PODCAST

Scary Thoughts

(Chad Lott & Marc Kate)

Hosts Marc Kate and Chad Lott discuss horror films, television, literature and philosophy.

tv & film philosophy

All Episodes

01:26:56

Scary Thoughts #128 - "What was your first scary...

Scary Thoughts ·

2025/10/30

For Halloween, we always like to do something a little special, and this year we decided to ask some of our fellow fiends (Meg Elison, Joshua Grannell aka Peaches Christ, Carmen Maria Machado, Daniel Coffeen, Steven Intermill and Monique Jenkinson aka Fauxnique) about the first film they remember that truly scared them, and how that shaped them into the ghouls they grew up to be.

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01:41:37

Scary Thoughts #127 - 28 Years Later (2025)

Scary Thoughts ·

2025/08/23

28 Years Later (2025) seems to have divided fans of the franchise. The original film raged into theaters with an absolutely fresh take on the zombie, with new and prescient rules based on gain of function research, and a distorted digital aesthetic that still looks incredible. Plus it introduced us to the great cheek bones of Cillian Murphy. But this film? Chad loved it, Marc hated it. So get ready for a fun back and forth about what worked, and what didn’t for your favorite horror movie

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01:22:23

Scary Thoughts #126 - Final Destination: Bloodlines...

Scary Thoughts ·

2025/06/25

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) is the sixth installment in a (mostly) beloved franchise of fright films. Fans consider it one of the best in the series, and even the less enthused have found gems to enjoy. The opening sequence is a blast. The kills are hilarious and maximalist. And you even get a little bit of character development. The conversation stays mostly on topic, but let’s be honest, Bloodlines is like a new AC/DC album. You know what you’re getting. We stray into

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01:35:20

Scary Thoughts #125 - Companion (Drew Hancock – 2025)

Scary Thoughts ·

2025/03/26

Companion (2025) comes to us at a great time in our culture’s history. As of this writing, AI hucksters are incinerating the planet so anyone can prompt Harry Potter fan fiction and the innumerate can vibe code their way to enough series A funding to purchase one-way flights to the Martian refugee colonies of the ultra wealthy. If those words are unfamiliar to you, just wait. Soon enough, the tech oligarchs will replace you with a subservient version of yourself that will. Or maybe they’ll

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01:26:29

Scary Thoughts #124 - Nosferatu (Robert Eggers –2024)

Scary Thoughts ·

2025/01/30

In this episode, we sink our yellowed fangs into Nosferatu (2024). It’s one of our best conversations in a while. Likely due to our occult powers ascending and a potent peasant stew of nicotine and caffeine. We talk about orthodox exorcisms, Lily-Ross Depp’s rise as an actor, supernatural penises, and what kind of undead creatures we’d like to be. Robert Eggers has once again delivered an incredible looking film that shows what you can do with an absurd obsession for details. Are we all

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01:53:19

Scary Thoughts #123 - The Substance (Coralie Fargeat...

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/12/16

The Substance (2024) is a nearly perfect example of what we like in movies. It’s dripping with weighty ideas about bodies and power’s putrid hold on humanity. The director is an alluring French woman who appears to be a deep fan of all the dark shit we’re into. The actors are going for it hard. The effects are practical. It’s absurdly gory and fun. To conversate and celebrate this body horror peak, we’re joined by Monique Jenkinson–who needs little introduction to our audience–but just in

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01:22:17

Scary Thoughts #122 - Alien3 (David Fincher – 1992)

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/11/20

David Fincher’s first film, Alien 3 (1992), is a notorious example of studio meddlers clashing with an auteur-minded director, leaving a franchise in the khazi. It’s a shame, because xenomorphs are basically money makers. The film has some solid performances and a gloriously grimy setting. But alas, the film (both cuts) is a mess. The special effects are majorly downgraded from Aliens. The plot is full of more holes than a pair of old Weyland-Yutani panties. But they did manage to give

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01:05:32

Scary Thoughts #121 - Aliens (James Cameron – 1986)

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/10/14

Alien$ made an enormous amount of money because James Cameron asked “What if there were a lot of aliens?” and “What if there were a ton of machine guns?” Answering “Yes, and” to these bold questions guaranteed a hit in the 80s. What a time to be alive! In this episode, we discuss Weyland-Yutani’s corporate culture, life in the Colonial Marines, the history of Jews in Mexico and their theoretical role in space, great sci-fi industrial design, and the tyranny of Fox Studio suits. It looks

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48:20

Scary Thoughts #120 - Alien (Ridley Scott – 1979)...

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/09/17

Behold! In part two of our conversation about Alien (1979), we get more into speculative territory about UFO sightings, how a trillion dollar space-faring company might operate, and how notes from studio suits always ruin things. We get more into HR Giger’s influence on the film and his firm grip on 90s mall goth aesthetics. We also cover some advice about how to survive in the Alien universe (don’t look inside wet eggs) and imagine what products you might make from harvested xenomorph

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01:00:43

Scary Thoughts #119 - Alien (Ridley Scott – 1979)...

