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Plugging for "Quiet Little Horrors"

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I wanted to put a plug in for a podcast that’s produced by my former colleague, Jen Meyers, along with her co-host Jessi Chartier: Quiet Little Horrors. It’s a podcast devoted to “unsettling” horror of the psychological variety. Their takes on some landmark (and niche) horror has really made me rethink some movies I’ve seen and get interested in some I haven’t. They’ve just started season three, so now’s a perfect time to subscribe or to catch up.and of the slow-to-uptake-but-now-whoa-Nelly medium of podcasting: they’re maintained by amateurs for niche audiences.

Some of my favorite episodes are the following, of which I’ll cite an archival, a recent, and hot-off-the presses episode:

One of the things I like most about this podcasts is what I liked most about the promise of the original web (cira 1995), it’s made with the zeal and care of amateurs. And by no means is the show amateurish, I rather mean that the show, like the word amateur itself, has the root of “to love” (ama) at its heart. The hosts bring a warmth and genuine affection for the topics that make the short episodes fun, intimate, and energetic.

I’d also like to point out that as two women, they’re providing, for me, completely unseen textures in the genre of horror. Was the woman in this story feeling an additional texture that male watchers of the film might not have picked up on? Their coverage of The Witch in their inaugural episode is full of this.

Is the monster the witch, the goat, or Dad?

Is the monster the witch, the goat, or Dad?

Additionally, their consideration of “Repulsion” had the staggering observation that it more accurately (despite being more fantastical) presents Jen’s perceptions of “the perils of being-in-the-world as a woman” versus “Last Night in Soho,” a film that purported to present such.

Repulsion also stars Catherine Deneuve, one of the most-subtle and capable actors ever

Repulsion also stars Catherine Deneuve, one of the most-subtle and capable actors ever

Those two episodes taken together were very thought-provoking reconsideration of what men think the horrors of being a woman are versus what women think the horrors of being a woman are. That was a very cool conversation to hear.

In short, I really enjoy what they’re doing and I think you might as well.