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

01:07:27

Scary Thoughts #108 - Halloween Ends (2022)

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/11/29

Halloween Ends (2022) is Blumhouse’s last shot at making that Michael Meyers money. But rather than do more of what sort of works, they introduce us to the saddest sack character ever and focus the film on his dating life, which is sort of an interesting choice for this insufferable franchise. We don’t love it. But Marc doesn’t hate it as much, which makes for some high-value conversation. We also talk about A Star is Born, Dirty Harry, Tarantino’s new book, and what our Halloween sequels

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01:29:13

Scary Thoughts #107 - The Munsters (2022) & Spider...

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/10/20

Our first DOUBLE FEATURE episode covers Jack Hill’s Spider Baby (1967) and Rob Zombie’s The Munsters (2022). Why these films together? Well, the straightforward answer is that we watched them the same week—and Sid Haig. But we do weave some viable thematic and cultural webs between the two. We cover incest, cannibalism, Kanye, why secondary writing is terrible, what we’ve been doing wrong, the DSM-5, first deaths, and quite a bit more. This is a sprawling, classic Scary Thoughts episode and one

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01:02:12

Scary Thoughts #106 - Terror Vault with Peaches Christ

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/10/04

Drag legend and horror icon Peaches Christ (Joshua Grannell) is back for a fourth episode. This time we’re exploring the spooky secrets of Terror Vault, a fully immersive haunted theatrical experience that takes audiences on a terrifying journey within the dank, rat-infested walls of the old San Francisco Mint. If you’re into haunts, you’re going to love this episode. We talk about the origins of Peaches’ interest in horror performance, the technical details of running the show, how the piece

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59:25

Scary Thoughts #105 - Prey (2022)

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/08/25

Dan Trachtenberg’s 2022 Predator offering, Prey, is one of the better films in the franchise. If you’re a truly misguided soul, (like Marc) it might even be your favorite. We talked about what it did well and what could’ve been better. Before getting to the choppa, we start with a little bit about where Marc’s academic journey is taking him.

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01:28:51

Scary Thoughts #104 - Jennifer's Body (2009)

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/08/03

Karyn Kusama’s 2009 film Jennifer’s Body, is finding an audience thanks to a mix of #metoo reckoning, queer analysis, oughts nostalgia, and public fascination with Megan Fox’s hematophagic pairing with male scream queen Machine Gun Kelly. This film hasn’t aged well, but our age is treating it well. We discuss whether that old-time patriarchy or a messy script with boring kills led to the initial cold reception of the film.

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01:22:54

Scary Thoughts #103 – Stranger Things, Season Four,...

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/07/14

The second half of Stranger Things 4 was fun. Even Argyle and Lucas managed to have great moments. In this episode we talk about why this season won us over, how drugs help with the enjoyment of art, whether or not there are epochs (and if music in the 80s was one), and whether or not it makes sense to have naked heavy metal girls on a character’s wall if it upsets modern sensibilities.

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01:13:56

Scary Thoughts #102 - Stranger Things, Season Four,...

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/06/30

We started our show talking about the first season of Stranger Things, so we are compelled to continue. Thankfully for everyone, the end is nigh. But as Marc is fond of saying, “Don’t let our yuck interfere with your yum.” There’s still a lot to like about the show, even if it is circling the drain of mediocrity on its way to the septic tank of nostalgia. Our next episode covers the finale.

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01:29:09

Scary Thoughts #101 - The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi –...

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/05/19

The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead 2 (1987) are both unimpeachable classics of horror comedy. After our longest hiatus, we delve into the cult lore of these films and their influence on horror. This episode isn’t exactly philosophical, but it’s a fun one, especially if you grew up with Sam Raimi’s madcap brand of cabin-based mayhem. And for the first time–no major spoilers!

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01:49:01

Scary Thoughts #100 - What Have We Learned?

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/03/04

We started Scary Thoughts back in 2016. The years since have been–eventful. This episode rambles hard as we attempt to answer the question, “what have we learned?” Think of it as a director’s commentary. We talk about what we thought the show would be, where it’s going, our friendship, horror podcasting as a phenomenon, being rooted in the Bay Area, and we tell a bunch of bar stories, which people always seem to like. Thanks for listening.

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02:03:01

Scary Thoughts #99 - Post-Quarantine Q&A

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/02/16

Let us help you slide into this not-quite-new not-quite-normal-not-quite-post-pandemic with some answers to your questions. You asked about news consumption, movie theaters, horror trends, Disney character team-ups, nostalgia, algorithms, the hunt for Joe Rogan, meditation—and we answered. It’s all very on-brand for our Self-Help for Nihilists series.

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01:46:29

Scary Thoughts #98 - Titane (2021) with Monique...

