It's Del Toro Time - A Guillermo del Toro-adjacent Podcast

WE’RE SO CLOSE TO THE END! It’s the penultimate “Dark Descent” story and it’s a whopper! “The Hospice” is quintessential Robert Aickman: it’s creepy, offbeat, weird, strange, chilling and inexplicable. We really loved it and now… only one story to go!

What a mystery this story is! Willow isn’t sure if she likes it, or if it even qualifies as horror. I’m enamored of it, but can’t really decide what it’s about! PERFECT! It’s “The Asian Shore” by Thomas M. Disch!

This week, it’s one of the most terrifying and terribly intimate stories we’ve yet covered. The cosmic horror of “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood!

This week, Willow and I take a look at the creepy effects of UNFETTERED CAPITALISM with Edith Wharton’s “Afterward!”

Whaddaya get when you take a dead guy, an invisible monster and a heaping dose of post-Civil War Traumatic Stress Disorder? “The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Bierce! The missingest author in the history of Weird Fiction!

This week, Willow and Phil take a quick look at a quick story: “The Beautiful Stranger” by Shirley Jackson. We throw out a lot of theories as to the actual nature of this story, but the one thing we can agree on? That stranger is beautiful.

Sometimes, you don’t even need to ask. “What Was It?” by Fitz-James O’Brien!

Boy oh boy are we ever getting tired of sad men dying for their ghosts. It’s “The Beckoning Fair One” by Oliver Onions! A good story, but jeez, guys. See a therapist or something.

We’ve got a big one this week! It’s “The Repairer of Reputations” by Robert W. Chambers and Willow goes OFF. If you’re looking for her sources, here they are! de Oliveira, Hugo Mendes. “An Empire of Delusion: The Process of Alienation as Expressed by Robert W. Chambers’ ‘The Repairer of Reputations.’” Thesis, Proquest Dissertations Publishing, … Continue reading "The Dark Descent – “The Repairer of Reputations” by Robert W. Chambers"

This week, we’re heading off to jolly ol’ Russia for a bit of nineteenth century whimsey titled “Clara Militch” or “Klara Milich” or any number of permutations. It’s by Ivan Turgenev and it’s a real cracker! By which I mean, we were utterly confused by it.

It’s another headscratcher! “Seaton’s Aunt” by Walter de la Mare might not be the scariest story we’ve ever read, but it sure does make me feel sad!

Yes, I sing Hall and Oates at one point. It’s “Night-Side” by Joyce Carol Oates!

We’re back in Lovecraft Country, this week! It’s Stephen King’s “Crouch End” and it’s a modern CLASSIC!

When is a ghost not a ghost? When it’s a SIGNAL-MAN! It’s “The Signal-Man” by Charles Discken and Willow has NOTES on the story! NOTES!

“Seven American Nights” is phenomenal and Gene Wolfe is brilliant. That’s all.

“Sssssssssmokin’!” Oh, somebody stop me. This week, we begin a new chunk of “The Dark Descent” as we wend our way into “A Fabulous Formless Darkness” by way of the game-changing short story “Smoke Ghost” by Fritz Leiber. Does it live up to the hype? Yes. Yes, it does.

Oh, Henry James. Why must you be so obtuse? This week, it’s a return to the creeps and the spooks as we take a step inside “The Jolly Corner!” Any good? Well, Willow had no idea what was going on!

This week, it’s a story that really left a wild impression on us. Is it supernatural? Natural? A little bit of both? Who knows! It’s “Mackintosh Willy” by Ramsey Campbell!

This week, it’s a story that is remarkably similar in many ways to last weeks. So, we both loved it, of course! Right? RIGHT?! *sigh* It’s “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor.

This week, it’s our first Tanith Lee story and, maybe not coincidentally, one of our favorites. Is it horror? Who cares? It’s awesome! It’s “Three Days” here on The Dark Descent!

D. H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” is no liar. It’s got a rocking horse. It’s got a winner. It’s all there on the tin!

