Quiet Little Horrors

We could not in good conscience call ourselves a psychological horror podcast if we did not, at some point, discuss Possession, and now it’s time. Infidelity, esponiage, losing one’s mind in a subway, sex with eldritch horrors. There’s a lot to discuss. Gird your loins.

This month we’re looking at some bloody coming of age tales, beginning with the 2022 Finnish film Hatching, which is half weirdly adorable creature feature and half what damage girls have do to deal with their inherited demons.

We continue our discussion of twisted sisters with this overlooked gem of 1970s psychological horror: The Mafu Cage, featuring Carol Kane and Lee Grant as a pair of codependent siblings who drag each other past the point of repair.

Content warning for implied animal harm (nothing graphic) and incest.

This month we’re taking on a couple of films about the relationships between twisted sisters, starting, appropriately enough, with Sisters, from Brian De Palma in 1972. We discuss women who cause trouble, women who aren’t believed, and women who might not be what they seem.

And we’re back! Apologies for the interruption in regular podcast programming. But we return with the second half of our discussion of modern Irish horror and a look at Kate Dolan’s 2021’s film You Are Not My Mother, which twists expectations of metaphorical folklore in fascinating ways.

Our first episode of March is a springboard into the quietly blossoming world of contemporary Irish horror film. We discuss the emerging genre, its deep roots in folklore, and two representative recent films: 2015’s The Hallow and 2022’s Mandrake.

We continue our Cronenberg discussion with one of his thorniest films, psychologically speaking: 1979’s The Brood. Thesis statement: emotions are real and powerful and if you don’t process them properly, murderous rage babies will result.

It’s David Cronenberg season here at QLH. We kick off a pair of episodes on his extensive, intensive, and twisted body of work (see what we did there) with 1986’s The Fly. We discuss the film’s connections to the original, disease metaphors, and the unbearable oddness of being Jeff Goldblum.

We continue this month’s parenthood theme with the 2021 horrific fairy tale Lamb, which turns out to be more than just a weirdly cute A24 marketing campaign. We discuss the dark side of wanting a child, the traditional martyrdom of mothers, and, once again, how fairy tales are actually kind of messed up.