The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya - Gretchen Felker-Martin's Cornucopia of Horror with Katya

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Author, Film & TV Critic, and all-around Horror Sommelier Gretchen Felker-Martin joins Katya from the wilds of Worcester for an in-depth review of the best horror films of 2024, the must-read horror novels out now, and some absolutely amazing news about Gretchen's blockbuster novel, Manhunt. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://BetterHelp.com/BALD and get on your way to being your best self! Join the 17 million members who are already saving! Start all of your holiday shopping at https://Rakuten.com or download the Rakuten app to start saving today. Your Cash Back really adds up! For a limited time, visit https://AuraFrames.com and get $45 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BALD at checkout! This exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so don’t miss out! Terms and conditions apply. Take the best care of your leather handbags and products! Head to https://MyCuire.com to get your leather care kit today. The best way to make your handbag last forever! Follow Gretchen: @GretchenFelkerMartin Follow Trixie: @TrixieMattel Follow Katya: @Katya_Zamo To watch the podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/TrixieKatyaYT Don’t forget to follow the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: http://bit.ly/baldandthebeautifulpodcast If you want to support the show, and get all the episodes ad-free go to: https://thebaldandthebeautiful.supercast.com If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: http://bit.ly/baldandthebeautifulpodcast To check out future Live Podcast Shows, go to: https://trixieandkatyalive.com To order your copy of our book, "Working Girls", go to: workinggirlsbook.com To check out the Trixie Motel in Palm Springs, CA: https://www.trixiemotel.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. If you've been in a coma for the past 30 years, you might not know what a website is, or that we now eat entire salads from that green leafy thing that used to be a decoration on the Sizzler salad bar. First off, I'd like to welcome you to 2024, where everything is wonderful and the earth is fine. Second, I want to tell you that you need a website right now.

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or domain. My parents have had a lot of time on their hands lately. At first, it was nice. Hey mom, can you drive me to soccer practice? Sure can. We're having slow cooked ribs for dinner. It was awesome. And then it became a lot. Some friends are coming over to watch a movie. Ooh, what are we watching? I'll make some popcorn.

Thanks to Voila, they can order all our fresh favorites from Sobeez, Farmboy, and Longos online, which is super reliable. And now my parents are reliable. A little too reliable. Voila! Your groceries delivered, just like that. This episode is sponsored by perhaps one of the best presents in the history of the world for the parents and relatives in your life. Aura Frames. And if you don't know what's what in the world of digital picture frames, Aura was named number one by Wirecutter. They make it incredibly easy to share unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame. And when you give an Aura frame as a gift,

say to your aunt Tina in Boxford, you can personalize and preload it with a thoughtful message and photos using the Aura app, making it an ideal present for long distance loved ones who you only see at family reunions or in group chats. It's a gift so special, they'll use it every day. This holiday season, give the gift that provides joy the whole year through. For a limited time, visit AuraFrames.com and get $45 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat Frames by using promo code BALD at checkout. That's AuraFrames.com promo code BALD. This

exclusive Black Friday's Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so don't miss out. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to a very special edition of Movie Stuff with Gretchen Felker-Martin. Gretchen is an author whom I absolutely adore. She's written two books that I've read. She most importantly, she has a patreon that Slaps so fucking hard. So I'm gonna talk to her about her favorite movies of the past year everything horror and then maybe some personal questions like are you on your period?

What's your favorite color and so on welcome to the bald and the beautiful Gretchen. I'm so happy you agreed to do this. We're going to talk movies. We're going to talk books. We're going to talk not politics, if that's OK with you. Are you absolutely are you in Worcester? I'm actually in Michigan visiting my girlfriend. Oh, shit. OK. But you are from... You do reside in Worcester, right? I do reside in Worcester, yeah. I fucking love Worcester.

Oh, it's my favorite. It's great. It's a dump, but it's my dump. You know, it was... When I lived in Marlborough, though, it was a dump, like, you know, 25 years ago. Now it's kind of... I feel like it's popping. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

She's got the art museum. it's popping. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. She's got the art museum, it's cunty. Anyways, okay, so you are the author of Cuckoo, Manhunt, both books I have read and I adore. And- Thank you so much. But mostly Gretchen, for the listeners at home, her film criticism is so cunty. Basically Gretchen, I'm here to just pimp your Patreon

in a very obnoxious way. Because whenever I see a movie, I immediately go to your Patreon to see if you've reviewed it. And I am very embarrassed to say that you're one of the minds that could absolutely change my mind about a movie. It's like, if I see something and I say, oh, I like that, and I read your review and you hate it, I'm like, no, actually I hate it.

