Ghouls Next Door

Gabe and Kae

Award-winning media literacy podcast from a horror lens. Gabe & Kae discuss real-life influences on our cinematic fears every Wednesday.

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22 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 1 hr 1 min
English

Episodes 22

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Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

S9 · E332
September 16 · 1 hr 5 min
They Live (1988) & They Continue to Thrive in 2026
They Live is a timeless science fiction, dystopian piece of media criticism. Director John Carpenter argues the film is a documentary, and he says what we’re all thinking, using alien overlords to reveal the real-world villains of Mass Media, Big Corporations, and the Surveillance state. All of Carpenter’s nightmares have only increased since the 1988 release, with the rise of Flock cameras, media conglomerates taking over the communication world, and the advertising business infiltrating every waking minute of our lives.
S9 · E331
August 31 · 1 hr 3 min
Dungeon Crawler Carl Affirmations: “You Will Not Break Me” and Other Inspirations
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a triumphant and heartbreaking tale of human resilience. Against the backdrop of the end of the world, Carl and his fellow crawlers fight for their lives against a system hell bent on minimizing them to tools of entertainment. Turns out aliens are real and they’ve got intergalactic reality shows of Hunger Games-proportions.
S9 · E329
July 22 · 58 min
Blink Twice (2024): the Violence of Forgetting
Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice, cautions us against the horrors of forgiving, forgetting, and relinquishing control. A tale told before its time, watching it merely two years after its release, the film feels disturbingly prescient in a post Epstein Files ‘release’ world.
S9 · E328
July 1 · 1 hr 5 min
Obsession (2026): The Subtle Violence of the Nice Guy
Obsession is an insidiously terrifying new horror film that follows Bear after he makes an ill-advised, harmful, and desperate wish for his crush, Nikki, to love him more than anything else in the world. Obsession is timely and unsettlingly so, confronting current-day horrors around the male loneliness epidemic and the ways young men are weaponizing their existence against women.
S9 · E327
June 17 · 1 hr 5 min
The Menu (2022): The Cult of Fine Dining
The Menu is a brilliant, vicious critique of celebrity chef culture. The dark comedy film confronts the absurdity around elite fine dining experiences that have taken the “love out of eating.”
S9 · E326
June 3 · 1 hr 3 min
Opus (2025): The Monster of Cult Celebrity
Opus, the debut film of director and former music journalist, Mark Anthony Green intends to critique cultural criticism, celebrity obsession, and the hierarchy of fame. There’s a level of anticipation with Green at the helm, an expectation of truths revealed, insider knowledge shared and no-holds-barred. However, while the film is pretty to look at and has some of the most insane moments of body gore I’ve seen in some time it leaves a lot to be desired.
S9 · E325
May 20 · 54 min
They Will Kill You (2026) Review: Bloody, Brutal & Timely AF
They Will Kill You is a punchy, gory, and brilliant mess. It was delightfully unexpected, and while at times it certainly feels like “John Wick but with a Badass Black Woman,” that’s not a negative! It is a relentless assault of silly world-building and over-the-top body gore.
S9 · E324
May 11 · 51 min
Ready or Not 2 (2026) Review: Beat the Rich
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is a punchy, gore-filled and brutal sequel to a beloved horror classic. After surviving a night of torment at the hands of her brand-new wealthy in-laws, Grace is once again confronted by the sinister, evil antics of the elite as they hunt her down. Only this time, she’s not the only victim as her “emergency contract” and previously forgotten sister, Faith, has been chained (literally) to her.
S323 · E9
March 18 · 1 hr 5 min
Stephen Graham Jones: Creature Features & Historical Horror
SGJ has a knack for transforming folkloric monsters we’ve grown accustomed to, twisting them into a new, sympathetic, and terrifying creature; something entirely of his own making. He did this in Mongrels, the sometimes funny, most often dark, familial story about werewolves and ancestry (and one of my favorite SGJ novels). He’s done it again in The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, now with vampires.
S9 · E320
February 4 · 57 min
Tananarive Due: Life, Legacy, and all the Horrors Between
Tananarive Due seamlessly weaves vivid, realistic characters with powerful historical influences. True blue horror with high body counts, pulling no punches, and yet with immense care and consideration for her readers, Due is a brilliant storyteller. gabe reviews two of her books, their blend of horror and reality, and how it leaves them wanting more, more, more! Kae shares about Due’s life, family, and long history of activism.
S9 · E319
Dec 24, 2025 · 59 min
Kpop Demon Hunters (2025) Film Review: Healing Ourselves & the Generations Before Us
