The Rants Macabre

Closing out PRIDE month we talk about current events and the documentary 'Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street' (2019). Star Mark Patton tells the story of the making NOES2, and its impact on his life. The 4 track EP of horror music for horror fans is at https://darrenty.bandcamp.com/ Check out Joshua Tonks' reviews and follow (www.instagram.com/joshuatonks) and www.gaylydreadful.com for "Your one stop shop for all things gay and dreadful."

We're going back to the days of our youth, with Part 2 of our 90s Teen Horror. We further explore the teensploitation of the MTV-WB era. We explore Jamie Blanks' star-packed Urban Legend (1998), and the Miramax produced, Kevin Williamson penned, directed by Robert Rodriguez, Breakfast Club vs Alien invasion movie, THE FACULTY (1998). If you want to dive even deeper into 90s horror, check out Alexandra West (@ScareAlex) and her book The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula. She's also cohost of The Faculty of Horror podcast. Don't forget to check in at the website, therantsmacabre.com for random show extras and episode searches.

Mindy and Darren look back at their formative years in Part 1 of 90s Teen Horror. They examine the WB and the wave that brought us star-driven horror movies with Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Dawson's Creek gang. In this episode we discuss the 1998 ADWEEK article, THE BOOM TUBE, and I Know What you Did Last Summer. If you want to dive even deeper into 90s horror, check out Alexandra West (@ScareAlex) and her book The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula. She's also cohost of The Faculty of Horror.

Our fascination with witches takes us to the original tale of the Baba Yaga. Many things to many people, the legend of Baba Yaga has found a home throughout pop culture and classical music. Mindy guides us through Pictures at an Exhibition 9A; Baba Yaga by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). References: Identifying Impressions of Baba Yaga: Navigating the Uses of Attachment and Wonder on Soviet and American Television by Megan Armknecht, Jill Terry Rudy, Sibelan Forrester. + Who’s Afraid of Baba Yaga? A Reading of Ageing From the Gender Perspective by MARIJA GEIGER ZEMAN and ZDENKO ZEMAN

We're back for some news, updates and to share a curating challenge. On Facebook, Marknado Lehew asked what 5 movies would you recommend to a horror newbie to get them hooked on the genre. We've risen to the challenge to talk horror indoctrination.  Next week we'll be back with a full episode on Baba Yaga. Plus, Darren's new EP is up at our website, therantsmacabre.com

We return to our deep dive into lycanthrope lore and popular culture in this Part 2 of Curse of the Werewolves. Darren and Mindy dig in to some historical accounts of monsters, murderers, and medical anomalies. In our coverage, we review two modern werewolf classics, Neil Marshall's DOG SOLDIERS, and Joe Dante's THE HOWLING. Our music is back up for sale at BandCamp https://darrenty.bandcamp.com/album/apophenia - Check out our song "When I" where Mindy sings lead!

In Part 1 of our series on werewolves, we explore the history of werewolf lore and it's grand entrance into popular culture with the Universal classic, The Wolf Man (1941). We have a new home on BandCamp here https://darrenty.bandcamp.com/album/apophenia with more music to come. And you can access our additional library at https://www.patreon.com/rantsmacabre

Before we wrap up our summer break, we're checking in with a fun chat about... Ancient Aliens and Bob Lazar. Joining us is Jaxon, Mindy's husband (and baby Syd in the background) and Ancient Aliens fan. We talk about the documentary Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers (2018), and compare notes with the ancient astronaut theorist.

For our part 2 of our series on Black Horror we rejoin our conversation with Kristina Leath-Malin. We discuss black and French Horror, as well as Kristina's MFG short film "One For The Road", her Stephen King Dollar Baby with 90% Female cast and crew. You can find Kristina's documentary project My Final Girl: Black Women in American Horror at https://myfinalgirl.com/ You can find Kristina’s video work and podcast here: https://vimeo.com/plzwatch And her writing on film here: http://KLMBrooklyn.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/klmbrooklyn

For Part 1 of our long-awaited conversation on Black Horror we are joined by Kristina Leath-Malin. As an academic, filmmaker and feminist horror scholar, Kristina's MA on French Horror and the "New Wave Extremity" culminated with her thesis-turned-published book Objectification repackaged: The Women of 21st Century French Horror. Her current work at https://myfinalgirl.com/ and documentary project My Final Girl: Black Women in American Horror includes a web/podcast series, video work, and an internet database dedicated to exploring the positioning and representation of Black Women in American Horror Films. Together we discuss the documentary Horror Noire (on SHUDDER), and look at a cross section of seminal films in black horror. You can find Kristina’s video work and podcast here: https://vimeo.com/plzwatchAnd her writing on film here: http://KLMBrooklyn.com

Welcoming spring with a touch of death.     *OK, seriously, we'll be back for two episodes this April to talk Black Horror, and we'll be joined by a special guest. See you all soon!

We take to the mics to chat and catch up. Talking future show planning and doing some nerding out over Jordan Peele's projects.

Hey listeners! While we prep for coming episodes and take some time to breathe, we're sharing this exclusive Patreon episode. We're excited for Jordan Peele's 'US' coming out March 21 and thought it would be fun to offer up this installment about Peele's directorial debut 'GET OUT'. And a HUGE thank you to our Patreon patrons who made this episode possible. You're the best! We've got some things in the works, so you'll get an update episode before February is out.

Happy New Year! One at a time we're engaging the senses in analyzing Netflix's new Bird Box and A Quiet Place. We compare Sandra Bullock's see-no-evil, blind apocalypse with John Krasinski's hear-no-evil silent nightmare world.

We return to finish Mike Flanagan's Netflix & Amblin Entertainment-produced The Haunting of Hill House. We finish out talking about Christmas music and traditions.

This week we take our first steps into The Haunting of Hill House. Before celebrating Mike Flanagan's Netflix miniseries we make a stop at the first feature film adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic, 1963's The Haunting. (We agreed that Robert Wise could have used some ghosts in his haunting movie.)

Happy Halloween! We welcome back podcaster (Miskatonic Musings!) and author of Farmington Correctional, Sean M. Thompson. We talk about his books, mental illness, sleepwalking, and dive into Brad Anderson's low budget gem, Session 9. Here is Sean's Amazon page where you can find a lot of his work.

To celebrate our 150th episode we're celebrating the end of the world! We talk Apocalypticism, the study of doomsdays across different cultures and theologies. Having some fun with the idea, we focus on three end of the world comedies, Edgar Wright's The World's End, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg's This is the End, with The Happening in between. For M. Night Shyamalan's Mark Wahlberg-helmed disaster we recorded our audio commentary and edited it down to the best parts for your listening pleasure.

After three years of podcasting we've amassed quite a collection of sketches and bonus content. So while we approach our 150th episode, we're having a look back and doing our very first Clip Show! https://www.patreon.com/rantsmacabre

We take a look at the Netflix true-crime docuseries "The Staircase". Leaving spoilers for the second half of this episode, we take a deep dive into Kathleen Peterson's mysterious death and the court case surrounding Michael Peterson. Exploring the docuseries and beyond, we offer some armchair sleuthing as well as other sources for the listener to explore the case.