This week Special Topics in Media expands discussion of Nightmarish Nature by welcoming special guest new voice to the program, Hannah Herron. An author and and avid reader of horror, thrillers, and sci-fi, Hannah joins Garret to discuss director three-time Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont's 2007 adaptation of the Stephen King novella, "The Mist". Garret and Hannah discuss Darabont's screenwriting career behind numerous horror projects, including sequels (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, 1987; The Fly II, 2989), remakes (The Blob, 1988), adaptation (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 1994), as well as his elevation to auteur director helming a trio of Stephen King projects. Hannah stresses Darabont's ability to build suspense (17:31), the cohosts expound upon the film's tension between present versus absent forces (19:35), in addition to other core themes resonant with The Mist's allegorical structure within a "Nature's Revenge" narrative framework (22:11). Ultimately, Garret challenges Hannah to engage our seasonal quest to understand the ways in which movies like The Mist communicate fears through film (44:09).

Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Hannah Herron

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings paired with Season Seven "Communicating Fears in Film":
Kendall Phillips. Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture. Praeger, 2006.

Stephen Prince. Apocalypse Cinema. Rutgers University Press, 2021.

Murray Leeder. Horror Film: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2018.

Hannah Joy Hall. Awake, Digital Edition. Independent Press/Amazon Publishing, 2020.

Frank Darabont (Director). The Mist. Vivian, Louisiana, USA: Dimension Films/Darkwoods Productions/The Weinstein Company, 2007.

Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.

"Like" to follow our Special Topics in Media Page on Facebook (search Special Topics in Media).

Join the Special Topics in Media Facebook Group and share your reviews of the film or this episode.

Subscribe to Dr. Castleberry's academic YouTube Channel.

Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.