Night of the Living Dead and the Hero Nobody Expected

Night of the Living Dead and the Hero Nobody Expected

Horror and cult film podcast with Baz Bishop.   Episode 05: Night of the Living Dead and the Hero Nobody Expected.   Fall 1982. University of South Carolina. Halloween night. A free film in the Russell House Student Union. A bag of popcorn. And a Black man boarding up a farmhouse in Pennsylvania, calmly and unapologetically taking charge — changing, quietly and permanently, something in a white kid from Allendale. George Romero. $114,000. Black and white. Evans City, Pennsylvania. The film that invented the modern zombie, did it for less than a decent used car costs, and ended up preserved in the Library of Congress. The monster that can't be reasoned with. The real danger inside the house. The ending you don't look away from. Duane Jones as Ben. Cast because he was the best actor available — full stop. An academic and theatre director whose students at SUNY Old Westbury had no idea he'd been the lead in one of the most important horror films ever made. He never told them. Made the film, knew what it was, went back to his life. Night of the Living Dead was his time. He was right. Allendale Academy. Confederate mascot. Confederate flag as the school flag. Dixie as the school song. Twelve years. A graduating class of twenty-five. Seventy percent Black county. Never sat next to a Black student in a classroom. The architecture of exclusion, built deliberately, maintained carefully, still paying its costs. Coming out. A letter. One afternoon. The emergency exit taken away. The Black sheep. The figure in the window. The cost of visibility when the world would prefer you weren't. And then — the reconciliation. Because they came back. And he let them.   Timestamps: 00:00    Cold Open — No music. Russell House, 1982. Halloween night. Ben arrives. Something shifts. 06:11    The Setup — What this episode is and isn't. The argument stated. The ethical position named upfront. No emergency exit. 09:52    Movement 1 — The Film — Night of the Living Dead: $114,000. Evans City, Pennsylvania. Romero at 27. Ben. Harry Cooper. The real monster inside the house. The ending. 1968 in America. 16:57    Movement 2 — Duane Jones — The man who played Ben. Academic, theatre director, head of department. The café on Long Island. His students had no idea. Night of the Living Dead was his time. Ganja and Hess. 25:23    Movement 3 — Where You Come From — Allendale, South Carolina. Allendale Academy. The flag, the mascot, the song. The architecture of segregation. What Baz benefitted from and at whose cost. 35:39    Movement 4 — The Black Sheep — Coming out. David's letter. One afternoon. The emergency exit taken away. The figure in the window. The cost of visibility. The empathy that comes from needing it. 44:24    The Turn — They came back. The reconciliation. The Angelou line and its oral tradition provenance. The harder choice, made and made again. 52:50    The Close — Romero's death. Jones's legacy. The proof of concept. Goose and Lily. Not bad for a kid from Allendale. EP06 tease. Sign off.   Films and references in this episode: Night of the Living Dead (1968), White Zombie (1932), I Walked With a Zombie (1943), Ganja and Hess (1973), Losing Ground (1982), The Quiet Man (1952).   Other references: George Romero. Duane Jones. Karl Hardman. Russell Streiner. Kathleen Collins. Allendale Academy. Allendale County, South Carolina. Desegregation and the private segregation academy system. SUNY Old Westbury. The Duane L. Jones Recital Hall. The Walking Dead tribute. The Maya Angelou / Oprah oral tradition line.   Night of the Living Dead (1968) is in the public domain and available to watch free and legally online. Watch it. If you've seen it, watch it again. Watch the ending. Don't look away.   Listen on: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · iHeartRadio · Pocket Casts · Podbean — baztothebonepod.podbean.com Support the show: patreon.com/baztothebonecast Find Baz: @baztothebonecast on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube · @baztothebonepod on X/Twitter · Threads: @baztothebonecast Contact: baztothebonepod@icloud.com   Audio credits: "extremely-close-thunder" by Spennnyyy | freesound.org/s/350506/ | CC BY 4.0   Baz To The Bone is produced independently in Wales, UK.   Horror. Cult Film. Bad Taste Done Properly.   EP05 Podbean Description  ·  Draft 2  ·  June 2026  ·  Timestamps confirmed

