The Horror Heals Podcast

How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC
  • 4.9 (8)
  • TV & Film
  • Updated Semiweekly

The Horror Heals Podcast is about how horror culture, movies, and performers aid so many of us with mental wellness. Firsthand we’ve seen and heard the power of horror to help us feel better mentally. (Being part of the horror convention community is great for lowering our anxiety!)Here’s the “why and how” of the Horror Heals Podcast:Kendall and Corey host the podcast with guests on each episode, including horror enthusiasts who are willing to share their stories about how horror has helped them heal, be it from trauma, anxiety, depression, or whatever their circumstances.They will also feature luminaries from the horror world who will share—one—how being part of the community is great for their own mental health and—two—will share stories of meeting fans and their experiences with healing through horror.After hosting our successful Family Twist podcast for two years, Kendall and Corey pondered a horror podcast, but with so many in existence, we wondered, “How can we be heard in the noise?” Corey had an “aha” moment at the horror convention earlier this year.He was in line to meet director, Sam Raimi, packed in tightly. Corey observed a young man in the next row, clearly nearing a panic attack. He was obviously in distress. Corey was about to ask the people in front of and behind him if they wouldn’t mind holding his spot in line so he could step away if he needed to. Then someone asked the young man about the stack of DVDs he was holding.Immediately, the distressed young man’s demeanor changed. The anxiety seemed to melt away as he chatted with his new friend. He was seemingly fine and relaxed for the duration of the line. That is the healing magic of horror—just one example of many.

  1. 4d ago

    A New Nightmare for Amityville

    Send us Fan Mail The Amityville house has been revisited so many times that it’s easy to forget there’s a real town around it. Robert P. Ottone grew up about 20 minutes away. In his new novel, "Amityville Awakens," he imagines the house being torn down and asks what happens next. Robert joins Corey and Kendall to talk about his connection to the case, including the night his father announced news of the DeFeo murders on the radio. He explains why he returned to the original Amityville account for inspiration, what he thinks the movies have done to the story, and why he wanted his novel to include both Amityville and North Amityville. There’s more on Robert’s mind than a haunted house. He talks about the changes he’s seen on Long Island, the migrant workers whose labor helps sustain it, and his experience teaching adults who came to English classes after long shifts. It’s a conversation about the people who live in a place most of us know only from horror movies. We also talk about the films that made Robert a horror fan, trade opinions on newer releases, and get a Tubi recommendation. Robert had the title right: it’s "Match." And when we ask him to name a favorite final person, he takes the question in a direction we didn’t expect. Amityville Awakens arrives October 6, 2026. Preorder a signed copy from CLASH BooksPreorder the paperback through Bookshop.orgFind the audiobook through Simon & SchusterWatch Match on TubiIs horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is. Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  2. Sep 15

    How to Build a Nightmare

    Send us Fan Mail Haunted house season is here, and we are talking with a man who has been paid to scare people for nearly 50 years. Leonard Pickel has designed or consulted on more than 300 haunted attractions. His résumé includes work for Universal Studios Florida, Six Flags and Madison Square Garden, along with creating Hauntrepreneurs, Haunted Attraction Magazine and HAuNTcon. Leonard gives Corey and Kendall the inside scoop on how haunted houses are designed, what makes a scare work and how the industry has changed during his remarkable career. He also explains what haunt designers notice that the rest of us completely miss while we are busy screaming and searching for the exit. It is a playful trip through the art, psychology and business of making people pay to be terrified. Learn more about Leonard at https://hauntrepreneurs.com. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is. Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  3. Sep 8

