Show notes
The Lost Boys, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, Fright Night, The Village, and The Collector headline this episode of This Week in Horror History, covering July 27 through August 2. Summer horror gets vampiric, supernatural, folklore-soaked, and dangerously familiar as we revisit an iconic 1980s vampire movie, the resurrection of Jason Voorhees, M. Night Shyamalan’s isolated village nightmare, a brutal home-invasion trap thriller, and a modern Métis horror novel about a loved one who returns profoundly wrong. Inside this episode:July 28, 2020 — Empire of Wild receives its U.S. publicationCherie Dimaline’s supernatural horror novel follows Joan, a woman searching for her missing husband. When she discovers a charismatic preacher who looks and sounds almost exactly like him—but insists he is someone else—her search leads toward Métis folklore, the rogarou, stolen identity, grief, and an ancient hunger wearing a familiar face. July 30, 2004 — The Village releases in the United StatesM. Night Shyamalan transforms an isolated community surrounded by forbidden woods into a haunting story about fear, control, ritual, and the dangerous power of a carefully protected lie. The villagers have been taught that creatures wait beyond the boundary, certain colors must never be worn, and safety depends upon everyone obeying the same rules. July 31, 1987 — The Lost Boys releases in the United StatesJoel Schumacher gives vampire horror leather jackets, motorcycles, beach fog, neon boardwalks, and unforgettable 1980s style. Beneath the lights and nightlife of Santa Carla, a gang of young vampires offers danger, immortality, and the seductive promise of never having to grow up. August 1, 1986 — Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives releasesTommy Jarvis accidentally resurrects Jason Voorhees with a bolt of lightning, transforming the Crystal Lake killer into a fully supernatural slasher icon. Faster, funnier, and more self-aware than many earlier entries, Jason Lives combines gothic cemetery imagery, summer-camp terror, black comedy, and one of the franchise’s most memorable versions of Jason.Deep-Cut Spotlight — The Collector A desperate thief breaks into a wealthy family’s home and discovers that a masked killer has already transformed the property into an elaborate maze of wires, traps, locked rooms, and carefully arranged suffering. The Collector captures the brutal energy of late-2000s horror, combining home-invasion suspense, post-Saw trap horror, survival-thriller momentum, and the terrifying idea that every possible escape route has already been anticipated by someone waiting inside.Horror Birthdays This Week: David Warner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Wes Craven enter the birthday roll, bringing connections to The Omen, Waxwork, Predator, The Terminator, Aliens, Planet Terror, The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream.Weekly Recommendation — Fright Night A teenage horror fan becomes convinced that his charming new neighbor is a vampire—but nobody believes him. Desperate for help, Charley Brewster turns to Peter Vincent, a washed-up television horror host who has spent his career pretending to battle monsters. Funny, stylish, spooky, and filled with practical-effects vampire horror, Fright Night remains one of the great horror-comedies of the 1980s. It combines the vampire-next-door premise with suburban paranoia, late-night horror television, supernatural action, and the realization that imaginary courage may suddenly need to become real.From Empire of Wild and The Village to The Lost Boys, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, The Collector, and Fright Night, this week in horror history proves that the most dangerous monsters do not always remain hidden. Sometimes they wear the face of someone you love, live inside your community, move into the house next door, or rise from the grave when lightning strikes.🎧 LISTEN NOW and subscribe for spine-tingling horror stories every week!🎉 Unlock exclusive bonus episodes and support the show on Patreon!👉 WeeklySpooky.com/Join📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story!Twitter: @WeeklySpookyFacebook: facebook.com/WeeklySpookyEmail: [email protected]🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here !👨💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com