The Horrors of Love

 In this episode of The Horrors of Love we will discuss David Cronenberg’s 1979 psychological body horror The Brood. This is, if I had to choose, my favorite film by Cronenberg if not one of my all-time favorite films period. I sleep with a poster of it above my bed. It tells the story of a separated couple and their child and the strange, new age psychotherapy being prescribed to the mother, played masterfully by Samathan Eggers. The would-be mad scientist administering this treatment is portrayed by English film icon Oliver Reed. In order to analyze the kinds of love haphazardly displayed in this film -- parental love, marital love, self love and so on -- I thought it was important to bring in an expert who loves the film as much as I do. Our guest for this episode also happens to be my best friend, my sister in life if not by blood, and an adoring wife and mother. More to the point, she is the Licensed Clinical Psychologist & Director of Training at a community mental health center in Connecticut. I cannot imagine a more suitable guest to discuss this absolutely enrapturing film, welcome Dr. Carly Trask-Kuchta M.A., Psy.D.! I’m so happy about the conversation we had – Carly brings so much amazing insight into the film and all the little easter eggs Cronenberg has hidden for us. Thank you for listening to Horrors of Love! You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove. 

Welcome to the Horrors of Love! I am your host, Jeanette Wall. In this series, I discuss what we learn from the genre of horror about dating, sex, love and relationships. In this episode we’ll be discussing the epic, bizarre, delightfully ornate Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In this very loyal adaptation, we see Gary Oldman star as Dracula, in his many forms, as he seeks out his lost love reincarnated as the wonderful Wynona Rider. Keaneu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Waits also star in this masterclass in dreamlike filmmaking. I’m joined by a wonderful musician, Will Sheff, who I’m lucky to call my friend. He is a troubadour of American indie rock, a well-read and well-watched hero, a filmmaker, podcaster, the list goes on.  He’s also one of my favorite people to follow on Letterboxd. You will know him from his many, gorgeous albums with his band Okkervil River, as well as his latest solo album, Nothing Special (which I think is quite special), out now. We dive right into the episode here, we couldn’t help ourselves. This is such a rich conversation, Will and I dig into Coppola’s maximalist ode to the vampire myth, vampires as a metaphor for power in war, the beautiful costumes of Eiko Ishioka, and much much more. It meant so much to me to have Will on the podcast, and I can’t wait for you to listen. So, with that, here’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula…Be sure to follow Will at @okkervilriver. Thank you for listening to Horrors of Love! You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove. 

We're back, baby! Jeanette got shingles, so we took a little break this summer. Now we're thrilled to be back with new episodes. This episode's guest is the ONE, the ONLY Mr. He! You may know this fabulous drag queen as the host of Mr. He's Calendar Ghoul's, THE Elf on the Shelf, or just an absolute babe about town (currently Los Angeles, formerly Brooklyn). They are a horror expert, haunted house builder, and an absolute, all-around titan of horror pop, so you know I was thrilled to have them on!We discuss the absolutely divine Julia Ducournau 2021 VEHICLE (get it?), Titane! Body horror, some of the insanity of having a womb, gender as more of a general vibe, this film has it all.  Mr. He and I gush over the many readings of this sexy, thrilling, coyly gruesome tale of family and identity and machine. Spoilers ahead, you've been warned. Be sure to follow, subscribe, delight in the music and magic and merchandise of the gorgeous Mr. He: https://linktr.ee/amrheslasherThank you for listening to Horrors of Love! You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove. Now on Apple Podcasts, thank you so much Geek Scape. 

This episode’s guest is my wonderful friend Alex Berenson who is an arbiter of taste like few you actually get to meet in the music industry. Alex is Senior Director of A&R for All Flowers Group. She inspires me a lot, and we have always connected on film and especially how we relate film to the music we work on, and how it inspires us. We’re talking about one of my all-time favorite films, The Invitation today. A cool LA couple accept an invitation (haha) to an old friends get together dinner party after several years apart. Things aren't quite what they seem and we witness these relationship dynamics play out over the course of an increasingly uncomfortable evening. As always, beware of spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen this film ,don’t read anything more about it , just go watch it right now and come back after. It's wonderful. Karyn Kusama 4 life!I’m excited to hear what you all think. Thank you for listening to Horrors of Love! You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove. 

This episode’s guest is the iconic, the chic, the DIY maven of all mavens, SHAMIR! Shamir is a musician, their newest project is an Americana band called Big Benny Bailey, catch them on tour this June. You can hear their beautiful solo album Heterosexulaity out everywhere now. They are also the founder and manager of Accidental Popstar Records, internet icon, and the list goes on.  Here Shamir and I discuss the Patrick Brice-directed, Mark Duplass-starring found footage vehicles Creep from 2014 and Creep 2 from 2017. It’s our first Blumhouse film, our first double feature, and I loved digging into this one with the extremely thoughtful Mx Bailey.  We discuss the proverbial and literal wolf at the door, our prospects for the forthcoming Creep 3, and the silly little things that we do in the face of fear. Follow The Horrors of Love on Instagram @horrorsoflove.Follow Shamir's beautiful musical exploits at @shamir326 on Instagram and @ShamirBailey on Twitter. Find out more about Jeanette and Kyle's short film and support the production here: https://seedandspark.com/fund/the-wound-within

In this episode, we are talking about one of the newer films on the Horrors of Love film list, Barbarian (2022). We discuss the various types of toxic masculintiy displayed by the many "barbarians" of Barbary Street, how comedians make excellent horror maestros, and what films we're excited about that are changing the landscape of the genre. Bella Mazzetti is our guest; she is a Public Health Nerd and educator, iconic for shredding in the Miscreant Records band Jawbreaker Reunion, and she’s one of my favorite people to talk to about horror movies. Please listen with care as we do discuss sexual violence and incest.Follow The Horrors of Love on Instagram @horrorsofloveIf you like what you hear, listen to Jeanette on the latest episode of Mr. He's The Calendar Ghoul's discussing Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).

