The Monster Pod - Christmas Horror Week

If you've been following me for the past couple months, you know that I've been watching nightly horror movies since the start of September (well, mostly nightly movies...on the nights that I didn't have time for a movie, I at least watched an episode or two of shows such as Goosebumps and Tales from the Crypt) with themed weeks all leading up to Halloween.  I love Halloween and had an absolute blast watching and discussing horror movies with friends, as well as going to two awesome horror film fests!!

As much as I absolutely love Halloween, I also really love Christmas (for different reasons).  So, with a love of Halloween and Christmas, and with having watched two solid months of horror, 60 Days of Halloween turned into 60+ Days of Halloween and I watched Christmas horror movies to transition from the Halloween season to the Christmas season.

There are some pretty terrible slasher movies out there that just put the killer in a Santa suit (or stories that just so happen to take place around Christmas) and call it a Christmas horror movie.  However, when a Christmas horror movie actually has Christmas as being a central aspect of the horror, I kinda love it!  I've loved every theme that I've done this year and have loved (almost) all of the movies that I've seen for the last two and half months.  But, to me, there is something special about Christmas horror movies.  Maybe it's because I love Christmas and a good Christmas horror movie combines the fun of Halloween with the heart of Christmas.  Maybe it's because I've always loved non-traditional Christmas movies (such as Die Hard and Jurassic World).  Or maybe it's because so many classic Christmas movies (such as Home Alone and A Christmas Carol) have elements of horror.

Whatever the reason, Christmas horror movies can be a LOT of fun when they are done right!  So, join me and Lucas for a special Holiday edition of The Monster Pod as we discuss the movies I watched for Christmas Horror Week (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Krampus, A Christmas Horror Story, Christmas episodes of The Twilight Zone, Santa's Slay, Gremlins, Silent Night Bloody Night, Black Christmas, Jack Frost, and Home Alone), as well as the overall theme of Christmas horror movies!



We hope that you enjoyed our special Holiday episode of The Monster Pod and that you keep coming back for more.
The Monster Pod - horroring it up since 2015!!

If you enjoy movies, horror movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to check back soon for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow Lucas on Instagram and follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

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The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Knoxville Horror Film Festival coverage

KHFF poster art by Adam Pernell Deal

A couple weeks ago, special guest William Mahaffey (Director of the Knoxville Horror Film Festival) joined me and Eric to talk about the Knoxville Horror Film Festival, Central Cinema, partnering with the Ijams Nature Center, and horror movies for IFC Midnight Week.  And as much as I have been loving all of the horror movies that I've been watching each week, I have been looking forward to the Knoxville Horror Film Festival ever since I was there last year!  It is such an awesome film festival filled with amazing horror movies, put together by people who very clearly know and love horror!  And this year's Knoxville Horror Film Festival certainly did NOT let us down!!

So, join me and Eric as we discuss our time at the Knoxville Horror Film Festival, the awesome movies we saw, and what it is that we think makes horror movies so enjoyable!!

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Next up will be my coverage of the Frightening Ass Film Festival!




If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Anthology Week (and Halloween Favorites Week)

After two solid months of horror and Halloween movies, my 60 Days of Halloween coverage is drawing to a close.  Having just finished up Anthology Week, the last week leading up to Halloween will be comprised of some of my favorite Halloween movies.  The movies for Halloween Favorites Week won't necessarily be the scariest, or even necessarily the best, horror movies...but they are movies that I just always love to watch around Halloween (even if I've already watched them several times throughout the year).

So, join me as I discuss Trick 'r Treat, Creepshow, Cat's Eye, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and Tales from the Darkside for Anthology Week...along with my plans for Halloween Favorites Week!!

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Next up will be my coverage of the Knoxville Horror Film Festival!



If you enjoy horror, movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Universal Monster Week

The Universal Monsters are unarguably iconic.  They have permeated cinema and pop culture ever since they first terrified audiences from the silver screen.  While horror movies have become much more graphic and special effects have become much more advanced, the tragic tales of the Universal Monsters continue to have a lasting impact on the horror genre...and no Halloween movie list would be complete without them!!

So, join me and artist Chris Goins (Black Sheep Studios, TN) as we talk at length about The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, The Wolfman, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Phantom of the Opera!!

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Next up will be Anthology Week!



If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: IFC Midnight Week

It's after midnight...do you know where your movies are???  They are on IFC Midnight, of course!!

If you know me even a little, you know how much I love indie cinema!!  I have so much respect and appreciation for filmmakers who pour their heart and soul into their art!!  Regardless of the quality of the movies themselves, I will always love indie cinema for the simple fact that someone pursued their passion and created something!  Thankfully, some of the best new horror movies that I have seen over the past couple years have been IFC Midnight films!!

This is an episode that I've been looking forward to for a few weeks.  In part because of the movies, but also because of special guest William Mahaffey (Director of Knoxville Horror Film Festival), who talks about Knoxville Horror Film Festival, Central Cinema, partnering with Ijams Nature Center, and horror movies...of course!

