In this episode, horror and pornography become not so strange bedfellows in Ti West’s “X”. A love letter to 1970s low budget filmmaking, the movie blends humor, heart and lots of boobs to create a shockingly effective meditation on the complexities of aging. We’re going to spoil the hell out of this film today so stay tuned.
And if you enjoyed this episode, you may also want to check out these resources that dive into the specter of aging in horror films!
Recommended Reading: Read more
This week’s hair raising read is 2021’s THE WOODS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING by Stephanie Perkins. The novel’s setup is deceptively simple. College bound best friends Josie and Neena embark on a last hurrah camping trip only to find themselves terrorized by two killers. But while this IS a story of survival, it is also a poignant look at the emotional complexities of friendship and what it means to fight for others just as hard as you fight for yourself. On this podcast, we talk blood, guts, and spoilers so listener discretion is advised.
And if you’re interested in exploring the woods as a setting of horror further, check out the recommended resources below!
Recommended Reading: Read more
This week’s hair-raising read is 2013’s SUMMERVILLE by D.T. Neal. The story follows three friends who are planning to dive for some expensive brandy bottles they believe are sitting at the bottom of a South Carolina River. When the group encounters a hitchhiker to whom they decide to offer a ride, a series of events are put into motion that leaves no one unscathed. Part southern gothic and part ecohorror, this novella takes some big swings but do they pay off? Listen to the latest episode of The Bloodcurdling Book Club to find out!
Selected Reading on the Ecogothic: Read more
Listen, we love horror films, and we especially love talking about them on our podcast Horror Homeroom Conversations. But we also love ranting and raving over dark and disturbing popular fiction! And so, the Bloodcurdling Book Club was born.
This bi-weekly (we hope) podcast deep dives into one spine-tingling read per episode and we’re thrilled to kick things off with Cameron Roubique’s masterful Kill River (2015). Billed as a slasher film in book form, the story follows four campers who stumble upon an abandoned waterpark in the middle of the woods. What follows is a heart pounding game of cat and mouse with twists we did not see coming. But did it successfully capture the shlock and gore of 80s horror, or did it get lost in the nostalgia? Dawn and I delve into how Roubique’s story interacts with slasher conventions in some surprising and effective ways in this episode.
And because every slasher deserves a sequel, we’re also dropping a second episode that looks at Kill River 2 (2017), which follows the Final Girl back into suburbia and asks some uncomfortable but essential questions about what it really means to survive a traumatic event at a young age. We’re also including below a reading primer for anyone wanting to learn more about the slasher sub-genre and its conventions. If you enjoy these episodes, please let us know by rating and reviewing!
You can buy Cameron Roubique’s Kill River here (advertisement):
Suggested Reading on the Slasher Film
Anderson, Aaron C. Rethinking the Slasher Film: Violated Bodies and Spectators in “Halloween’’, `’Friday the 13th”, and “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. University of California, San Diego, 2013.
Christensen, Kyle. “The Final Girl versus Wes Craven’s” A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Proposing a Stronger Model of Feminism in Slasher Horror Cinema.” Studies in Popular Culture 34.1 (2011): 23-47.
Clayton, Wickham, ed. Style and form in the Hollywood slasher film. Springer, 2015.
Clover, Carol J. “Her body, himself: Gender in the slasher film.” Representations 20 (1987): 187-228.
Creed, Barbara. The monstrous-feminine: Film, feminism, psychoanalysis. Psychology Press, 1993.
Keisner, Jody. “Do you want to watch? A study of the visual rhetoric of the postmodern horror film.” Women’s Studies 37.4 (2008): 411-427.
Kendrick, James. “Razors in the Dreamscape: Revisiting” A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the Slasher Film.” Film Criticism 33.3 (2009): 17-33.
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.” Visual and other pleasures. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1989. 14-26.
Nolan, Justin M., and Gery W. Ryan. “Fear and loathing at the cineplex: Gender differences in descriptions and perceptions of slasher films.” Sex Roles 42.1 (2000): 39-56.
Nowell, Richard. Blood money: A history of the first teen slasher film cycle. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.
Petridis, Sotiris. Anatomy of the Slasher Film: A Theoretical Analysis. McFarland, 2019.
Rieser, Klaus. “Masculinity and monstrosity: Characterization and identification in the slasher film.” Men and Masculinities 3.4 (2001): 370-392.
Rockoff, Adam. Going to pieces: the rise and fall of the slasher film, 1978-1986. McFarland, 2011.
Trencansky, Sarah. “Final girls and terrible youth: Transgression in 1980s slasher horror.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 29.2 (2001): 63-73.
Wee, V. (2005). The Scream Trilogy,” Hyperpostmodernism,” and the Late-Nineties Teen Slasher Film. Journal of Film and Video, 57(3), 44-61.
On today’s episode it’s creepy kids meets arthouse violence with 1976’s Alice, Sweet Alice. Arguably more Giallo than classic slasher, this film merges religious iconography with straight up taboo to reflect a specifically 1970s horror sensibility. But despite a rabid cult fanbase, this movie never quite ascended to the heights of other well known slashers of the era but why? We’re breaking it all down on today’s episode so stay tuned.
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