In Part 2, Tara tells Doug about the history of holiday "ghost panics," public ghost sightings that had revelers out and about, hunting ghosts with clubs and rifles. Your two hosts play the role of reporter and even share some pranky histories of their own. Doug teaches everyone a thing or two about attracting apparitions.

This series is all about ghosts—Christmas ghosts! In Part 1, Tara and Doug discuss some ghost basics and geek out about the English tradition of fireside holiday ghost stories. Equal parts Charles Dickens and love letter to all apparitions.

References:

"Introduction" in The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories edited by Tara Moore

The Ghost: A Cultural History by Susan Owens

History's Haunted Headlines: Hauntings and Ghostly Encounters Throughout the United States as Reported in American Newspapers, Volumes 1 and 3 by Adam Shefts

Phantoms of Christmas Past: Festive Ghost Hoaxes, Ghost Hunts and Ghost Panics by Paul Weatherhead

Tara and Doug are not always deep in reflection about the wistful carousel of eternity; sometimes, they just want to talk about horror movies. In this strange holiday special, they cover the 2023 slasher movie Thanksgiving, directed by Eli Roth. Spoilers about. In fact, it’s an episode dedicated to spoiling the whole movie.

They talk through elements of the movies that inspired this one–some classics that include Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the Final Destination franchise–so there are some small spoilers about those decades-old movies, too.

It all amounts to horror movie talk, with questions such as: How does axe murder differ from stabbing? Do you need to like characters? What the hell even happened in this movie?