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In this episode, we discuss Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, Emily Turner’s documentary about Aileen Wuornos, a rare, hands-on female serial killer whose life is steeped in trauma, exploitation, and state violence. We discuss our views on the death penalty and then unpack whether Aileen’s childhood abandonment, sexual abuse, homelessness, and years of sex work made her into a "monster”. We discuss nature vs nurture, the deeper horror of the targeting of sex workers; misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric, and the way prosecutors, cops, lawyers, and her “adoptive” mother profited from Aileen's story.

Content & Spoiler Warning:

This episode includes discussion of capital punishment, sexual assault, sex work, misogyny, child abuse and neglect, mental illness, suicide, corruption, homophobia, and of course murder and serial killers in general. We also spoil this documentary.

Palate cleanser:

The films of Rob Reiner, whose work, such as The Princess Bride, Stand by Me, This is Spinal Tap, and When Harry Met Sally has shaped our cinematic lives almost as much as Star Wars.

Other recommendations:

Other media covering Aileen Wuornos includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary Selling of a Serial Killer, the Oscar-winning film Monster starring Charlize Theron, the podcast the Last Podcast on the Left (Aileen Wuornos two-parter), the podcast Women and Crime (criminology professors discuss female offenders), and My Favorite Murder (episode 96).

Dateline & 13 Alibis – for exploration of wrongful prosecutions

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog – ongoing recommendation if you want to learn more about the impact of childhood trauma.

S-Town (podcast) – a portrait of a damaged, brilliant man

Shiny Happy People and The Righteous Gemstones – to explore evangelical excess and hypocrisy.

The Crucible – for witch-hunt logic, moral absolutism, and judges who sound a lot like Aileen’s.

Betrayal (podcast, not the documentary) – a woman uncovering that her teacher husband was abusing students.

Our past episodes on Spotlight and Catch and Kill for the horrific impact of sexual abuse.

Dexter - a unique take on a Florida serial killer

Sons of Anarchy for biker bars similar to the Last Resort, where Aileen was arrested.

Making a Murderer for troubling confessions.

My Favorite Murder episode 145 on the McMartin pre-school

The Green Mile - both the book and the movie for a riveting story of death row inmates

Super Troopers for highway cops with prominent moustaches.

Homework for next episode:

Watch: Hereditary (2018)

Next up, we pivot from true crime back to horror cinema with Ari Aster’s Hereditary. What's the connection? Shocking violence on a highway. You might want to close your eyes around 33 and a half minutes.

And coming up on a future episode, start reading Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for the podcast cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and Harry Kidd for the opening and closing score (Instagram: @harryjkidd, Spotify).

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In this episode, we discuss Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeous and gothic adaptation of Frankenstein, an epic, operatic exploration of creation, obsession, abandonment, and the horror of living after being rejected by the world. We discuss our own life goals and the hollowness that can follow achieving your greatest ambition, before diving into this reimagining of Mary Shelley’s ground-breaking novel. We unpack the cinematic devices, symbolism, use of light and colour, as well as each character and what motivates them. We explore themes of immortality as a curse, intergenerational trauma, scientific overreach, colonialism, class violence, and what happens when society decides someone is a monster.

Content & Spoiler Warning:

We spoil Frankenstein (the novel and film), and the film and our dicussion has body horror, animal death (wolves), child abuse, death during childbirth, toxic father–son relationships, and corpse desecration.

Palate cleanser:

Star Wars (Original Trilogy) – Caroline is revisiting the entire Star Wars universe in timeline order, and despite some CGI should never have happened, these movies hold up.

Recommendations:

• Little Shop of Horrors – mad science, creation, and unintended consequences
• My Cousin Vinny – for unexpected tonal callbacks
• Marvel films (Frankenstein connects to Captain America, Ultron, and Hulk lore)
• Inglourious Basterds, Indiana Jones, The Sound of Music – confronting Nazi violence and persecution
• Death Becomes Her and Vampire lore– immortality is its own horror
• Alice in Wonderland and Beetlejuice – embracing the strange and unusual
• Little Women (2019) – the dance scenes are similar.
• Dr. Death (podcast) – psychotic doctors and medical hubris
• Book Cheat (podcast) – a comic shortcut to classic literature
• Epistolary horror: Dracula, Carrie
• “The Monkey’s Paw” – the danger of subverting death
• Jurassic Park, Terminator, M3GAN, Oppenheimer, Edward Scissorhands – losing control of creation
• Guillermo del Toro’s other works: Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water, Pinocchio, Hellboy, Blade II

Homework:

Watch Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers (Netflix)
A documentary that continues exploring how society punishes those it deems monstrous.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for the podcast cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and Harry Kidd for the opening and closing score (Instagram: @harryjkidd, Spotify).

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In this Christmas special of Drawn To Darkness, we swap favourite festive films (from Die Hard and It’s a Wonderful Life to The Muppet Christmas Carol and Scrooged) before diving into Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. We’ll discuss the plot and characters (Scrooge, Marley, the three spirits, Fezziwig, Tiny Tim, Fred), unpack life in Victorian London with its filth, disease, child labour, workhouses, debtor’s prisons and ghost-obsessed spiritualism, and trace how Dickens wrote this “ghostly little book” as a sledgehammer blow against capitalism, greed and cruelty. Along the way we’ll call out Dickens’ own contradictions (social critic, but a terrible husband), compare Bob Cratchit’s wages to modern minimum wage debates, talk through the horror of dying unmourned and unnoticed, and discuss whether Ignorance is more dangerous than Want.

Content & Spoiler Warning:

This episode includes spoilers for A Christmas Carol (book and major adaptations), and discussion of child death, Victorian poverty and disease, eternal damnation, bad bosses and workplace exploitation, and references to body parts/sexual topics.

Palate Cleanser:

The Office – “Dinner Party” (US) and Thor: Ragnarok

Recommendations:

Muppet Christmas Carol, Scrooged – Bill Murray’s ‘80s TV-exec Scrooge, Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Marley's door-knocker and Scrooge’s hellfire grave are seared into our brains)

Other Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life and Elf because like Scrooge, Walter Hobbes needs some Christmas spirit.

Newsies – A musical that reflects Dickens’ views on child labor.

Parasite – For a contemporary look at the horrors of the class divide.

The Castle – Australian working class family cult favourite that’s giving Bob Cratchit.

Home for the Holidays – Caroline’s favourite holiday movie with a cast including Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Dylan McDermott, and Claire Danes

Christmas specials! Look up your favourite 80s or 90s TV show and find their Christmas special (Caroline recommends Roseanne & 90210)

The Haunting of Bly Manor – For “ghost stories at Christmas” vibes

Time Bandits (TV) – jokes about how gross and diseased Victorian London was

Hugh Grant’s narration of A Christmas Carol (though his soothing voice might put you to sleep) which dovetails with Dickens’ descriptions of cholera-era filth.

The Signalman –A lesser-known Dickens ghost story

The Phantom Tollbooth – Audiobook family favourite for Caroline

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl – Structurally similar morality lessons

The podcast Scared To Death –annual Christmas readings of classic ghost stories,

Dark Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal -if you want to know more about Dickens’ fascination with spiritualism and the paranormal.

Black Mirror "White Christmas” – another Christmas special featuring eternal torment

Homework:

Watch: Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro) on Netflix.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and to Harry Kidd for our opening score (Instagram: @harryjkidd)

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In this episode we unpack the history and ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972), guided by Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall’s reporting in You’re Wrong About. We recount how U.S. Public Health Service researchers recruited 600 Black men in Macon County, Alabama under the promise of treatment for “bad blood,” then withheld effective care, even after penicillin became a simple cure, so they could watch the disease progress. We explore why the study was “bad science” as well as immoral; the racist assumptions baked into its design (e.g., claims that syphilis affects Black bodies differently); and why it kept running long after penicillin was a viable option because the participants as “more valuable” as cadavers).

Content & Spoiler Warning:

This episode includes spoilers for the You’re Wrong About two-parter on the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and discussion of: medical racism, eugenics, unethical human experimentation, government misconduct, venereal disease symptoms and treatment (e.g., spinal taps, mercury “rubs”), lynchings, sterilisation without consent, infection of prisoners, intergenerational trauma, and mental-health impacts.

Palate Cleanser

Max Rebo Productions (TikTok): Classic Star Wars toys lip-sync famous ‘90s movie scenes (Karate Kid, Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny). Pure delight between heavy topics.

