Horror Joy

Latest Episodes:

Sleepaway Camp - Summer Camp Slasher 2 (with Joe Vallese and S. Trimble) Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

Brian Onishi and Jeff Stoyanoff continue their summer camp slasher theme with 1983’s Sleepaway Camp

They are joined by guests Jo Vallese (editor of It Came From the Closet) and T (Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies), and frame the film through queer horror, trans horror, and the queer concept of camp.

They discuss the film’s shift from idyllic opening to tragedy, its child and teen cruelty, predatory cook, and boundary violations, and how its notorious ending positions Angela as both killer and “final girl,” raising questions about identity, consent, and whether Angela’s gender is self-determined or imposed by Aunt Martha.

The panel explores reclamation and rehabilitation, audience reactions (including a NYU screening with trans and nonbinary students), the Reagan-era backdrop, a gay male gaze reading via Viet Dien’s Sontag-inspired essay, and how the film differs from Friday the 13th through accidental camp, queer rage debates, failures of adult authority, and unusual violence against children.

Dont' worry, they find joy too.

Kailee Pedersen on Meet Your Maker Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

Horror Joy: Meet Your Maker with Kailee Pedersen

Brian interviews horror writer and opera singer Kailee Pedersen on Meet Your Maker about the relationship between horror and joy, which Pedersen links to the genre’s transgressive freedom, including psychological unsettlement and marginalized protagonists.

Pedersen discusses her writing origins (starting seriously at 13, early Neopets fan fiction, and supportive teachers), her path from poetry and creative nonfiction to novels, and how horror “found” her through an interest in uncomfortable, suppressed aspects of human psychology.

They talk about her books Pastorale, Sacrificial Animals, and The Minimalist, including how The Minimalist draws heavily from real experiences in classical music: pressure, failure, mental health, suicide, racialization, antisemitism, and homophobia.

They explore trauma-based “haunting,” genre as marketing, first-person narration, prepared piano references, and Pedersen’s current horror joy in playing Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPGs.

Pre-order Kailee's book, The Minimalist, which is out August 18th on St. Martin's Press.

https://kaileepedersen.com/the-minimalist/

Friday the 13th - Summer Camp Slasher Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

Brian and Jeff return from a July hiatus for a Horror Joy series on summer camp slashers, beginning with Friday the 13th (1980).

Their discussion focuses on sexuality, gender roles, and moral judgment, the absence of adult authority and supervision, and how the camp functions as a microcosm for late-1970s/early-1980s anxiety around Reagan-era politics and youth economic prospects, drawing on Kara M. Kvaran’s socioeconomic analysis and related scholarship.

They end by sharing joys of slasher nostalgia, pre-cellphone disconnection, practical effects, and invite listeners to email about a possible Discord.

Spider One and Krsy Fox on Meet Your Maker Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

Brian and Jeff are joined for a special episode of Meet Your Maker by Spider One and Krsy Fox to discuss their upcoming film Big Baby (VOD August 7) and the relationship between joy and horror.

Spider and Krsy trace their creative paths from small-town upbringings through music, acting, and songwriting into filmmaking, emphasizing that making your own work overcomes industry gatekeeping.

They explain how Big Baby’s writer protagonist reflects frustrations with disposable modern criticism and explores storytelling’s power and responsibility, including a meta take on the author/filmmaker as a kind of slasher.

They detail designing the original Big Baby mask with Little Shop of Gore, balancing gore with psychological thriller elements, and maintaining safety and a supportive “family” set culture.

They tease possible Big Baby 2 and cite revisiting the Evil Dead series with their horror-loving daughter as current joy.

Michael Boulerice on Meet Your Maker Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

On Horror Joy, Jeff is joined by author Michael Boulerice about his novella Inhalation (released June 16).

Boulerice shares his origin story—writing nonfiction essays online before shifting to horror 4–5 years ago with help from developmental editor Alex Woodrow—leading to short-story sales and publishing with Dead Sky (including Feeding the Wheel).

Michael and Jeff discuss why haunted house stories endure as fears of a corrupted safe space, then talk spoiler-light about Inhalation’s decaying home, Catholic family dynamics, weaponized belief, and Alice in Wonderland’s Caterpillar as cosmic-horror inspiration tied to Boulerice’s late father-in-law, whom the book tributes.

Boulerice previews a themed collection, Ether’s Wood Elementary Primer (summer 2027), plus novels in progress, and cites recent joys like Widow’s Bay, Beyond the Walls, The Backrooms, and the film Human Lanterns.

