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Where the horrifically nerdy meets the terrifyingly academic. Hosts: Katherine A. Troyer, PhD and Anthony Tresca. Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1 Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com
Episodes
Friday Sep 03, 2021
Friday Sep 03, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 2020 horror-comedy film Freaky.
Episode Highlights: We argue that while the film offers a clever and fun premise, Freaky is unfortunately--at best--a paint-by-numbers horror comedy that fails to maintain the self-awareness of Christopher Landon's other films. Looking at the ways that the film attempts to be transgressive but ultimately gets stuck in presenting rather familiar (and problematic) depictions of the monstrous Other, we talk about why perhaps the worst fate a horror film can face is to be just "ok."
A Dose of Scholarship: For a deeper look into how the horror genre links issues of monstrous Otherness with gender and sexual identities, we suggest turning to Jack Halberstam's Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters.
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Apr 05, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 1985 film A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.
Episode Highlights: Using queer theory as a framework, we explore whether this film should be considered transgressive or homophobic (the short answer: "it's complicated"), look at how issues in the third act muddy the film's themes, and talk about the difference between reading this film as a text and reading it as a cultural artifact.
A Dose of Scholarship: Many scholars (including Adam Scales and Connor Kaminski) have worked to situate this particular film within a queer theory framework; however, for a more general introduction to queer theory in film, we recommend Outtakes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film, edited by Ellis Hanson.
This podcast episode first aired on April 5, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
In this spooktacular episode "A Tale of Two Shinings", hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss two different versions of The Shining: Stephen King's 1977 novel and Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film.
Episode Highlights: Using the lens of adaptation theory to help us move past the ultimately unhelpful (but oh so satisfying!) debate of "which version is better," we explore how these works present different sources of horror and, in the process, become richly different texts. We argue that whereas the source of horror in King's novel centers on how the past literally and figuratively haunts us, the source of horror in Kubrick's film is alienation and placelessness. With this claim in mind, we spend the rest of the episode digging more deeply into these two works.
A Dose of Scholarship: There is a lot of great scholarship on adaptation theory; however, we recommend checking out Linda Hutcheon's A Theory of Adaptation for an accessible and useful framework for thinking through questions of adaptation.
This podcast episode first aired on March 23, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Monday Mar 08, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Episode Highlights: We argue that it is possible to read this film both as an affirmative film (ultimately supporting the status quo) and a disaffirmative film (ultimately saying that "we" are the real monsters). Exploring the film's ambiguous treatment of the patriarchal figure, its conflation of the house in the suburbs with the boiler room of Freddy, and the ways it treats death, we explore how this film manages to offer us multiple, sometimes contradictory perspectives. Also, Anthony tells his horror origin story.
A Dose of Scholarship: We discuss David Kingsley's 2013 article in Journal of Popular Film and Television, which looks at how this film draws heavily on the Gothic tradition and Jonathan Markovitz's 2000 article in Quarterly Review of Film and Video on female paranoia as a survival skill.
This podcast episode first aired on March 08, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 2013 film Evil Dead. (Apologies for weird background noises!)
Episode Highlights: We argue that, while the blood rain scene is admittedly rather amazing, this newest edition to the franchise lacks the essence of what makes the original Evil Dead films so magical. Looking at some key moments where the film seems rather disjointed as well as moments where the film offers real potential, we talk about how the film feels strangely sanitized and hollow...especially compared to the rough charm of the original.
A Dose of Scholarship: Elaine Scarry, in addition to having the perfect horror name, has written a phenomenal book called Body in Pain that explores the powerful relationship between pain and how we understand ourselves and the world around us.
This podcast episode first aired on February 23, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Monday Feb 01, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 2020 novel The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.
Episode Highlights: We talk about the significance of the author's introduction in setting up the ordinary housewife against the immortal monster, explore the ways that the book asks us to question who--in a world of maintaining the status quo--is the real monster, and argue that perhaps the novel could have gained one more wrinkle (in a very textured story) if it had offered one character who had to face giving up a loving relationship for what was right.
A Dose of Scholarship: Not much has been written (yet!) about this novel, but we encourage you to pick up all of Hendrix's books if you are hankering for something new to read.
This podcast episode first aired on February 1, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Monday Jan 18, 2021
Monday Jan 18, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 2020 film Antebellum. Sorry for the silence at the beginning! The intro music didn't get added correctly!
Episode Highlights: We explore what we see as the film's biggest issue: structural problems that created not only a disconnect between the film's three acts but also prevented the film from being able to clearly articulate its true source of horror. Looking at the film's attempt to be a social horror piece à la Jordan Peele, we argue that Antebellum ultimately played it too safe and simple and, in the process, failed to fully speak to the systematic and systemic evils of racism, inequality, and injustice at its core.
A Dose of Scholarship: We have said it before, but we'll say it again...check out Robin Means Coleman's excellent book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present!
This podcast episode first aired on January 18, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 1993 (or '92 if you'd rather) film Army of Darkness.
Episode Highlights: Our Evil Dead extravaganza continues as we discuss why this will never be Anthony's favorite film of the franchise (too much medieval fantasy) and why this film snuck into the number two spot for Katherine (splendid special effects and terrific directing). Looking deeper, we talk about the film's portrayal of gender and how--as part of a larger narrative spanning all three films--Army of Darkness complicates and problematizes our understandings of masculinity.
A Dose of Scholarship: In this episode we discussed Tison Pugh's essay on Ash's queer masculinity in Race, Class, and Gender in “Medieval” Cinema and Betina Entzminger's essay on fin de siècle anxieties in Mark Twain and Sam Raimi's respective works.
This podcast episode first aired on January 4, 2021
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Friday Dec 25, 2020
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 2019 film Black Christmas.
Episode Highlights: In our spooktacular Christmas episode, we finish our discussion of the Black Christmas franchise by talking about how the 2019 film, while breaking free of the formulaic problems of the 2006 film, nevertheless still fails to capture the magical spirit of the 1974 film...in large part because of its inclusion of magic. We argue that the film's inclusion of the magical element creates a problematic conflation of supernatural horrors with real-world horrors like toxic masculinity and rape culture. Once more using the lens of Carol J. Clover's work on gender in the slasher film, we explore the ways that this film attempts, succeeds, and--we think--ultimately fails to present the fully feminist take on this slasher story that the film seems to be striving toward.
A Dose of Scholarship: For all three Black Christmas episodes, we will be turning to Carol J. Clover's chapter "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film," available as a chapter in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
This podcast episode first aired on December 25, 2020
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
In this episode, hosts Katherine Troyer and Anthony Tresca discuss the 2006 film Black Christmas.
Episode Highlights: We talk about the reasons we felt that the 2006 film--despite having a great opening sequence--felt like its teeth had been removed when compared to the 1974 version. In particular we suggest that the 2006 film adheres much too tightly to the slasher formula for its own good. And, using the lens of Carol J. Clover's work on gender in the slasher film, we explore the consequences of the 2006 film's creation of Billy's backstory and argue that this development transforms the Terrible Place into an isolated broken family/home rather than allowing the film to explore the ideas of a larger broken society.
A Dose of Scholarship: For all three Black Christmas episodes, we will be turning to Carol J. Clover's chapter "Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film," available as a chapter in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
This podcast episode first aired on December 21, 2020
Twitter/Instagram: @NightmarePod1; YouTube: Such a Nightmare channel; Email: suchanightmare.pod@gmail.com; ALL LINKS