Fright School

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from us at Fright School! This week we reflect on the FREAKY KIKI HORROR BALL! Joe and Joshua both started new jobs! Instead of chatting about a specific movie this week, we discuss our favorite Halloween watches and traditions. If you STAY spooky, you don't have to GET spooky! Here's to another season! Check out the Geekscape's Top 10 Episodes of Tales from the Crypt! Going to be in San Diego? Check out Backyard Renaissance's production of Stephen King's MISERY adapted for the stage by William Goldman! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Joe and Joshua both started new jobs! We discuss censorship and horror as it relates to A SERBIAN FILM. Joe shares some American Horror Story Nostalgia. This week we sample THE SUBSTANCE. Light spoilers ahead! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! This week, we welcome the Managing Director of Lambda Archives of San Diego Nicole Verdes to the show! We chat about Nicole's history with the Archives and our upcoming coproduction the FREAKY KIKI HORROR BALL! Joe shares about his trip to Vegas and living his life to the fullest while Joshua celebrated the fact that his is going to end at the MEMENTO MORI FESTIVAL in Los Angeles. This week, we try something new on the show. Instead of talking about a specific movie, Nicole gives us a history of the Hays Code and its effect on film history. We dive deep into how the Hays Code came to be, how it impacted horror particularly in the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and historical parallels and repercussions to the lived experience of Queer people. Recommended reading: The Hays Code Explained: History of Hollywood’s Hays Code Alfred Hitchcock’s Secret Censorship Battles and How They Changed Film History From Sissies to Secrecy: The Evolution of the Hays Code Queer by Mikayla Mislak If yo

Willkommen zurück in der Fright School! This week we welcome Pia Thrasher to the Wes Craven Memorial Library! Pia is an award winning actor, writer, director, and multi-media artist drawn to dark and surreal themes. Joe discusses DIDI and his connection to the film. Joshua and Pia bond over their love of ATOMIC BLONDE. This week, the group engages in Joshua's favorite self-care activity: THE DEVIL'S BATH. TRIGGER WARNING! The group discusses the "rationality" of suicide-by-proxy, Catholic death rites, the struggle for those that do not fit into neat boxes to survive in any society, and the role context may play in depression. Find out more about Pia Thrasher HERE! Join her Childless Cat Ladies Club! A hell of an incentive for murder: a rationalist’s guide to suicide by Mike Pottenger Suicide by Proxy: In early Modern Europe, suicide was a sin to be punished with eternal damnation. Some women found an awful workaround: committing murder. Tragic History Informs the Slow Burn Horrors of The Devil’s Bath By K