Amy Jane Stewart on Meet Your Maker Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

Jeff hosts a solo episode of Horror Joy: Meet Your Maker with author Amy Jane Stewart, who grew up in Edinburgh, lives in the Scottish Borders, and whose debut novel Hex House (Titan Books) is a feminist horror fairy tale released spring 2026. She is also completing a University of Sheffield PhD on winged women and received Creative Scotland funding in 2023.

Stewart describes horror’s connection to joy through nostalgia for boundary-pushing media, the welcoming horror community, and horror as a safe space to explore big feelings and loss of control. She recounts deciding at 26 to pursue publication, facing rejections, finding her voice in creepy short fiction during an MA at York St John, and ultimately signing with an agent and a 2024 book deal, with Hex House blending fantasy and gothic horror.

They discuss genre boundaries, haunted houses as subversions of home and trauma, Hex House’s dual perspectives (Ellie and Siobhan), and Stewart’s next dark-academia horror novel, plus recommendations including The Lamb, The Brides, and The Memory Tree.

Josh Hanson on Meet Your Maker Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

Jeff interviews horror author Josh Hanson (King’s Hill, The Woodcutters, Fortress, Marshbank, Minotaur Stories) about the relationship between horror and joy, which Hanson links to story-driven pleasure, safe transgression, and chasing the intensity of childhood fear.

Hanson recounts discovering writing in college, burning out after an MFA at the University of Montana amid anti-genre attitudes and market-focused training, then returning to fiction around age 50 and establishing a daily routine that led to his debut.

They discuss why haunted houses resonate as violations of domestic safety, and Hanson’s upcoming novel Calliope Street (out July 29), a triptych about Jack and Avery, a fixer-upper with a basement collage “altar” that functions as a portal, identity misrecognition and threat, and suspicion after Avery’s disappearance.

Hanson cites Dario Argento’s vibe-first approach as inspiration and discusses recent horror that is bringing him joy.

Josh Hanson

Shane Hawk on Meet Your Maker Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Brian and Jeff welcome Shane Hawk, a Cheyenne and Arapaho horror writer and editor, creator of the Native Horror Index, and contributing editor at Counterpoint Press acquiring and editing Indigenous North American writers.

Hawk explains how horror can produce joy through safe distance, catharsis, and the chance to rewrite grim histories by letting Native characters survive and resist stereotypes.

He recounts early influences (Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark, a childhood Halloween scare), returning to intense reading in adulthood, and self-publishing Anoka in 2020 before COVID led him to spearhead Never Whistle at Night with co-editor Ted Van Alst, evolving from a Discord/Twitter idea to a Vintage deal and major sales.

He discusses horror community support, the anthology’s themes of revenge and community, his comfort centering Native perspectives, co-writing the stage audio-drama The Land Has Spoken, launching the directory-style Native Horror Index.

The sequel to Never Whistle at Night, titled Back for Blood, is set for August 18, 2026.

ShaneHawk.com

Native Horror Index

Damir Debanic (Creator of Jure Grando) Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

Jeff welcomes Damir Debanic, owner of InterHuman Games, to discuss his upcoming board game Jure Grando, a Croatia-based, vampire-adjacent folklore horror title on GameFound.

Debanic describes horror’s cathartic link to joy, his path from organizing events in 1990s Croatia to 15 years at sea, and why board games are “programming with paper” and a vehicle for story. He explains that horror board games mainly appeal to board gamers drawn in by theme, then outlines Croatian vampire/štrigoi lore, krsnik monster-fighters, and how Slavic mythology informed Dracula’s supernatural elements.

Jure Grando emphasizes simple folk protections, no dice, minimal combat, and a two-phase race against encroaching darkness, a demonic cat, and the endgame arrival of Jure Grando, with multiple scenarios and endings.

Debanic also summarizes prior games (Within Walls, Propuh, and Fear of the Dark) and previews future folklore projects and a possible Jure Grando sequel.

InterHuman Games

Ian Tuason (dir. Undertone) on Meet Your Maker Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

On Horror Joy’s Meet Your Maker, Brian is joined by Undertone writer-director Ian Tuason. They discuss the relationship between joy and horror, distinguishing joy as a sustainable state from fleeting happiness and describing horror as a creative outlet that can offer safe thrills and catharsis, especially for people shaped by trauma.

Tuason recounts his path from writing poetry, stories, and short films to making a low-budget feature designed around sound, which he chose out of necessity and because audiences’ imaginations make the unseen scarier than visuals.

They discuss Undertone’s reliance on silence, noise-canceling headphones, and off-screen space, as well as its religious imagery rooted in Tuason’s Catholic upbringing, where guilt functions like an antagonist and Mary and Abzu represent opposing sides of a maternal archetype.

Tuason shares that he is rebooting Paranormal Activity, drawing on the first three films’ unseen terror while exploring the male gaze as a nemesis.

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