Recommendations:
Podcasts & Episodes

• You’re Wrong About — Tuskegee two-parter; plus episodes on Anita Hill, eugenics, Reagan/Trump, DARE, Satanic Panic/D&D.
• Distrust & Disparities — Two-parter on Tuskegee and broader medical inequities.
• Black History for White People — Discussion including hospital perspectives.
• 1619 — “How the Bad Blood Started.”
• The Breakdown (Sean King) — Context for vaccine hesitancy vs. Tuskegee.
• This Podcast Will Kill You — Syphilis overview and history.
• The Dollop — Syphilis episode (history).
• American Scandal (Wondery) — Tuskegee season (Ep. 1 free).
• Sounds Like a Cult — Humanitarian/aid-adjacent critique.
• Seeing White - Episodes 1 & 2

Books & Articles:

• Medical Apartheid — On systemic medical exploitation and its legacy.
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
• Works by Dale Huey and Ta Nehisi Coates

Films & TV:

• The Fall of the House of Usher (Mike Flanagan) — Sackler-like family and “bad drugs.”
• Westworld — How people treat “less-than-human” beings.
• Stranger Things — Dr. Brenner as “greater good” rationaliser.
• The Pitt — Representation matters in diagnosis (sickle cell storyline).
• Sinners (set in Mississippi sharecropping milieu) and Weapons. Both flagged for future episodes for sure!

Contacts:

• Makeda Pennycooke, Life Coach & Chance Strategist for anti-racism coaching makeda@makedapennycooke.com

Homework:
Watch: Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro) on Netflix to explore the ethics of creation. and it includes a syphilis line: “A night with Venus, a lifetime with mercury.”

But before that, it’s our Christmas special! So read, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and to Harry Kidd for our opening score (Instagram: @harryjkidd)

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Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime. In this episode, we head deep into the peeling wallpaper, raccoon-infested attic, rotting walls and shingles, and extraordinary psychology of Grey Gardens, the 1975 direct-cinema documentary that follows Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, two formerly glamorous socialites now living in overwhelming decay and filth in their once-grand Hamptons estate. We unpack the house as gothic horror, Little Edie’s charm, yearning, and self-loathing (as well as her fabulous head scarves), Big Edie’s pride in her aristocratic past, the mother daughter dynamic, and then men who didn’t help (at least Jackie Kennedy Onassis stepped in). We discuss the film’s reputation as a masterpiece, the tension between fascination and voyeurism and its connection to contemporary reality TV such as Hoarders.

Content & Spoiler Warning

In addition to spoilers, this episode contains discussion of animal neglect and unsanitary living conditions, including cat faeces, raccoons, fleas, and hoarding, Toxic mother–daughter relationships, psychological distress, Isolation, mental health concerns, and hints of past trauma

Palate Cleanser

TikTok trend of people strolling through HomeGoods and dramatically “discovering” absurdly specific décor items (like a “bird on a golden twig” or a “portrait of an elephant in a bathtub, but just the butt”). Just for fun.

All the Star Wars, including Rebels

The Whimsical Muse on Threads, an account full of cozy, bookish, soft-rain-in-Edinburgh energy to restore your faith in the world.

Recommendations:

Films & TV:

• Grey Gardens (2009) — The Drew Barrymore/Jessica Lange dramatization
• Documentary Now! — “Sandy Passage” — Bill Hader and Fred Armisen’s hilarious Grey Gardens parody
• Gimme Shelter — Another documentary by the Maysles Brothers
• American Horror Story: Season 1— For claustrophobic house-based dread
• Feud: Capote v. the Swans — For more on high-society mythology (creative non-fiction)
• Arrested Development and Schitt’s Creek— Wealthy family, disastrous decline, narcissistic mother: say no more
• The Haunting of Hill House — For more gothic “dancing alone in an empty house”

Books & Literary Connections

• The Marble Fawn of Grey Gardens by Jerry Torre and the novel by Nathanial Hawthorne
• The Fall of the House of Usher (Edgar Allan Poe)
• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• A Raisin in the Sun & Langston Hughes’ “Harlem” (what happens to a dream deferred?)
• The Great Gatsby for Gilded Age illusions

