Today’s Flop Story!

We’ve soft-launched it via some of our socials, but here’s a fuller, more official announcement — November will me MOVEMBER at The Flop House, “when we bring you mo(re)!” Instead of our usual schedule of 2 bad movie discussion “main” episodes, alternating with 2 minis, we’ll be doing FOUR main episodes, featuring three beloved returning guests and one exciting newbie! So if you’re one of those WEIRDOS who skip the minis, we apologize for gunking up your phone with an embarrassment of extra content! Is this a lot for us to do in a month when we’ll also be doing a FlopTV and two Chicago live shows? Yes! Yes it is!

Goodbye Shocktober 2025

But before Movember comes, Shocktober must come to an end. This year I’ve seen fewer horror movies than usual. Maybe it’s because my schedule has been packed (among other things, this week I’m seeing two concerts because Audrey and I both gave one another birthday gifts of music tickets that wound up being on the exact same week in October, like the world’s most boring, no-stakes, no-twist version of Gift of the Magi). Maybe it’s just because, frankly, the world seems scary enough right now AND I’m having a hard time doing a lot of the things that usually bring me joy. But I have made room for some seasonal thrills , so I thought it would be fun to run down what I’ve seen, horror-wise, collected in a few categories.

Toolbox Murders (2004), Rogue, May — These are all included in the “2000s Horror” collection currently on the Criterion Channel. May is the only one I’d see before, and it’s definitely the gem of these three.

V/H/S Halloween - I’m not a fan of the V/H/S anthology series, yet somehow I check it out every year. This time I just watched two of the buzziest segments — Fun Size and Kidprint. I found Fun Size too irritatingly RANDOM LOL, but Kidprint, by critical darling director Alex Ross Perry, was a genuine chiller.

The Black Room, The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein - Two oddball rep screenings. I saw the first at Nitehawk Williamsburg, as part of “The Deuce” screening series, devoted to movies that used to play at old Times Square/42nd Street theaters, and the seond as part of Alamo’s long-running “Weird Wednesdays.” The Black Room starts out as a genuinely sleazy bit of soft (but not that soft) erotica, about a couple half-aroused/half-betrayed by cheating on one another; then morphs into a modern vampire take. Sordid, but great if you like sordid. The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein is a Jess Franco picture, and I’ve never totally been able to get into his brand of horror Euro-smut (see also Jean Rollin), but I can’t hate any picture where Dr. Frankenstein gets killed in the opening scene, and then spends the rest of the movie getting resurrected every 20 minutes or so to be quizzed about his murderer.

Shrunken Heads - Got to this one via the Pure Cinema podcast. Leave it to Full Moon to make a movie where three child protagonists get murdered and turned into superpowered shrunken heads and have the tone be “jaunty adventure.” Another Full Moon feature will show up later!

Vampires - In early October, I went with a group of friends to see John Carpenter play music from his movies and original albums, and I threw on Vampires (currently available in Criterion’s other big Halloween collection “Directed by John Carpenter”) to put me in the mood. It’s not anywhere near one of his best (and is unfortunately misogynistic and homophobic), but it IS one of his that I haven’t seen a billion times already, so I gave it a spin.

Hideaway, Head of the Family, Witch Story, MYSTERY MOVIE - Four movies from Halloween marathons. The first two come from my own double feature — Hideaway is primo supernatural serial killer schlock, adapted from Dean Koontz and directed by the guy who made Lawnmower Man and Virtuosity. And, of course, Flop House listeners know what happens when you upset the head! The others were screened by my pals Tom, Erin, and Scott who always do in-person and streaming marathons during the scary season. I can’t reveal the MYSTERY MOVIE because it’s also a surprise part of their upcoming stream, but I can log Witch Story, a very zany Italian/American co-production. If you’ve ever wanted to see a possessed woman seduce a slob with slices of salami, this is the picture for you.

Looking at all these titles assembled together… okay, I still watched a lot of horror. Twelve movies, to be exact, with about a third of October still left, as of this writing. Clearly the movie nerd version of “fewer horror movies than usual” is still absurdly high.

But, hey. It’s turned me into the podcast personality you all know and tolerate. Happy Halloween to all of you beautiful people. Let’s hope next year’s scary shit stays onscreen, where it belongs.

Next on the Podcast

10/25 - Star of the Show Hallie Haglund returns to discuss our second and final Shocktober selection of 2025, UNTIL DAWN, based (very loosely) on the video game of the same name.

11/1 - Elliott extends Shocktober for one more day, with a mini about cinematic Halloween costumes. And how’s this for a Halloween treat? Hallie stuck around to help us judge which costumes are best!

Plugging Away

Late show tickets are still available to see The Flop House LIVE IN CHICAGO on November 16, where we’ll be discussing the Jim Belushi buddy-cop-dog comedy K-9!

One week from today, on November 1, we’ll be discussing our 1980’s selection for this season of FlopTV — XANADU! We hope you can join us! Individual tickets and season passes are both available!

Max Fun members should CHECK THE BONUS FEED for part three of “SlopTales,” the role playing adventure game-mastered by Stuart and starring Dan, Elliott, and Zhubin Parang as the hapless staff of a seaside restaurant during the busy summer season! This installment wraps up this SlopTales arc, but we’ll have three more for you over the next months!

Elliott was just on Marvel by the Month, discussing Marvel’s Star Wars series. And if you like hearing him talk comics, check out his recent appearances on The Comics Canon, discussing Will Eisner’s A Contract with God, and on Screw It, Let’s Talk About Comics, discussing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s a regular Kalan comics cavalcade! But if you’re interested in another kind of “funny book,” you can preorder Elliott’s book, Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense.

Stuart paints Warhammer models/chats with viewers most Fridays on his Twitch channel.

Dan’s personal newsletter, Dan McCoy’s Special Interests comes out every non-Flop Secrets week, and the horror short story newsletter he helps edit, Deathbed, has new installments every Monday.

You Made it to the End!

Here’s Stuart, as happy as he’s ever been.