Welcome back to Fright School! Joshua is excited for the NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS Lego set and the launch of Spooky Season! Joe defends THE ACOLYTE. Have you bought tickets to our FREAKY KIKI HORROR BALL yet ?!? This week we look at a case of demonic possession in THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE. We discuss courtroom tropes, how horror contributes to misinformation, and consider whether or not exorcism is a contact sport. Faith and Judgment in ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ by Federico Furzan The True Story Behind 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' Is Just as Disturbing by Lloyd Farley Leeja Miller (Real Life Lawyer) reacts to THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE on YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Joshua and Joe are both drink goblins! Joe kicks off Spooky Season with some pumpkin spice. We continue to work on the FREAKY KIKI HORROR BALL! this week we traveled to the BORDERLAND (2007). We discuss the ethics of horror films "based on actual events," the Mexico border in the American Imagination, and how the ongoing War on Drugs informs more horror films than it helps people struggling with addiction. The Narcosatanist (HBO): A docuseries chronicling a rash of brutal murders linked to alleged drug-dealing satanic serial killers Adolfo Costanza and Sara Aldrete. The Narco Saint: How a Mexican folk idol got conscripted into the drug wars by Ann Neumann Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! This week we are celebrating Summerween! Joshua doesn't know shit about THE FLINTSTONES but he has been catching up on INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. Joe is once again attacked by fatphobia and he has the scar to prove it! We're dedicating the next few episodes to an exploration of fact versus fiction starting with WINCHESTER (2018)! We break down the myths associated with Sarah Winchester, her spooky house, and the famous rifle. Is the true horror just patriarchy and capitalism?! We're throwing a BALL! Visit our links for all the info on the FREAKY KIKI HORROR BALL! Winchester: The True Ghost Story Behind Helen Mirren’s Haunted House Thriller By Joanna Robinson Labyrinth of Lies: The Truth Behind the Sarah Winchester Mystery House Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! This week we recap our love for our Geekscape family while trying to summarize Comic Con. Joshua misses fashion. Joe talks hentai and lampshading. We give our thoughts on DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. This week we took a field trip to see TRAP (2024). We discuss making fake pop music work, inverting horror, the "true" story TRAP is inspired by, and Joe takes us back to the root of his Queer desire, Josh Hartnett. Geekscape Enjoys the SDCC 2024 HER Universe Fashion Show For all the latest details on our FREAKY KIKI HORROR BALL check out our links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! This week we're bringing you an episode from the Geekscape booth at San Diego Comic Con! We chat all things Queer Horror with Dr. Heather O. Petrocelli author of Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bienvenue à Fright School! We're going French again this week! But first, we're going to Comic Con! Find us hanging out at the Geekscape booth #1632 all week long. Keep an eye on our social media for dispatches from the con throughout the week. We share some CC memories and look forward to seeing our friend and Podfather, Matt Kelly (from Horror Movie Night, White People Problems, Christmas 365, Weird Al-gorithm, One Hit Thunder and the many other shows he produces since he does not seem to need sleep)! This week we watched CALVAIRE. What could go wrong when a cabaret singer gets stranded in the Belgium countryside? We discuss the brutal intimacy of the film, debate whether a film can be feminist without centering women characters, and Joshua teaches Joe a new word. Follow us everywhere @FrightSchool! Check out our links HERE We're throwing a ball! Check out the Freaky Kiki Horror Ball coming this October! ‘Calvaire’ and Horror in the Absence of a Matriarch by Jenn Adams THE DISQUIETING GUEST — CALVAIRE A

Welcome back to FRIGHT SCHOOL! Happy Pride Week, San Diego! Joshua saw LONGLEGS and IN A VIOLENT NATURE with mixed results. Joe spent an evening in a women's prion with Melissa Etheridge. What's up with Joe and prisons lately? Joshua does a terrible David Attenborough impression. This week, we get back to Joe's Catholic roots with SAINT MAUD! We discuss the allusions to CARRIE, THE EXORCIST, and DON'T LOOK NOW, how faith can sometimes look like mental illness and vice versa, reality testing, and the ecstasy of godgasms. Recommended reading: Saint Maud and the Terror of God’s Presence by Christina Pasqua Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Joe went to Palm Springs to study Queer zoology. Joshua gives Joe a fashion lesson (again). This week the Queers bash back in DEPARTING SENIORS! Is this HEARTSTOPPER with a slasher? We discuss the ongoing SCREAM influence in meta horror, James Baldwin's thoughts on White gays, and internalized homophobia. Fun stuff, kids! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Hi Gay! Joshua is excited for BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE. Joe went to prison and takes us to church! We’re continuing our Pride season 2024 (we are in San Diego, after all) with SPIRAL! It’s a suburban nightmare when a gay couple moves to small town ‘murica! We talk the politics of fear, shifting identities, and are reminded why jogging can be bad for your health.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to FRIGHT SCHOOL! It’s that time of year again, priDEMONth! We’re kicking things off with a Fright School field trip to see I SAW THE TV GLOW! I Saw the TV Glow’s Ending Is Full of Hope, If You Want It to Be Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Happy St. Patrick's Day! How many pints of Irish are you? Joe is having a reunion with GIRLS5EVA and taking all of that girl power one step further with LOVE LIES BLEEDING. Joshua saw Madonna in Silver Daddy Land aka Palm Springs. This week, we are finishing up our mini salute to the Mary Shelley's enduring work FRANKENSTEIN with LISA FRANKENSTEIN (2024)! This neon piece of comedy horror gets a bit overshadowed by its reverence for its references, but it is fun spotting the many and varied Easter eggs hiding in it. We wonder what the Future Legendary Spooky Children will think of the film in a few decades, chat about Diablo Cody's universe, and realize there is little to actually compare the film to in Mary Shelley's original novel. Oh well! Dig up some cans of TAB from the graveyard of 80s nostalgia, pop some popcorn, grab LISA FRANKESNTEIN, WEIRD SCIENCE and BEETLEJUICE and you may have the makings for a perfect slumber party with the Monster High Ghouls... Learn more abou