(*both laugh*) That's very flattering. Well, listen, so what... Let's get into the movies of the past year. I think we're gonna focus on horror. What are your top ten? I would say number one, The Devil's Bath. Oh my God, Gretchen.

I can't believe I watched that. It was... A real feel-bad classic. Yeah, I got a text from Gretchen that said, if you want to feel really, really horrible, watch the devil's bath. And I sure fucking did. And it was the most depressing movie I've ever seen in my life. Tell the listeners about, give the, give a synopsis about the devil's bath.

Yeah. So the devil's bath is set in the German middle ages. And it's about the historical practice of suicide by proxy in which women who were going through like really intense mental illness and were suicidal because they were so afraid of going to hell but after committing suicide instead they would go and commit a mortal sin and then confess immediately so that they could be absolved and then executed by the state.

And the most common crime was infanticide or murdering a young child. Yes. As we see in the opening scene where a lady just flings a baby off a waterfall. Yeah. It is so... No, I mean, it's... It's grim. It's a great system you've built there, guys.

I mean, it's funny because the logic is so ridiculous and horrifying, but it does make sense. You know, it's like, yeah, absolutely. If that's how you believe the world works, that's what you should do. Yeah. I got to kill a kid, chop my head off and drink my blood. Yeah. You both go to heaven. Great. Oh, my God, that ending scene is so upsetting. It's so nasty. So what number so that's the number 10. What about number nine? Are we going best or worst? I don't know what the order is.

We're going best to worst. Okay, great. So number two, I would say my my runner up this year is Red Rooms. Yes. Yeah. Which is just like so mind-meltingly ghoulish. Yep. What an awful, awful picture of like, a celebrity obsession and depersonalization and desensitization to the suffering of other people. Yeah, that would make quite the double feature. Like, it would be complete suicide watch if you watch these two back to back.

So if you don't know Red Rooms, it's a French Canadian film and the lead actress, I forget what her name is. She is phenomenal. She plays this fucking psycho who is obsessed with these snuff films that are filmed in these so-called red rooms. And it all takes place during the trial of the serial killer. And that's all I'll tell you. The sound design is cunty. It's like, it is just riveting.

And it's like, fucked up. It's really fucked up. But she's incredible. Just her, like, like you said, she's a ghoul. She has like a soulless ghoul. It's like, ooh, she gives you the creeps. Yeah. That actress is really doing something really, really special. Yes. Disturbingly special.

She's such a great combination of like normatively, marketably beautiful and just obviously insane. Yeah. And it's funny, she's a model in like a video poker shark, and then has absolutely no, like as the movie goes on, you realize she's like, oh, she's a demon. She's not a human being, you know. Oof.

Okay, what's next? I would have to say, my number three spot goes to I saw the TV glow. Okay, that one I didn't see yet. Oh my God. So it's sort of like, it's by Jane Schoenbrunn who did We're All Going to the World's Fair.

And they just do such a beautiful job sketching this portrait of someone who realizes as a teenager that she's trans and then just stagnates and never emerges from that cocoon and becomes this miserable self-minimized nothing of a person. It is, it's also really sweet and hopeful and beautiful. Some really horrific special effects. Ooh, cool. So kind of a palette cleanser from the last, from the previous two films. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Hey, today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Hey, today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. You guys, I'm happier than I've ever been in my entire life. And I'm telling you that that journey, the only way my life like started to swing back up was at the very beginning of my talk therapy journey. I have never sat with a stranger and talked about my life before. I can't even tell you that I necessarily originally believed in it so deeply, other than a few sessions here and there.

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No one's offended, cause it is kind of like dating. So let's feel good about ourselves this year with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash bald today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelpHGLP.com slash bald. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Rakuten. As you may or may not know, that wonderful holiday where we all gather with our large family around a big table to dine on delicious roasted fowl and tubers whipped up with butter

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on my list. What's next? I would would people would probably fight with me over whether you could classify the whole thing as is horror. But certainly the second entry is straightforwardly horror. And I think you could you could make a case for the whole thing. Kinds of Kindness, the newest Yorgos Lanthimos movie. I fucking loved this. I was blown away. Yeah, it was. I really liked Poor Things last year. I really enjoyed it.

