Horror Podcast: The Last Podcast on the Left and Killer POV

* The Last Podcast on the Left

I've heard a huge amount of good things about The Last Podcast on the Left from a lot of people whose opinion I trust. Ben Kissel, Henry Zebrowski, and Marcus Parks discuss the real and imagined horrors of life with their own comedic flair. I listened to the first 4 episodes of the podcast that include serial killers, cults, demonology in film, and introducing themselves. They have interesting, rambling discussions about the topics and are knowledgeable about a surprising number of things. My favorite of the discussions is when one of the hosts discusses his experience watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in rural Texas near the city where these fictional murders take place. He has a healthy fear of hitchhikers in the first place and the film starts out with a creepy hitchhiker. His account of watching it in pitch darkness, all by himself, in the middle of nowhere is awesome.

The reason I didn't continue the podcast after 4 episodes is their type of humor. I love dark jokes and even sick jokes about death, but their humor borders and ventures into misogyny quite a bit. One of the first jokes of the entire show has one of the men referring to his girlfriend as a hole. During the serial killer episode, vulvas in a box were a huge point of humor for them. It rubs me the wrong way and seems to be a bit of a staple with this group. It's not a bad show, but it just isn't for me. Many people enjoy the show, but the bro-y energy of the show puts me off.

My rating: 2.5/5

* Killer POV

Rebekah McKendry, Rob G, and Elric Kane discuss horror films and interview guests. I loved the first episode where each of the hosts introduces themselves and talks about their taste in horror films in addition to how they got into the genre. I had only heard of Rebekah as she was a writer for Fangoria and a current writer for Blumhouse, but it was cool to hear more from her. I enhoyed getting to know the hosts and their backgrounds. The second episode has the hosts interviewing actors who play Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees making their own film. I wasn't super interested in it and I wanted to skip it, but the podcast is focused on interviewing people in the horror genre about their work and about other films. I'm not into interviews being a big part of a podcast. I'm more interested in the discussion between the hosts about films or analyzing films. Another one that wasn't bad, but not for me.

My rating: 3/5

Horror Podcasts: Frightday

Frightday is a horror podcast hosted by Kelly, Sam, and Byron. (Captain) Kelly is the host of her own Cryptids and Conspiracies segment every show. She covers everything from hollow earth to UFO sightings to lizard people. Although she's a believer in many things like aliens and ghosts, she gives a fair view of each subject, presenting the skeptic and believer side of each issue. I'm personally not super interested most of these subjects, but Kelly talks about it in such an animated, interesting way that I enjoy it. My favorite reports of hers so far are the MK Ultra series and her report on Krampus. MK Ultra is an actual chapter in our government's history and incredibly depressing but also fascinating. She of course delves into conspiracy theories about it. Her Krampus report was more about the myths and legends behind Krampus. I wish she would do a bit more about this type of thing as well.

Byron is the host of the show, Byron's Serial Killer Corner, and the EVPlease segment. Byron's Serial Killer Corner is probably my favorite segment where Byron talks about a serial killer, their bloodyy career, and their fate, but it's not a regular part of the show. EVPlease used to be a regular ending to the show which attempted to capture ghost communication in recordings in electronic voice phenomenon. Sam occasionally presents Sam's Jams and Sam's Gun Accuracy Report. Both of them have much gorier and more extreme tastes than Kelly, who preferes ghost and alien films. They also provide the staunch skeptic position to contrast Kelly's belief in many cryptids and conspiracies. Their banter is hilarious and I love that they don't agree on everything. Some podcasts have hosts that agree on almost everything and it's a nice change to see debates going on.

The first segment of their show has all of them briefly describing what they watched over the week and what they thought of it. This is followed by Kelly's Cryptids and Conspiracies. The last segment of their show is always a film review. The vast majority of their reviews are current films or films that aren't out yet. Twice, they have reviewed classic films which was The Fog and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Their film choices range widely to include big releases, indie films, and foreign films.

I only have a few tiny problems with the show. Kelly can sometimes grate on the nerves especially when she's eating things loudly or making ghost noises into the mic. Some of her opinions make me think less of her like hating Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Byron's Serial Killer Corner should be a bigger part of the show because it's awesome and informative. Everything else is awesome. This fun and and informative podcast has introduced me to a lot of films I would have never heard of. Writing for the site has also been awesome with more opportunities to watch and review films. I also get to know these three wonderful people as well as the rest of the site's writing staff: Alex, Felicia, and Maggie.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins