Fear of the Dark

On this episode, Stacey and Matthew talk about Leigh Whannell's sci-fi horror film, The Invisible Man (2020). It stars Elisabeth Moss as Cecilia, a young woman who believes she is being stalked by her ex-partner but finds it nearly impossible to prove it -- largely because she believes he has the power to become invisible. Join us as we discuss the metaphors and symbolism of abuse, racial difference in shared spaces, and the cinematography of absence.

Film: The Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell, 2020)

Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)

Outr...

In our final episode of the horror/comedy mini season, Matthew and Stacey sit down to talk about Zach Cregger's 2022 horror film, Barbarian, starring Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, and Justin Long. The film follows Tess (Campbell), a young woman who arrives at an Airbnb in Brightmoor, Detroit only to find out that someone else (Skarsgård) is already staying there. The two ultimately decide to share the space, at least for the night, before they uncover a number of long-buried secrets in the house. Join us as we chat about the overlaps in the genres of romance and ho...

Happy New Year! As we welcome in 2026, Matthew and Stacey reflect on 2025: What were our favorite podcast episodes to record? What horror movies did we love from the last year? And what are our hopes and dreams for the next one to come? Join us for this quick EOY wrap-up conversation.

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 a...

For the third episode of Fear of the Dark's horror/comedy mini season, Matthew and Stacey chat about Sorry to Bother You, the 2018 genre-bending sci-fi/fantasy/comedy/horror film directed by Boots Riley. It stars LaKeith Stanfield as Cassius "Cash" Green, a young man who finds himself rising up the corporate ladder as a telemarketer thanks to the use of his "white voice." Join us for a conversation about the film's engagements with whiteness and Blackness through voice and disembodiment - and as we think about where generic conventions and expectations fit into this story of a new speculative...

On our second episode of the horror/comedy mini season, Stacey and Matthew discuss Josh Ruben's Werewolves Within (2021). The film stars Samuel Richardson as Finn Wheeler, a forest ranger assigned to a small Vermont town called Beaverfield, who gets sheltered in with the rest of the townsfolk when they begin to suspect that one among them could secretly be a werewolf. Join us as we talk about this movie's other great star, Milana Vayntrub, how the film thinks about its Black protagonist (is he the werewolf?), and what it means to be a "good neighbor" in the politically-divided small...

On the first episode of Fear of the Dark's horror/comedy mini season, Matthew and Stacey sit down to talk about The Blackening (2022). The film follows a group of friends who get together for a reunion in a remote cabin. Upon arrival, they realize that a trap has been set, which leads them to the ultimate question: who is the "Blackest" out of them all? Join us as we talk about the tropes and stereotypes of the Black character in horror, and what kinds of stakes are set up in this film to critique - and fulfill - them.<...

Fear of the Dark is releasing its second mini season, which is all about the horror/comedy film. What connects horror and comedy as independent genres, what differentiates them, and why does this crossover work so well? We have a line-up of four films to think about how the horror/comedy filters and unmasks each genre's racial conventions and tropes: The Blackening (2022), Werewolves Within (2021), Sorry to Bother You (2018), and Barbarian (2022). Of the horror/comedy film, we ask: should we be laughing or screaming? Enjoy our intro for this mini season, and tune in to listen starting December 12!

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This time on Fear of the Dark, Matthew and Stacey sit down briefly to talk about the series, Alien: Earth, the latest addition to the Alien franchise. Recorded when we just entered spooky season, this mini episode covers what we like (and don't like) about the series, as well as where it fits into the broader trends of the streaming and TV industry.

Show: Alien: Earth (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...

On this episode of Fear of the Dark, Stacey and Matthew sit down to talk about the episode, "The Viewing," from the horror anthology, Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Directed by Panos Cosmatos, the episode stars Peter Weller as Lionel Lassiter, a wealthy recluse, who has invited a small group of people to something called "the viewing." Among the guests in attendance are Charlotte (Charlene Yi), an astrophysicist, and Randall (Eric André), a musician, who come to realize that being "chosen" by Lassiter entails much more than they initially thought... Join us as we chat about collection and c...