He Made Me Gay — The Horror Icons Who Did Something To Us

Horror and cult film podcast with Baz Bishop.   Episode 04: He Made Me Gay — The Horror Icons Who Did Something To Us. The argument: classic horror was one of the few places in mid-twentieth century culture that was accidentally, systematically, and sometimes deliberately doing something queer. Not inclusive — queer. There’s a difference.   Vincent Price. Christopher Lee. Paul Naschy. The Hays Code. Dracula as the foundational queer-coded figure. Werewolves as proto-furries. The bear community. Lon Chaney Jr., Oliver Reed, and twelve films of Waldemar Daninsky. A gay Halloween party. A chandelier. A wig. A Monster in a maroon velvet top hat.   Timestamps: [00:00] Cold Open — No music. The Halloween party. Tony. The chandelier. The wig. The Elsa Lanchester bouffant eight feet in the air. [03:09] The Setup — What the story is actually about. The argument stated. Not nostalgia — an argument. Also, there will be werewolves. [05:22] Movement 1 — The Claim. What horror gave queer boys before anything else did. Not representation — something older. The monster was magnificent in its wrongness. [08:11] Movement 2 — Why Horror Specifically. The Hays Code. Dracula as the foundational queer-coded figure. The Universal monster cycle. [13:00] Movement 3 — The Icons as Evidence. Price, Lee, Naschy. Three registers, one consistent truth. The voice. The doorway. The twelve films. [19:27] Movement 4 — The Body Hair Argument. Werewolves. The body that betrays. Proto-furries. The bear community. [26:44] The Turn — Personal. Lon Chaney Jr., Oliver Reed, Paul Naschy, Dark Shadows werewolves. Sad, hairy, doleful creatures. Tony callback. [30:20] The Close — The generational fault line. The men before Stonewall. What horror gave them. EP05 tease: Night of the Living Dead.   Films and references in this episode: Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Dracula (1931), House of Wax (1953), Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Horror of Dracula (1958), Curse of the Werewolf (1961), The Wolf Man (1941), Dark Shadows (TV, 1966–71), Night of the Living Dead (1968).   Other references: The Hays Code (Motion Picture Production Code). The Universal Monster Cycle, 1930s–40s. The Bear Community. The Furry Community. Stonewall. Allendale, South Carolina.   Listen on: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · iHeartRadio · Pocket Casts · Podbean baztothebonepod.podbean.com   Support the show: patreon.com/baztothebonecast   Find Baz: @baztothebonecast on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube · @baztothebonepod on X/Twitter · Threads: @baztothebonecast   Contact: baztothebonepod@icloud.com   Audio credits: “extremely-close-thunder” by Spennnyyy | freesound.org/s/350506/ | CC BY 4.0   Baz To The Bone is produced independently in Wales, UK. Horror. Cult Film. Bad Taste Done Properly.

Bride of Frankenstein: James Whale's Perfect Film

Horror and cult film podcast with Baz Bishop. Episode 03: Bride of Frankenstein — James Whale's Perfect Film. Baz makes the argument: Dr. Pretorius is the real Bride of Frankenstein. The film's outsiders are its moral centre. The Bride is the only Universal monster who never harmed a soul. A close reading of the 1935 Universal horror film as a queer text. James Whale. Ernest Thesiger's grave in Brompton Cemetery. GRID. The men who walked through the world without apology. And what horror gave us before we had the language for what we were. Timestamps: [00:00] Cold Open — Brompton Cemetery, October 2021. Finding Thesiger's grave. [04:34] The Setup — The film. The argument. Dr. Pretorius is the actual Bride of Frankenstein. [08:10] Movement 1 — The Film Itself. Surface plot and what's underneath. [12:15] Movement 2 — James Whale. The gay director. Coded film. [17:22] Movement 3 — Dr. Pretorius. The magnificent villain. A new world of gods and monsters. [24:43] Movement 4 — The Bride. Three minutes. No dialogue. Full agency. [31:06] Movement 5 — The Monster and the Outsider Body. The hermit sequence. [37:15] The Turn — GRID. The worried well. The men who never apologised. [43:46] The Close Films and references in this episode: Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), Gods and Monsters (1998). Key figures: James Whale (dir.), Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Pretorius), Boris Karloff (The Monster), Elsa Lanchester (Mary Shelley / The Bride). Other references: Brompton Cemetery, Chelsea, London. GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, 1982). Shock Theatre / Channel 12, Allendale SC. Listen on: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · iHeartRadio · Pocket Casts · Podbean baztothebonecast.podbean.com Support the show: patreon.com/baztothebonecast Shop: etsy.com/shop/daddybazdesigns Find Baz: @baztothebonecast on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, YouTube · @bazbishopcast on X/Twitter Contact: baztothebonepod@icloud.com [baztothebonepod@icloud.com] Audio credits: Theme music — The Last Reel (mid-tempo), original composition, licensed via Suno. "extremely-close-thunder" by Spennnyyy | freesound.org/s/350506/ | CC BY 4.0 Baz To The Bone is produced independently in Wales, UK. Horror. Cult Film. Bad Taste Done Properly.

