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Sitting in the Dark

Sitting in the Dark

By: TruStory FM
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 Sitting in the Dark is a podcast about horror, but not the kind that hides in a single shadow. Each month, hosts Tommy Metz III, Kynan Dias, Chelsea Stardust, and Pete Wright pick a theme — an idea, a trope, a nightmare that keeps winding back — and explore it through three films that share its DNA. Sometimes the connections are obvious, sometimes they’re unexpected, and sometimes they lead you deeper into the maze than you expected to go.

One month might bring The Drac Pack, three wildly different takes on cinema’s most famous vampire. Another, a journey through The Bride, the Boy, and the Firetruck, unpacking coded queer horror across decades. We’ve explored maternal terror in Mommy Acts This Way Because She Loves You, broken into the home-invasion subgenre, tiptoed through haunted houses, and stared down both classic monsters and blockbuster franchises.

What ties it all together is a love of horror as a labyrinth — a twisting path where every turn reveals something new about our fears, desires, and cultural obsessions. With smart conversation, dark humor, and a willingness to look behind the curtain (or under the bed), Sitting in the Dark invites you to settle in, turn down the lights, and find out what connects the nightmares.© TruStory FM Art
Episodes
  • Death Edging with the Films of Final Destination

    Death Edging with the Films of Final Destination
    Sep 26 2025
    Sometimes horror doesn’t need a killer in a mask—it just needs gravity, leaky plumbing, and a loose screw. This week Pete, Tommy, Kynan, and Chelsea dive headlong into the beautifully deranged contraptions of fate in the Final Destination series. We zero in on films one, two, five, and six, skipping the middle entries (with Chelsea reluctantly leaving her beloved roller coaster behind) to track how the franchise evolved from eerie paranoia to glossy spectacle—and sometimes back again.What makes these films so uniquely unnerving? They erase the safe distance of supernatural slashers and drop death right in our kitchens, on our highways, and even at the optometrist. From the infamous log truck pile-up in Final Destination 2 to the unexpectedly brilliant twist of Final Destination 5, the series keeps daring us to see everyday objects as lethal Rube Goldberg machines. Along the way, we debate the rules of death (are they rules or just improv?), celebrate Tony Todd as the connective tissue of the franchise, and wrestle with whether the overpolished look of Bloodlines makes its gore more cartoonish than chilling. And yes, we all pick our favorite kills—expect airbags, bathtubs, and gymnastic mats to come up in conversation.It’s a franchise that’s as much about philosophy as phobia—existential dread wrapped in popcorn horror, where the fun lies in watching fate toy with its victims like a sadistic game master. Whether you love the paranoia of not knowing which object will strike next or the catharsis of absurd spectacle, Final Destination has a death with your name on it. Join us, as we laugh, squirm, and admit how these movies have ruined car rides, kitchen appliances, and even snow globes forever.Featured FilmsTonight's Quadruple Feature:Final Destination 1 - Apple TV | Amazon | LetterboxdFinal Destination 2 - Apple TV | Amazon | LetterboxdFinal Destination 5 - Apple TV| Amazon | LetterboxdFinal Destination Bloodlines - Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd📋 View Our List on Letterboxd(00:00) - Welcome to Sitting in the Dark(02:26) - Final Destination(11:49) - Final Destination(22:27) - Final Destination 2(36:18) - 3 & 4(37:16) - Final Destination 5(45:21) - "Death Edging" — Tommy(48:01) - Final Destination Bloodlines(01:05:05) - Favorite Kills(01:10:19) - Coming AttractionsSupport The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next Reel Film PodcastSitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Kyle | Kynan | Pete | TommyShop & Stream:Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Letterboxd Pro/Patron discount | Audible
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • The Haunting Power of Belief: Folklore and Spirituality in Asian Horror