And I thought this blew right past it. Really? Yeah. Interesting. Just incredibly smart, incredibly enigmatic, really unafraid of presenting mysteries and then just walking past them. Yeah. Also, it's an a triptych format,

which for me is perfect. Because if anything is longer than two and a half hours, I need a break. So this was like excellent. And I had no idea walking into it. I actually did a double feature with Poor Things and then this one. It was Margaret Qualley, man.

Emma Stone. I love her. Ugh, such a good cast. Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, man. Emma Stone. Oh, I love her. Such a good cast. Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau. It's like stacked, stacked. I love Hong Chau. We need more Hong Chau as a culture.

Yeah, she needs to be like the new Nicole Kidman, like in every movie and TV series for the next 20 years. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when... I want to turn on my TV. I want to have to pick between Hong Chow movies. Yeah. So darling, we have Hong Chow or we have Hong Chow?

Yeah, absolutely. Let's see. My favorite moment, it's not a spoiler, I guess, but Jesse Plemons makes his wife cut her liver out. Right? Is that right? Yeah. It's so cunty. That's certainly horrific.

It's incredible. It's so wild. It's incredible. Yeah, it's wild. Highly recommend kinds of kindness. It's weird. It's very weird. You know?

Oh, it's very weird. It feels in a lot of ways like sort of a great mid-century short fiction collection, you know, by GK Chester Sin or like, if O. Henry went insane. I like that. There's like a sex cult in the last segment where like, they lick the salt out of the belly button after you're in a sauna to like see if you're clean. It's so fucking wild. Oh, it's so good. It's fierce. That's just another thing I really love about Yorgos Lanthimos is that he's just really unashamedly horny.

Yeah, and in an interesting way. Like the horniness comes out. Yeah, he's a freak, you know? Yeah, he's a freak. He's a fucking freak for sure. Yeah. Oh my God. And as a freak, I appreciate that. Same. Same.

Um, let's see. Where's the substance on this list? Because you have to have it on there. I'll kill you if you don't. It is. It is. Okay, good. Substance is here. The substance is, in fact, my number five pick. Okay. That's... Okay.

I fucking love this movie so much, Gretchen. I realize it has flaws. I had such a good, listen, it does. You know, like, what are they trying to say with her eating all that food and stuff? Right, didn't make a lot of sense. Who cares? Who cares?

A great movie can have one nonsense failure, and the substance is great. It is so mean. It is so dumb. I love it. It is nasty. It's like a big wet slap every 10 seconds in your face. And then that truly, I mean, that idiotic song. The beginning, I was a little, I was a little hesitant getting in and then we got to the Margaret Qualley scenes and immediately the director just starts treating her like she's a living blow up doll with like no humanity, no interiority.

And I started to see what they were doing. And I was like, Jesus Christ, this is great. These people are totally empty and dead. There's nothing. The show is called The Show. You know, Hollywood has one studio. It's so funny. You know who really blew me away though was Dennis Quaid.

Ugh, that fucking shrimp. That fucking shrimp. Just the most revolting performance I've ever seen. I actually was like, I had eaten, I saw it three times. So the last time I saw it, I had eaten a full meal. And then that scene, I was like, I had eaten, I saw it three times. So the last time I saw it, I had eaten a full meal. And then that scene, I was like, I had to stop it. I had to just scrub right past it. It was so fucking disgusting.

Nasty, oh God, his metal heels. Yeah. And his mild, horrible tan. Yeah, he's such a, he's like, he's kind of like, if Harvey Weinstein and Pee Wee Herman had like a like, he's like, he's kind of like, if Harvey Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein and Pee Wee Herman had like a baby, they're like, they buried that vibe. Oh, that's a very bad image. Thank you.

I'm obsessed with the, cause Mark Raquali is like a ballerina. And I, you know, I've been watching interviews of her like being so uncomfortable doing this kind of dance. Like, don't you know I've been watching interviews of her like being so uncomfortable doing this kind of dance like don't you know pump it up where she's literally just gyrating and like you know twerking and it's like supposed to be a fitness video I just love that shit it was so stupid and so dumb and so pointless yeah I mean you know that's that's like the whole movie is just like wow I guess we're just going to deform and terrorize and murder ourselves in service to the dumbest thing imaginable.

And we'll feel nothing about it. You know, we won't be happy. Right. Yeah, it's not going to satisfy us in any way. And it's funny, like she didn't go for like, oh, maybe I'll try to get another Oscar. She just went straight back to the pump it up. Yeah. So fucking weird. So weird. OK, what's next? like, oh, maybe I'll try to get another Oscar. She just went straight back to the pump it up. Yeah. So fucking weird. Yeah. So weird.