Are you ready for some heady noir? This week’s “You Can Go Now” by Dennis Etchison is weird and trippy and short and delightful! It’s a real headscratcher, I tells ya!

Man, we’re really bad at doing a podcast. Anyways, we’re back again with “Time Bandits!” It’s a children’s movie made by a terrible man who thinks he’s the best filmmaker and storyteller in the world. Is he? No. He’s pretty good at it though. “Time Bandits!”

It’s a Twittersode! Willow can’t be here, so I’m talking real quick-like about “The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue!” Or “Let Sleeping Corpses Lie!” Or “Breakfast At Manchester Morgue?” Or “Don’t Open The… Window?” Really? Huh.

Willow and I are back with more Dark Descent. This week, it’s “My Dear Emily” by Joanna Russ. It’s a vampire story, with a twist! The twist? Um… it’s good?

If there’s one person we love talking about at The Dark Descent, it’s Dick Math! Dickie the Math Man! Richard “Richie Rich” Matheson! Yes, this week we take a look at Dickie’s first ever published story “Born of Man and Woman!” And, it’s an icky one!

When is a ghost not a ghost? When it’s your repressed homosexuality! It’s Robert Hichens’s “How Love Came To Professor Guildea” on The Dark Descent!

In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” Emily doesn’t get a rose. How about that? It’s The Dark Descent and we’re back!

A woman really hates that wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper!” It’s yellow, alright!

This week, Willow and Phil schalk the schalk with J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Schalken the Painter!” It’s based on a real guy, but it’s not! It’s pretty sexy but also gross! It’s a rip roaring good time and also about the societal helplessness of women in the face of suffocating patriarchy. “Schalken the Painter!”

This week, THE CAT HAS A RACIST NAME. And, YES, we discuss it! Also, Lovecraft’s impossibly wild interpretation of Roman mythology and, look, it’s actually a pretty good story about a grieving father. It’s “The Rats In The Walls!”

This week, it’s all about Christmastime, Mega-Malls and Stone Babies, baby! It’s “Within the Walls of Tyre” by Michael Bishop and it’s MESSED UP.

You better watch out! Baby who’s that? It’s Phil and Willow back with “The Monkey” by Stephen King! And, all we really need to say is that this is the best King character and he needs to come back, please. Thanks.

Willow and I return to the world of Poe with “The Fall of the House of Usher!” It’s nice to be back on firm ground with a classic story and talk all about Poe and his 13 year old bride. No, really, it’s fun.

Willow thinks I’m nuts for ever having liked this mess. It’s “Dread” by Clive Barker!

If you like non-verbal developmentally disabled men with borderline personality disorder performing inprov surgery on unconscious women, have we got a story for you! It’s “Bright Segment” by Theodore Sturgeon and it’s ICKY!

Are you scared of roaches? Hope not! Because we’re talking about Thomas M. Disch’s “The Roaches” from “The Dark Descent” and it’s got ROACHES!

We’re diving back into “The Dark Descent” because watching movies has PROVED DIFFICULT! And, what a story to dive into! It’s Robert Aickman’s “The Swords” and it’s about… sex? Stabbing? Thrusting? It’s fairly explicit and fairly grimy and we talk about it for a WHILE. Enjoy!

What do you get when Guillermo del Toro decides to make “Pinocchio?” “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio!” It’s an aggressively Guillermo del Toro movie and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

You like birds? You like murmuring? You like GRIEF? Well, we do! We close out Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities with the phenomenal “The Murmuring” by the incredible Jennifer Kent! Then, we rank the eps! It’s fun!

When the director of “Mandy” throws a bunch of comic actors and Robocop in a room together and makes them do Space Cocaine, the result is “The Viewing!” Also, Gremlin Water Hatchers; they grow!