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/02/06

Julia Ducornau’s Titane (2021) features a lot of dancing and gender theory. So who better to have as a guest than Monique Jenkinson, AKA Fauxnique? We talk about her new book Faux Queen: A Life in Drag, body horror, female violence, Sharon Stone’s directing ambitions, film criticism, tarot cards, body horror, and French flatulists. Opinions were divided on this film, so it’s an exciting episode.

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01:37:53

Scary Thoughts #97 - Don’t Look Up (2021)

Scary Thoughts ·

2022/01/17

Don’t Look Up came out on Netflix just in time to brighten everyone’s 2021 holidays. The director, Adam McKay, is one of the most successful comedy directors ever, but this movie isn’t exactly a winner, even if it does have a ton of actors we love. In an episode almost as long as this too-long film, we discuss the few things we liked—and spend most of the episode deriding it. We veer into slightly spicy territory on this one. Does politics ruin comedy? Does anyone like Joe Biden? Can the news be

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58:58

Scary Thoughts #96 - Dune (2021)

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/12/01

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) isn’t horror. But this episode was requested by quite a few people, and we aim to please. We discuss this version, the first book in Frank Herbert’s series, David Lynch’s superior take, and Jodorowsky's Dune. There’s a little distortion in the audio up front, which is obviously Harkonnen treachery.

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53:51

Scary Thoughts #95 - Halloween Kills (2021)

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/10/30

Halloween Kills (2021) is Blumhouse’s second film in what will undoubtedly, and unfortunately, be an ongoing series. Like many entries in this classic franchise, it is awful. We discuss where it goes wrong, the few things that work well, mob violence, the relevance of the series as a whole, Rob Zombie’s versions, slasher character actor fandom, and if you stick to the end, a story about Fabio.

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01:01:17

Scary Thoughts #94 - Malignant (2021)

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/10/06

James Wan’s Malignant (2021) is a lot of things. Giallo homage. Action film. 90s horror. But even when it feels familiar, it delivers some genuinely original moments and ideas. We cover the film itself, its references, seeing films in theaters post-COVD, indie fetishism, simple pleasures, and whether or not Wan is the Dave Grohl of horror.

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01:33:50

Scary Thoughts #93 - The Final Girl Support Group (2021)

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/09/12

Grady Hendrix’s Final Girl Support Group (2021) is a love letter to the golden age of slasher movies. This episode is essentially a love letter to the author—even if we do have our crusty quibbles about a few bits. We talk about the difference between metafiction and nostalgia, Harold Bloom’s Anxiety of Influence, murderabilia, Final Girls as a concept, and a little background on how you might end up in UC Berkeley’s Rhetoric department. We recommend pairing this listen with Peaches Christ

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01:08:58

Scary Thoughts #92 - Halloween (2018)

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/08/23

In this episode we take a look at Halloween (2018), the third film of the same title, in the same franchise. Yes folks, this is the age of the reboot. We discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of Blumhouses’s formula, old-timey firearms vs. modern firearms, why book clubs are lame, and we heap praise upon Jamie Lee Curtis. While this episode isn’t a direct prequel to our next episode, it does begin a longer cross-episode discussion of final girls.

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01:15:56

Scary Thoughts #91 - Inside (2021)

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/07/29

Bo Burnham’s Inside (2021) is one of the most unique things you’ll see on Netflix. It’s an angsty and existential one-man musical comedy about isolation. Though COVID-19 is never mentioned in the piece, it looms large, giving it the kind of “horror” vibes one can pick up from a pandemic thriller like Contagion. Like the film, we find ourselves in a few ranty digressions that will make total sense if you listen to us frequently, but may confuse the uninitiated.

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01:16:41

Scary Thoughts #90 - Event Horizon (1997) with Nick...

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/06/06

This episode we cover the 1997 sci-fi horror film Event Horizon—with deep digressions into the nature of reality, L. Ron Hubbard, QAnon, martial arts nerds, psychedelics, UFOs, and cosmic horror. We’re joined by Nick Gullo, AKA Nick the Tooth. His career bio is about as complex as Buckaroo Bonzai’s. To keep it short, he’s the co-host of the excellent Infinite Worlds podcast, wrote a book about the UFC, writes sci-fi, and is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

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01:28:45

Scary Thoughts #89 - Dungeon Synth with Andee Connors

Scary Thoughts ·

2021/05/27

Dungeon Synth is as obscure as it gets for music genres, but it might be everywhere soon. We explore the fetid foundations and eldritch evolutions of this bizarre scene with extreme music authority, Andee Connors. He co-owned the notorious Aquarius Records, curates Pandora’s unholy Black Metal station, was a member of A Minor Forest and now creates infernal music with Common Eider, King Eider, and with Marc, My Heart, An Inverted Flame. The conversation goes deep into the haunted hinterlands of

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