Still Scared: Talking Children's Horror

We've got a sequel on our hands, spooky kids, and you'd better believe it's disquieting and unsatisfying! Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are back to discuss Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Roald Dahl's hodge-podge of a sequel to his beloved classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hotel employees are eaten alive by aliens! Willy Wonka reveals the chocolate factory contains a hell dimension! And there's some really tedious poems! You'd be forgiven for skipping this book, but have a listen to the episode. A transcript of the episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/69-great-glass-elevator

It's been a while since we've talked about Japanese children's horror, but your co-hosts Adam Whybray and Ren Wednesday are back this month to chat about the anime of The Promised Neverland. Don't go past the fence or through the gate, because this story goes darker faster than you might expect. A transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/68-promised-neverland

Buzz buzz spooky kids, this episode Adam Whybray and Ren Wednesday are discussing some apiary horror from 2022, with Ryan La Sala's The Honeys. Your cohosts chat substances, state senators, and everything sweet and sticky, with a Texture of the Week that is truly skin-crawling. Content warning: violence, body horror, brief mentions of sexual assualt and suicide. A transcript of this episode is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/67-the-honeys

Happy Halloween, spooky kids! In this seventh anniversary episode, Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and special guest Mattie Dogrose chat about a 1980s Disney horror curio that lost the studio a hell of a lot of money: The Black Cauldron! We discuss moderate peril, oracular pigs and the films liberal approach to Welsh language and culture, and Adam and Ren once again alight on a unamious texture. Enjoy! The transcript is a bit delayed on this one, apologies! We will get it up as soon as possible, at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/66-black-cauldron

Sometimes family is a few battered wind-up toys, a dubiously-reformed rat, and some birds you've persuaded not to eat you. In this episode Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and special guest Stuart Young discuss The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban, published in 1967, and the animated film released in 1977. Body Horror + Philosopy = Jokes? Join Ren, Adam and Stuart for a discussion of conciousness itself, the last visible slush puppy, and of course, extended parodies of Samuel Beckett's Endgame. A transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/65-mouseandhischild

In this off the cuff, spur of the moment, spontaneous and unresearched bonus episode, a Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray located in the same georgraphical location entertain you with a book: Madness at the Mall, the 36th installment in M.D. Spenser's Shivers series. No transcript for this one, but normal service will be resumed shortly! Content notes: A cat gets killed!

Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are back with their discussion of part two of the Goosebumps TV series from 2023, and they won't be satisfied until they get their puppet carnival! This is a Slappy-centric set of episodes, covering the territiory of Night of the Living Dummy, Night of the Living Dummy Two, the lesser known mud-monster episode You Can't Scare Me, and purportedly Welcome to Horrorland, though Ren and Adam were unconvinced. Digressions include teaching Shakespeare with puppets, robot wars and the suitability of an angsty teen listening to The Proclaimers. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/63-goosebumpsparttwo

Hello millennnials, zoomers and sundry other generations to look out for, and welcome to the Goosebumps of 2023! In this nostalgia-defying episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray talk about the first half of the reinvented Goosebumps series for Disney Plus, covering Say Cheese and Die, The Haunted Mask, The Cuckoo Clock of Doom, Go Eat Worms and Reader Beware. Digressions include vegan veal, Mr Blobby and immersive theatre, and Adam puts in a sincere recocmmendation for the 1996 episode of The Haunted Mask. Content note for brief discussion of a suicide plotline at the one hour mark. A full transcript of this episode is availabe at: goosebumps-2023

In this bonus episode, Adam Whybray interviews Lauren Stephenson and Robert Edgar, two of the editors of the recent anthology Horrifying Children: Hauntology and the Legacy of Children's Television, published by Bloomsbury. They chat about anologue horror, public information films and intent vs effect in horror, as well as subversive queer interpretations of the Garbage Pail Kids. The transcript for the episode is available here: horrifying-children

Hail, O eaters of Toadstools! Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are back with returning guest and standing-stone correspondent Ali to talk about Alan Garner's debut novel from 1960, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen. This episode may venture further into fantasy than usual, but there's still plenty of horror to get your teeth into, with swarms of svarts, skin mittens, and of course, caves. Plus, Ren feels so guilty about their lacklustre watching of Casper that their notes for this episode include archival research. Note: We had to re-record the first fifteen minutes of the episode so there's a few slight oddnesses at the beginning, but it settles down :)