In The Horrors of Love, horror fanatic Jeanette Wall discusses romantic relationships depicted in some of her favorite films. Every episode, Jeanette and a guest will dive into what can be learned from the terror we see on screen and apply to the day-to-day horrors of dating, sex, love and relationships. Any subgenre and any era is up for grabs. Perhaps somewhere along the way, on this dark and stormy night, we will conquer our fears of the Horrors of Love.

This month Horrors of Love is honored to be joined by Horror Movie Night, the winner of the Best Podcast Theme Song Award for many years running (as determined by Jeanette). Scott, Matt and Kyle host the long-celebrated show via Geek Scape Network, where you can find many other podcasts to tickle your fancy. You’ll remember Kyle from our premiere episode on Lucky McKee’s MAY, and I cannot recommend their show enough. It’s a great resource for finding your new favorite VHS favorites. For this I actually chose a film that I discovered because these guys covered it on their show, the absolutely trash-tastic BRAIN DAMAGE (1988). The movie follows Brian, a young man who becomes acquainted with a talking parasite known as Aylmer that injects him with an addictive fluid that causes euphoric hallucinations (like you do).  We go deep in this conversation, talking about the pursuit of sex and drugs, 80’s New York, and considering the work of VHS Horror Titan director Frank Henenlotter through a feminist lens (something we KNOW he would love, haha).Be sure to listen and follow Horror Movie Night at @hmnpodcast!Thank you for listening to Horrors of Love! You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove. Now on Apple Podcasts, thank you so much Geek Scape.

This episode’s guest is a performer on stage, screen and record who is close to my heart. I speak to the enchanting and hilarious Nina Grollman. You may know her by her DIY pop star moniker Softee. You can hear her joyous, dynamic forthcoming record, Natural, out on City Slang on May 12. Nina joins me today to discuss Midsommar, the second film from A24-director Ari Aster. We get into all the gory little details, so please listen with care and acceptance of spoilers. This conversation actually happened live in my kitchen, and we really get into it. I’ll leave it at this…we end up having a lot of reverence for the performance of Florence Pugh. And some other strong feelings about Aster’s work and the ending our main character Dani gets in this film. I’m excited to hear what you all think. Thank you for listening to Horrors of Love!You can find us on Instagram at @horrorsoflove. Follow Nina at @softeepopstar and be sure to listen to her forthcoming record.

This episode’s guest is Becca Ryskalczyk. Becca is the primary songwriter and musician behind Miscreant Records alumni Bethlehem Steel – she is half of the dynamic musical duo, Sloan Rivers. She is a composer for TV and film and  is specifically on board to score mine and fellow guest of the pod, Kyle Kuchta’s upcoming short film, The Wound Within. We are currently fundraising for the film, just passing 20% when recording this, with a couple weeks to go. Please support and share at Seed & Spark, and searching The Wound Within: https://seedandspark.com/fund/the-wound-within#storyHere we discuss Rosemary’s Baby – one of the most iconic pieces of horror cinema from fugitive Roman Polanski who made made brilliant films and is also a very bad person. We speak more on it in the episode, but watching Rosemary’s Baby is such a time capsule for feminism, abuse of power, and the Satanic Panic. We get into it all and more, so watch the film before listening. Please be mindful when tuning in, as we discuss sexual violence and the criminality of sexual violence, as well as the sex crimes that Polanski has plead guilty to. Listen with care. Follow The Horrors of Love on Instagram @horrorsoflove.Follow Becca at @rebecca.ryskalczyk to hear her many musical projects which we love!

This episode’s guest is multi-hyphenate musical maven, graphic artist, all-around-funniest man I know and love, the brilliant Karl Kuehn. Karl is the braintrust behind the music of Gay Meat, everyone go listen to his Bed of Every EP wherever you get your music . Karl and I cover the 2014 teen horror stand out, It Follows. The film follows (hahaha) a group of teens trying to outrun a mysterious, sexually-transmitted monster on the prowl.  We discuss the gender dynamics of teen horror films, this film’s infamous SHELL phone, and how much Paul sucks. Seriously, we hate Paul. But we love you! And I hope you enjoy this episode of the Horrors of love...Please listen with care as we do discuss sexual violence and incest.Follow The Horrors of Love on Instagram @horrorsofloveBe sure to listen / download / support Karl's amazing rock band Gay Meat  via: linktree.com/gaymeat

Director and write Kyle Kuchta speaks with Jeanette about May (2002), starring Angela Bettis as the title character – a misfit veterinary clinician who begins a few misguided love affairs, but finding true love within herself along the way. Spoiler warning, we get into all the gory details, so watch before tuning in. Follow The Horrors of Love on Instagram @horrorsofloveFollow Kyle and learn more about his work at kylekuchta.com