In this seasonal holiday-inspired episode, Matthew and Stacey fight over a waffle iron at the Black Friday sale (disclaimer: no one actually got hurt)... Join us today as we discuss Eli Roth's 2023 slasher film, Thanksgiving, based on the fictitious trailer originally advertised in Grindhouse (Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, 2007). We talk about the corporate phenomenon of Black Friday, the film as an homage to the slasher genre (is it though?), and where Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, 2002; Hostel, 2005) fits into today's horror mediascape.

Film: Thanksgiving (Eli Roth, 2023)
Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Musi...

On this episode, Matthew and Stacey go to the movies (separately this time) to watch Guillermo Del Toro's 2025 horror film, Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac as Victor and Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein's creature. Matthew opens this conversation with a spooky excerpt from Mary Shelley's original novel, and then we dive in. Where has the body horror of the creature gone in the newest adaptation of this horror classic? How do we think about race and the production of whiteness in the creature? What's up with the "Netflixification" of this film?

(Dear listener, especially: what do you make of...

On this episode, Matthew and I discuss The Long Walk (2025), a dystopian horror film directed by Francis Lawrence and based on Stephen King's 1979 novel. The premise is straightforward: a large group of young men from all across the nation volunteer to walk in an annual marathon, and if they stop for too long at any point or fall below a certain base speed, they will be killed. Join us as we talk about the spectacles of violence and the abject, what the film suggests about the nation's future in the hands of the single Black character, Pete (David Jonsson...

On this very special episode - a little "bonus" after our Jordan Peele mini season - Stacey and Matthew sit down to talk with Dawn Keetley, Professor of English and Film at Lehigh University, about HIM, the 2025 sports horror film directed by Justin Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele. The story follows Cam (Tyriq Withers), a rising football star who goes to train with Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), the famed and nearly worshipped quarterback for the San Antonio Saviors, for the opportunity to become his successor. Like Cam, we got the chance to chat with one of our (mostly...

Happy Halloween! On the final episode of our Jordan Peele mini-season, Stacey and Matthew talk about Nope (2022), the Western sci-fi horror starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, two siblings who discover an unusual phenomenon in the skies near their family's horse ranch. Join us as we close out the season, talking about the many cinematic influences on Nope, the equivocation of the racialized human and the animal, and how the movie inserts itself into the longer legacy of American cinema.

Film: Nope (Jordan Peele, 2022)
Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
...

On the second episode in our Jordan Peele mini season, Matthew and Stacey talk about Us (2019), starring Lupita Nyong'o as Adelaide, a young mother whose family vacation is violently disrupted by the arrival of another family that looks, uncannily, just like them. We talk about the fear of the doppelgänger, Black childhood and femininity, and how the film might speak to some of the tensions and internalized pressures of Black leisure.

Film: Us (Jordan Peele, 2019)

Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)

Outro Music: “Late Night In...

On the first episode of Fear of the Dark's mini season on Jordan Peele's filmography, Stacey and Matthew discuss the now-classic Black horror film, Get Out, Peele's 2017 directorial debut. We chat about the veil of Black subjectivity in the film, the mobility and performativity of whiteness, and where the Asian figure fits into the racial dynamics of Peele's modern America.

Film: Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)

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...

Fear of the Dark's first "mini season" is here - just in time for spooky season! Join Matthew and Stacey for a brief introduction on our Jordan Peele season, where we'll be talking about the three movies in Peele's filmography: Get Out, Us, and Nope.

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.

Follow us on Instagram @fearofthedarkpod!

On Part 2 of Matthew and Stacey's conversation with Dr. Eleanor Johnson (Columbia University), we continue with a discussion on David Lowery’s 2021 medieval fantasy film, The Green Knight. Join us as we chat about medieval texts and their generic translations into contemporary fantasy and horror, the idea of masculinity and racial inheritance as it is mediated by Gawain (played by Dev Patel), and the resurgence of the monstrous older woman in horror today.

