's seminal vampire novella Carmilla and its place in the canon of bloodsucking lesbians. Also includes discussions of Escape Room (2019), The Blood-Spattered Bride (1971), Vampyr (1932), Carmilla Hyde (2010) and more. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgang.com and scott@spookybitchgang.com.

Is it comedy-horror or horror-comedy? We're taking a look at some of the silliest horror movies to ever grace our screens and investigating the strange similarity between laughing and screaming. Includes discussions of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1931), The Houses October Built (2011), The Occupant (2025), The Time of the Wolf (2003), The Cat & the Canary (1927), A Bucket of Blood (1959), Young Frankenstein (1974), Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980), Juan of the Dead (2011), One Cut of t...

The hotly anticipated sequel to the hit supernatural horror film The Black Phone is here. Ethan Hawke returns as the strange and sexy villain The Grabber in Black Phone 2 which we think is a bit muddled and troublingly familiar. Also includes discussions of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgang.com and scott@spookybitchgang.com.

It's our 100th episode! To mark the occasion, we stayed up all night watching the entire The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. From its humble, low-budget origins, Tobe Hooper's shocker has given birth to a distinctly odd horror franchise that never seems quite sure what it wants to be. How do you expand on something that's arguably perfect just how it is? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgang.com and scott@spookybitchgang.com.

After four movies and a few spinoffs we're bidding adieu to Ed and Lorraine Warren and their adventures in The Conjuring series. We take a look at the way the now-classic first instalment has influenced the horror scene, and how the latest film The Conjuring: Last Rites wraps up their story. Also includes discussions of Hallow Road (2025), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and more. Dark Nights Film Fest Volume 2 takes place October 9-12, 2025 at The Ritz in Randwick. Follow us on Inst...

In this episode we explore a set of terrifying tales that might get a bit too close to reality. We explore the potent desperation, fear and hope that define stories about dystopia and authoritarianism, and how these stories illuminate our real circumstances. Includes discussions of Black Water (2007), Punishment Park (1971), Terminal Island (1973), The Crazies (1973), Golem (1979), They Live (1988), Battle Royale (2000), They Cloned Tyrone (2022) and The Long Walk (2025). Follow us on Instagr...

Zach Cregger's second feature Weapons has been one of the year's most impactful horror movies. We take a look at what makes this alternately serious and silly movie tick, and why it's been received with so much enthusiasm. What can we make of the loaded, potentially subversive symbolism at play in the film, and how does it tie in to the already-iconic villain? Also includes discussions of War of the Worlds (2025), Final Destination 2 (2003), Final Destination 5 (2011) and more. Follow us on I...

The mummy has carved out an interesting place in pop culture that reveals some odd quirks when you peel off the bandages. We investigate the exoticism and neo-colonialism that colours the image of the mummy in horror literature and film. How did this shambling corpse become so iconic and yet so divorced from its origins? Includes discussions of Afraid (2024), #missingcouple (2024), The Mummy (1932), The Mummy's Hand (1940), The Aztec Mummy (1957), Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), Timewalke...

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's 28 Days Later is a film that holds up a lot better than a lot of its contemporaries. Following a disappointing middle entry, Boyle is back in the director's chair with the epic 28 Years Later. We discuss the distinctive trilogy's emotionally-charged place in the horror canon and the quirks of its writer and director's visions. Also include discussions of Saw X (2023), Locked (2025), M3GAN 2.0 (2025), The Excavation of Hob's Barrow (video game, 2022) and more. Fo...

Maybe grab a poncho because in our latest ep you will get wet! We take a look at the grisly, gleeful gore of the splatter sub-genre. The absurd, nihilism, and the tenuous nature of our society all underpin a genre that cuts much deeper than it seems on the surface. Includes discussions of The Shrouds (2025), The Great God Pan (short story by Arthur Machen, 1894), Chain Reactions (2024), Jigoku (1960), Blood Feast (1963), The Gore Gore Girls (1972),...

