Shows
Drawn to Darkness33 - Steven Spielberg's Jurassic ParkSend us Fan MailIn this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we ask the important questions: Is Jurassic Park actually horror? And would not having a favourite dinosaur be a dealbreaker?We dive into Steven Spielberg’s iconic dinosaur summer blockbuster, from trembling cups of water and bloody goat legs to whatever chaos theory is, Chekov’s electric fences, and Jeff Goldblum’s unbuttoned shirt. Along the way, we unpack the film’s blend of adventure, horror, and sci-fi, discuss whether the dinosaurs were scientifically accurate (spoiler alert: no), and debate the ethics of cloning extinct...
2026-05-121h 10Drawn to Darkness32 - Martin Scorsese's GoodfellasSend us Fan MailIn this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we dive into Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, the “glorious,” “classic” mob epic that somehow feels both iconic and unsettling.From razor-blade-sliced garlic in prison to cocaine-fuelled paranoia and helicopter chases, we unpack the rise and fall of Henry Hill, a kid who always wanted to be a gangster, and ended up a broke, bored “schnuck” in witness protection. We explore the film’s unforgettable characters (Jimmy the Gent, Tommy the loose cannon, and Karen, our MVP), iconic scenes (Funny how?), and the uneasy tension between glamour...
2026-04-281h 11Drawn to Darkness31 - Ryan Coogler's Sinners with guest Makeda PennycookeSend us Fan MailIn this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we dive into Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, a genre-bending vampire period drama set in 1930s Jim Crow Mississippi. Joined by special guest Makeda Pennycooke, life and anti-racism coach, we unpack a film that is as gorgeous as it is unsettling, layering horror, history, and music. We break down vampire lore, our favorite characters, standout performances (Michael B. Jordan playing twins), the transcendent musical moments, and the symbolism woven throughout, from religion and ancestral knowledge to systems of white supremacy, power, and assimilation.Content & Sp...
2026-04-141h 28Drawn to Darkness30 - Amy Berg's West of Memphis with Gillian PensavalleSend us Fan MailWelcome back to Drawn to Darkness. This week, we are joined by special guest Gillian Pensavalle from True Crime Obsessed to discuss West of Memphis (2012), Amy Berg’s documentary that revisits the case of the West Memphis Three. In 1993, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were murdered and with little evidence and rising panic about satanic rituals, police quickly focused on three local teenagers: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jesse Misskelley. Despite inconsistent confessions, lack of physical evidence, and alibis, all three were convicted, and Echols was sentenced to death. We...
2026-03-311h 23Drawn to DarknessChatroom: Bedguard with Josiah FurcinittiSend us Fan MailIn this bonus “Chatroom” episode of Drawn To Darkness, I (Annie) chat with horror author Josiah Furcinitti to discuss his chilling short story Bedguard, featured in the anthology Lies Beyond, a horror anthology exploring death, fear, and the unknown. In Bedguard, Anna is at first only worried about the growing distance between herself and her husband David. But when he starts suffering from terrifying nightmares, seeing mysterious scratches on his body, and falling violently out of bed, Anna realises too late that something unspeakable is targeting them. Listen to me read Bedgu...
2026-03-2450 minDrawn to Darkness29 - Sugarcane by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily KassieSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss the National Geographic documentary Sugarcane, which investigates the legacy of St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in Canada. Prompted by the discovery of unmarked graves at former school sites, the film follows members of the Williams Lake First Nation, including Julian Brave Noisecat and his father Ed, as they search for truth about what happened to children forced to attend the school. Through survivor testimony, archival material, and difficult conversations within families and communities, the documentary reveals the profound and ongoing consequences of the residential school system, where In...
2026-03-171h 06Drawn to Darkness28 - Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno GarciaSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we descend into Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 2020 bestselling novel set in 1950s Mexico. When glamorous socialite Noemí Taboada receives a disturbing letter from her cousin Catalina, who claims she’s being poisoned in her new husband’s remote mountain mansion, she travels to High Place to investigate. There she finds a crumbling English manor transplanted into the Mexican countryside, steeped in decay, silence, and red flags. Catalina is wasting away under the watchful eye of her sinister husband Virgil, his ancient patriarch Howard, and the sanctimonious housekeeper Florence. The house r...
2026-03-031h 13Drawn to Darkness27 - Captive Audience: A Real American Horror StorySend us Fan MailIn this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we pivot back to true crime with Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story, a three-part docuseries about the kidnapping of Steven Stayner and the traumatic ripple effect. We’ll discuss Steven’s story, how he was abducted at age seven while walking home from school and held captive for seven years by Kenneth Parnell. What makes the story even more unsettling is how “normal” his life appeared from the outside. Steven attended school, played sport, and yet could not free himself from his abuser until Parnell...
2026-02-171h 06Drawn to Darkness26 - Trainwreck: Poop CruiseSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we dive into Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, Netflix’s lowbrow, sensational documentary about the 2013 Carnival Triumph disaster, when an engine room fire left more than 4,200 passengers and crew stranded in the Gulf of Mexico with no power, no air conditioning, no refrigeration, and, most importantly, no functioning toilets.We begin with discussion about losing power during floods, blizzards, hurricanes, and honeymoons gone wrong, but end up discussing human behaviour under extreme stress. As we discuss the "characters", we unpack how quickly civility can erode when basic systems fail, why so...