Film: The Green Knight (David Lowery, 2021)

Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
Outro Music: “Late Night In...

On this very special episode of Fear of the Dark, Matthew and Stacey are joined by Dr. Eleanor Johnson, Professor of English at Columbia University. We meet up in cyberspace to talk about her new book, Scream with Me, which reads several classic horror films from the 1970s and 80s alongside the rise of American second-wave feminism. Eleanor shares with us some of the background and thinking behind her book, her writing process, and what to look forward to in this exciting new piece of accessible scholarship.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the conversation with Eleanor coming...

Candyman... candyman... third time's the charm! On this episode, Matthew and Stacey talk about Bernard Rose's 1992 horror film, Candyman, starring Tony Todd as the ghost of a Black artist who was murdered in the nineteenth century and haunts Chicago's Cabrini-Green public housing project. Join us as we chat about Candyman's iconic costuming, the domestic B-plot of Helen's (Virginia Madsen) cheating husband, and how Clive Barker's original story complicates the American translation of race in this classic film.

Film: Candyman (Bernard Rose, 1992)
Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
Outro Music: “Late N...

In this episode, we get a little too close to the friendly woman who lives in town... Today, we discuss Ma (2019), the horror film starring Octavia Spencer as Sue Ann ("Ma"), in which a group of high school students get wrapped up in her pursuit of vengeance against those who wronged her when she was younger. Join us as we talk about the the horrors of service and hospitality, the aestheticization of Black femininity, and, interestingly, Octavia Spencer's recent turn to network television cooking shows.

Film: Ma (Tate Taylor, 2019)
Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of C...

Matthew and Stacey sit down to talk about Ti West's 2022 slasher Pearl, starring Mia Goth as the titular antiheroine in this prequel to X. Join us as we discuss the film's representations of the American (immigrant's) dream and the history of cinema, as well as whether we might consider this film a contemporary contribution to American folk horror.

Film: Pearl (Ti West, 2022)
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 ra...

In this episode, Stacey and Matthew sit down to talk about Trey Edward Shults' It Comes at Night (2017), starring Joel Edgerton, Riley Keough, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. This post-apocalyptic horror film explores the dynamics of two families who decide to live in the same house in hopes of increasing their chances of survival, and whose secrecy and mistrust eventually lead to a horrific set of tragedies. In this conversation, we discuss how alienation factors into racial tensions both between and within the two family units, and how commensality and shared spaces might function in times...

On this special, slightly-out-of-the-ordinary episode of Fear of the Dark, Matthew and Stacey celebrate the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's classic, Jaws. Join us as we geek out over the film together. We chat about our favorite lines and funny moments, the iconicity of the shark in horror, and how a movie like Jaws imagines the animal as compared to the apex predator in Jordan Peele's Nope (2022).

Film: Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
Intro Music: “The Army of You” (Library of Congress Free Music Archive)
Outro Music: “Late Night Indigo” (written and performed by Stacey Baran)

Fear o...

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...

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 o...

"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...

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 d...

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...

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...

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 rac...

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...

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 Co...

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.

In this episode, Matthew and Stacey sit down to talk about Werner Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu and how the process of adaptation integrates both new and old conceptions of the Other.

Film: Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, 1979)

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 the first episode of Fear of the Dark, Stacey and Matthew talk about Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s 2025 supernatural horror film. Met with immediate critical acclaim, it stars Michael B. Jordan as identical twins Smoke and Stack, whose Mississippi juke joint gets terrorized by vampires on opening night.

Is Sinners really a horror film? What is the role of memory and sentimentality in its broader narrative? And in the incredible dancing sequence… are those hints of Beowulf? Join us as we chat about genre mixing, themes of the post-racial collective, and the contours and currents of Black horr...

They’re here…! And by “they” we mean “us.” Welcome to Fear of the Dark, a podcast on race and horror with Dr. Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran. In this brief trailer, we share a little bit about who we are, our approaches to talking about film, and who we hope is listening.

Fear of the Dark is a film podcast about race and horror. Hosted by Dr. Matthew Vernon and Stacey Baran.