Other Fascinating Rabbit Holes

• The Winchester Mystery House — Another sprawling home built on grief, ghosts, and possible madness

Homework Assignment:

Caroline is taking us into the horrors of scientific research gone wrong. Listen to the two-part “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment” series from the podcast You’re Wrong About. We’ll explore the real-life horror of government-sanctioned cruelty, medical racism, and scientific exploitation.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and to Harry Kidd for our opening score (Instagram: @harryjkidd)

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In this extra-long deep dive, we unpack the entire “epic” and “metal” Stranger Things Season 4. This season is a tonal shift from goosebumps to true horror. We’ll explore Vecna/Henry Creel/001, Max’s near-death escape thanks to Kate Bush, as well as the way the show blends horror, sci-fi, action, and 80s nostalgia. We discuss each character’s best moments and arc, as well as our favourite scenes, the Russian prison plotline, Eddie’s heroism, our hopes and dreams for Season 5, and the show’s major themes: grief, depression, friendship, shame and sacrifice.

Spoiler + Content Warning:

Torture, Body horror, including eye mutilation, broken bones, Violence against teenagers, Psychological distress, including depression, suicidal ideation, and severe bullying. A tortured bunny, Child abuse, cult hysteria, and vigilante violence.

*Always check Does the Dog Die? before viewing if you have specific triggers or phobias.

Palette Cleanser

• Nobody Wants This (Netflix) – Caroline’s romcom pick featuring Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) and Kristen Bell.
• Go touch grass and go camping

Other Recommendations

• Thunderbirds because David Harbour is in it.
• Fantastic Four and A Quiet Place day One to see Eddie!
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves for a fun fantasy adventure
• Men in Black, evoked by the “Weekly Watcher” newspaper reference.
• Dick – Watergate references.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Girl, Interrupted for depictions of institutionalisation paralleling Eleven’s confinement.
• The Exorcist – possession and floating
• Weeds becauseof Matthew Modine (Papa)
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler – dystopian, psychological, and thematically similar.
• The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub because Lucas is reading it to Max in the final scene.
• Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Piranesi for parallel-realm narratives.
• Halloween because Vecna’s disappearance echoes Michael Myers
• The Ring – Max’s countdown mirrors the “seven days” curse.
• NeverEnding Story, Silence of the Lambs, Nightmare on Elm Street, Jurassic Park, Carrie, It, and any classic Spielberg – all noted as season influences or direct references.
• Guide to the Unknown – a podcast about real-world Stranger Things-style lore.
• Ghosts in the Burbs – especially early episodes exploring suburban darkness.
• 10 Cloverfield Lane – evoked by bunker/silo scenes.
• The Crucible, Frankenstein, and I Am Legend (novel) – literary parallels to hysteria, monstrosity, and alternate worlds.
• You’re Wrong About – Dungeons & Dragons episode – for understanding Satanic Panic context.
• Strange Indeed podcast – episode-by-episode Stranger Things breakdown.
• Mean Girls – because Angela is the meanest girl.
• Parks and Recreation – for the town hall scene reference.

Homework:

• Grey Gardens (1975) – the documentary about Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s eccentric aunts living in a decaying manor, chosen because of the “crumbling Vecna manor vibes.”

Thanks for listening and to the Duffer brothers, don't you dare lay a hand on Steve or Dustin!

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and to Harry Kidd for our opening score (Instagram: @harryjkidd)

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Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime. In this episode, we discuss Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, the Netflix documentary about the disappearance of Elisa Lam, the 21-year-old Canadian traveller whose tragic death in a Los Angeles hotel sparked global obsession, online conspiracy, and some of the strangest internet theories you've ever heard. We unpack the chilling elevator footage, the Cecil’s cursed history, the disturbing overlap of mental illness and mythmaking, and the dark side of web sleuthing. Along the way, expect tangents about the Bermuda Triangle, Richard Ramirez, and the stomach-churning horror of drinking corpse water.

Spoiler + Content Warning:

This episode covers the entire case of Elisa Lam and the full Netflix documentary, The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

We discuss:

• Death, suicide, and mental illness (including bipolar disorder and psychosis)
• Violence against women and sex workers
• Murder and suicidal ideation
• Drowning and body discovery
• Serial killers, substance abuse, and unsafe accommodation

We also spoil Dark Water (2002). You've been warned.

