Welcome back! Joining us for another episode of Don’t Read the Latin is Jillian Venters from Gothic Charm School! This time, in the wake of election results that are arguably more terrifying than any movie we’ve ever discussed, we decided to get our feminist rant on and sat down to talk about The Monstrous Feminine — the idea of women as monsters in horror movies and pop culture.

Along the way, we discuss Gothic romance novels, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, the role that Mad Max: Fury Road played in the beginning of Jen’s relationship with Handsome Boyfriend Jim, and we wonder why the hell Marvel keeps burying pretty actors under way too much prosthetic makeup, and we wrap it all up with the topic of older women having a voice and taking up space in our society. We don’t necessarily do a great job of sticking rigidly to our topic in this episode, but we sure hope you’ll think it’s an interesting conversation. Check it out.

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Bibliography
Books we mention in this episode:

• The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis, by Barbara Creed
• Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, by Carol J. Clover
• Monstrous Bodies: Feminine Power in Young Adult Horror Fiction, by June Pulliam
• Bad Dreams, by Kim Newman
• Angels of Music, by Kim Newman

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Mister Babadook
As mentioned in this episode, Jen’s copy of the crowdfunded prop replica/movie tie-in book from The Babadook has finally arrived! Here are some pictures of just how gorgeous it is. Click to embiggen:

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“Let’s make this bullshit happen!”

” …. Is that going to be our new motto from now on? Actually, that might look good on stickers, now that I think about it.”

So hey, check us out! Fifty episodes! That’s kind of a lot! And to celebrate, we are counting down the TOP FIFTY HORROR MOVIES OF ALL TIME!

Okay, well, no. We’re not going to pretend that we’re being at all objective. What we’re actually doing is our Our Top Fifty Favorite Horror Movies! You’re actually getting more than fifty, because Jennifer and Michael have each brought their own lists, so listen in as they compare the movies they love the most. (Presented in chronological order, so as not to descend into complete chaos.) Just in time for you to figure out what you want to watch for Halloween!

All this and more, as Jen tells us about a recent unpleasant incident in a movie theater, a documentary on the murder of Kitty Genovese, and completely spoils the ending of “The Changeling!”

We also talk about movies we’ve seen recently, including Blair Witch. If you just want to skip directly ahead to the Top Fifty goodness, you will find it at the 27-minutes-and-15-seconds mark.

Hope you enjoy this one!

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Please rate our podcast on iTunes!

The more reviews and ratings we have, the easier it is for people to find us. If you’d like to hear another fifty episodes of Don’t Read the Latin and would like to help us reach more people, please click here to rate our podcast on iTunes and leave your comments. It will only take a few minutes out of your day, but your feedback can make a huge difference to us. Thanks for everything, you guys.

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The weather outside isn’t the only thing that’s frightful! Better grab some blankets, make yourself some hot cocoa, light a fire in the fireplace — or, really, burn the whole damn house down, if you have to — because Don’t Read the Latin is back, and this time we’re talking Winter Horror. Christmas horror movies, snowbound horror movies, a few classics and a few not-so-classics that all have one thing in common — they have a few more chills than usual.

Jennifer reminisces about the late, lamented Vertigo Video, we once again sing the praises of Scarecrow Video, Michael talks Joe Hill’s Christmassy horror novel NOS4A2, and so much more.

Feel like giving us an early Christmas present? Take a minute to rate us on iTunes and help other horror fans find us!

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Wooo-hooo, look at us! We swore we would have a new episode ready in two weeks and by God we actually did it.

Inspired by our recent viewing of Crimson Peak, this time we’re taking a look at Horror Romances! Even though the course of true love never quite runs smooth in a horror movie — it’s hard to give someone your heart when they really do want your heart, and they’re willing to use their sharpest knives to get it — we’re cuddling up as close to this topic as we can get. Do join us, won’t you, dear?

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Horror movies with kid heroes. It’s a natural. How better to make an audience scared for your protagonist than to make him (or her) a young, vulnerable, innocent child? Throw in the “your parents will never believe you” trope, and you’re set for some real scares. This episode, we salute the best child protagonists the horror genre has to offer.

Join Michael and Jennifer as they dissect the casting and plot direction of Hannibal’s third season, play with an Angel puppet, talk about the Paul Stanley / Dee Snyder feud, and reveal the secret of how to get Jennifer’s daughter to watch a movie that might be slightly scary. Listen in amazement as Michael fucks up immediately! (We talked about People Under the Stairs during the Wes Craven episode, not the Stephen King episode. Obviously.)

We apologize once more, I’m afraid, for the sound quality of this episode. We forgot to set up the powered USB port for the microphone, and therefore that “robots gargling underwater” background echo is back. Yay. Also you can hear traffic outside and Jennifer’s cat meowing, although hopefully that last part is endearing. Anyway. We’ll try to set things up a little better next time.

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Bonus Video
Here’s a fan-made music video for the Scissor Sisters song Return to Oz that Michael mentioned:

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Bonus Tumblr Meme

For those who haven’t seen it, here’s the “Public Service Announcement” Michael mentions making on Tumblr, in a post that’s received over 25,000 notes so far:

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Hello, boys and ghouls, welcome back once again to another episode of Don’t Read the Latin! This time, after our in-depth two-part episode on the 80’s, we’re going to dive into a, well, slightly less-loved decade, but one that still has more than a few gems in it. Join us, won’t you? You’ll learn more about Jennifer’s seemingly random Hollywood crushes, the too-cool-for-film-school pretentiousness of The Addiction and The Prophecy, and which movie features Billy Zane at his Billy Zaniest!

Bonus YouTube Videos!
In our discussion of Stigmata (oh, Stigmata, you’re not a good movie, but we kind of like you anyway), Jennifer brings up a Chumbawumba song from the soundtrack that’s really kind of awesome. If you’ve only ever heard that “I get knocked down” drinking song of theirs, you really need to put this in your ear-holes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__YHRv5VuDI

Finally, here’s the channel introduction for Count Jackula, the horror review show that we mention:

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Oh my God, you guys, you guys — Halloween is coming!

Or at least, it was when we recorded this episode, but now it’s November 1st. A little anticlimactic, we realize.

This time out, we discuss those bloodsucking fiends, those children of the night, those stalwart standbys of the Halloween silver screen: vampires! From the good, the bad, to the ridiculous, we discuss all the vampires we have known and loved.

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