Happy festives, spooky kids! Ren's brain is fully on holiday already for this episode about the 1995 mixed live-action and CGI film Casper, directed by Brad Silberling, and perhaps more pertinently, set decorated by Rosemary Brandenburg. In this not particularly thorough episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray discuss the mochi-like texture of Casper, the career trajectory of Eric Idle, and of course, the fish bannister. And as a bonus, Adam gets a computer to sing a song about textures. Transcript is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/59-casper

Hello and happy halloween spooky kids! For this sixth anniversarry (!) episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are joined by special guest Ailish Brassil to talk about three different filmic adaptations of Disney's Haunted Mansion ride. Excpect the classic elements of comedy tombstones, extending corridors and sinister butlers - as well as the screaming goats, ghost winks and arachnaphobia unique to each adaptation. It's chaotic! But that's haunted mansions for you. Content note: Brief references to suicide in the story descriptions. A transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/58-haunted-mansions

In this episode Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray go back to Ren's childhood to talk about a dark comedy: Angela and Diabola by Lynne Reid Banks. A different twist on the Omen trope, this book gives the evil child a twin of corresponding pure goodness, and a couple of long-suffering parents who do their best for their increasingly supernatural offspring. Indulge in the allure of evil with us, spooky kids, but please don't lock any small children in cages. A transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/57-angelaanddiabola

Don't go chipping any dolls out of the plaster in your cellar, creepy kids, or open any ouija board apps! And definitely don't go and hunt your woebegotten cousin's ghost on a rainy Scottish island! It's not worth it! In this episode Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray discuss the 2015 Young Adult novel Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell, a grisly book about creepy dolls and the people they torment. Digressions include ghost hunting, bat detecting and late-era Simpsons. Content note: This book contains strong violence that we outline, injury details and a suicide mention. The transcript is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/56-frozencharlotte

Enter into the turnip-filled darkness this episode, as Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray discuss Robert Westall's Carnegie medal winning 1981 novel, The Scarecrows. Or, more accurately: The Very Angry Young Man and The Scarecrows That Represented His Anger. It's chewy, it's problematic, it's really frickin' weird and the scarecrows don't turn up until the end - have a listen and see what we made of it! Content notes: interpersonal violence, unhappy family dynamics, rage. Transcipt and shownotes are availble here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/55-thescarecrows

Buzz buzz, creepy kids, today Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are tackling a stack of short stories by Roald Dahl, focussing on his collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar And Six More. In this episode they discuss the horror of boarding schools, make predictions about which stories Wes Anderson is likely to adapt, and Ren becomes overwhelmed with mirth at Joyce Carol Oates' tweets about skeletons. Transcript (and Ren's Texture of the Week that they forgot to say in the episode) is at this link: https://stillscared.podigee.io/54-henrysugar Content note: Our discussion of the story The Swan discusses bullying between kids at some length.

Hello creepy kids! Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are back again to discuss the Joe Dante film The Hole (2009), not to be confused with The Hole (2001), which makes much less use of its titular hole. In this lemon-and-ginger tea powered episode, your cohosts discuss skewed suburban aesthetics, creepy theme parks and scrunkly jester voices, and as a special treat go on an extended digression about Las Vegas rock band, The Killers. Content for this episode, the latter half of the film deals with issues of physical domestic abuse. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/53-thehole

In this warty-textured episode, Adam and Ren are joined by returning guest Willow to talk about two books by Susan Gates: Revenge of the Toffee Monster and to a slightly lesser extent, Killer Mushrooms Ate My Gran. In this wide-ranging episode, this gang of 90s kids chat about the Millennium Dome, cordyceps and the origins of toffee, and are joined by an extra special coconut-headed guest for Texture of the Week. The transcript of this episode is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/52-toffee-monster

Happy new year, spooky kids, and welcome to our episode on Wendell & Wild (2022), in which Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray gawp at beautiful stop-motion and wrangle unruly plot into submission. Featuring textural interruptions, a squirm of worms and the ultimate MacGuffin, this episode is one for the goths and the freaks and the sincere appreciators of viruoso animation. The transcript is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/51-wendellandwild

