Hellbent For Horror

Welcome to Part Two of my post-mortem on 2010-2019, the Decade of Dread! Was 2010 to 2019 an embarrassment of riches, or just an embarrassment? The honest answer is…BOTH. This is my deep dive into "the State of Horror" as we move towards a new decade and brace ourselves as we walk into the maelstrom that is 2020. In Part Two, I investigate the dark side of the geek and horror culture throughout the decade. This episode is a critical look at some of the trends that weren’t so hot, some trends and innovations that started with so much promise but, sadly, went south in the execution. I look at how we as horror fans and horror creators handled ourselves during a decade of extreme changes and social upheaval. I closed out Part One with a list of my favorite horror films from 2010-2015, and I’ll close out Part Two with the list of my favorite horror movies from the years 2016-2019 and discuss what movie I feel defined the decade. It’s bound to be controversial! I hope you enjoy the show!   Movies Discussed: Films o

It's a month into 2020 and the "terrible teens" are due for a post-mortem! There were huge changes in the world of entertainment in the years 2010 to 2019 and the horror genre was right in the middle of it all. The advent of streaming services and the popularizing of "binge-watching" changed the way we watched horror and the amount of new and old films and television shows were available to us. This was also a period where there was a huge variety of subgenres to choose from and it was a time where diverse storytellers shared their visions of the world and mavericks pushed the envelope of what makes a horror film a horror film.  So, was 2010 to 2019 an embarrassment of riches, or just an embarrassment? Were the advances in technology good or bad for the horror genre? Were we a "Haunted House Divided" over all the changes? Join me as I take a 2-part deep dive into "the State of Horror" as we move towards a new decade. I look at the good trends and the bad ones and give my opinion of who was the most influentia

Hello, my friends! Happy Holidays! I hope you got what you wanted for Christmas and Hanukkah! And...here's one last present that I was hiding behind the sofa! Last year I did a traditional Christmas ghost story reading. This is a tradition that harkens back to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and has been kept alive by the BBC throughout the decades. I’ve decided I want to make this an annual event. So, what I want to do this Christmas season is to tell a few short tales to chill you while you sit with just one flickering candle and a hot toddy or hot chocolate or a sugar-free energy drink. Whatever your poison, I hope these stories please you enough that maybe you can keep the tradition of the Christmas ghost story going with your own family. This year I'll be telling THREE GHOST STORIES! William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe (1839) The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft (1926) The Pale Man by Julius Long (1934) I hope you enjoy the show, and I look forward to having more conversations in 2020! Songs Used (with gratit

'Horror Film Director Found Slain, Buried Under Floor', screamed the August 1995 headline in The Los Angeles Times. From the 60s to the 80s, producer/director Al Adamson made cheap, crazy and effective exploitation films, like SATAN'S SADISTS and DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN for the drive-in market. But the whole truth behind Al Adamson's strange life and gruesome death reveals perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history.  The new documentary BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE AND GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON, chronicles the movies, brushes with Charles Manson, bizarre UFO encounters, and an ill-fated business relationship that ends in horrific tragedy. Join producer/director David Gregory (LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY'S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU) and producer Heather Buckley (THE RANGER) as they discuss Adamson, the obsessive nature of horror fans, and the fascination of horror and fringe cinema. I hope you enjoy the show! https://www.facebook.com/AlAdamsonDoc/ https://vimeo.com/348116253/59

Great horror stories, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, have universal appeal and artists can reinterpret them to reflect the anxieties of every generation.   And on Friday, September 13th, legendary Independent Horror Auteur Larry Fessenden releases Depraved, his newest vision of the Frankenstein story.   Since 1985, Larry Fessenden has been creating his own fiercely independent, critically-acclaimed horror films (No Telling, Habit, Wendigo, The Last Winter, and Beneath)through the film studio he created, Glass Eye Pix.   Join the conversation as Larry graciously comes on H4H to talk about his unique style in horror films, the existential horror of the nature of nature, and why Frankenstein is as vital today as it was in 1818!   I hope you enjoy the show! http://glasseyepix.com/project/depraved/ https://www.depravedifc.com/    Movies Discussed: Depraved (2019) Like Me (2018) Stakeland (2010) Beneath (2013) The Last Winter (2006) Wendigo (2001) Habit (1998) No Telling (1991) Birth of the Living Dead (2013) Bi