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/08/31

Alien (1979) is a perfect movie. Which is why there is an entire Weyland-Yutani freighter worth of commentary about it. In this, our first ever two-part episode, we explore what makes the film exceptional and we explore the conversation around popular critical touch points—like Ripley’s panties. As working class heroes ourselves, we bring new thoughts to the class dynamics of the ship’s mission and the role of middle management in making things worse for everyone. If this leaves your

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01:32:17

Scary Thoughts #118 - Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock –...

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/07/24

Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) is responsible for dozens of film studies books and an inexhaustible number of undergrad student theses–and now a new episode of your favorite podcast featuring our unofficial third co-host Monique Jenkinson (AKA Fauxnique). We cover all of the hits: color theory, suspense, costuming, heroic ladies, weird cops, set design, relationships, whether or not Marc should powder his whole body to combat global warming, and of all things, rolling suitcases.

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56:30

Scary Thoughts #117 - Fallout (2024)

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/05/16

Chad and Marc return from the prison of their career commitments to the nihilist hellscape of Amazon Prime’s dystopic series Fallout Marc is a noob to this take on this apocalypse-as-western. His guide Chad, has spent some time building his own vault in the time-incinerating Fallout Shelter game. They discuss Walton Goggins’ reign, Prime vs. Netflix, Cormac McCarthy, how Lucy is no Mary Sue, Kyle MacLaughlin’s classic Americana charm and whether a positive mental attitude will serve you as

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01:17:25

Scary Thoughts #116 - Clueless (1995)

Scary Thoughts ·

2024/03/23

Clueless (1995) is one of those films that almost everyone has a soft spot for. It defined a time and place, riffed on a classic, upholds pretty good values, is extremely quotable, and makes you feel happy when you watch it (unless you are truly dead inside). So why are we covering it on a horror podcast? Well, it’s Marc’s favorite movie, and Chad prefers it to all horror movies. It’s an episode we’ve joked about doing forever. Recently, we both read “As If!: The Oral History of Clueless,

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01:04:04

Scary Thoughts #115 - Rick and Morty, Season 7,...

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/12/24

When faced with the recent dreary Christmas horror offerings of the past year or two, we felt nothing but apathy. Which is a terrible position to be in when you’re looking for a holiday episode idea. But fear not! Or rather—Fear No Mort—the season seven finale of Rick and Morty is pretty great. It sticks the landing on an overall decent season that could’ve been much worse. But it’s smart, funny and brings up a lot of themes that we’ve spent years covering: the nature of fear, creativity in

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01:22:56

Scary Thoughts #114 - Top Ten Tropes and Grievances...

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/10/26

It’s been a while—but fear not—we have returned, just in time for Halloween! This episode covers 10 loosey-goosey horror themes that we’ve been pondering as of late. We praise stuff we love and do quite a bit of bitching about the state of the world. There’s a little bit of optimism and a lot of that old time hate. Something for everyone! We don’t focus on any particular films. However, fans of Alien, Barbie, and Jack Ryan are in for a treat. Or maybe a trick.

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01:10:58

Scary Thoughts #113 - The Martian

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/09/10

Andy Weir’s novel The Martian (2011) is top-shelf hard sci-fi for nerds who love space and MacGyver situations. Just four years after (official) publication, Ridley Scott made a film version starring (South Park voice) Matt Dayyyyyymon. Both versions of the story are fast paced and fun. They aren’t exactly horror, but survival stories are often horrific. And this one has a touch of terror and a dash of body horror to make it on the show. We get into how artists and engineers see the world

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01:20:06

Scary Thoughts #112 - The Craft

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/05/31

The Craft (1996) is a beloved teen witch movie that helped define the 90s mall goth experience. It also made supporting actress Fairuza Balk a bit of an icon for the heavy eyeshadow crowd. Does this movie still hold up? Blessed be, yes! Other than a lame soundtrack, this is a fun movie with memorable scenes and decent actors. We talk about what it was like to be a neophyte goth in New Orleans during the late 1900s, witchcraft as a thing that’s cool and corny, and the role of life

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56:14

Scary Thoughts #111 - Soviet Horror with Alexander...

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/03/04

This episode we talk with our comrade Alexander Herbert about his great new book, Fear Before the Fall: Horror Films in the Late Soviet Union. Alexander is a PhD candidate in Soviet History at Brandeis University, specializing in environmental activism and the history of technology leading up to collapse. He gives us the scoop on Soviet horror films, the punk scene in Moscow, and a behind the scenes look into how the Zero Books sausage is made.

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01:03:37

Scary Thoughts #110 - Sunn O)))

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/02/02

Hear Chad and Marc tackle the monolithic drones of metal duo Sunn O))). They discuss witchery and ritual, gear and sculpture, fandom and influence, and (as usual) capitalism and art.

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01:23:58

Scary Thoughts #109 - Self Help for Nihilists on...

Scary Thoughts ·

2023/01/06

Nick “The Tooth” Gullo is a 2x IBJJF Jiu Jitsu Black Belt world champion, co-host of the Infinite Worlds podcast, a writer, lawyer, world traveler, TV Star—and most importantly for this NYE resolution conversation, is absolutely shredded in his 50s. He joins us for the second time to discuss discipline, keto dieting, being kind to yourself, internet hucksters (Liver King, etc.), toxic masculinity, toxic acceptance, male energy, self-help cults, goal setting, and a lot more. This episode

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