Welcome back, spooky kids! In this end-of-the-year episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are talking about a suitably wintery ghost story - Moondial by Helen Cresswell. Impressionistic, atmospheric and philosophical, Moondial is a book rich in language and ideas, and in this episode your co-hosts have a tussle with conceptions of time and ghosthood, as well as sharing a rare unanimous Texture of the Week. The transcript is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/50-moondial-book

In this episode, Still Scared finally venture into the genre of video games! In this round-up episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray chat about children's horror in games over the last thirty years, contemplate the inherent eerieness of early 3D, and do a quick deep-dive into Psy High, a supernatural mystery text game from 2014. A transcript of the episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/49-horror-games

In this episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray finally dive in to Creeped Out season two, from back in 2019. Exploring this collection of curious tales, they detour into creepypastas and garmonbozia, and discuss the importance of checking the reviews to see if an app will steal your face. As full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/48-creepedout-seasontwo

In this episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray talk about two books by English writer Nicholas Fisk - Grinny from 1974 and Monster Maker from 1979. In this episode, your brave and bionic co-hosts chat about slurks and ultragorgons, wimshursts machines and UFOs and ask the question: what kind of English family have their own swimming pool??

In today's episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are reconnecting with the modern era of children's horror, to discuss Netflix's 2021 film Nightbooks, which they think is alright! Ren and Adam chat intergenerational horror, squeecore and gunge, and of course, reveal their favourite textures from the film in the Texture of the Week segment.

In this episode, Still Scared tackle one of the heavy-hitters of children's horror: Watership Down! Ren and Adam are very excited to be joined by Catherine Lester, an academic who has published a book on children's horror films and is editing a forthcoming collection on Watership Down, and is consequently way over-qualified for the podcast! Together they talk about defining children's hororr as a genre, Watership Down's place in animation history and of course, take a break to discuss some textures.

In this episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray welcome in a new year of children's horror with Wilder Girls, a Young Adult novel by Rory Power, from 2019 (but not before going on a diversion about forgotten children's TV oddity Whizziwig). Topics include The Blob, Playstation 2-era Japanese survival horror games and body horror, and Ren experiences a monent of visceral terror at the idea of attending a boarding school. Content note: -Extract with grisly body horror. - Covid chat.

In this casual, end of the year episode your co-hosts Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray chat about two short films from early in the careers of Tim Burton and Henry Selick, respectively Hansel and Gretel from 1983, and Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions from 1991. Topics include the candy equivalent of offal, curious oranges, and cookie-cutter shuriken, and your co-hosts once again apolgoise for their incredibly erratic recording schedule but thank you all for listening anyway!

Get settled in, spooky kids, because we're going on a trek across the desert wasteland into the wild and winding world of Kazu Umezu's epic manga The Drifting Classroom (and the even stranger associated film!). In this sprawling episode Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray discuss everything from climate doom to mother issues, with enough body horror, crab-aliens and random senseless death to fill your horror boots. Plus a cameo from 'Chicken George'. This episode contains spoiler for The Drifting Classroom and Fourteen by Kazuo Umezu. Content note: Descriptions of interpersonal violence. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/42-drifting-classroom

Tread carefully, spooky kids, because today Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are discussing one of the most memorably disturbing books of their childhoods' - The Tulip Touch, by Anne Fine, and finding out that as adults... well, it's even darker. We talk about the trend in the '90s for gritty realism in children's books, ambiguous childhood games and prison abolition (yep), and end the episode with some slightly less intense discussion of Anne Fine's later gothic horror children's novel, The Devil Walks. Content warnings: prolonged discussion of child abuse, including csa (which is given an extra warning in the episode before being discussed), and discussion of famous cases of child murder; reference to suicide.