Attack of the Mole People: My Life as a Mole Person

Horror and cult film podcast with Baz Bishop. Episode 02: Attack of the Mole People. The origin story — starting from the other end. A decade inside one of America's premier haunted attractions, a chainsaw clown at Universal Studios, and a union card earned by chasing people in the dark. How a five-year-old who was afraid of the ground became, eventually, the thing under it. Timestamps: [00:00] Cold Open — The actors' lounge. The couch. The first night. [04:00] The Setup — The Mole People. The sandbox. The turn from fear to obsession. [09:00] Movement 1 — The Monster Kid. Famous Monsters of Filmland. Aurora model kits. [20:00] Movement 2 — Finding Netherworld. Atlanta. The Netherspawn. [32:00] Movement 3 — Inside the Haunt. The Vortex. A decade in the dark. [42:00] The Turn — Universal Studios. Stitches. The AGVA union card. The circle. [50:00] The Close [54:00] Where To Find The Show Films and references in this episode: Attack of the Mole People (1956), Universal Monsters canon, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Aurora monster model kits, Netherworld Haunted House Atlanta (est. 1997), Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, American Guild of Variety Artists. Listen on: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · iHeartRadio · Pocket Casts · Podbean baztothebonecast.podbean.com Support the show: patreon.com/baztothebonecast Find Baz: @baztothebonecast on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube · @bazbishopcast on X/Twitter Contact: baztothebonepod@icloud.com [baztothebonepod@icloud.com] Audio credit: "extremely-close-thunder" by Spennnyyy | freesound.org/s/350506/ | CC BY 4.0 Baz To The Bone is produced independently in Wales, UK. Horror. Cult Film. Bad Taste Done Properly.

Baz To The Bone: An Introduction

Horror and cult film podcast with Baz Bishop. Episode 01: Baz To The Bone — An Introduction. The argument Baz has been building for years: queer people and horror have always understood each other. The monster is always the outsider — and some of us recognised that earlier than others. Growing up in the American South as a Monster Kid. Becoming a scareactor. Playing a chainsaw clown at Universal Studios. The bear community. Rocky Horror in fishnets. And why this show is being recorded in Wales. What's coming: 30 episodes and counting. Films that formed Baz. Films that get talked about. Films that should. And at least one episode about a film whose UK release title is The Devil's Cock. Timestamps: [00:00] Cold Open — No music. No intro. The Mole People. 1969. The sandbox. [03:16] The Setup — What the show is. Why it exists. Netherworld. Universal Studios. Chainsaw clown. [05:57] Movement 1 — The Monster Is Always the Outsider. The core argument. [07:35] Movement 2 — The Films That Formed Me. Bride of Frankenstein. Dark Shadows. Phantom of the Paradise. The Hunger. Nightbreed. [11:23] Movement 3 — The Community That Always Knew. Rocky Horror. Size 15 EEE heels. Don't Dream It, Be It. [14:36] Movement 4 — The Bear Thing. Bear community. Bear Magazine, 1993. The Atlanta Eagle. [17:24] Movement 5 — What Kind of Show This Actually Is. Horror of Party Beach. Zombeak. Opinions, not hot takes. [20:14] Movement 6 — What's Coming. The 30-episode arc. Night of the Living Dead. The Exorcist. Frankenhooker. [21:28] The Turn — Why now. Wales. Allendale, South Carolina. I'm his plus one. [23:04] The Close — Practical info. Links. Sign off. Eye of Ishtar. Films and references in this episode: Attack of the Mole People (1956), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dark Shadows (1966–71), Phantom of the Paradise (1974), The Hunger (1983), Nightbreed (1990), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Horror of Party Beach (1964), Zombeak / The Devil's Cock (2006), The Exorcist (1973), Frankenhooker (1990). Other references: Famous Monsters of Filmland. Channel 12's Shock Theater, South Carolina. Netherworld Haunted House, Atlanta. Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). Bear Magazine. The Atlanta Eagle. The Midtown Times. Listen on: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Amazon Music · iHeartRadio · Pocket Casts · Podbean baztothebonecast.podbean.com Support the show: patreon.com/baztothebonecast Find Baz: @baztothebonecast on Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube · @bazbishopcast on X/Twitter Threads: @baz_to_the_bone_cast Contact: baztothebonepod@icloud.com [baztothebonepod@icloud.com] Audio credits: "extremely-close-thunder" by Spennnyyy | freesound.org/s/350506/ | CC BY 4.0 Baz To The Bone is produced independently in Wales, UK. Horror. Cult Film. Bad Taste Done Properly.