|Horror Comedy Is Back — But Can It Survive 2026?

|Hellraiser (1987): The Puzzle Box That Changed Horror Forever

Send Us Your Scares! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520560/fan_mail/new] We finally did it. After making everyone wait, we're cracking open Clive Barker's Hellraiser (1987) — and we're here to argue it was never actually the Pinhead show. This one's a nasty little story about marriage, betrayal, and obsession, where the demons are almost the least human thing in the house. Leave a review 👉🏻 https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review] Our Newsletter 👉🏻  https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/newsletter [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/newsletter] Episode Breakdown * How Barker adapted his own novella with a million bucks, a handful of drawings, and two directing books he couldn't even check out from the library. * The resurrection scene breakdown — a body torn apart and run backward, plus a "demon heart" that was really just a tube and a guy blowing into it. * Why Julia is the real engine of the movie, and why Clare Higgins gets way too overlooked. * The score that almost was: Coil's rejected version vs. Christopher Young's gothic "sick romance" sound. The Dead Letter Want more horror in your inbox? The Dead Letter is our free newsletter companion to the podcast, and it's stuffed with five sections every issue: Anatomy of a Scene, Cutting Room Floor, Casting Shadows, Whispers in the Dark, and Summoning Soon. It's where we go deeper on the movies, the makers, and the weird stuff we couldn't fit into the episode. Come hang out with us there. That's a wrap on Hellraiser — go solve the box responsibly, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave us a review if we earned it this week. As Jessica always says: "And the best part it's absolutely Free, and you can cancel anytime you want if you don't like it." Support the show [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile] EPISODES FM - _https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity [https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity] Swift - https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi [https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi] Facebook Group Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263899825130479 Blue Sky - https://bsky.app/profile/thethingaboutfilms.bsky.social Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethingaboutfilms/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=TheTHINGaboutFilms&t=1754605765379 X - https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21 [https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21]

|Scream 7: The Franchise Almost Didn't Survive Its Own Chaos

Send Us Your Scares! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520560/fan_mail/new] Scream 7 almost didn't exist. Fired leads, a resigned director, death threats, and an emergency nine-week rewrite later and Ghostface was back. This week, Ambrose and Jessica dig into whether the movie that rose from the ashes actually delivered, or just survived. Write a Review - https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review] Newsletter - https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/newsletter [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/newsletter] Episode Breakdown: * The behind-the-scenes collapse: Melissa Barrera fired, Jenna Ortega out, Christopher Landon gone — all within days of each other * Kevin Williamson's emergency return and what he built around Neve Campbell as a mother protecting her kids * The sound design doing heavy lifting — that bar kitchen scene with just a fridge hum and footsteps is old-school terrifying * The deepfake mechanic: timely and clever in theory, but does using A.I. to resurrect Dewey and Stu break the rules of the game? * The dual-killer reveal and why it feels like two totally different movies stitched together * Final rating: a jointly agreed three and a half coffins out of five Want more horror content between episodes? The Dead Letter is a free monthly horror newsletter that goes deeper on everything we cover. Each issue includes Anatomy of a Scene, Cutting Room Floor, Casting Shadows, Whispers in the Dark, and Summoning Soon. It's the perfect companion if you want more horror in your life. Thanks for listening to The THING About Films. If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave us a review — it genuinely helps us reach more horror fans. We'll be back next Friday with another one, and it'll probably destroy us. "And the best part it's absolutely Free, and you can cancel anytime you want if you don't like it." Support the show [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile] EPISODES FM - _https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity [https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity] Swift - https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi [https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi] Facebook Group Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263899825130479 Blue Sky - https://bsky.app/profile/thethingaboutfilms.bsky.social Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethingaboutfilms/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=TheTHINGaboutFilms&t=1754605765379 X - https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21 [https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21]

|Horror Comedy Is Back — But Can It Survive 2026?

Send Us Your Scares! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520560/fan_mail/new] Can horror comedy actually make a comeback? Or did the internet ruin the spoof movie forever? This week, Ambrose and Jessica go deep on five films — Scary Movie, Shaun of the Dead, Tucker & Dale vs Evil, M3GAN, and the upcoming Scary Movie 6 — to answer one question: what makes a horror comedy actually last? Leave a review 👉🏻 https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review] Newsletter Sign up at https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space [https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space/] Episode Breakdown * They break down how Keenen Ivory Wayans ran two weeks of character rehearsals to make Scary Movie feel like a real slasher underneath all the filth. * The story of how a volunteer zombie army built from a Spaced fan site helped make Shaun of the Dead on just six million dollars. * Tucker & Dale isn't really a slasher parody — it's a movie about class prejudice and how horror films trained us to assume the worst about working class people. * A single TikTok dance cut M3GAN from a hard-R horror movie into a PG-13 cash machine — and both Ambrose and Jessica have feelings about it. The Dead Letter If you want more horror between episodes, The Dead Letter is the free monthly newsletter from TheTHINGaboutFilms. Each issue includes Anatomy of a Scene, Cutting Room Floor, Casting Shadows, Whispers in the Dark, and Summoning Soon. It's horror that goes deeper without the homework.  Sign-off Thanks for hanging out in the dark with us. If you're enjoying the show, subscribe and leave us a review — it really does help. We'll be back next Friday with something that'll probably wreck us emotionally. See you then. "And the best part it's absolutely Free, and you can cancel anytime you want if you don't like it." Support the show [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile] EPISODES FM - _https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity [https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity] Swift - https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi [https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi] Facebook Group Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263899825130479 Blue Sky - https://bsky.app/profile/thethingaboutfilms.bsky.social Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethingaboutfilms/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=TheTHINGaboutFilms&t=1754605765379 X - https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21 [https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21]