2026-02-101h 05Drawn to Darkness25 - Hereditary by Ari AsterSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we tackle Hereditary, Ari Aster’s devastating 2018 debut and one of the films most often credited with launching a new era of “elevated horror.” After the death of her estranged mother, miniature artist Annie Graham struggles to process her complicated grief. When her daughter Charlie dies in a shocking accident, the family fractures under the weight of blame, guilt, and unbearable loss. What begins as a family drama about grief, resentment, and inheritance curdles into something far darker as supernatural events occur and Annie Graham and her family discover that their...
2026-01-271h 14Drawn to Darkness24 - Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers by Emily TurnerSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, Emily Turner’s documentary about Aileen Wuornos, a rare, hands-on female serial killer whose life is steeped in trauma, exploitation, and state violence. We discuss our views on the death penalty and then unpack whether Aileen’s childhood abandonment, sexual abuse, homelessness, and years of sex work made her into a "monster”. We discuss nature vs nurture, the deeper horror of the targeting of sex workers; misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric, and the way prosecutors, cops, lawyers, and her “adoptive” mother profited from Aileen's st...
2026-01-131h 05Drawn to Darkness23 - Guillermo Del Toro's FrankensteinSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeous and gothic adaptation of Frankenstein, an epic, operatic exploration of creation, obsession, abandonment, and the horror of living after being rejected by the world. We discuss our own life goals and the hollowness that can follow achieving your greatest ambition, before diving into this reimagining of Mary Shelley’s ground-breaking novel. We unpack the cinematic devices, symbolism, use of light and colour, as well as each character and what motivates them. We explore themes of immortality as a curse, intergenerational trauma, scientific overreach, colon...
2025-12-301h 23Drawn to Darkness22 - A Christmas Carol by Charles DickensSend us Fan MailIn this Christmas special of Drawn To Darkness, we swap favourite festive films (from Die Hard and It’s a Wonderful Life to The Muppet Christmas Carol and Scrooged) before diving into Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. We’ll discuss the plot and characters (Scrooge, Marley, the three spirits, Fezziwig, Tiny Tim, Fred), unpack life in Victorian London with its filth, disease, child labour, workhouses, debtor’s prisons and ghost-obsessed spiritualism, and trace how Dickens wrote this “ghostly little book” as a sledgehammer blow against capitalism, greed and cruelty. Along the way we’ll call out Di...
2025-12-161h 15Drawn to Darkness21 - The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (via You’re Wrong About)Send us Fan MailIn this episode we unpack the history and ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972), guided by Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall’s reporting in You’re Wrong About. We recount how U.S. Public Health Service researchers recruited 600 Black men in Macon County, Alabama under the promise of treatment for “bad blood,” then withheld effective care, even after penicillin became a simple cure, so they could watch the disease progress. We explore why the study was “bad science” as well as immoral; the racist assumptions baked into its design (e.g., claims that syphilis affec...
2025-12-091h 03Drawn to Darkness20 - Grey Gardens by the Maysles brothersSend us Fan MailWelcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime. In this episode, we head deep into the peeling wallpaper, raccoon-infested attic, rotting walls and shingles, and extraordinary psychology of Grey Gardens, the 1975 direct-cinema documentary that follows Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, two formerly glamorous socialites now living in overwhelming decay and filth in their once-grand Hamptons estate. We unpack the house as gothic horror, Little Edie’s charm, yearning, and self-loathing (as well as her fabulous head scarves), Big Edie’s pride in he...
2025-11-251h 01Drawn to Darkness19 - Stranger Things: Season 4Send us Fan MailIn this extra-long deep dive, we unpack the entire “epic” and “metal” Stranger Things Season 4. This season is a tonal shift from goosebumps to true horror. We’ll explore Vecna/Henry Creel/001, Max’s near-death escape thanks to Kate Bush, as well as the way the show blends horror, sci-fi, action, and 80s nostalgia. We discuss each character’s best moments and arc, as well as our favourite scenes, the Russian prison plotline, Eddie’s heroism, our hopes and dreams for Season 5, and the show’s major themes: grief, depression, friendship, shame and sacrifice.
2025-11-181h 47Drawn to Darkness17 - Wes Craven's ScreamSend us Fan MailDo you like scary movies? We do! In this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we discuss Wes Craven’s Scream, the self-aware slasher that revived the genre and was a gateway to loving horror movies for so many of us.From Drew Barrymore’s unforgettable 12-minute opener to the Woodsboro house party, we explore how the film subverted horror tropes, dissect Sydney Prescott’s role as trauma survivor and feminist final girl icon, and argue why Matthew Lillard’s Stu might just be the MVP of the movie.Expect nostalgia...
2025-10-281h 10Drawn to Darkness16 - Rosemary's Baby with Mia FarrowSend us Fan MailThis week, we discuss Rosemary’s Baby, the 1968 horror classic that turned pregnancy into psychological nightmare fuel. We unpack gaslighting husbands, demonic covens, and the claustrophobia of a New York apartment with a high incidence of unfortunate happenings. Rosemary and her husband Guy move into a grand old New York apartment, despite eerie warnings and a mysteriously blocked closet and when they meet their eccentric neighbours, things turn sinister. We'll discuss topics such as the film’s sound design, use of colour (yellow), 1960s gender politics, and reveal how Rosemary’s Baby captures both s...
2025-10-211h 12Drawn to Darkness15 - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins GilmanSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s gothic gut-punch, The Yellow Wallpaper—a claustrophobic descent into isolation, medical misogyny, and one very cursed interior design choice. Expect talk of gaslighting physicians, barred windows, nailed-down beds, and that unforgettable last line.Spoiler and Content Warning:We cover the full plot of The Yellow Wallpaper. If you’ve never read it, pause here and come back after. Content include post-partum depression, gaslighting, horrible horror husbands, confinement, suicidal ideation, racism and eugenics, and a descent into madness....
2025-10-1451 minDrawn to Darkness14 - Catch and Kill by Ronan FarrowSend us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow, the explosive exposé that revealed how Harvey Weinstein and a network of enablers in Hollywood, politics, and media silenced victims of sexual assault for decades. Farrow’s investigation was blocked by NBC, he was stalked by private investigators, and threatened with legal intimidation, but ultimately published in The New Yorker, sparking the global reckoning we now know as the #MeToo movement.We unpack the book’s chilling revelations, from Weinstein’s predatory patterns, to the role of lawyers, executives, and journal...
2025-09-301h 15Drawn to Darkness13 - Unknown Number - The High School Catfish by Skye BorgmanSend us Fan MailIn this “around the water cooler special,” we break from our usual schedule to talk about the Netflix documentary Unknown Number, a story so shocking it has everyone buzzing, so we just had to talk about it too!The case begins in 2020 in tiny Beal City, Michigan, where 12-year-olds Owen and Lauren were the town’s golden couple. But their sweet small-town romance turned into a nightmare when they became the targets of a relentless campaign of vile and anonymous text messages. What started as cruel taunts to break them up escala...
2025-09-2358 minDrawn to Darkness12- The Sixth Sense by M. Night ShyamalanSend us Fan MailDo your friends roll their eyes when you bring up your favorite ghost movie? Do you instantly know the significance of a red balloon? We’re here for you. Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime.In this episode, though decades have passed, Annie finally makes Caroline sit down for M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 classic, The Sixth Sense, the movie that made “I see dead people” an instant cultural touchstone. We talk creepy dolls, inattentive parents, and claustrophobic closets. Expect tangents about 19...
2025-09-161h 09Drawn to Darkness11 - The Act: Gypsy Rose Blanchard and the murder of Dee Dee BlanchardSend us Fan MailThis week we dive into The Act, Hulu’s dramatization of the harrowing true story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Though many of us would fake sick for the occasional day off, this takes it to the next level. It’s a case of Munchausen’s by proxy, blurred lines between victim and perpetrator, and the disturbing question of how far someone will go for sympathy and control.Spoiler & Trigger WarningPhysical, emotional, and medical child abuseReferences to sex, BDSM, and needlesDisturbing dental procedures and feeding tubesO...
2025-09-071h 01Drawn to Darkness10 - Carrie by Stephen KingSend us Fan MailDo your friends think you’re weird because you like horror and true crime? Then join us on Drawn to Darkness.In this episode, we discuss Carrie, Stephen King's infamous debut novel—and the one that almost didn’t make it out of the trash can. That is, until Tabitha King fished it out and told her husband to keep going. Good thing she did. Without Carrie, we might not have had Pennywise, Annie Wilkes, or even Stranger Things.We unpack the horror and tragedy of Carrie White: a teleki...
2025-09-021h 14Drawn to Darkness9 - Heaven's Gate - The Cult of CultsSend us Fan Mail“This cult has everything.” – Caroline, channeling Stefon from SNL, before we unpack the many strange and disturbing facets of the four-part docuseries Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, and one of America’s most infamous mass suicides. This cult mixes a strange blend of UFO mythology, musical theatre and the apocalypse. Starting with a light-hearted chat about what kinds of cults we might actually fall for (spoiler: cats, lots of TV, introvert-friendly, and insomnia-curing ones), we'll explore how a desire for belonging, meaning, and transcendence can be exploited by supposedly charismatic leaders like Marsha...
2025-08-2057 minDrawn to Darkness8 - Steven Spielberg's JawsSend us Fan MailWould you have gone back for a bigger boat? Then join us on Drawn to Darkness for our summer special. This week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie that made people afraid to step into the ocean—and sometimes even a pool or a bath. That’s right, we’re diving into Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 man-versus-monster masterpiece.Spoiler & Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of implied dog death (though we have a theory that Pippit lived), on-screen gore, severed limbs, and the death of a child...
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