Okay. What's next? I would say next is probably Love Lies Bleeding. Yes. Yes. I loved this movie. Katie O'Brien and Kristen Stewart, amazing chemistry. It's very funny. It's nasty. It has really unexpected moments of like bizarre hyperviolence.

Yeah. It's sexy too. It's like fucking... It's very sexy. All the dykes out there, it is, you will be eating if you watch this film. Yes. Good God. Like the scene, like sniffing her pussy in the bathroom.

Come on, that's like, it's so real. You know, who has not been that dyke? Who among us has not sniffed a body of this pussy? Yeah. You know, I'm so happy you recommended this because this is a movie I probably would not have watched on my own, like, just from the trailer or whatever. But Ed Harris, oh my God.

Talk about- He's so good. Talk about the substance. He took the opposite. He is like a craggy, like, oh, just a monster. Eating bugs is so fierce. His face just gets better every year. Yeah, he takes the anti-botox. He like injects more wrinkles into his face.

It's awesome. I love it. I love it. Yeah, highly recommend that. That's Rose Glass, right? She did Saint Maud. Yeah, she did Saint Maud, which I also love. Love that one. This episode is sponsored by perhaps one of the best presents in the history of the world for the parents and relatives in your life.

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is their best of the year. So don't miss out, terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. If you've been in a coma for the past 30 years, you might not know what a website is or that we now eat entire salads from that green leafy thing that used to be a decoration on the Sizzler salad bar. First off, I'd like to welcome you to 2024 where everything is wonderful and the earth is fine. Second, I want to tell you that you need a website right now.

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your first purchase of a website or domain. Again that's squarespace.com slash bald to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. My parents have had a lot of time on their hands lately. At first it was nice. Hey mom can you drive me to soccer practice? Sure can. We're having slow cooked ribs for dinner. It was awesome and then it became a lot. Some friends are coming over to watch a movie. Oh what are we watching? I'll make some popcorn. Thanks to Voila, they can order all our fresh favorites from Sobeez, Farmboy, and Longos online, which is super reliable. And now my parents are reliable. A little too reliable. Voila, your groceries delivered, just like that.

What else is on your list? Cuckoo. Yes, yes, Cuckoo with Hunter Schaefer. I really enjoyed Cuckoo. I did too, I was very pleasantly surprised. I didn't know where it was going. I had no idea what was happening and I was like, oh, I left the theater like,

that was unexpected and original, Which is kind of rare. Yeah, it really was. How would you describe it? How would you describe it? Like, I don't even know how... I mean, in a lot of ways, it's like a straightforward creature feature. But it's so specifically situated. It's like so concerned with sound and with particular kinds of German culture.

Yeah, it's creepy. Tillman Singer, I think, is German. And I grew up next to a German family and they're exactly like that. Just like weirdly manic and punishingly unfun. Well, that was like my grandmother. She slept with one foot on the floor. She was always ready to go.

I don't think I ever... And I never in her... In like 20 years of knowing her, never heard her laugh once. Oh, my God. It's fierce. Yeah, Dan Stevens is so pitch perfect, and Hunter really killed it. She really did.

That poor girl, she like went through the ringer. Fantastic performance. Yeah, she went through the ringer. It was so, like, at a certain point, it's like, how many more injuries can this poor girl suffer? It was so funny. I love a beat to shit protagonist. Beat to shit protagonist.

Love it. Okay, what else you got? Out of darkness. Have you seen this one? No. Oh baby, you're gonna love it. Really? It's so fucking good.

It is a prehistoric horror movie about a small group of hunter gatherers migrating in an attempt to find like a new fertile place to live. What? Really? And they run into something that's hunting them. Oh, shit. It is so good. It is so scary. It is shot entirely in, like, a constructed language.

Is it similar or not kind of that vibe or no? Superficially, I would say it's similar to Prey, Like a constructed language. Is it similar or not? Kind of that vibe or no? Superficially, I would say it's similar to pray, but it's doing very different things. Gotcha. Okay, good, I can't wait to watch that one. It's just incredible. Fabulous. You didn't see the terrifier, did you mama?

I have to confess, I am a longstanding, the terrifier hater. Listen, listen, no, it's with all... The first two, they're terrible. They're terrible. But the third one is definitely something to talk about at the water cooler. Let's just say that. Alright. Yeah, I would recommend streaming it if you're bored at some point.

Just the third one. Don't... I will do that. The first two are absolutely... I will do that for you. Literally no one else could compel me to this. Just all you have to do is get up to the point where he sticks a chainsaw up the guy's ass. That sounds pretty good.

Yeah. And it balls to dig and balls come off too. That's fantastic. And, you know, I have to say, even if I don't personally like it, I'm always glad to see the freaks win a round. Totally. And it fucking whopped the Joker at the box office. It made so much money. Crazy. So, battle the clowns, art slapped the Joker. So fierce. So fierce.

What else you got? What are we at? Eight? I think so, yeah. All right. The first omen. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. If I'm if I'm like rolling back over this, I might even move it up the list. It was so good.

I was shocked by how good it was. I was too. When that gray claw came out the pussy, I was like, I'm like, whoo, whoo, whoo. Yeah, that really got me. Nell Tiger Free, who I think before this had only. Ever done like a bit part on Game of Thrones is so fucking good. That was the lead actress. Yeah, she was phenomenal, phenomenal. is so fucking good. That was the lead actress? Yeah.

Oh, she was phenomenal. Phenomenal. Yeah, and you know, another fantastic horror movie directed by a woman. It's been an absolute banger year for them. Yeah, Rose Glass, Coralie Farzah. What's this one? What's her name? I can't remember her name, unfortunately.

And The Devil's Bath is also co-directed by a woman. Oh, that's right. Shit. Women be scared this year. It's awesome. Women do. It's a year of women's wrongs. Yes.

And what's your number 10 for you? This will be number nine. We've actually got two more. That's all right. That's all right. Let me see. I've got my little list here. Number nine, we've actually got two more. That's all right, that's all right. Let me see. I've got my little list here. Number nine would be the Vordelok.

Yes, randomly I saw that. Me and my friend Andrew were the only people in the theater. So cute, so cool. I was so impressed. I was so impressed. Yeah, it's a French film. Just like, first of all, it's actually about things.

You know, I heard like the conceit of the monster as a puppet, and I was like, oh, this will be like a neat little, you know, showcase for someone's craftsmanship. And the puppet is great. And the decision to have the characters treat the puppet like it's a normal human being, terrifying. It's so scary. It was so fucking weird.

We had no idea, we had no idea like anything about this movie. So when the character was introduced as the father and it's this puppet, my friend Andrew and I were looking at each other like, what the fuck is going on? And after three- Are we sure?

Are we sure that's dad? Everybody's like, oh, that's dad. It's like, I'm like, whoa. And then five minutes later, I was like, oh, that's dad. It's like, I'm like, whoa. And then five minutes later, I was like, I'm totally into it. I get it, I'm buying it. It was fabulous. Yeah, it really does work.

It's so surprising. And it has some really sharp, interesting things to say about gender and sexuality in class too. Yeah, and there's a- I love the protagonist is like this ridiculous fop who, you know, accidentally falls in love with a cross dresser. Yeah, he's like a picture of like French aristocracy, you know, with the paint and the wig and the do-do-do-do,

all that stuff. He's so good. And I think he also does the voice of the puppet. Yeah, he does, Which is really impressive. Yeah. He's fabulous. Fabulous film. Just a great vampire movie. And I would probably give my final slot to Infested. Ooh, I'm like, my skin is crawling. My skin is crawling.

Yeah. Just a movie that made me want to get into bed, tuck the covers in at every corner, and never touch the floor again. Now, this is a fucking spider movie that my mother and I watched together. And we were screaming so loud, like, every 10 minutes. It was, it makes Arachnophobia look like Herbie 2 fully loaded. It's like, it is... Yeah, there's no contest between this and the next scariest spider movie.

Oh, it's so gross. It's so like, and there's actually like a lot going on with like class and, you know, race and everything. And it's situated in like a, like a slum. Immigration. Yeah. Like a shitty, like a tenement or a big sort of housing block in Paris, like outside of Paris.

It's so nasty. Oh, it's so scary. It's so scary. The effects are so good. It's so tense. Yeah. And these spiders, they grow in minutes. Which is so horrifying.

They're like those little foam caplets you throw in the bath and they turn into a rhinoceros in minutes, which is so horrifying. Yeah, it's so bad. They're like those little foam caplets you throw in the bath and they turn into a rhinoceros. There's a scene right in the beginning that's kind of like the prologue where they're hunting for like, you know, rare species of spiders in the desert. And I think one goes right up the guy, like in his mouth, down his throat, and it's like, Oh God, it's so nasty. It just, you know, in so many ways, insect horror is all about the fear of being penetrated

because they're small enough to do that. And this movie just plays with that so cleverly and remorselessly. It wants you to feel bad. It wants you to develop a phobia. Yes, and it succeeds 100%. Yeah. Oh, my God.

So, for people out there, your Patreon, is it scumbelievable? Uh, no, it's under my own name, Gretchen Falkermarten. Gretchen Falkermarten, I highly encourage you to subscribe to her Patreon because the movie reviews are the best. I can't find a better reviewer. Like, I go... Oh, geez, thanks. Seriously, I go to Roger Ebert, I'm like,

what fucking three-year-old wrote this crap? So, um... I highly recommend that. I think I subscribe to like the $5 thing. It's a cup of coffee a month. Totally do it. And I just finished Cuckoo. Fabulous.

And... Thank you....Manhunt, of course, is a masterpiece. And can you share the details about what is that like? Yes, I can. I can. I can finally talk about it. Lily Wachowski and I are adapting Man Hunt for television. Oh my god. That is so exciting. for television. Fucking hate. Oh my God. That is so exciting. Are you shitting yourself?

I'm over the moon. I'm over the... I could never have imagined this would happen. And if it did, I certainly wouldn't have imagined it happening with someone as incredible and as influential to me personally as Lily. She's just, she's been amazing to work with. That's so fucking cool. I, my, one of the agents at the, or me and Trixie's agency, I'd like, he said something about the man, you know, the rights to manhunt being sold.

And I was like, really, really? And then you told me that and I was like, oh my God, this is going to be fucking amazing. I cannot wait to see how it is translated because I have no idea how we're going to do that. It's crazy. Yeah, it's, we've certainly got a lot of hurdles ahead of us, but I'm really hopeful it'll get picked up. Yeah. OK, what's the worst movie of what's the worst horror movie of the last year or this year?

Mm hmm. I definitely watched worse movies than this, but I think the one that got me personally angriest was Alien Romulus. Because first of all, you do not fucking dig up my boy Ian Holm with this AI bullshit and make me watch his janky computer animated face jerk around for an hour and a half.

And second of all, what happened to the back half of your movie? You had a whole script for 45 minutes and then it just blows out the fucking airlock and there's nothing. Damn. I didn't see it. I didn't see it.

Yeah. I mean, don't bother. Okay. Okay. I'm note taken. I hated fucking. Oh, I hated Strange Darling. I hated that movie.

Yeah, I thought I hated it. I thought it was pretentious. I thought it was like the structure. I felt like an absolute fucking lunatic watching people call it smart. It was just like sequential out of order. There was no like the characters didn't... The characterization didn't... It wasn't continuous.

Anyways, yeah, I hated it. Although Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey eating that breakfast... Eating that weird breakfast, that's a great scene. ...and staring at each other. It's worth it for about 30 seconds maybe. Yeah, but I hated that movie. Yeah. Yeah, just like a really incurious, dull movie

that keeps going with a format that's not actually doing anything after the first twist. Yeah, it's like, okay, great. Let's see. And then can you recommend for me a book of the horror variety? Yes. Please. Absolutely. I've got two for you. One, Green Fuse Burning This is a book about a Mi'kmaq indigenous woman who is super, super, super depressed after her estranged father's death. And her pushy white partner sends her to this art residency on the edge of a lake.

And she has this complete and total breakdown. There's fungal horror, there's like nasty fucked up animals and it's so cloying and claustrophobic and upsetting. I really dug it. Okay, fierce. And my second recommendation is Augustina Basarica's Tender is the Flesh, which I think doesn't have real competition

for the best horror novel of the past 10 years. It is astonishing. It has one of the greatest final lines in recent fiction. It's brutal, it's nasty. Is it cannibalistic? It is, it is. It's about institutionalized cannibalism in the future. Yeah, now we're talking.

Yeah. Oh my God, thank you so much. Okay, so we gotta wrap, but thank you so much Gretchen. Where can people find you online? And I'm gonna spell your full name out. It's Gretchen, G-R-E-T-C-H-E-N-F-E-L-K-E-R-M-A-R-T-I-N for Patreon. And on Twitter, are you still on Twitter? I am.

Updates only on Twitter, but you will find out what I'm working on there. Okay, fabulous. And I'm scumbelievable or just my own name there. Yeah. And same on Blue Sky. Fabulous. Oh my God. thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me.

Yes, and I can- This is so fun. I wanted to get you on here forever. I am so excited for Manhunt. I cannot wait. I'm gonna be pissing and shitting all over myself. So, it's a good luck with that. Thank you.

Awesome. All right, well have fun in Michigan. Thanks so much for joining us.