A Podcast Family Tree
Can you imagine a time when there were only a handful of horror podcasts? That was the landscape when Jack Campisi and I started Monster Men way back in 2011. We had no idea what we were doing, but decided to give it a go to help promote my first book. Thirteen years later, we’re still at it…and more!
Since then, we’ve met some amazing people who have branched out into their own podcasts. So, here’s a little podcast history all the way to the present. If you’re looking for some rabbit holes of entertainment to tumble down, there’s plenty to choose from.
Now, take my hand and let’s walk to where it all began, with two guys who love horror and wanted to do a podcast about buds at a bar talking about their favorite genre. Monster Men was born in my living room. We started with an episode called Vampires Kinda Suck and now, 186 episodes later, we talked to author Kristin Dearborn about her latest book and all things skunk apes. Quite a few episodes under our belt about cryptids. 🙂
A few years later, we were contacted by this dude called Jason Brant who had a new show called Drinking with Jason (RIP…to the show, not Jason). The concept was and is brilliant. He invited horror authors and the like to his show, asked them for their favorite adult beverage so he would drink it along with them during the show. It made for funny conversations. Until he discovered that most horror authors drank milk or water. Sigh. Jack and I were on separate episodes. You can watch them here. And yes, we imbibed a lot of booze.
Now, Jack and I must have made a good impression, because in 2017, Jason had an idea to do a horror review show and he asked the crusty Monster Men to join the band. On a late May evening, Final Guys was born! As of this date with just under 350 episodes under our belt, we’re going stronger than ever, broadcasting live every Tuesday night. Every episode features a drinking game, award winning news, a curation of horror movies, books and games, and a deep dive into our main feature. Oh, and a gang of nut bars in the live chat who we can’t live without!
In 2020 while we were trapped in our houses drinking way too much, the Final Guys added author Tim Meyer to the gang. He had a long running audio podcast called Aperture Hour that has since closed their microphones. When Tim had to step away from being a regular, we added author Chad Lutzke to the regular lineup. Now, Chad had a pretty cool long form podcast called PaleoCheeze (another RIP). Here’s an episode with the Monster Men as we discuss The Fly!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the most popular podcast of them all, Jason Brant’s hilarious So Bad It’s Good. Think MST for a new generation. Big ups to Steven Seagal for making so many terrible movies. Jason and the gang kill it every week, and now have a warehouse full of crappy movies to mine for the next thousand years.
But that’s not all! Jason and Chad have since started another podcast, Bleeding Page. On it, they interview some pretty incredible horror authors. If you’re a writer or fan of the genre, it’s a must listen. Here’s an episode with Chad’s writing hero, the legendary Joe Lansdale.
I have joined forces with some great folks across the pond and their fun movie review show, Bloody Good Screen. I’m usually called to action when there are terrible movies to review and no one else wants to watch them, but I did just compete in their annual trivia contest (and came in a respectable second).
Brand new, out of the box, is Chad’s Creepy Couch, where he and his lovely wife watch horror flicks new to both or one of them. You get their funny reactions as they watch, sometimes a quirky skit or two, and a wrap up. And a pretty cool 70s feeling opening.
Last but not least is another new podcast, but this one has nothing to do with horror. Jason’s alpha male brother Bryan and his family sold their beautiful McMansion in TX to rebuild the family farm in rural PA. Armstrong Acres Farm is a no-holds barred riches to rags, DIY story that unfolds every week, showing all of the warts that come with rebuilding a property. Turn off that ridiculous HG channel and see how this kind of work is really done.
And that, for now, is the whole shebang. Will there be more? I’m sure. Until then, check these fun shows out and escape from the total misery of real life for a while.
Horrortober Reading List
You know, 2021 hasn’t been all that much better than 2020. Which is why I’ve been waiting for Horrortober to arrive to I can just burrow down deeper into the genre and world I love and ignore the horse dookie around me. Along with watching at least a horror movie a day (last year’s record breaker was 70 movies in 31 days – hmmm, let’s see if I can top that), I’ll be reading lots o scary books. Here is my 2021 lineup. Hopefully you find something you’d like to add to your list. Better yet, what are you planning on reading?
I couldn’t wait to get this book in my hot little hands. I mean, it’s Elvira, the queen of horror. I’ve met her several times and she has always been a pleasure to be around. A book that is 70 years in the making, which seems impossible to believe.
The woman behind the icon known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story, filled with intimate bombshells, told by the bombshell herself.Â
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The latest by the prolific Armand Rosamilia, Trapped has the best returning character in literary history, TV cryptozoologist, Hunter Shaya!! Yeah, I may be biased.
Forget the conspiracy theories about Denver International Airport… this just got real.
When a massive snowstorm shuts down the airport and forces a plane carrying exotic and deadly cargo, those trapped inside the terminal have no idea what’s in store for them.
Can a group of passengers and airport workers band together to face the onslaught, or will they be ripped apart?
Jeff Strand signed my copy of Allison at Scares that Care and I squirreled it away just for Horrortober. Strand never, ever disappoints, so I know this will rock.
Allison can break your bones with her mind, and she can’t control her power.