Welcome to PART ONE of a podcast double-feature with the I Know Dino Podcast!   Dragons! The xenomorph from Alien! The shark from Jaws! These monsters are descendants of real creatures that walked the earth- the dinosaur. Horror movies have used the dinosaur as a source for monsters since the silent era because they are a source of endless fascination and terror.  But, do the dinosaurs deserve their role as horror movie villain? Are there dinosaurs that are even weirder and scarier than what the movies usually show?  Join me in a lively conversation with my guest Garret and Sabrina from the wildly popular I Know Dino Podcast as we discuss favorite dinosaurs, popular misconceptions, and their First Kisses with dinosaur horror! This is the first part of a two-part multi-podcast collaboration with I Know Dino! To listen to Part Two (I Know Dino Episode 245), click here! I hope you enjoy the show! Here is the link to the I Know Dino Podcast: https://iknowdino.com/start-here/ Want to know more about dinosaurs? Tak

  The 6th Annual Etheria Film Night will be held on Saturday, June 29th at the legendary Egyptian Theatre, and H4H is celebrating with a series of interviews with the filmmakers!   Etheria Film Night is the world's most prestigious showcase of new short genre (horror, science-fiction, fantasy, action, comedy, and thriller) films directed by women. This interview is with director Sarah K. Reimers to discuss her short film (and festival favorite), Bitten, her life-long love of horror films, and the horror of Midwestern cooking from the '70s! Join me as I ask Sarah some horrible questions! Etheria Film Night: http://www.etheriafilmnight.com/ Sarah's production website: www.bestbaddogfilms.com  FB page for Bitten: https://www.facebook.com/bestbaddogfilms/ Family Recipies YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-712XsG36VrQZ3lE5kqFtA

Horror is an emotion first and a setting later. It's the only genre that is directly named after an emotion, and that gives horror a universal appeal. It also makes each person's experience and interpretation personal. We close out June, Pride Month, with a celebration of the contributions the LGBTQ community has brought to the horror genre since the creation of the Gothic novel. My guest is Waylon Jordan, the Associate Editor for iHorror.com, one of the largest online horror resources in the world. Waylon writes Horror Pride Month, a series of articles that chronicle the history and the present of queer horror and he graciously comes onto the show to expand on the discussion. I hope you enjoy the show! Read Waylon's work on iHorror.com:  https://www.ihorror.com/author/spirtvox/ Follow Waylon on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Waylonvox1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waylon.jordan.16 David J. Skal's Book on Bram Stoker: Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker Movies covered: Carrie (1976) H

The 6th Annual Etheria Film Night will be held on Saturday, June 29th at the legendary Egyptian Theatre, and H4H is celebrating with a series of interviews with the filmmakers!   Etheria Film Night is the world's most prestigious showcase of new short genre (horror, science-fiction, fantasy, action, comedy, and thriller) films directed by women. This interview is with writer/director Chelsea Lupkin (Flutter, Uncovering Eden) to discuss her newest short film, Lucy's Tale and her love of genre film. Join me as I ask Chelsea some horrible questions! Etheria Film Night: http://www.etheriafilmnight.com/ Lucy's Tale: http://www.chelsealupkin.com/lucy

  The 6th Annual Etheria Film Night will be held on Saturday, June 29th at the legendary Egyptian Theatre, and H4H is celebrating with a series of interviews with the filmmakers! Etheria Film Night is the world's most prestigious showcase of new short genre (horror, science-fiction, fantasy, action, comedy, and thriller) films directed by women. This interview is with writer/director/special effects supervisor Ivy Liao (The Chase, Synesthesia) to discuss her newest short film, Cupid's Paradise and her love of genre film. Join me as I ask Ivy some horrible questions! Etheria Film Night:  Cupid's Paradise: https://www.facebook.com/CupidsParadiseFilm/  