Kpop Demon Hunters is a magical, vibrant, and gut punching animated film with catchy, thought provoking songs, beloved pop stars, and a lot of character growth. The musical has become a cultural phenomena, taking the charts and our hearts by storm. Ghouls explore the hunters' battle to not only seal the honmoon but the wounds of their trauma and the world’s around them too.
S9 · E318
Dec 10, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Dandadan: Fan Service, Puberty Horrors, and Unlikely Heroes
As quirky and charming as Dandadan is on the surface, full of bright color, relatable young protagonists navigating first love and their growing bodies, wacky alien creatures and exciting fight sequences, Dandadan has a brilliant knack for knocking its viewers off their feet with unjarring and upsetting backstories. Dandadan is not always an easy watch. While there is constant, excessive stripping down of the story’s young protagonists, if you’re able to stomach the initial uneasiness to grapple with the entire picture, you’ll find that creator Tatsu shares our concerns and fears. Ghouls discuss whether this show can be labeled as fan service or social commentary, cover the horrors of puberty, the power of friendship, and the unlikely hero, Momo.
S9 · E317
Nov 26, 2025 · 59 min
Invincible: A Sup[er Heroic Reckoning
Robert Kirkman's brutal and challenging comic, now adapted into a animated series, is an emotional exploration of legacy and the power of love. Debuting a special episode of *Boos Next Door*, hosts Isaiah Luck and Mike Levitt are joined by regular ghoul, June Bethea to discuss this complex show. Is there something beneath all that blood, gore, and trauma?
S9 · E316
Nov 12, 2025 · 58 min
Seoul Station: A Plague on a Vulnerable Population
Seoul Station, a prequel to the beloved South Korean zombie horror film Train to Busan, tells a harrowing story of a zombie outbreak affecting a particularly vulnerable population: the homeless who've taken refuge in Seoul Station. Ghouls dive into this animated film, which features a very overt message that effectively spells out an unexpected story.
S9 · E315
Oct 29, 2025 · 58 min
REC (2007): Demonic Zombies & Found Footage Fears
REC is a clever zombie film that follows people trapped in an apartment building. While trying to survive and get to the bottom of this quarantine, our protagonists fight to record the horrors around them. Joined by regular guest, Wi-Moto Nyoka (Dusky Projects), Ghouls discuss the unique villain, found footage horrors, and other faves.
S9 · E314
Oct 22, 2025 · 1 hr
Blood Quantum (2019): Red They Dead, White They Bite
Jeff Barnaby's Blood Quantum is a relentless, gory zombie film with an interesting twist. This film pulls no punches and through the anti-hero Lysol, we get to see that generational trauma, anger and resolve acted out in vengeance and graphic horror. Ghouls revisit one of their all time favorite horror films that turns the classic monster, zombie, into a harsh history lesson.
S9 · E313
Oct 15, 2025 · 1 hr
ZOM100: Optimism in the Apocalypse
ZOM100 is a quirky show set during the zombie apocalypse that encourages viewers to take advantage of the time we have left. When our jobs under the oppressive systems of capitalism have already turned us into zombies, flesh eating monsters can feel like a fresh start and a good excuse to start living. Joined by the Boos Next Door (Mike Levitt & Isaiah Luck), Ghouls talk about the charmingly positive protagonist, Akira, and what our own bucket lists look like. When there's always a crisis anyway, we might as well live with more whimsy. No time like the present.
S9 · E312
Oct 8, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
All of Us Are Dead: No One is Coming to Save Us
All of Us Are Dead is a compelling and emotionally charged TV series about a zombie outbreak at a high school in South Korea. The zombies cause chaos, but the true horrors, as always, are the many ways society fails these kids. Ghouls discuss the parts they love of the show, what they hope to see in a season 2, and how this show differs from other zombie media. No one is coming to save us, so we must protect each other.
S311 · E311
Oct 1, 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
28 Years Later (2025): Growing Pains & Toxic Masculinty
28 Years Later is a wild, emotional ride exploring the complications of growing up in the midst of an apocalypse. Garland and Boyle return to the series, offering a vibrant and creative story where even amongst decades of death, the loss of a loved one still hits hard. Ghouls are joined by fellow podcaster, Erick Barragan of Cinepamina to discuss the highs, lows and very many choices made in this film.
S8 · E310
Aug 27, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Until Dawn: Slasher Summer Fun
Until Dawn is a wild time-loop slasher film inspired by the game. Ghouls invite their good friend and fellow gamer, June Bethea to talk about the ways the film exceeded their expectations and where it needed work. Perhaps this film could've been called literally anything else? We discuss the director's short film successes and our favorite parts about the game (QTEs, 1000s of script pages, and more!)

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