We were having such a great run of episodes, it was inevitable we’d hit a dud. “Dreams in the Witch House” takes Lovecraft’s original story, removes the plot, keeps a few names, a rat with a face and calls it a day. It wouldn’t be bad if it wasn’t so… bad. Sorry. https://ia904702.us.archive.org/14/items/20221110_20221110_2010/DelToro-Cabinet06.mp3

Whaddaya get when you take one of H. P. Lovecraft’s most famous short stories and streeeeeetch it out? You get the Cabinet of Curiosities adaptation of “Pickman’s Model!” Is it very much like the story? Errrr… Is it entertaining? Heck yes!

In “The Outside,” director Ana Lily Amirpour takes a webcomic by Emily Carroll and turns it into something else. Something full of body horror, comedy, self-loathing, and axe murder! It’s “The Outside!”

Way back in our “The Dark Descent” days, we covered Michael Shea’s phenomenal short story “The Autopsy.” Now, we’re getting to revisit it with the “Cabinet of Curiosities” adaptation by David S Goyer and David Prior! And, you know what? It’s really great!

Episode 2 of “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” is a lively adaptation of Henry Kuttner’s “Graveyard Rats” a favorite of mine. We’ve got goopy corpses, rat monsters, boney bois. It’s a whole thing and we enjoyed it! Take a listen!

Welcome to the beginning of our coverage of “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.” We start off with a fairly straightforward, but creepy, little tale of greed and payback with “Lot 36.”

When Martin Scorsese made “Goodfellas” did he know it was going to change filmmaking forever? Probably. It’s “Goodfellas!”

He’s dark! He’s a man! He’s Darkman! In 1990, Sam Raimi took a chance on creating an original superhero(?) monster(??) thing(???) for the modern age, and he totally succeeded! It’s “Darkman!” Also, I’m very sick, so I sound like garbage! “Darkman!”

Hey let’s go… talk about “My Neighbor Totoro!” Honestly, what can you say about a nearly perfect film? It is what it is. It’s “My Neighbor Totoro!”

Are you ready to get GLOOPY? It’s the gloopiest film yet: 1986’s “The Fly” by David Cronenberg! I just love this sweet short film and Willow… has her thoughts about it. It’s Canadian! It’s gross! It’s gross and Canadian! It’s “The Fly!”

Some movies are just a joy to watch and “Castle in the Sky” is one of those movies. Ghibli’s first film, it has all of the hallmarks of Miyazaki’s work to come: pirates, airships, environmental stuff, robits. It’s all there. And, it’s just a dang delight.

In which Willow and Phil disagree slightly on the merits of this episode’s movie, but do agree that we have no idea what the Rules of Engagement even mean. It’s 1986’s “Top Gun!”

It’s here! Our look at Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil!” It made Willow hide under the blanket!

Da doo Ran Ran! It’s Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran” and it kicks BUTT! We really liked this one, so it’s a bit of a love fest. Can you blame us? “Ran!”

It’s Morbin’ Time! So, Willow watched “Morbius” and wanted to talk about it. I’m sorry. We’ll be back next time with “Ran” I swear to God.

You know what’s a weird movie? “The Thing!” You know what’s a perfect movie? “The Thing!” This week we’re looking at a favorite film of both of ours, John Carpenter’s “The Thing!” What more is there to say? It’s Thing-tastic!

All spheres are rock albums but not all rock albums are spheres. If that makes sense to you, welcome to our discussion of Alan Parker’s Roger Waters’s “Pink Floyd: The Wall!” the movie of the stage show of the album of the trauma!

HOO BOY! We’re back with a MODREN FILM, and it’s a doozy. The del Toro-produced, Scott Cooper-directed Native American(?) inspired(???) adaptation(!?!?!) of Nick Antosca’s short story(???!??!?!) that throws in a bunch of alcoholism, child abuse, Indigenous lore, and disjointed plotting that all adds up to a whole bunch of, well, BAD WORDS. It’s “Antlers!”

We did it. We watched all of “Fanny and Alexander.” And here’s the proof!

