318: Metafiction and Horror, with Eleanor Hingley
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re discussing metafiction and horror. More importantly, we’re getting the title of the episode in the first paragraph for SEO purposes. Main Topic: Metafiction and Horror Metafiction turns up in every genre from literary fiction to SF, breaking fourth walls, playing with storytelling conventions, and embedding fictional narratives within fictional narratives. Our focus here, however, is on the connection between metafiction and horror, whether this is self-aware slasher films or horror novelists who write about horror novelists. We look at various definitions of...
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317: Small Town Horror, with Eleanor Hingley
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re keeping to ourselves. You really can’t be too careful. The outside world is full of dangerous ideas and strange people. Some of them don’t even play Call of Cthulhu. Sure, they might find our ways odd too, especially if they hear the singing in our early episodes. Still, the real small town horror is always other people. Main Topic: Small Town Horror This is a local episode for local people. We explore small town settings and why they work so well for horror. Isolated, insular communities are a mainstay of horror, usually populated by sinister locals who shun...
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316: Art and the Cthulhu Mythos, with Kailas Elmer
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re pushing boundaries. Good taste has never come easily to us, but it’s downright impossible when talking about art that might inspire Call of Cthulhu games. From performance artists who mutilate themselves in inventive ways to photographers who raid the local morgue looking for models, it’s hard for horror writers like us to make this stuff any nastier. But still we try. Main Topic: Art and the Cthulhu Mythos This episode is the conclusion of our two-part look into the relationship between Lovecraft and art. , we looked at the artistic influences that...
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315: Lovecraft and Art, with Kailas Elmer
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re mulling over bas-reliefs again. Once you start looking into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, the damn things are everywhere. We would say that there’s no relief from them, but that would be beneath us. Main Topic: Lovecraft and Art This episode is the first of a two-part look into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, and how this shaped the Cthulhu Mythos and Call of Cthulhu. Next episode, we’ll be flipping things around and looking for inspiration from the world of art, but here we’re examining the influence it had on Lovecraft’s life...
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314: Analogue Horror, with Holly Buteau
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re twiddling the tracking knob. It’s supposed to help clear up the image on this old videocassette, but maybe that’s just missing the point. The static can be the most interesting part, filled with whispers, ghosts, and ancient secrets. Compared to such wonders, the film itself is a bit disappointing. Then again, analogue horror seems to be more of a vibe than a form of storytelling, so maybe we should just let the white noise wash over us. Main Topic: Analogue Horror This episode sees us explore analogue horror, trying to work out what exactly it is and how to bring...
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313: Horror in Space, with Holly Buteau
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re and we’re answering the call of the void. Really, it’s about the scariest call you can receive, regardless of what Cthulhu may tell you. The yawning darkness of infinity shouldn’t be as tempting as it is. For all our talk about horror in space, maybe the real horror was inside us the whole time. Main Topic: Horror in Space This episode heads into the cold and the dark, exploring just what it is that makes space so scary. We talk about some of the real challenges and dangers posed by space travel and how they can amplify horror, then move on to inspirational...
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312: Comedy Horror, with Evan Dorkin
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our ponchos. They look a bit silly, but that works for us here. The important thing is that they’ll keep some of the gore off our clothes. Comedy horror can be a messy business, especially once you bring gardening equipment into play. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, so we’ll probably just scream. Main Topic: Comedy Horror This episode sees us delve into the bloody world of comedy horror, trying to pin down what makes the two genres work so well together, looking at some examples from media, and trying to work out how to perform...
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311: RPGs and Fiction, with Evan Dorkin
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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310: Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Cuppycup
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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309: Theme Parks and Horror, with Cuppycup
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re learning about protein spills. What sounded like an innocent sexual innuendo has turned out to be more scatological than any of us would have liked. The unpleasant realities of theme parks are well hidden behind twee language and cute costumes. Happily, once we strip them away, we can find some good horror inspiration. Although we do wish it all smelled a bit better. Main Topic: Theme Parks and Horror This episode, we visit the topic of theme parks, amusement parks, funfairs and the like, looking for Call of Cthulhu inspiration. As with so many things rooted...
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We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our ponchos. They look a bit silly, but that works for us here. The important thing is that they’ll keep some of the gore off our clothes. Comedy horror can be a messy business, especially once you bring gardening equipment into play. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, so we’ll probably just scream.
Main Topic: Comedy Horror
This episode sees us delve into the bloody world of comedy horror, trying to pin down what makes the two genres work so well together, looking at some examples from media, and trying to work out how to perform such alchemy ourselves. We take some serious digressions into why so many comedians turn to horror, what fun can be found in terrible films, and whether horror parodies are a form of comedy horror. As you might imagine from such a wide-ranging discussion, our chat went long. Patreon backers listening to the uncut version will find over an hour of extra material there.
