Night School Horror Session

The boys take their first foray into a heretofore untouched medium with the controversial FMV game Night Trap. Some time was spent railing about how much shit and ass the game sucks, but they also got into the weeds of how violent and sexual media potentially affect consumers' worldview and mindset, a topic that proved timely in light of recent events. Other topics of discussion include why it was Night Trap of all things that prompted such philosophical debate, Harry Potter, and Bill's siccness for the thiccness.

The lads hit the theaters to see Midsommar, the new movie from "the Hereditary guy", Ari Aster. Opinions were starkly divided on this one. Nic Cage also comes up yet again, but for very good reason. PS, little bit of a content warning for suicide on this one.

Bill and Coop saw Jordan Peele's sophomore feature Us on opening weekend, then took their sweet ass time to podcast about it. They try and fail to avoid comparing it (not unfavorably, though) to Get Out, and tread on some awkward territory, given that they are two very white dudes. Bill also gets Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, and Joseph Heller all terribly confused with each other.

Bill and Coop watched Mom and Dad, a Netflix movie featuring Nic Cage. It wasn't quite what they expected. Whether that was in a good way or a bad way, you'll have to listen to find out. This movie doesn't feature Nic Cage dipping his fingers into The Cum Jar, but it does feature him Sucking Titties and Doing Donuts, which gets discussed extensively. Other topics include the movie (of course) and surreal manga artist Shintaro Kago, who will almost definitely get his own episode at some point.

The lads do their best to be topical and tackle hit Netflix movie Bird Box. Discussion topics include the movie's structural issues, the quality of the cast, mythological references, and the movie's confusing attitudes toward the disabled and mentally ill. Also a little spat about Netflix's business model. Sadly we couldn't work a reference to Nic's cum jar into this one.

It's our final episode of the year, so of course we did a best-of list just like everyone else. Each host has a Top 5, with a few surprises from both. And some not-so-surprising choices (Bill had more than one manga on his list? W hO  C Ou L D  hAvE g u ESS ed?) But we don't stop there - Coop rattles off a couple notable stinkers from the past year, and we look to the future with things we're excited for in 2019. Plus we talk shop a little, discussing what we plan to do with the podcast over the next year. Somehow this episode ALSO managed to contain the phrase "Nic Cage dipping his fingers in the cum jar".

The pod takes its first foray into the anthology format with the perhaps unconventional choice of Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror. Snoop may not be known for his directorial brilliance, but the three shorts that make up the Hood of Horror do offer some surprises. What Snoop is known for is smoking weed every day, and this movie was definitely made with people who share his habit in mind. Grab your mind-altering substance of choice and join Bill and Coop as they try to tease out what Snoop was trying to say with this film, speculate on which hip hop stars would make the best horror movies, and wonder whether Snoop is into hentai.

We went to Mandy at a midnight showing in Boston. It was definitely an experience. We're pretty sure we liked it, but it was A Lot. And also not at all what we were expecting. Probably the best thing about it was that it gave us a good reason to use the phrase "Nic Cage dips his fingers in the cum jar".

Ya bois discuss the oft-maligned arthouse horror masterpiece Mother, including what they see as a common misinterpretation of its themes, and what classic children's book it reminds them of. Also they talk about cat shit.

The lads take on The Chair, a graphic novel (and later a movie) released by Alterna Comics, which is based just a few towns away from where this very podcast was recorded. Bill and Bill heap praise on the comic, and not just because the creators could conceivably come kick their asses for only a few bucks worth of gas. The movie is a different story, but you'll have to listen to find out exactly what I mean by that. For more info, and to buy the GN, check out https://www.alternacomics.com/ (Turn your volume down before you click this link! The site starts playing a sound as soon as it loads, for some dumb reason.)

The boys tackle perhaps the most influential work of horror ever: The Bible. Specifically, the apocalyptic prophecies of John's Book of Revelation. They discuss their personal histories with Christianity, the book's surreal imagery, it's unavoidable impact on scary stories, and get in a fight over what qualifies as a dream vs. a vision. NOTE: This is the 2nd upload of this episode, to fix a corrupted file that cut off around the one hour mark, with 20 minutes still to go.

The boys discuss the much-hyped new movie Hereditary. They had a very different opinion than most, but they're not just doing it to be contrarian, they swear. They get into how the movie failed to deliver on the promise of its wonderful first half, and how it kinda felt like two different movies stuck together. They also wonder what the deal is with all the moms in horror lately, and what, if anything, Hereditary was going for with all that symbolism.

She is beauty, she is grace, she'll throw acid on your face. Bill and Bill take on Kyoko Okazaki's psychological thriller/body horror comic Helter Skelter and discuss impossible beauty standards, cycles of abuse, and whether Okazaki predicted the way the nature of our interactions with celebrities would fundamentally change in the years after her manga was released.

In this one, the two Bills discuss on of the granddaddies of horror fiction, Edgar Allen Poe! His life was definitely horrific at times, but we mostly focus on some of his notable stories and poems. We cover The Raven, Annabel Lee, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Masque of the Red Death.

Bill and Bill dive into The Lure, a massively entertaining and utterly baffling musical horror riff on The Little Mermaid. We flounder around for a bit but eventually find out legs and discuss the film's dreamlike plotting, clever sound design, and how its strip club setting potentially reflects stereotypes and/or realities of it Eastern European setting.

In this episode we check out Usamaru Furuya's surreal, hyperviolent manga nightmare Lychee Light Club. We try our best to dissect its tangle of themes and find something you can latch onto amid all the disembowelings. Puberty, homosexuality, folkloric imagery....little boy Nazis? It's an interesting one, that's for sure.

In this episode we discuss The Shining, both the book and the movie. We go over adaptational differences, its impossible-to-overstate influence, and some...questionable ideas the creators of each may have had.

In this episode, we discuss a film series that managed to both change the horror genre forever and be a laughing stock among movie critics. What did it do right? Where did it go wrong? And how has its influence managed to reach outside the realm of movies and into real life?

An introduction to your hosts, Bill and Bill. How we got into horror, what our backgrounds are, and what we're hoping to do with this show.