So, join me, Eric, and special guest William Mahaffey as we discuss The Axe Murders of Villisca (2016), Stung (2015), A Dark Song (2016), Almost Human (2013), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016), and The Devil's Candy (2015).

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Next up will be Universal Monster Week!



If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Documentary Week

If you’ve listened to just about any of my podcasts, you know that one of the things that I love most about movies is analyzing them, especially when it comes to horror movies.  Horror movies reveal so much about humanity that just isn’t found in most other movies.  What terrifies us?  How do we overcome diversity?  Who are we when things are at their worst?  What are the horrors of humanity?  What are the horrors within ourselves?  Is the supernatural real?  These are topics that might be addressed in other styles of movies, but I feel like the horror genre allows these ideas to be discussed more fully because horror movies push boundaries and push us past mere entertainment.  So, with my love of horror movies and studying the human condition, it should be no surprise that I especially love horror documentaries.  Whether they be historical (looking more at some of the technical aspects of how a movie was made), analytical (looking more at the “why” of a movie), or human interest (focusing on people rather than film)...horror documentaries fascinate me on so many levels.

So join me as I discuss Monster Madness:  The Golden Age of the Horror Film, the Scream Queens episode of 100 Year of Horror, Best Worst Movie, Birth of the Living Dead, Vampira and Me, Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue, and The American Scream for Documentary Week!!

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Next up will be IFC Midnight Week!



If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Medical Horror Week

Surgery.  Needles.  Scalpels.  Stitches.  Dental drills.  Chances are, seeing one of those words made you cringe a little.  But why?  Why does just reading a word related to medical procedures make so many people cringe?  From creating hideous monsters to reviving the dead, doctors have seemingly always been a staple of horror movies.  But what is more terrifying...the mad doctors of our imaginations, or going to the hospital for a very real medical procedure??

In this episode of my 60 Days of Halloween coverage, I'll be dissecting Cardiac Arrest (1980), Anatomy (2000), Dr. Giggles (1992), Pathology (2008), The Dentist (1996), and the first two episodes of Kingdom Hospital (2004) for Medical Horror Week!!

If you enjoy this episode,  check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Up next will be Documentary Week.



If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Non-Descript Week

What is it that scares you?  What is the thing that gets under your skin about horror movies?  What is the stuff of your nightmares?  The fear of the unknown is quite often worse than any monster...and in this episode of The Gargyle Podcast, I examine exactly that concept for Non-Descript Week!!

Recorded at the Cleveland Geekster, I discuss It (2017), The Thing (1982), The Stuff (1985), It's Alive (1974), and It Follows (2014) with J.R. Mounts (creator of Scairy Tales and Fried Pickle Noir - scairytalesnoir.com) and E.B. Tolbert (artist and illustrator - www.ebtolbert.com), and a few other friends who stop by for a chat.

My week of non-descript movies also included Them (2006), but it completely slipped my mind when I was discussing movies with J.R. and E.B.  Since I didn't include it in the podcast, here are a few of my thoughts... Great job building suspense!  The use of the dark and not being able to see too much of what is going on...the minimalistic music and sound effects...the close shots, preventing the audience from being able to see around corners...not seeing who/what the invaders are until the last few minutes of the movie...all of this helps to give the movie pretty consistent tension that, I think, really works!  With most movies, once the tension is broken by actual violence, the overall tone of the movie shifts and it doesn't quite regain the same initial suspense.  But, with Them, there is a good back and forth between action and suspense.  Once there is a reveal of who/what the invaders are, the movie is no longer scary.  But, in a way, once you start thinking about it, it instantly becomes terrifying.  I don't want to give away who/what they actually are...but this is definitely the kind of movie that could spark a lot of discussion!  There are certainly some flaws (a few too many "shaky cam" scenes, not quite as much character development as I would have liked to have seen, etc.), but overall I think that Them is a well-done movie with some very genuine fears.

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Up next will be Medical Horror Week.



If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound

The Gargyle Podcast - 60 Days of Halloween: Giant Monster Week

Even though it is only early September, I’m already gearing up for Halloween with (mostly) nightly horror and monster movies!!  In years past, I’ve tried watching a horror movie every night of October with the intention of posting a nightly review, but I was never able to have enough time to actually get those nightly reviews out. So, this year, I’m trying something a little bit different and hopefully something that is a little bit more manageable (even though I’m not exactly off to the best start).  Rather than trying to post a movie review every night just during the month of October, I’ll be doing 60 days of Halloween with weekly podcasts for September and October!  And to give the episodes some semblance of cohesion, I’ll be doing themed weeks.  So, to get things going with my Halloween movie season, I'm starting off with Giant Monster Week!!

If you enjoy this episode, check back soon for more Halloween movie coverage in my 60 Days of Halloween.  Up next will be Non-Descript week.





If you enjoy movies, conventions, comics, games, cartoons, Star Wars, horror, or just about anything geeky...be sure to keep coming back for all things geekery!!  In the meantime, follow me here, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes and/or Google Play for more geek coverage!

music for The Gargyle Podcast by Bensound