Gather up your tendrils, creepy creatures, and join Adam Whybray and Ren Wednesday in the desaturated '80s for some low-key but charming horror from prolific British author Vivien Alcock. This week we meet spirits, scientists and low-down male chauvinist pigs, and digress about whether you can accuratly identify ghosts with cats. A full transcript is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/40-vivien-alcock

In this episode, your millennial hosts Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray chat about a recent book, Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve (although it's still set in the 90s so don't worry). We discuss queer representation, body horror and imaginary zines, and one of us comes out as a zombie?? Content notes for this episode are family death, bullying, homophobia and bigotry and police violence. You can find the full transcript at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/39-outofsalem

Happy Halloween, spooky kids, and happy three years podcast anniversary to Still Scared! In this episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray grab their oversized props and delve into the fishbowl lensed world of early 90s TV series Eerie Indiana. We chat ever-fresh tupperware, fourth-wall breaking and just how dang adorable Simon is, and of course add some more textures to our podcast vault. Thank you so much to everyone who's listened to the podcast over the last three years, we're still having a lot of fun making it, however slowly! The transcript is available in the show notes at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/38-eerie-indiana

Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are back to discuss the 2006 animated film Monster House and be floored by the progression of time. Talking about a film that has been described as 'Shirely Jackson for kids', your co-hosts discuss concrete entombed skeletons, smelly carpet tongues and digress more times than you can shake a rotten floorboard at. Content note: Some discussion of police violence and racism in the context of recent events and the portrayal of police in this film. If you prefer to read your podcasts, or read along, a full transcript of this episode is available here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/37-monster-house

This time Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are safely ensconced in their respective houses to chat about the 2019 reboot (or possibly sequel?) of The Demon Headmaster. In full-spoiler detail for the 10 episode season we talk resistance and hypnotism, and hypothesise the existence of a super-being who creates Demon Headmasters. And as always, texture fans will be glad to catch the latest instalment of our Texture of the Week feature, this time featuring sparkly holograms. Content notes: Mentions of coronavirus, and allusions to fascist and eugenicist perspectives. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/36-demonheadmaster2019

Well, it's no Return to Oz, but 1980's The Watcher in the Woods is an interesting if flawed curio from Disney's dark-fantasy live-action back-catalogue that hosts Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are keen to dip their fingers into in this episode. Featuring a brooding Bette Davis, a dog called Nerak and the spectral dancing of ominous mist, this episode leans intensely into your ear and asks: 'are you sensitive? do you sense things?'. A full transcript is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/35-watcherinthewoods

Blood and thunder! It's a showdown for the ages. Join Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and Ava Foxfort as they discuss the final part of The Final Reckoning, the last book in the Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis. Your hardy crew discuss ice textures, brutal character deaths and mouse-based metal concept albums, as they dive into the icy waters of this most epic of endings. Content note for gory and disturbing descriptions in this episode, and some British politics chat, both of which some listeners might find hard to stomach. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/34-finalreckoningpart2

Hang onto your mouse-knees, spooky kids! In this episode Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and Ava Foxfort discuss the first part of The Final Reckoning, the last book in Robin Jarvis's sublimely horrifying Deptford Mice series. Your co-hosts talk star-milking, blood-frenzies and of course, textures, as they travel with mice into the dangerous sewers below London, and with the bats to the rooftops above. Speed to the green, because you're not going to want to miss this! A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/33-final-reckoning-part1

Mouselets and Corn Dolllies! Join Adam Whybray, Ren Wednesday and Ava Foxfort as they discuss Robin Jarvis's The Crystal Prison from 1989, the second in his Deptford Mice series. Featuring Green Mouse fundamentalists, gods of the fields and Starwife the astrology squirrel, The Crystal Prison takes our characters on a peril-drenched trip to the countryside where there's a new threat around every corn stalk. Shout 'Fenny' if it gets too much, but even that might not save you. A full transcript is available in the shownotes at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/29-crystal-prison Be aware this episode contains grisly character deaths and a subplot of an abusive father.

Put on your welly boots, spooky kids and join Adam Whybray, Ren Wednesday and returning guest Ava Foxfort as they go beyond the Grill into the murky sewers of Robin Jarvis's novel The Dark Portal from 1989. Featuring jerk-ass bats, dad mice and notable hazards of the murdering profession, fans of rodent ultra-violence and Lovecraftian deities will find plenty to gnaw their teeth into in this episode. A full transcript of this episode is available in the show notes at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/32-darkportal

Join us this time for a mini-episode, as Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray gleefully chomp on a monstrous spread of picture books from Maurice Sendak, David McKee, Beatrix Potter and Neil Gaiman. Featuring undulating midnight oceans, trembling patchwork elephants and the existential crisis of a monster who finds himself treated as a boy, it's a zippy tour around the creepiest picture books of our childhoods. A full transcript of the episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/31-picturebooks