Palate Cleanser:

• Only Murders in the Building – because haunted hotels are more fun with Selena Gomez.
• Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend – Elisa went to see Conan and you should too if you want to laugh. Start with the episode featuring My Favorite Murder’s Karen and Georgia and try any episode featuring John Mulaney or Bill Hader.
• We Don’t Wanna Grow Up – a nostalgia trip through 90s pop culture to scrub your brain clean after all that elevator footage.
• Peacemaker – superheroes, but not for kids.
• Arrested Development - because Ron Howard produced this documentary.

Other Recommendations:

• Date with Dateline - for reimagineactments.
• Last Podcast on the Left's episode on Richard Ramirez (if you can handle true crime with irreverence)
• Little Shop of Horrors - skid row!
• Mulholland Drive for a very creepy movie that's set in LA
• The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon (a pool with a dark history).
• The Shining – the ultimate haunted hotel and one of Annie’s all-time favourite novels.
• Room 1408 – John Cusack + hotel horror = perfect insomnia companion.
• The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James – eerie mysteries and ghosts with unfinished business.
• The Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (Netflix) – Richard Ramirez’s story, from his Cecil Hotel connection to his capture.
• Urban Legend (1998) – campy 90s horror with a killer opening scene
• Scared to Death podcast – especially the episode on The Elevator Game, the urban legend some think Elisa Lam was playing.

Homework

Next episode, we’re pivoting from real-life tragedy to supernatural nostalgia: Season 4 of Stranger Things.

Rewatch before November 26th and get ready to talk Vecna, trauma, and small-town horror. And don’t worry — The Shining is coming one of these days.

Thanks for joining us on this descent into LA’s most cursed building. And remember, if your shower water runs black, maybe skip brushing your teeth. And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t play the elevator game!

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Do you like scary movies? We do! In this episode of Drawn to Darkness, we discuss Wes Craven’s Scream, the self-aware slasher that revived the genre and was a gateway to loving horror movies for so many of us.

From Drew Barrymore’s unforgettable 12-minute opener to the Woodsboro house party, we explore how the film subverted horror tropes, dissect Sydney Prescott’s role as trauma survivor and feminist final girl icon, and argue why Matthew Lillard’s Stu might just be the MVP of the movie.

Expect nostalgia and laughter, as we talk killer fun facts, iconic lines (“I'll be right back!”), and the twist of the Ghostface reveal. We also dig into the film’s darker undercurrents: grief, media sensationalism, and domestic partner abuse.

Content & Spoiler Warning:
This episode contains discussion of graphic violence, murder, and domestic trauma. It also includes spoilers for Scream (1996) and references to other horror classics.

Palate Cleanser

Annie’s cure for all that blood and guts? Dogs—lots of dogs. Caroline’s? A TikTok handle called The Scenic Pickle, which features a pickle chilling in nature to ’90s grunge tracks. Absurd, yet strangely soothing.

Recommendations

Films & TV:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) — the original film
• The Craft — another ’90s cult classic with supernatural flair
• Ever After — for a softer Drew Barrymore escape
• Cabin in the Woods and Tucker & Dale vs Evil — for brilliant horror satire
• Scary Movie because obviously.
• Scream sequels (2, 3, 4, and 5)
• Cruel Intentions
• Halloween H2O and I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, The Faculty, Disturbing Behaviour for more nostalgic ’90s teen slashers
• Psycho — for the original early-death shocker
• Party of Five — for your Neve Campbell nostalgia
• Dawson's Creek - same writer Kevin Williamson!
• The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
• Faculty of Horror podcast — for those who like their slasher talk scholarly
• Mean Girls — because, let’s be honest, Gail Weathers is a mean girl.

Homework Assignment

Before our next episode, watch “The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel”. We’ll be examining the true-crime and media parallels that connect this haunting documentary to Rosemary’s Baby.

After that, Stranger Things Season 4, where bad Billies, horror homage, and moral panic all return in full force.

So follow the rules of a horror movie: Charge your phone, avoid the basement, no Ouija boards, and never say, "I'll be right back."

We’ll see you in two weeks—only on Drawn to Darkness.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and to Harry Kidd for our opening score (Instagram: @harryjkidd)