Episode 10: Strangely Beautiful - A Nice Book for Nice People?
Release Date: 05/22/2017
Episode 86: The Unworthy - Is it Nunsploitation?
Bad Books for Bad People
Agustina Bazterrica’s 2023 novel explores the relationship of its unnamed narrator with the repressive post-apocalyptic cult in which she finds herself. Jack and Kate embark on a harrowing journey through broken relationships and authoritarian control and dare to ask the most important question of all: can it be considered nunsploitation? What does it mean to crave feel-bad stories? Where did nunsploitation come from? And why does everything have to be “elevated,” anyway? All these topics and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. Find us at , on Twitter , Instagram , on...
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Episode 85: Smoke City - Everybody’s Got Their Own Apocalypse
Bad Books for Bad People
Keith Rosson’s 2019 novel is a supernatural character study that somehow makes the road trip adventure shared by a loose-cannon pop artist, a reluctant immortal, and a would-be ghost hunter into something much more poignant that one might expect. Jack and Kate hitch a ride with this motley crew and learn whether or not the real treasure is, in fact, the friends we make along the way. Why does absolutely everyone in LA have a doorman? What is it that makes a dive bar truly magical? Is it ever wise to start a fight with a headbutt? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode...
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Episode 84: The Cherry Pit and The Bargain
Bad Books for Bad People
It’s time for Jack and Kate to explore their vintage paperback piles and trade tales from the yellowed pages of the past. Jack wades through the sweltering psychosexual Southern Gothickry of Donald Harington’s 1965 sex comedy (?) while Kate learns what happens when Hitler faces off with Dracula in Jon Ruddy’s 1990 shock-horror masterpiece (?) . Will we encounter the worst Van Helsings of all time? Why don’t the cool madams in exploitation novels get their own books? What are “big dinners” and how often will “big dinners” be referenced? All these questions and more will be...
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Episode 83: Rogue Moon - Sweaty Sci-Fi
Bad Books for Bad People
Algis Budrys’s 1960 novel is a masterpiece of Sweaty Sci-Fi, a freshly-patented subgenre that will be revealed during the course of this episode. Jack and Kate take a trip to the dark side of the moon to ponder the meaning of life, love, the universe, and manly perspiration. What happens when you get some Jim Thompson in your moon mystery? Are women more dangerous than a murderous labyrinth on the moon? And what, exactly, characterizes a work of Sweaty Sci-Fi? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People. Find us at , on Twitter , Instagram , on...
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Episode 82: Best of 2024
Bad Books for Bad People
It's March, which can only mean one thing! We're really late with this episode. Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2024 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind, regardless of when it was actually produced. A little bit new, a little bit old, and a whole lot of weirdness is in store! Join your hosts for a discussion that ranges from wicked governesses to the relative merits of Italian heavy metal to...
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Episode 81: Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? - Wait'll We Tell You
Bad Books for Bad People
is a 2021 graphic novel that pairs historical true crime author Harold Schechter and Eric Powell, writer and illustrator of the monster punch-up comic The Goon. Jack and Kate revisit the horrifying true tale of the Butcher of Plainfield–this time, in comic book style. What impact did this case have on pop culture, and why does it continue to fascinate us? How were the ‘90s a different country, and why did that country smell like grunge? Is the true crime genre Horrible Exploitation or Cool Exploitation? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. BBfBP...
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Episode 80: Hoodtown - Heels, Homicide, and Horny Times
Bad Books for Bad People
Christa Faust’s 2004 novel takes the reader to an alternate universe Los Angeles, where crime drama is brewing in an underground culture populated by masked wrestlers. Skulls will be cracked and butts will be fingered when Jack and Kate get in the ring with this pile-driving mix of murder mystery, romance, and action. Why is it important to be nice to your local exotico? Does everyone from New Jersey have a gym membership? Is an especially skanky carpet the ultimate heel? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. BBfBP theme song by True Creature. ...
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Episode 79: The Shadow on the Glass - Lovecraftiana Meets Victoriana (and Gets Cheeky)
Bad Books for Bad People
Outside of your hosts’ beloved Warhammer 40k novels, can tie-in game fiction be good? Jack and Kate aim to find out by discussing , a 2024 novel that pairs podcast-favorite author Jonathan L. Howard with the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Where are all of London’s fanciest spiritualists and psychics disappearing to? Can an A-team still be an A-team if the “a” stands for accountants and academics? Is there a bit of rugose cone inside all of us, really? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. BBfBP theme song by True Creature. Find us at ,...
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Episode 78: Sudden Death - The Most Dangerous Game Is Tennis
Bad Books for Bad People
Sex. Sacrilege. Murder. Tennis. This podcast is all about three out of those four things. , a 1978 novel by Peter Brennan (creator of TV shows Judge Judy and A Current Affair), marks the first time Jack and Kate are venturing into the world of sports thriller fiction. Buckle up, because underneath those tennis whites there’s a seething underbelly of drama and corruption. What could go wrong with a little nun-flavored sex work? Why does every character in this book have the most outrageous backstory ever? Will Jack and Kate learn anything about the sport central to this book? All these...
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Episode 77: The Old House of Fear - Gothic Thrills for the Conservative Mind
Bad Books for Bad People
Russell Kirk is best known for his influential work of post-war political philosophy, The Conservative Mind. But his best-selling work–by far–was a 1961 gothic thriller . Jack and Kate wander through the mysterious isolated islands of Scotland on a hunt for Commie rabble-rousers, damsels in distress, and shaky real estate investments. Does getting shot during the Spanish civil war give you psychic powers? Are Teddy Boys really that dangerous? Do Maltese people talk like that? What even are women? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People....
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Author Leanna Renee Hieber has created an alternative Victorian London that merges ghost-hunting, Jack the Ripper, capital-R Romantic love, and a healthy dose of post-Harry-Potter magic in her novel Strangely Beautiful. Originally published as two books in 2009 and 2010, Hieber's story features a beautiful, innocent young woman raised in a convent and dropped into a supernatural battle that will change the course of her life. The author describes this book as "Victorian Ghostbusters" and seeks to create a new brand of Gothic with a modern sensibility within its pages.
How will Jack and Kate react to this fanciful new spin on tried-and-true suspense tropes? Why does Kate loathe the male lead more than any other character from any other book they've read so far? When does a wish-fulfillment fantasy for a teenager become a horror story for a middle aged person? And how do Jesus, Snape, and Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS figure into all of this? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.