Now forty-five years old, she’s spent her life trying to stay away from other people. But a random encounter with a couple on the street leaves her believing that she may have done something horrible. Something unforgivable.
Killer-for-hire Daxton and his girlfriend Maggie know the truth. Instead of easing Allison’s anguish, they come up with a cruel plan to take advantage of it. But with Allison’s abilities exposed, there may be a grisly body count very soon…
From its shocking opening to its sinister conclusion, ALLISON is Jeff Strand at his over-the-top best!
I’ve had this on my shelf for months! I hear nothing but great things about Dear Laura.
Every year, on her birthday, Laura gets a letter from a stranger. That stranger claims to know the whereabouts of her missing friend Bobby, but there’s a catch: he’ll only tell her what he knows in exchange for something…personal.So begins Laura’s sordid relationship with her new penpal, built on a foundation of quid pro quo. Her quest for closure will push her to bizarre acts of humiliation and harm, yet no matter how hard she tries, she cannot escape her correspondent’s demands. The letters keep coming, and as time passes, they have a profound effect on Laura.From the author of Cruel Works of Nature comes a dark and twisted tale about obsession, guilt, and how far a person will go to put her ghosts to bed.
It’s no secret that Chad Lutzke is one of my favorite authors (and human beings for that matter). Just working my way through all of his books. I already know I’ll dig it.
“My name is Levi. I’m 16. I’ve got a skull for a face. And here’s how shit went down.”
Having never been outside the walls of Gramm Jones Foster Care Facility, sixteen-year-old Levi leaves in the middle of the night with an empty backpack and a newfound lust for life. A journey that leads him into the arms of delusional newlyweds, drunkards, polygamists, the dangerous, and the batshit crazy. His destination? Hermosa Beach, California where he’s told there is another like him, with the face of a skull.
A coming-of-age road trip filled with surreal Lynch-ian encounters exploring the dark, the disturbing, and the lonely in a 1980s world—an epic venture for one disfigured boy struggling to find his place in the world.
I recently met Daniel Volpe and grabbed a couple of his books. This one looks insane, so count me in!
In the early 1990s the rising popularity of the video cassette gave birth to a seedy, underground world of illicit pornography.
Talia, a Midwest dreamer, leaves home in search of fame under the blinding Broadway lights. But nothing could have prepared her for what she finds instead. Savage violence, bottomless depravity, and no way out.
Talia will unapologetically drag you into the foul underbelly of society. A sanity straining journey, full of hot bloodshed and betrayal.
Horrortober Movies and Books – Countdown to Halloween
October – I mean, Horrortober – is my month long Mardi Gras, and I know I’m not alone. As usual, I’ve been saving special books and movies to keep me immersed in all things horror for the 31 days and nights of terror-fueled delight. And I was smart enough this year not to take on any writing projects so I have all the time I need.
First up, the Monster Men got our furry mitts on the newest edition of 31 Days of Terror. It’s a damn fun game where you roll the dice and then consult the book to see what movie you should watch. This is our fourth year playing it on Monster Men and it was pretty funny how we bent the rules to get a good movie for Halloween night. It’s a cool way to discover new movies or revisit ones you may have forgotten. Check it out right below. For my part, I want to see if I can top my Horrortober movie total of 55 this time around. We shall see…
Now, on to my reading list. Here are the books I’ve been smuggling away, saving them for my favorite month. Have you read them? What did you think? I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to be very happy with them.
How far would you go to bring back someone you love?
When Chris’s son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris’s life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything.
A drop of blood falls from Chris’s hand onto her son’s roadside memorial and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window. Only, is it really her son’s ghost, or is it something else—something evil?
Soon Chris is playing a dangerous game with forces beyond her control in a bid to see her son, Trey, alive once again.
Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs, to find a fresh start. But what they don’t know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half.
On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can.
Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.Â
A tale of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
Antarctica. A mining base at the edge of the world.
Anders Nordvelt, last-minute replacement as head of security, has no time to integrate himself into the crew before an act of sabotage threatens the project. He must untangle a complex web of relationships from his position as prime suspect.
Then a body is found in the ice. Systems fail as the long night falls. Now Anders must do more than find a murderer: he must find a way to survive.
Will anyone endure the night shift, or will ice and frozen corpses be all that remains?
Alex: A hardened goth-punk who’s convinced she’s a vampire with a penchant for blood.
Stacia: A seventeen-year-old raised by an alcoholic mother, her fellow captives the only family she’s ever truly had.
Kammie: The youngest of the three—a mute who finds solace in a houseplant.
But does life outside the house offer the freedom they’d envisioned? Or is it too late, the scars too deep?
A coming-of-age tale of revenge and survival that explores a friendship and the desperate measures taken to ensure they stay united, held together by the scars that bind them.
The end of summer, 1986. With only a few days left until the new school year, twins Jeremy and Jack Schaffer are on very different paths. Jeremy is the geek, playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends Kathleen and Randy, while Jack is the jock, getting into trouble with his buddies.
And then everything changes when neighbor Mister Higgins is killed by a wild animal in his yard. Was it a bear? There’s something big lurking in the woods behind their New Jersey home.
Will the police be able to solve the murder before more Middletown residents are ripped apart?
Hunter Shea 