Fear of the Dark

On this episode, Matthew and Stacey talk about the 2020 horror film His House directed by Remi Weekes. The film stars Wunmi Mosaku as Rial and Sope Dirisu as Bol, a South Sudanese couple fleeing to London for asylum, as they find themselves struggling to conform to the pressures of belonging in England while also being haunted by the ghosts of their past. Tune in with us as we discuss historical and personal trauma, anxieties around cultural assimilation, and the function of the haunted house in the film.
Film: His House (Remi Weekes, 2020)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

In this episode, we stave off the zombie apocalypse by heading to the second floor and taking out the staircase... Join us as we talk about George A. Romero's 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, the symbolism of the farmhouse in the 60s, the doomed heroism of our protagonist Ben (played by Duane Jones), and the sociopolitical milieu of the film's release.
Film: Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

"AUTOPSY IN PROGRESS"...
On this episode of Fear of the Dark, Stacey and Matthew chat about Final Destination (2000) in tandem with the newest installment in the franchise, Final Destination Bloodlines (2025). We reminisce a bit on what it was like for us to first see the original, and then we discuss the role of William Bludworth, played by the late Tony Todd, to think about the actor's cinematic history playing "dark" characters, the (dis)embodiment of Blackness, and the personification of Death in the films.
Films: Final Destination (James Wong, 2000) and Final Destination Bloodlines (Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, 2025)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

On this episode, Matthew and Stacey are joined by Rosette Simityan, a fellow UC Davis colleague in the English Department. Join us as we talk about Zoë Kravitz's 2024 psychological thriller, Blink Twice, which stars Naomi Ackie as Frida, a cocktail server, and Channing Tatum as Slater King, a tech CEO who invites Frida and her friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), to his private island. Once there, Frida and Jess start to realize that they and the other women there are trapped in a horrific cycle of brutal abuse at the hands of Slater and his invited male guests. Together we discuss how the film engages with new directions in the purchase of horror and depictions of graphic violence, as well as how racial difference is imagined in the context of memory and experience.
Content warning: Blink Twice contains graphic depictions of sexual violence, abuse, and assault, which may be upsetting for some of our listeners to hear. Please listen with discretion if conversations around these themes might be particularly triggering or disturbing to you.
Film: Blink Twice (Zoë Kravitz, 2024)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited and mastered by Stacey Baran.
 

On this episode of Fear of the Dark, Stacey and Matthew talk about Midsommar, the 2021 broad-daylight horror film directed by Ari Aster that came out six years ago this month. The film stars Florence Pugh as Dani, a young woman who has just tragically lost her immediate family and decides to join her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), and a handful of other doctoral students on an extended stay at a small commune in Sweden over the summer. Join us as we talk about the representations of Black knowledge in academia through the character of Josh (William Jackson Harper) and the ecological horrors of whiteness in the film. (Production note: this episode was recorded in November 2024.)
Film: Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

Do you know the thought experiment of Mary in a black and white room? Join Matthew and Stacey as they discuss Ex Machina, the 2014 sci-fi thriller starring Alicia Vikander as an android named Ava, who is put to the Turing test by a programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) under the watchful supervision of his CEO (Oscar Isaac). We chat about binary gender constructs, aspirations to the heteronormative human, and the film's invocations of the racialized female body.
Film: Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

On this episode, Matthew and Stacey discuss the newest installment in the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus (2024), where a group of human space colonists and one android attempt to escape their planet. Tune in as we talk about the juggling act of horror in this film, from the figure of the Black android to anxieties around monstrous futurity.
Film: Alien: Romulus (Fede Álvarez, 2024)Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

Stacey and Matthew have been pushing too many pencils… On this mini-episode, we talk about the 1987 classic, Predator. Join us as we chat about how music transforms the setting of the film and if the Predator’s “color blindness” might have more than one meaning.
 
Film: Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)
Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

On this episode of Fear of the Dark, Matthew and Stacey talk about the 2005 film The Descent, which follows a group of women who go on a caving trip in Appalachia in honor of one of their friends who has recently passed. We ask ourselves: where does the true horror of this film really lie? Is it with the blind, cryptid crawlers who hunt the women as they search for an escape from the collapsed cave - or in the women themselves?
 
Film: The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005)
Theme Music: “Play the Game” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Dr. Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.

In this mini-episode of Fear of the Dark, Stacey and Matthew follow up on the previous episode with a short conversation on Robert Eggers’ 2024 adaptation of Nosferatu. Join us for a not-so-sympathetic take on this particular rendition of the vampire’s legacy.
 
Film: Nosferatu (Robert Eggers, 2024)
Theme Music: “Play the Game” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror, hosted by Dr. Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. Episode edited by Matthew Vernon. Mixdown and mastering by Stacey Baran.