Horror Podcasts.

Some Recommendations For All You Horror Fanatics.

You know what makes watching a horror movie even better? The prospect of listening to hours and hours of conversation about it straight after! In this post I’ll list some of my favourite film pods, highlighting exactly why I recommend them. I’d love to hear any suggestions in the comments, too.

My first will be Mike Muncer’s The Evolution of Horror. This is a truly inspired concept - each series we follow a subgenre through the decades, considering the impact of 20ish different films while also being treated to well-researched reviews. Generally speaking each episode has a guest speaker, which range from horror icons like Kim Newman to writer of the Final Girl blog Stacie Ponder. So far they’ve covered everything from Creature Features to Home Invasion!

What I really love about the podcast is how it’s developed into a full network. Now there is a Hammer horror pod, a Twin Peaks pod, and various other niches. Truly, something for everyone, and that’s before you look into the Patreon and the live events. It’s a remarkable testament to the power horror fans have to create and maintain a creative space.

Also, bonus note, they created a card game, Final Cut, in which you compete to create a horror movie first by collecting the necessary cards. I have really gone a bit over-the-top with this, going as far as to map out the game’s options on a spreadsheet. In my defense, it wasn’t cheap.

My second recommendation will be the How To Survive podcast by Joe Shervell and Chris Morris. Their format is pretty simple - concisely recap a film, chat about it for a bit, then dive into how you would survive the horrors within. They’ve done all the Friday 13th films, they’ve done Scanners (1981), they’ve even done Scooby Doo (2002). For me, the main draw is that they’re super funny, and that they’re ordinary people. They have no insider knowledge, they, like us, are just big fans of spooky stuff. I also enjoy that they are unafraid to slate the films they dislike, as well as debating when their opinions differ.

My third recommendation will be Random Number Generator Horror Podcast Number Nine. What a mouthful. This is hosted by Jeffrey Cranor and Cecil Baldwin (of Welcome to Night Vale fame - a horror fiction pod I’ve not investigated but comes highly recommended). Initially, when they began the project, Cranor had a minimal knowledge of horror films and the goal was to make the genre more approachable for him. What I like about these two is that they are very expressive, and Baldwin really knows his stuff. They never fail to make film discussion entertaining, regardless of the movie in question. Also, the way they pick their next picture is suuupper cool - they roll dice for a monster and for style. It gives them a range of options each time, but keeps us all guessing due to the nature of chance. Fun stuff.

Fourth, is Horror Hangouts’s YouTube - which has it all, from talking to fellow horror writers, to in-depth film reviews, to interviews. I actually had the privilege of being on the pod, and lots of other familiar names pop up fairly often in the livestreams. Josh is an excellent reviewer and interviewer, being friendly, intelligent and stylish. He also writes fiction, by the way, so go check out his Substack.

Lastly I gotta recommend Final Girl Friday, Molly O'Blivion’s pod. Molly is a super fun and compelling host, and both her structured and unstructured content is excellent. If you’ve ever enjoyed what she writes on here, you will love the podcast. I know I certainly do.

As ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.

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