Our Guest Host
We are delighted to welcome Evan Dorkin back to the Good Friends of Jackson Elias! Evan is a multi-award-winning comics writer and artist, known for creations like Beasts of Burden, Blackwood, Milk and Cheese, Dork, Calla Cthulhu, and The Eltingville Club. With his wife, Sarah Dyer, Evan has also worked on TV programmes such as Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Yo Gabba Gabba!
Along with Paul Yellovich, Evan is co-host of the excellent horror movie podcast, Tear Them Apart. And if you have any interest in the history of comics or learning how they are made, you should definitely check out Evan’s Patreon, where he posts regular tales from the industry alongside all manner of cool pieces of work.
You can also hear Evan in our earlier discussion about the relationship between RPGs and fiction.
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- Comedy in RPGs
- The Ghost Breakers (1940)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- Thomas Nast
- Herblock
- Black Christmas (1974)
- Bob Clark
- Troma
- Seinfeld
- Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2010)
- Stuart Gordon
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
- Jam
- Tod Slaughter
- Sweeney Todd
- The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936)
- Dead of Night (1945)
- Tales From the Crypt (1972)
- Torture Garden (1967)
- Dr Terror’s House of Horror (1965)
- The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
- Man Bites Dog (1992)
- Trollhunter (2010)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- Blue Velvet (1986)
- Wild At Heart (1990)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Return of the Living Dead (1985)
- Braindead/Dead Alive (1992)
- Bad Taste (1987)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- Juan of the Dead (2010)
- One Cut of the Dead (2017)
- Natural Born Killers (1994)
- What a Dummy
- Body horror
- A Serbian Film (2010)
- The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
- The People Under the Stairs (1991)
- The Evil Dead (1981)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Re-Animator (1985)
- Hell of the Living Dead (1980)
- Dr Butcher MD/Zombie Holocaust (1980)
- Pieces (1982)
- Robot Monster
- The Creeping Terror (1964)
- Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
- The Killer Shrews (1959)
- Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009)
- Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
- The Room (2003)
- The Asylum
- Hatchet (2006)
- Grindhouse
- John Sayles
- Alligator (1980)
- Piranha (1978)
- The Howling (1981)
- Piranha 3D (2010)
- Mars Attacks trading cards
- Piranha 3DD (2012)
- Drag Me to Hell (2009)
- Winterbeast (1992)
- Nightbeast (1982)
- The Alien Factor (1978)
- Equinox (1970)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- The Old Dark House (1932)
- The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
- The Invisible Woman (1940)
- High Spirits (1988)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Lifeforce (1985)
- The Blob (1988)
- Psycho (1960)
- EC Comics
- Tales From the Crypt
- Inner Sanctum Mystery
- Creepshow (1982)
- Creepshow
- “Told After Supper” by Jerome K Jerome
- AM Burrage
- “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by MR James
- Robert Bloch
- The Monster Club (1981)
- The Monster Club by R Chetwynd-Hayes
- Valancourt Books
- Looking For Something to Suck by R Chetwynd-Hayes
- Renfield (2023)
- Cocaine Bear (2023)
- Ghost Shark (2013)
- “Cocaine Owlbear”
- Savage Worlds
- Lair of the White Worm (1988)
- The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
- The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker
- Inside No. 9
- Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
- What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
- What We Do in the Shadows
- The League of Gentlemen
- “The Devil of Christmas” from Inside No. 9
- Love at First Bite (1979)
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
- Key & Peele
- Get Out (2017)
- Universal monsters
- Dark Universe
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
- Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1953)
- Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- The Blues Brothers (1980)
- The Lost Boys (1987)
- The Unnamable (1988)
- The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1992)
- The Boneyard (1991)
- Jaws (1975)
- A Scottish Podcast
- House (1977)
- Blood Diner (1987)
- Blood Feast (1963)
- Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
- Fangoria
- Famous Monsters of Filmland
- The Being (1983)
- Jack Be Nimble (1993)
- World’s Funnest
- Welcome to Eltingville
News
A Weekend With Good Friends
GM signups for A Weekend With Good Friends will close very soon! This, of course, is the online convention organised by our lovely listeners, taking place on the Good Friends Discord server.
Key dates are:
- GM signups: 23rd of April – 7th of May
- Player signups: 22nd of May – 5th of June
- A Weekend With Good Friends: 13th – 15th of June
Games and panels will run throughout the weekend.
We shall share more details are they become available.