  Nothing marks the end of an era more potently than when the icons of that era pass away. The cold reality is that when horror icons pass away, they rarely get memorialized in mainstream arenas. So, I wanted to give an "Irish Wake", a happy send-off for several of the people who passed away over the last few years. The people who gave horror fans their First Kiss. Consider this episode the Last Kiss, a retrospective of the careers of writers, directors, actors, and illustrators and a final recommendation of their work.   I hope you enjoy the show! ARTISTS COVERED: Wes Craven Nicolas Roeg David F. Friedman Herschell Gordon Lewis Jack Davis Bernie Wrightson William Peter Blatty John Carl Beuchler Jack H. Harris James Karen Don Calfa Harlan Ellison   MOVIES COVERED: Last House on the Left (1972) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Scream (1996) Performance (1970) Walkabout (1971) The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) Bad Timing (1980) Track 29 (1988) Eureka (1983) Blood Feast (1963) 2000 Maniacs! (1964) Creepshow (1982

The best thing about being a horror fan is sharing the love with other horror fans! And I had the pleasure to do just that! On April 11th, 2019 we did a live podcast of Hellbent for Horror and a live reading from my book, "Screaming for Pleasure" from the legendary horror bookstore, Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA. Special guest Heidi Honeycutt and I discuss horror, horrible/beautiful, and how we need a new "Santo and the Blue Demon" in our culture. I hope you enjoy the show! Follow Dark Delicacies:  https://www.darkdel.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Dark-Delicacies-182525775099921/ Follow Heidi Honeycutt's projects: Etheria Film Night: http://www.etheriafilmnight.com/about-etheria-film-night/ Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies: https://youtu.be/ULOO8pPHUas     My book, Screaming for Pleasure: How Horror Makes You Happy and Healthy on sale NOW! https://hellbentforhorror.com/book/ Want to read a chapter for free? Subscribe to my newsletter here: http://bit.ly/2x8cdds   Join the Hellbent for Horror Horde! hel

(Photo credit: CHRISTOPHER WAHL/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES) If director Guillermo del Toro didn't exist, we horror fans would have had to invent him.  He's a true lifelong fan himself, who brought his unique style and passion to horror films, and his love for monsters paid off when The Shape of Water won Best Picture in 2017.  So...why is there so little conversation about Guillermo del Toro in the horror community? Has the man who makes horror films as love letters to the Outsider been branded an outsider because of mainstream success? Join me and my guest, John Arminio, as we look at some of del Toro's films to remind ourselves of the genre-bending richness and the pure, joyous fun of them. All hail hybrid vigor! I hope you enjoy the show! Follow John Arminio:  https://twitter.com/QuasarSniffer https://www.facebook.com/johnarminio Check out Comix Connection, where John works: https://www.facebook.com/comix.connection/   We’re taking Hellbent for Horror to Burbank! Join host and author S.A. Bradley for a live a

Fire! Flood! Earthquake! Killer bees! Disaster Movies have been a staple of cinema since the Silent Era, and they are far more diverse in scope than you might think. Most Disaster Movies want to thrill you, but there are those proud few that really want to scare you. Let's take a look at some of those movies that put the Fear of God into us! I hope you enjoy the show! We’re taking Hellbent for Horror to Burbank! Join host and author S.A. Bradley for a live author event and book signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank. Reserve Your Seat Today! http://bit.ly/2HnKX0s  We’re doing a LIVE edition of Hellbent for Horror complete with a reading from Bradley’s debut horror retrospective Screaming for Pleasure. Very special VIP guest Heidi Honeycutt will be joining to chat about the book, horror, her work and lots more. Don’t miss this live event to relish in all things horror and get your copy of Screaming for Pleasure signed!  Details: Thursday, April 11, 2019 Dark Delicacies 3512 W Magnolia Blvd Burbank, CA 91505   7

The excellent new documentary, HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR, is a love letter to the rich, powerful history of Black American artists in horror cinema. The story is told by the artists who made the movies, and they give their unflinching perspectives on the past, present, and future of black horror. Join me as I speak with Executive Producers Dr. Robin Means Coleman and Tananarive Due about their documentary, Black horror, and their "First Kisses" with horror! Dr. Coleman is currently the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity, and a Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. She has also written many books about media and the cultural politics of Blackness, including the book that is the source material for this documentary. Tananarive Due is a filmmaker, author of 12 novels and educator steeped in black horror and Afrofuturism. Since 2017, she has been teaching a class at UCLA called “The Sunken Place.” Inspired by the movie Get Out, the class delves int