|Thir13en Ghosts (2001): The Most Underrated Haunted House?

Send Us Your Scares! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520560/fan_mail/new] This week, Ambrose and Jessica step into Cyrus Kriticos's glass house of horrors to break down Thir13en Ghosts (2001). They tackle the wild Black Zodiac lore, the practical effects masterclass behind those twelve ghosts, and the question that splits horror fans down the middle — is this movie a glorious mess, or a misunderstood cult classic? Leave a review 👉🏻 https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review] Our Newsletter 👉🏻  https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space [https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space] Episode Breakdown * The bisection death scene and the practical body gag that put this movie on every horror top-ten list * Why the Angry Princess, the Jackal, and the Torso are still some of the best ghost designs ever put to film * Matthew Lillard chewing scenery as Dennis vs. Tony Shalhoub's grounded sad dad performance * The grief metaphor hiding under all the glass, gore, and chaos — plus the rumored TV series in the works The Dead Letter Want more horror in your inbox every month? Sign up for The Dead Letter, our free horror newsletter companion to TheTHINGaboutFilms. Each edition features five recurring sections: Anatomy of a Scene, Cutting Room Floor, Casting Shadows, Whispers in the Dark, and Summoning Soon. It's the perfect way to keep the horror conversation going between episodes. Sign up at https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space [https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space/] Sign-off Thanks for hanging out in the crypt with us this week, horror fam. If you dug the episode, hit follow, drop us a rating, and share it with the friend who still won't admit they were terrified of the Jackal as a kid. The Dead Letter newsletter is waiting for you — Jessica, take it home. "And the best part it's absolutely Free, and you can cancel anytime you want if you don't like it." Support the show [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile] EPISODES FM - _https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity [https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity] Swift - https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi [https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi] Facebook Group Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263899825130479 Blue Sky - https://bsky.app/profile/thethingaboutfilms.bsky.social Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethingaboutfilms/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=TheTHINGaboutFilms&t=1754605765379 X - https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21 [https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21]

|Dolly (2025): The Doll-Masked Killer You Can't Unsee

Send Us Your Scares! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520560/fan_mail/new] Ambrose and Jessica head into the woods for Dolly (2025), Rod Blackhurst's nasty backwoods nightmare about a giant masked woman who doesn't want to kill you — she wants to keep you. We break down the brutal cold open, the nursery from hell, and the ending that flips the whole movie on its head. Leave a review 👉🏻 https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review [https://the-thing-about-films.beam.ly/review] Our Newsletter 👉🏻  https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space [https://deadletter-m8dfsqxm.manus.space] Episode Breakdown * Why the opening shovel scene tells you exactly what kind of movie you're in for * The nursery, the crib, and the genuinely unsettling thing Dolly actually wants from Macy * Max the Impaler's performance and how that doll mask does so much heavy lifting * Where the script slips, the Texas Chainsaw shadow it walks in, and that ring shot at the end The Dead Letter 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 Want more horror between episodes? Sign up for our free monthly newsletter, The Dead Letter — the official companion to the podcast. Every issue brings you Anatomy of a Scene, Cutting Room Floor, Casting Shadows, Whispers in the Dark, and Summoning Soon. It's everything we're obsessed with, packed straight into your inbox. Thanks for hanging out in the crypt with us. If you had fun, follow the show, leave us a review, and tell a friend who loves a good doll-mask nightmare. New episodes drop every Friday. "And the best part it's absolutely Free, and you can cancel anytime you want if you don't like it." Support the show [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile] EPISODES FM - _https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity [https://episodes.fm/1809836198?view=apps&sort=popularity] Swift - https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi [https://www.swiftenergy.gg/products/tropicrush?ref=svalxxsi] Facebook Group Page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1263899825130479 Blue Sky - https://bsky.app/profile/thethingaboutfilms.bsky.social Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethingaboutfilms/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=TheTHINGaboutFilms&t=1754605765379 X - https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21 [https://x.com/thingaboutfilms?s=21]