Welcome back to Fright School! Joshua catches Joe up on 22 years of SOUTH PARK history. Joe breaks down SCHMIGADOON. Joe is also gifting the world with a Cabaret to benefit Lambda Archives! This week we're celebrating the tenth anniversary of EX MACHINA (2014). We compare the film to BLACK MIRROR, discuss human responsibility and AI, explore the film's relationship to FRANKENSTEIN, and debate the ethics of ChatGPT. Can a fashion forward gynoid drink a Cosmo? Monstrous Creators and Exploited Creatures: Ex Machina and Frankenstein by Screen Queens An Examination of Themes of Consciousness and Humanity in Ex Machina Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Joshua is doing some deep processing. Joe is seeking thoughts on the state of new Beyoncé music. This week we're taking it back 30 years to MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN! We compare the film with previously discussed adaptations, learn about Romanticism, and find ourselves in awe of Robert De Niro's Monster. MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN (1994): A RETROSPECTIVE by Keri O'Shea 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein': The (Almost) Perfect Adaptation of a Horror Classic by Matthew Mosley The Cultural Historical Context of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Sandra M. M. Gastaldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! Joe got his hair did! We discuss THE NEW LOOK and FEUD: CAPOTE VS THE SWANS. This week we chat about THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER (2023). We break down the FRANKENSTEIN references at work in the film, discuss systemic violence, the state of mental health and substance use treatment, and the pressure on Black women to save us all. The Humanity at the Heart of The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster by JP Nunez THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER IS A HARROWING TAKE ON THE FRANKENSTEIN TALE by Tai Gooden ‘The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster’ Review: A High Schooler Tries to Bring Back Her Dead Brother in Uneven Indie Horror By Murtada Elfadl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! This week we get into it about our shifting Queer culture. We compare and contrast Queer As Folk, Looking, and Love, Simon. We're continuing our Black Horror History dive with ABBY (1974)! Hitting theatres almost a year to the day of THE EXORCIST's release, Abby was quickly mired in legal troubles from Warner Bros. We compare the two films, discuss the Queerness of the film, and get curious about the Christian and Yoruba themes and the way Africa is envisioned in the western imagination. Spectacular Degradation: Exploitation Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine in ABBY and THE EXORCIST by Lea Anderson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Fright School! We are excited to be joined once again by Professor T.J. who tells us all about their return to JEOPARDY! Joe revisits DISTRICT 9. We are once again celebrating Black History Month with an ode to HORROR NOIRE with MA (2019)! T.J. called it a "misfire on every level" back in 2019 and we're very excited to hear about his current thoughts on the film. We also compare MA to A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, recast the film with Melissa McCarthy in order to interrogate the racial themes, explore Black women's access to their rage, and briefly discuss mental health themes in the film. Joshua and T.J. bond over bad alcohol choices in their misguided youth. Did everyone have a MA in their neighborhood? The Trouble with the Movie MA by Isabella L Price We Asked A Psychiatrist To Analyze 'Ma' By Matthew Jacobs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices