{Podcast} The Horror Pod Class Episode 114: Session 9 With Matthew Bartlett
Live from the Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial High School AV Room
Welcome to episode 109 of The Horror Pod Class. My name is Tyler and I run Signal Horizon a magazine dedicated to exploring genre fiction in and out of the classroom.
Orrin: And I’m Orrin Grey, Monster Ambassador and sporadic content creator here at Signal Horizon.
Tyler: Tonight on the Horror Pod Class we are going to spend some time talking about what we have been watching and reading, we will help you find some free genre content on the internet and finally we will spend the remainder of the episode with our Special Guest author Matthew Bartlet a film that celebrates not only the very best of David Caruso but also it’s 20 year anniversary Session 9.
What are We Reading/Watching
Tyler: The Vow, Wandavision 30 COINS!
La Casa Some absolutely bonkers scares. Live time. Just really scary. A little Hell House LLC a little insidious. Its out now on VOD.
Orrin: Still reading Langan’s Children of the Fang when I can, and I’ve been watching weird junk on Prime like Doctor Blood’s Coffin and Night of the Devils.
News
Godzilla vs Kong moved up to March..Also the HBO MAx release controversy – Just saw that Antlers has an October release date again.
Dark Corners of the Web: Anya’s cool stuff
Essential Question: How does Session 9 explore the complex world of masculinity
Matthew Bartlett is one of the most intriguing authors publishing in the horror genre His works include The Stay-Awake Men & Other Unstable Entities, Gateways to Abomination, and other books of supernatural horror. His short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies, including Lost Signals, A Breath from the Sky, Year’s Best Weird Fiction Vol. 3. One critic describes his work as stream of consciousness if the stream was a radio station and the consciousness was alien”.
Welcome to the show Matt! Why Session 9?
-atmospheric
-well-drawn characters
-mundane work in a place that is anything but mundane
-references to Satanic panic
-genuinely frightening
-subtle music (many horror flicks overdo the music)
-the Caruso “fuck you” is the best iteration of that utterance ever committed to film
-the voice on the tapes
-obviously the Massachusetts connection – we had a Kirkbride building in Northampton that I’ve been a few feet into
When Phil first enters a room with pics and clippings on the wall:
Clippings:
“Suddenly it’s going to dawn on you (next to a pic of a mother and a baby)”
“Night People”
“A Man of Peace an Act of Violence”
“Because my heart belongs to daddy”
“No one will leave feeling neutral”, along with music cues
Soon after Phil goes in alone and sees “everybody thought i was nuts” above two pictures juxtaposed, an ape holding something (a cadaver?) and a mother and a child, then cut to a snapshot of Gordon and his family
Comparisons to The Shining: oreos and peanut butter that GOrdon picks up, and Jck wakes up next to oreos and peanut butter. Both have wives named Wendy
| Complete credited cast: | |||
 | David Caruso | … | Phil |
 | Stephen Gevedon | … | Mike |
 | Paul Guilfoyle | … | Bill Griggs |
 | Josh Lucas | … | Hank |
 | Peter Mullan | … | Gordon Fleming |
 | Brendan Sexton III | … | Jeff |
 | Charley Broderick | … | Security Guard (as Charles Broderick) |
 | Lonnie Farmer | … | Doctor (voice) |
 | Larry Fessenden | … | Craig McManus |
 | Jurian Hughes | … | Mary Hobbes (voice) |
 | Sheila Stasack | … | Wendy (voice) |
NEED TO POINT OUT THAT SCREENLAND IS SHOWING THE MOVIE THIS WEEK
https://ew.com/movies/session-9-halloween/
AAU
BOOOO STFU this was boring and not scary at all and if you’re actually scared of it i’m gonna kick your kneecaps in. boring cast, boring story. the setting had so much potential only for it to turn into another snooze fest that straight men overhype. if you’re a straight man and you gave this movie more than two stars i’m gonna kick your kneecaps in. y’all are all hyper male until you watch this and suddenly you’re scared??? of what?? the dark?????? grow a spine, little babies 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 i’m gonna feed you to the asylum tunnels and laugh while u cry about it and it would be more entertaining than this movie. GOD.
Well, we’ve just encountered the heir to Roger Ebert’s throne, I guess. I had no idea my gender and sexual orientation informed my enjoyment of this movie. I guess you learn something new every day. *checks kneecaps* – huh, they’re not kicked in.
TIME TO PROMOTE AWAY MATT
2021 Chapbook subscription service: the WXXT Program Guide
3rd edition of Rangel
Sequel to Rangel from Dim Shores books
Next Time: Blood on Satan’s Claw
Tyler has been the editor in chief of Signal Horizon since its conception. He is also the Director of Monsters 101 at Truman State University a class that pairs horror movie criticism with survival skills to help middle and high school students learn critical thinking. When he is not watching, teaching or thinking about horror he is the Director of Debate and Forensics at a high school in Kansas City, Missouri.