Shows
Paranormal Pajama PartyHagsploitation: “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” | 33Send me a text message!In this spine-tingling episode, we watch the 1962 psychological thriller "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and dive deep into the hagsploitation film subgenre it spawned. When Hollywood legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford found themselves discarded by studios as they aged, they turned to horror – creating a film that both exploited and empowered ageing women in cinema.We explore how society's fear of ageing women transforms them into monstrous figures on screen. From Baby Jane's disturbing childlike makeup on an elderly face to the twisted sister dynamic, this film confronts ou...2025-04-2737 minParanormal Pajama PartyThe White Witch of Rose Hall: Annie Palmer and Madame LaLaurieSend me a text message!What do the White Witch of Jamaica’s Rose Hall and New Orleans tour staple Madame LaLaurie have in common? They're both infamous female figures in ghost lore, accused of monstrous violence during the era of slavery. But dig a little deeper, and a more disturbing truth emerges. Annie Palmer – the so-called White Witch – never existed, and Delphine LaLaurie’s real crimes were reshaped into gothic horror for public consumption. In this episode, we unpack how gendered narratives helped white societies displace guilt over slavery onto individual women.Using the monstrous...2025-04-1337 minParanormal Pajama PartyBotan Dōrō: Love, Death, and SamuraiSend me a text message!Join me to examine one of Japan's most influential ghost stories – Botan Dōrō (The Peony Lantern). This tale of love beyond death helped establish the archetype of the long-haired vengeful female ghost in Japanese horror. When handsome samurai Shinzaburō falls for the beautiful Otsuyu, their love seems destined for tragedy. Unluckily for him, even death won't keep them apart.We'll explore how this story evolved from a Chinese Buddhist morality tale into a cornerstone of Japanese horror, spawning countless adaptations from kabuki theatre to erotica. Learn how changing attitudes towar...2025-02-2330 minParanormal Pajama PartyWise Wives and Witch Hunts: The Women Scotland BurnedSend me a text message!This episode of "Paranormal Pajama Party" is spine-chilling – but not because of the paranormal parts.We're headed back to Scotland to discuss the North Berwick Witch Trials – a dark chapter of history that inspired Shakespeare's most infamous witches and exposed the terrifying mechanisms of patriarchal violence. Meet Agnes Sampson, Gilleis Duncan, and Euphame MacCalzean – three women caught in a deadly web of royal paranoia, religious persecution, and systemic misogyny.Set against the backdrop of King James VI's tumultuous reign, this episode exposes the brutal methods of torture, the gendered violence of wit...2024-12-0838 minParanormal Pajama PartyMonsters and Morals: Vengeance, Virtue, and Emotional LabourSend me a text message!What do a trickster forest goblin, a horse-faced seductress, a desert phantom, and a deer-footed avenger have in common? They’re not just the stuff of nightmares – they’re symbols of women as society’s moral guardians.In this episode of “Paranormal Pajama Party”, you’ll meet the Shishiga, the Siguanaba, Umm al-Duwais, and the Deer Woman – female monsters tasked with warning, protecting, and punishing men who transgress societal moral codes. These ladies, while terrifying, are also a lens we can use to explore how women have been historically cast as moral guardia...2024-11-2426 minParanormal Pajama PartyHistorical Horror: Chloe, Cleo, and the Myrtles PlantationSend me a text message!Welcome to America's Most Haunted House... or is it? Tonight, we’re partying at the Myrtles Plantation, where the famous ghost of an enslaved girl named Chloe is said to roam the halls.But as we unpack this classic Southern ghost story, we'll discover something far more unsettling than any supernatural presence – the way America uses ghost tourism to process (or avoid processing) its history of slavery.From gift shop dolls of murdered enslaved people to invented haunted histories, we'll explore how plantation tourism often makes real historical trau...2024-11-1029 minParanormal Pajama PartyHillary Clinton and the Lizard PeopleSend me a text message!Hillary Clinton and the Lizard People | 27 Put on your tinfoil hat and grab your favourite pantsuit – “Paranormal Pajama Party” is back! In the Season 3 premiere, Steph connects the dots between confused Victorian lemur scientists and modern-day conspiracy theories about lizard people running the world. (It makes more sense than you'd think.)Join us for a wild ride through the peculiar world of reptilian conspiracies, where we discover how theories about shape-shifting aliens somehow wound up tangled with gender politics and presidential pantsuits. Steph digs into why powerfu...2024-10-2744 minParanormal Pajama PartyLadies, Listen to This Before You Build Your Crow ArmySend me a text message!I get it. It’s hard to be a woman. Almost as hard as it is to be a monster.Get ready for a spine-tingling third season of Paranormal Pajama Party!This fortnightly podcast explores folklore and the horror genre with a feminist twist. Each episode uncovers chilling tales of female phantoms, femme fatales, and supernatural beings, shedding light on the societal fears that often shape these spooky stories.From haunted houses to vengeful spirits, Paranormal Pajama Party shoves a flashlight into the dark corners of fo...2024-10-2001 minParanormal Pajama Party“Aliens”: Game Over, Men – Game OverSend me a text message!In this thrilling conclusion to our two-part series on the “Alien” franchise, Paranormal Pajama Party dissects the 1986 classic sequel, "Aliens."We’re talking about Ellen Ripley’s groundbreaking portrayal of a female action hero and feminist icon, considering the ethics of care in Ripley's decision-making, and contrasting it with traditional male action heroes like Arnold.But Ripley’s not alone in the “Alien” universe, which is the best part. We’ll examine the other diverse female characters, including tough-as-nails Private Vasquez and little Newt, discussing how they challenge gender norms in...2024-09-0155 minParanormal Pajama Party“Alien”: In Space, No One Can Hear Dudes ScreamSend me a text message!*MASSIVE CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS ONE:* This episode contains well as explicit descriptions of fictional sexual violence that is 100% a metaphor for real-world sexual violence, plus discussion of pregnancy, extremely traumatic births, death in childbirth, and abortion. Please listen with care.On this episode of Paranormal Pajama Party, we’re unpacking Ridley Scott's 1979 classic, "Alien," and its groundbreaking feminist themes. This episode explores how the film cleverly subverts genre expectations, forcing viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about gender roles and societal power dynamics.We'll dissect the Xenomorph's lifecycle as...2024-08-1829 minParanormal Pajama PartyGreen Ladies and Glaistigs: Skeletons in the WallsSend me a text message!This week on Paranormal Pajama Party, we're heading to Scotland to meet its green ladies and glaistigs.Discover the tragic tale of Dame Lilias Drummond, whose ghostly presence still haunts Fyvie Castle centuries after her untimely death. Learn about the protective yet mischievous nature of glaistigs, the goat-legged women who guard cattle and castles alike. Uncover the dark histories behind other famous green lady hauntings, including those at Crathes Castle and Longleat House.This episode examines the complex symbolism of the colour green in various cultures, particularly its...2024-08-0435 min