The Desire of Horror
Charla Ferguson and Martin Essig
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About This Podcast
Charla's love of horror movies combine with Marty's love of psychoanalysis and history of religions. This is a review and analysis of horror movies and what they say about desire.
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Recent Episodes
S2E24 24. The Descent
We're going down, way down into the underground with an all female cast of characters who desire nothing so much as to be put to the test of extreme situations. Yes, these adventurous ladies love…
S2E23 23. Cabin Fever
Welcome to a cast of reprehensible characters who aren't even lovable enough to hate. These guys not only have no moral compass but they've caught some highly contagious disease in the Appalachian…
S2E22 22. Lake Placid
Well, let me tell you, this lake is anything but placid, especially since (spoiler alert) Mrs. Delores Bickerman (Betty White) keeps her big-ass crocodiles in there. And some poor man studying…
S2E21 21. Deep Blue Sea
One of the most common and ancient themes of horror is that of human transgression of the "natural" world. In Western Mythology this history of transgression begins with Prometheus's giving to…
S2E20 20. Anaconda
Forget whatever you think you know about anacondas, you're about to get schooled. Anaconda starts out with some very brief but essential facts about the Amazonian native, like that anacondas enjoy…
S2E19 19. Gremlins
Gremlins is a true Christmas classic. We had Marty's sister Andrea back for this very special Christmas addition of the Desire of Horror. Although there is much about the film that doesn't make…
S2E18 18. Tremors
The concept is sharks under the ground, which is extra terrifying because you can't get away from them by staying out of the water at Amity Island Beach. And these "Graboids," as they are so aptly…
S2E17 17. Arachnophobia
With so much about immigration in the news as of late, it is hard not to see Arachnophobia as not somehow in dialog with the issue of middle America's obsession with being taken over by foreign…
S2E16 16. Jaws
The desire of the unknowable other takes on new depths in the impenetrable, black eyes of a shark. Matt Hooper, the marine biologist played by Richard Dreyfuss, waxes poetic about the almost eternal…
S2E15 15. The Birds
We're starting the new season off with the genre-defining classic of nature horror, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. This movie may be about the random, inexplicable, violent behavior of birds, but it…
S1E14 14. Vampires Wrap-up
Here we go with the vampire wrap up! It's been a bloody first season at the Desire of Horror podcast, and that's how we like it! Blood has always had a central place in the History of Religions.…
S1E13 13. Halloween (1978)
We are in heaven with this little slice of hell. Charla loves the "pure evil" of the criminally insane. And I love the interior design and clothing choices of the late 1970's. But why does Michael…
S1E12 12. Sinners
We had the great pleasure of welcoming Charla's daughter Michelle on this one. She brought a lot of great insights into this instant classic. Music is a hellava drug. In the last film Queen of the…
S1E11 11. Queen of the Damned
This Vampire's origins go all the way back in the Ancient Mesopotamia City of Uruk. And Akasha (Aaliyah) like Lestat (Stuart Townsend) loves music. Lestat had decided the world was too boring to live…
S1E10 10. Shadow of the Vampire
What is more real than real? Why it's the "Hyper-Real" of the cinema. Jean Baudrillard formulated his theory of the Hyper-Real, which is actually the death of "the Real" by simulacrum, in part from a…
S1E9 9. I Am Legend
Are these f**king things vampires or infected? Around this time in the early aughts there was a slue of horror movies that straddled the line with science fiction because the monsters no longer had…
S1E8 8. 30 Days of Night
In the small oil town of Barrow in the northern-most region of Alaska there are thirty days of night in the middle of winter. Sounds like a vampire's dream vacation. All the cellphones have…
S1E7 7. Bela Lugosi vs. Christopher Lee
Both the 1931 Bela Lugosi version of Dracula and the 1970 Christoper Lee version claim to be sticking to Bram Stoker's original vision. When most of us think of Dracula, we either think of Lugosi or…
S1E6 6. Salem's Lot (1979)
A late 70s miniseries has many features to recommend it. They are normally full of odd bowl haircuts, unnecessarily long establishing shots, and sweat, but this one also includes multiple…
S1E5 5. Let the Right One In / Let Me In
This was a difficult but rewarding episode to do. Some less brave, or possible less foolhardy, commentators might've stayed away from the Swedish, modern-day classic Let the Right One In and its…
Frequently Asked Questions
The Desire of Horror has published 24 episodes since June 2025, covering topics in Film Reviews, Philosophy.
The Desire of Horror is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 59m.
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