MonsterTalk

July 26, 2017

#132 – THE LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY AFTERLIFE OF H. P. LOVECRAFT

Author Scott Poole (previously with us for Vampira and Monsters in America) joins us to talk about his new biography on American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, In The Mountains of Madness: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of H.P. Lovecraft. What is it about the writing of this peculiar and complicated writer from New England that has cast such an oversized shadow over American […]

Regular Episode 25 sec read

July 12, 2017

#131 – NAMING MONSTERS

What’s in a name? More than you might imagine, if you’re a scientist trying to officially name a new species. In this episode of MonsterTalk, we talk to Ichthyologist Ben Frable about the process (and many challenges) of scientifically identifying and naming new species. Benjamin Frable is an Ichthyologist and is the Collection Manager of the Marine Vertebrate Collection at Scripps […]

Regular Episode 37 sec read

June 28, 2017

#130 – ENGLAND’S MOST HAUNTED VILLAGE

Is the little village of Pluckley truly the most haunted village in England? We interview skeptical ghost hunter Hayley Stevens (The Spooktater) about the curious little town more famous for its dead than its living. Pictured above is one of the many haunted buildings in Pluckley — St. Nicholas Church — said to be haunted by two ghosts of the […]

Regular Episode 52 sec read

June 21, 2017

#129 – MINIONS, MOBS & MYRMIDONS

From ancient Greece to modern movies, monsters and villains often get their assistance from mindless mobs of maleficent minions. Are they simply plot devices, or do minions tell us something about the real-world role of the follower when loyal obedience is valued more than heroic ethics? In this episode of Monstertalk, David Perlumtter and Cait Mongrain join us to discuss Minions, Mobs and Myrmidons. Related […]

Regular Episode 2 min read

May 17, 2017

#128 – SPOOKY GEOLOGY

(Above) Jill Greeley (played by Jane Asher) in the The Stone Tape, a 1972 BBC drama by Nigel Kneale. In the movie, Jill can hear sounds and see the apparition of a young woman who apparently had fallen to her death here in the past. Read more about this story. In this episode, MonsterTalk welcomes back notable skeptic, scientist, researcher and author (and now […]

Regular Episode 35 sec read

May 3, 2017

#127 – MONSTER TREK: The Obsessive Search for Bigfoot

In this episode of MonsterTalk Blake Smith interviews Joe Gisondi, author of Monster Trek: The Obsessive Search for Bigfoot. A journalism professor takes us on a first-hand tour of Bigfoot Hunter culture. Music Monstertalk Theme: Monster by Peach Stealing Monkeys

Regular Episode 11 sec read

April 12, 2017

#126 – THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST — PART 2

Part 2 of our look at the Enfield Poltergeist brings together interviews with Chris French (@ChrisCFrench), Joe Nickell (@RealJoeNickell) and Deborah Hyde (@jourdemayne). We look at why skeptics tend to be so reluctant to accept the existence of poltergeists. Related Links Skeptic’s Dictionary: Poltergeist Nickell on Enfield Anita Gregory Video: Janet & Margaret return to Enfield The Conjuring 2 The […]

Regular Episode 28 sec read

April 5, 2017

#125 – MAN’S BEST FIEND

In this episode of MonsterTalk, we are joined by folklorist and author Mark Norman to discuss legends of black hounds. Mark is the author of Black Dog Folklore as well as the host of The Folklore Podcast. This is a special cross-over episode with The Folklore Podcast and contains a slightly different edit of the interview audio. Discussion ranges from the legends of dark hounds in […]

Regular Episode 26 sec read

March 29, 2017

#124 – CRUSH, CRUMBLE AND CHOMP

This MonsterTalk is another special literary/pop-culture episode as we take on the biggest topic in monsters: Giant City-Destroying Kaiju! Guests are Ed Godziszewski author of Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa (Oct 2017) and Michael Keller, co-author (with Edward Holland) of the magazine Monster Attack Team and the upcoming podcast Area 42. Special thanks to Darren Naish. His piece on the biology of Godzilla is well […]

Regular Episode 35 sec read

March 8, 2017

#123 – THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST — PART 1

In this episode of MonsterTalk we present an interview with Guy Lyon Playfair, one of the original investigators into perhaps the most famous British poltergeist case in modern times. Author and researcher Guy Lyon Playfair was one of the two primary investigators into the alleged poltergeist activity in Enfield in the 1970s. His book This House is Haunted was the basis for multiple movies and television […]

Regular Episode 48 sec read