IT’S STILL A COMEDY! This week, we cover “Fanny and Alexander” episode 3 and THINGS. GET. GRIM. But, things also start moving towards a climax as The Bishop shows his true colors, Grandma sees a ghost, Maj breaks down in tears, Carl falls on his face, Gustav throws a tantrum, and Alexander gets the crap … Continue reading "098 – Fanny and Alexander, Episode 3 (1982)"

It’s Episode 2 of our “Fanny and Alexander” coverage and the plot finally kicks in! Shakespeare! Death! Ghosts! Candles on the head! Evil Bishops! SCREAMING! It’s still a COMEDY! What’s not to love?!

Hello! This week, we are kicking off our coverage of the 1982 miniseries “Fanny and Alexander” with Episode One! It’s a Christmas bash and everyone is having a good time. Until they aren’t. Who are all these people? Which girl is Fanny? Why so much farting? Is this house in danger of bursting into flames? … Continue reading "096 – Fanny and Alexander, Episode 1 (1982)"

Willow is not here, so I’m all alone. And I’m talking about Nick Antosca’s brilliant short story “The Quiet Boy” which you can read right here! It’s an amazing piece of horror fiction that really affected me a lot when I first rad it and continues to really hit me in the ol’ man heart. … Continue reading "Bonus – Update and “The Quiet Boy” by Nick Antosca"

Let’s talk about “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark!” It’s not scary! It’s got too much story! Willow loved it! I didn’t! That’s called “The Generation Gap.” It’s 2019’s “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark!”

We’re back! And I have COVID! And it’s “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior!” It’s about a crapsack world and a crapsack guy and a pretty cool dog. “Mad Max 2!”

We did it! We watched Guillermo del Toro’s latest major motion picture “Nightmare Alley” and here’s our reaction! Like, not a real-time reaction, but our later reaction. At home.

This week, Willow and I discuss 1947’s amazing “Nightmare Alley!” We talk about how it compares to the novel, how the performances hold up and what we’d have done differently. You know, because we know so much about making movies? Next week: “Nightmare Alley!”

Let’s finish up “Nightmare Alley” in a GOOD MOOD shall we? We talk about Stanton’s rise and fall; doing evil vs. being evil; and whether or not Willow could make money in a side show. NEXT TIME: The Movie! Music:Walking Along by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/ Promoted by MrSnooze https://youtu.be/iYOvAO1rAM0 License: CC BY 3.0 https://goo.gl/Yibru5

This week, Willow and I begin our look at William Lindsay Gresham’s “Nightmare Alley!” We’re looking at the first eleven “cards” in the book and talking about just how screwed up this whole thing is. Music: Walking Along by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/ Promoted by MrSnooze https://youtu.be/iYOvAO1rAM0 License: CC BY 3.0 https://goo.gl/Yibru5

Here’s what’s coming up!

Welp! We sure watched “Possession!” You all owe Willow $100!

It’s so much fun to discover a new favorite horror movie and Willow and I did that very thing with Gary Sherman’s 1981 film “Dead and Buried.” It’s such a great time, the performances are outstanding, the behind the scenes stuff is fun and heartbreaking and the effects work BLEW MY MIND. Check it out!

In this special “Host’s Request” episode, we’re covering “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” an early horror story by Joyce Carol Oates. Because Willow wanted to and I respect that! If you want to read the story yourself, it’s available for free at Celestial Timepiece along with essays and commentary!

Well, look who’s back! It’s Phil and Willow and we’re talking about 1980’s “The Shining!” It’s a Kubrick film about a man and a hotel and… you know what? You know what “The Shining” is, okay? There’s no way you don’t know what “The Shining” is. Let’s talk about cluster flies instead.

What IS this movie?! It’s William Peter Blatty’s directorial debut “The Ninth Configuration” and it’s a DOOZY. Did we enjoy it? Ehhhhhhhh. Did it make an impact? It sure did! Do we recommend it? Well, why don’t you give us a listen and find out!