The Philippou Brothers' follow-up to the record smashing hit Talk to Me is here and it's grosser, weirder and... sadder? We investigate the powerful melancholy of Bring Her Back, which is both a terrifying gross-out horror movie and a nuanced, thoughtful exploration of grief. Also includes discussion of The Front Room (2024), Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), and Stalked by My Amish Boyfriend (2024) Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at c...

Renowned for their low budget "mockbusters" and their absurd creature features, we take a look at the unusual place The Asylum occupies in the horror canon. What do these often bizarre, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, always unpredictable films say about art, commerce and the tastes of horror fans? Also includes discussions of Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025), Skincare (2024), The Children of the Dead aka Die Kinder der Toten (novel 1995, film 2019), Hillside Cannibals&...

We've got our finger on the pulse as we investigate two brand new movies - Final Destination: Bloodlines and Clown in a Cornfield. The sixth instalment in a belovedly camp splatter franchise and possible franchise-starter based on a novel make great fodder for a discussion of what actually makes a good horror movie. Through Final Destination: Bloodlines and Clown in a Cornfield, we get a strong picture of what horror is like in that space between mainstream and cult audiences. Also includes d...

As thanks for being a part of the Spooky cult, we're exploring the horror and mystique around cults, sects and New Religious Movements. Charismatic leaders, blind devotion and Flavor-Aid feature as we unpack the mechanisms of indoctrination and wonder if it would ever work on us. Features discussions of Sinners (2025), Until Dawn (2025), Thirst (1979), Santa Sangre (1989), Suicide Club (2001), The Sacrament (2013), The Invitation (20...

Drop, the latest film from Christopher Landon (Paranormal Activity, Happy Death Day, Freaky), is a nail biter in the classic sense. We talk about this rollercoaster ride's tropes on motherhood and femininity, its big reaches, and its self-dating use of memes. Also includes discussions of Lovely, Dark & Deep (2024),The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960), the 2025 Fantastic Film Festival program and more. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgan...

Nothing is certain but death, taxes and going to the doctor. We investigate the ways in which the medical system has carved out its own horrifying niche in the horror canon. Surgery, sickness and sinister doctors abound. Includes discussions of Afraid (2023), The Unholy Three (1925), Eyes without a Face (1960), The Curious Dr. Humpp (1969), Flatliners (1990), The Kingdom (1994), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), Excision (2012) and Grafted (2024). Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. ...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of what might be the greatest Australian film of all time - Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock. Full of tantalising mystery and suggestions of dark, cosmic horror, what is the allure of this oblique dream of femininity and disappearance? We also discuss the novel and the stage adaptation. Also includes discussions of Dead Calm (1989) and Se7en (1995). Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgang.com and s...

Our fungal friends seem purpose-built for horror, but our they have only a small filmography. We investigate the creepiest, gooiest appearances by mushrooms and mould in horror movies. Includes discussions of The Watchers (2024), Spider Baby (1967), The Vourdalak (2023), The Unknown Terror (1957), Matango (1963), Splinter (2008), Superdeep (2020), Gaia (2021) and The Spore (2021). Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgang.com and scott@spookybitchgang.com.

Oz Perkins' follow-up to last year's Longlegs is an ambitious, hilarious left turn into absurdity. We discuss this deceptively complex movie's Biblical allusions and its exploration of the inevitability of death. Also includes discussions of Heart Eyes (2025), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Notting Hill (1999) and The Barefoot Contessa (1954). Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Contact us at crystal@spookybitchgang.com and scott@spookybitchgang.com.

You can't swing a crucifix in this town with hitting a Satanic cult, so we're taking a look at this horror staple. Turns out Satan and his followers come in all shapes and sizes! Includes discussions of Presence (2025), Companion (2025), Faust (1926), Night of the Demon a.k.a Curse of the Demon (1957), If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? (1971), Hungry Wives (1972), The Devil's Rain (1975), Race with the Devil (1975), The Sentinel (1977) and more. Follow us on Instagram and Facebo...