Once again, spooky kids, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray are here to take you into the world of children's horror literature with Room 13 from 1989 and Nightmare Stairs from 1997, both by Robert Swindells. This time, Ren and Adam are at the seaside, enjoying the fresh air, the pier treats, and the sound of the Dracula in the next room gnawing on his latest victim. Join us for stakes, sleepwalking, stairs and a special guest interview with a fictional teenager. A full transcript is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/30-room13

What's that haunted tune whistling through the calliope? Find out with Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray as they take a tour of Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Circus and explore the whirlingly evocative, if admittedly morally confusing world of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. We talk Dust Witches, balloon funerals and masculinity, in a rollickingly ghoulish episode filled with plenty of children's horror to get your panic-coloured teeth into. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/28-somethingwicked

In this episode Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray talk about the post-apocalyptic Young Adult novel The Garden of Darkness by Gillian Murray Kendall from 2014. We discuss what makes a horror, look at the early modern influences on the book, and despair of our own chances in a post-apocalyptic setting. Plus we discover the natural source of morale.* Content notes, there are a few: Discussion of an adult character preying on children, including in a sexually-loaded way, discussion of eugenics and mention of Nazis in relation to the same character. Also apologies also for the slightly poorer sound quality than usual on this episode, we had some mic volume issues! A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/27-gardenofdarkness * It's toucans.

Happy day, spooky kids! In this episode Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and returning guest Ali Kay delve into the brain-washing, time-looping world of the 1977 BBC TV series Children of the Stones. Join us for Morris dancing, Solar Serpents and educational asides into the history of surgery, as we try to untangle the plot of this creepy and atmospheric seventies classic. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/26-childrenofthestones

What's up, spooky kids? Join Still Scared for their Christmas-or-thereabouts episode about the 1984 TV series, The Box of Delights. This time, Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and special guest Willow discuss whimsical kidnapping, dolphin chariots and 1930s slang, and Willow really gets some #teachervibes going. All this and more from a podcast that can proudly say that it's not in the pocket of Big Posset. A full transcript of the episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/25-boxofdelights

In their most squamous, writhing, goopy and tendril-filled episode yet, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray explore the vibrant landscape of 1982's dark fantasy puppet film, The Dark Crystal. Join us for this wallow in a many-textured world, featuring a special guest appearance from Adam's unattached false front tooth. A full transcript of this episode is available in the show notes, here: https://stillscared.podigee.io/24-dark-crystal

This episode we invite you to join Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and a cast of geese, scamps and orphans in the Dickensian horror-romp that is The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken. Featuring shipwreck, secret passageways and a villainous governess, this book delivers the thrills and chills, and a plethora of Textures of the Week. Content note: description of a child's death by drowning. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/23-wolves

In this episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray celebrate one year of Still Scared with a ghost story graphic novella, Malevolents: Click Click, by Thom Burgess and Joe Becci. We huddle in front of our campfire to discuss mental illness in horror, ghosts in our hometowns, and take a look back on what we've learned about children's horror over the year of our podcast. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/22-malevolents

In this episode, Ren Wednesday and Adam Whybray alliterate themselves into a particularly gothic gloomy ghost story, 2017's Thornhill by Pam Smy. We discuss fibrous drawings, ambivalent endings and the powerlessness of childhood, as we talk about this uniquely told modern horror. This episode also features a particularly crunchy and unanimous Texture of the Week that all you creepy puppet fans won't want to miss! A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/21-thornhill Content note: Descriptions of school bullying, allusions to suicide, and death by fire.

In this episode, Adam Whybray, Ren Wednesday and returning guest Alex Ava discuss 'one of the cursed books of childhood', Roald Dahl's The Witches. Together they discuss monstrous femininity, death positivity and the horror of the English seaside hotel, and Alex mounts a passionate defence of being turned into a mouse. A full transcript of this episode is available at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/20-witches

Get yourself a flask of bilberry wine, and join Ren and Adam as they talk about the 1965 stop-motion animation series The Pogles, by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin. In this episode we reminisce about what Postgate and Firmin's work has meant to us, chat about folk horror, and do more voices than might be strictly necessary. Cosy horror has never been more charming. A full transcript of this episode is available in the show notes at: https://stillscared.podigee.io/19-pogles