When is the scariest movie of all time NOT the scariest movie of all time? When it’s the still VERY GOOD “The Changeling” from 1980! This week, Willow and I talk about Cheesman Park, boys in wells and, most importantly, CONES! GHOST CONES! It’s all about the CONES, baby!

It’s our most positive episode EVER as Willow and I celebrate ALIEN by talking about EVERYTHING ALIEN! The good, the bad and the awesome! It’s an Alien Celebration, everyone!

When is a movie sequel NOT a movie sequel? When it’s “Zombi 2!” Lucio Fulci begins his career of gross-out horror with this nutso take on the zombie genre. Call it a gross out; call it demented; just don’t call it a sequel to “Dawn of the Dead.” It’s Zombie! Or, Zombi 2!

Let’s get weird! It’s returning champ Dario Argento’s 1977 masterpiece “Suspiria” starring returning champs Jessica Harper, Rudolf Schündler, Alida Valli, Jacopo Mariani, and Fulvio Mingozzi! Trust me, we’ve seen ’em. “Suspiria!”

We’re BACK with a look a the classic kick-in-the-nuts kids movie The Omen! It’s all for who? You you you!

We’re back to Spain with “Cria Cuervos” the final(?) movie in our “Let’s explore the trauma of Fascism through the eyes of a child” series. Willow and I talk about death, guinea pigs, death, Franco, death and death and still have some time left over to contemplate the nature of death. But, honestly, this whole … Continue reading "081 – Cria Cuervos (1976)"

I mean, we talk about “Jaws?” We talk about “Jaws.”

It’s Giallo Time! This episode, Willow and Phil talk about Dario Argento’s classic “Profondo Rosso” or “Deep Red” or “The Hatchet Murders(?)!” And remember, hot water can scald in wess dan twee seconds!

We finally did it! We finally saw Victor Erice’s “The Spirit of the Beehive” and talked about it! And it’s just wonderful. Just wonderful.

This week, Willow and I head off to Appalachia to sing a song with Silver John in Manly Wade Wellman’s “Vandy Vandy.” Do we spot Popeye? Find out!

This week, Willow and I talk about Damons and Demons and little kids who may or may not be ghosts! It’s “If Damon Comes” by Charles L. Grant.

Hoo boy. Willow and I are back with a doozy. It’s the very famous “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” by the very famous Robert Bloch and it’s… not great? It’s not very good, y’all! It’s actually pretty bad! But, we do get to talk about Jack the Ripper a lot! Like, a lot a lot.

Well, look who’s back. It’s Phil and Willow! And in this episode we’re talking about Fritz Leiber and “Belsen Express!”

This week, Willow and Phil are barely keeping it together, but they talk about Robert Aickman’s weird weird story “Larger Than Oneself!” Let’s all merge into a glowing ball of light, okay? Anything is better than whatever’s going on here.

This week, Willow and I get all up in the sticks! Karl Edward Wagner’s “Sticks” that is! These sticks and stone won’t break your bones, but they will get your head caved in by a frying pan! Enjoy!

BOO! Don’t worry, I’m not a ghost. Or, am I? This week, Willow and I are talkin’ ghosts with Edith Nesbit’s “John Charrington’s Wedding!” It’s short, but spooky!

This week, Willow and I actually talk about the story! It’s “The Autopsy” by the inimitable Michael Shea. Also, what’s a bomb?

This week, Willow and I touch on a work by the master of speculative fiction: “The Crowd” by Ray Bradbury! And, by “touch on” I mean “kinda talk about a little.” Mostly, we discuss “Screwballs 2: Loose Screws!” Or, I discuss it and Willow sighs a lot.

Better late than never! Willow and I discuss J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Mr. Justice Harbottle!”

Things are running late this week, so here’s a minisode where I babble incoherently about “An Account Of Some Strange Disturbances In Aungier Street!”

Let’s get literary! This week, we’re taking a look at Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” Is it horror? Is it really even a story? Your guess is as good as ours!

This week, Willow and I get angry at a story that really really should have thought harder about what it was trying to say. It’s “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” by Harlan Ellison!