On October 4th, 2018, hundreds of figures dressed in black walked into the Wisdom Woods of Georgia to perform an unholy ceremony. Beasts were conjured and blood was spilled by the gallons in the pursuit of graven images. And popcorn was eaten. I was a witness to the Women in Horror Film Festival, and I lived to tell the tale! I interview festival co-founder and film director Vanessa Ionta Wright as well as several of the talented filmmakers in attendance as we discuss film inspirations, real-life ghosts, nuns who perform street justice, and everyone's first kiss with horror! There were over 70 horror films that competed for the prestigious Lizzie Awards! Who won, and what was left of them after the weekend? I hope you enjoy the show! Movies Covered: Rainy Season (Dir. Vanessa Ionta Wright) Little (Dir. Brittany Brock) Revisit (Writer: Jennifer Trudrung) Feast (Dir. Melissa Kunnap) Keloid (Dir. Brendan Pollecut) The Apocalypse will be Automated (Dir. Melanie Killingsworth) What Metal Girls are Into (Dir. Laure

February is Women in Horror Month, and we're celebrating with an interview with the writer/actress Rakefet Abergel! We discuss her short horror film, the multiple-award-winning Jax in Love (2017). Join us as we discuss horror and comedy timing, Rakefet's First Kiss with horror, and her cinematic "guilty pleasures"!   Want to watch the video of the interview? Go to my YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/0VU9FORzjzE More on Jax in Love here: https://www.jaxinlove.com/ And follow the progress on Rakefet's follow-up film, Boo on the official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/booshortfilm/   I hope you enjoy the interview!

February is Women in Horror Month, and we're starting things off with an interview with Tara Hall, the writer of the feature-length film, Buzzard Hollow Beef (2017).  Tara sat down with me to discuss her film, horror movies, how Sam Raimi made her want to be a filmmaker, her First Kiss with horror, and her favorite comedy! Want to watch the video of the interview? Go to my YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/alvfxgeuCsc You can watch Buzzard Hollow Beef on Amazon Prime here:  https://www.amazon.com/Buzzard-Hollow-Beef-Scott-Brown/dp/B07797CW12 Twitter: https://twitter.com/buzzardhollow1  And Tara is co-director/writer/story co-creator on a new film, Single Family Home. The film is in pre-production, and you can follow the progress of the film here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/single-family-home#/ I hope you enjoy the interview!

So, what does “Punk Rock Attitude” mean, anyway? There are as many answers to this question as there are punk rockers.  Although the connection between heavy metal and horror is well documented, the connection between horror and punk rock isn’t discussed as much. Yet, movies like CLASS OF 1984, and LIQUID SKY, and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, and even RE-ANIMATOR exude a punk rock attitude with a nihilistic brand of humor and irreverence. And now, there's a new punk rock kid in town! THE RANGER (2018) is an homage to slasher films and punk rock movies from the 1980s, and director/co-writer Jenn Wexler joins me to talk about horror, music, fake blood recipes, and becoming a surprise hit at SXSW! I hope you enjoy the show! Movies Covered: The Ranger (2018) Beneath (2013) Darling (2015) Like Me (2017) The Transfiguration (2017) Habit (1995)   Follow The Ranger on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRangerMovie Follow Jenn Wexler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/J_Wex Follow Glass Eye Pix on Twitter: https://twitter.com

One last surprise present "under the tree" for my listeners! I'm continuing the British tradition of the Christmas Ghost Story. Get some eggnog, put another log on the fire, nurse your wounds from your most recent game of "snapdragon", and sit back to listen to my rendition of Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows".   I can't wait to meet with all of you again in 2019! I hope you enjoy the show!   My book, Screaming for Pleasure: How Horror Makes You Happy and Healthy on sale NOW! https://hellbentforhorror.com/book/ Want to read a chapter for free? Subscribe to my newsletter here: http://bit.ly/2x8cdds   Join the Hellbent for Horror Horde! help support the show here! http://bit.ly/2G6CpIJ If you like the show, please consider writing a review on iTunes or Google Play.  It really helps.    You can keep up with Hellbent for Horror on iTunes @iTunesPodcasts   iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hellbent-for-horror/id1090978706 Google Play link:https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Ibsk2i4bbprrplyvs37