    The Haunting Power of Belief: Folklore and Spirituality in Asian Horror
    Sep 12 2025
    Out in the remote villages of South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand, belief isn’t just tradition—it’s infrastructure. In this month’s episode of Sitting in the Dark, guest host Andy Nelson takes Pete Wright, Tommy Metz III, and Kynan Dias on a journey into three modern horror films that weaponize spiritual legacy: The Wailing (2016), Impetigore (2019), and The Medium (2021). Each film presents a different lens on the collision between folk belief and contemporary life, and none of them offers easy answers.The panel dives deep into the disorienting tone shifts of The Wailing, where slapstick cops and demonic rituals clash with devastating consequences. They unpack the haunting beauty and brutal tradition behind Impetigore, a film that begins in a toll booth and ends in generational damnation. And The Medium, with its immersive mockumentary format, challenges our understanding of family, fate, and whether gods actually have your best interests at heart.What unites these films? An unnerving thesis: belief might not protect you—it might damn you. These aren’t stories of good versus evil. They’re stories about what happens when spiritual systems—old and new, global and local—overlap and collapse. And in the end, maybe the most terrifying realization is that all these spirits, deities, and curses… simply don’t care what you believe.Join us this month as we stare into the spiritual void, question the value of ritual, and contemplate the horror of legacy itself.Film SundriesThe List on LetterboxdWatch the movies discussed:The Wailing: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdImpetigore: Apple • Amazon • LetterboxdThe Medium: Apple • Amazon • Letterboxd(00:00) - Welcome to Sitting in the Dark(02:19) - Asian Horror with Andy!(15:13) - The Wailing(31:21) - Impetigore(49:27) - The MediumSupport The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next Reel Film PodcastSitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Kyle | Kynan | Pete | TommyShop & Stream:Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Letterboxd Pro/Patron discount | Audible
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Rug Pullers: Topsy-Turvy Horror Twists

    Rug Pullers: Topsy-Turvy Horror Twists
    Aug 29 2025
    Some horror films end with a twist. These films start with a premise, wait until you’ve buckled in, and then swerve into oncoming traffic. Welcome to Rug Pullers, the subgenre where the story you thought you were watching was the bait. This week, Tommy, Pete, Kynan, and guest Chelsea Stardust tear into three films that gleefully yank the floorboards out from under you: Ghostwatch (1992), the BBC broadcast that gaslit an entire country into thinking their telly was haunted; Barbarian (2022), a movie that weaponizes airbnbs; and Strange Darling (2023), a predator–prey thriller that rearranges itself so often it could qualify as Lego.We debate whether Barbarian’s “mother” is a monster or the most tragic character in the film, whether Ghostwatch’s bumbling TV presenters are brilliant or just British, and whether Strange Darling’s chapter titles are clever or just yelling at you in big fonts. Chelsea Stardust brings a filmmaker’s take on horror tropes, Kynan grapples with whether rug-pulls are honest shocks or cinematic pranks, and Pete wonders if humanity should collectively agree never to go into creepy basement-basements again.These movies sucker punch. They remind you that horror isn’t about the monster in the dark, it’s about the floor that you’re standing on... and how you never noticed that it is made of quicksand.Featured FilmsTonight's Triple Feature:Ghostwatch - Apple TV | Amazon | LetterboxdBarbarian - Apple TV | Amazon | LetterboxdStrange Darling - Apple TV | Amazon | LetterboxdView Our List on Letterboxd(00:00) - Welcome to Sitting in the Dark(03:02) - Introducing Chelsea Stardust!(04:18) - Rug Pullers(05:55) - Ghostwatch(09:07) - GW1(09:29) - Ghostwatch(25:08) - GW2(25:41) - Ghostwatch(31:21) - GW3(31:51) - Barbarian(55:01) - Strange Darling(01:16:23) - Coming AttractionsSupport The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next Reel Film PodcastSitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Kyle | Kynan | Pete | TommyShop & Stream:Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Letterboxd Pro/Patron discount | Audible
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    1 hr and 22 mins
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