    The Horror Movies We Just Can’t Watch

    Send us Fan Mail Nicole Davis loves horror. Kendall loves horror. But neither one wants anything to do with a home invasion movie. In Part 2, we compare notes on the horror we simply cannot handle. Home invasions are a big one, but caves, claustrophobia and a few other nightmare scenarios make the list, too. Just because you host or appear on a podcast called Horror Heals does not mean you have to watch ALL the horror. We also hear more of Nicole’s adoption story, and this is where things get wild. She shares the story of the letter her adoptive mother wrote to Alabama Gov. George Wallace and why Nicole still has questions about the role it may have played in her adoption. Then there’s the Ancestry DNA match Nicole almost ignored. She had spent years trying to identify her biological father and believed he had died. So when another DNA notification showed up, Nicole wasn’t exactly rushing to investigate. Eventually she did, and discovered a 27% match that changed everything she thought she knew. There’s a lot packed into Part 2: horror movies, adoption, DNA, family secrets and plenty of laughs along the way. And we want to hear from you: What horror movie, scene or entire subgenre can you absolutely NOT watch? Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  4. Sep 1

    Freddy Krueger Was More Predictable Than Real Life

    Send us Fan Mail Writer Nicole Davis grew up afraid of haunted houses, but not necessarily because of what might jump out at her. She didn’t trust the people inside them. Nicole grew up adopted in rural Alabama, at the end of a road where anyone showing up had a reason to be there. Kids came down specifically to mess with her family. Wild dogs roamed farther back on their property. News of an escaped murderer left her terrified that someone could be outside her window. And she never knew what kind of mood her father would be in when he came home. Then there was evangelical Christianity. Nicole grew up with Hell Houses, Rapture movies and the very real fear that if she didn’t do everything exactly right, she could die and spend eternity in hell. She tells us that was scarier than The Exorcist. We’ll forgive her. Somewhere in all that fear, horror became a source of comfort. Stephen King gave Nicole an escape. Freddy Krueger was terrifying, but at least Freddy was predictable. He had rules. The movie ended. The book closed. When real life could change without warning, fictional horror gave Nicole a place where she knew where the danger was coming from. That relationship with fear followed her into adulthood. Home invasion movies such as The Strangers still scare the hell out of her. The Descent managed to ruin something she once loved: exploring caves. Pennywise helped make sure clowns were permanently off the list. We also talk about horror’s long history of portraying adoptees as the dangerous outsider, the “bad seed” whose mysterious biology might eventually turn them against the family that took them in. As an adoptee herself, Nicole has some thoughts. And that’s where Horror Heals collides with our other podcast, Family Twist. Nicole’s adoption story, childhood and love of horror are so tangled together that separating them would almost miss the point. In Part 1, we talk Stephen King, Freddy Krueger, Pennywise, The Strangers, The Descent, rural horror, Hell Houses, adoption trauma, abandonment, childhood anxiety and why sometimes knowing where the monster is can make it a whole lot less frightening. Part 2 is coming next week. Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  5. Aug 25

    Welcome Home, Weirdos and Queerdos

    Send us Fan Mail In Part 1 with Ash from Dead Puppy Studios, we heard how someone once terrified of horror ended up making human-skin masks and scaring the hell out of people for fun. Part 2 gets even more personal, with a lot of laughs along the way. Ash talks about finding a home in Salem and a horror community where the people who might look scary to outsiders are often some of the warmest and most welcoming people in the room. It’s a place where, as Ash puts it, the “weirdos and queerdos” can show up exactly as themselves. We also get into the stigmas that still surround mental health and horror fandom, and why Ash believes scary movies can give us a safe place to deal with anger, fear and trauma. Then we geek out over the movies themselves, including Midsommar, The Purge, Saw, Rob Zombie’s Firefly family and why some horror movies deserve more credit for what they’re saying underneath all that blood. Ash also answers our favorite final-person question, offers a few potentially controversial horror opinions and introduces us to the true mastermind behind Dead Puppy Studios: Zombie, the company’s Cat Executive Officer. He came up with the name. He contributes no money. He refuses to work the booth. Typical management. Listen to Part 2 with Ash from Dead Puppy Studios on Horror Heals. Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  6. Aug 18

    From Terrified to Terrifying

    Send us Fan Mail Ash from Dead Puppy Studios makes human-skin masks, special effects, creepy props and the occasional skin lamp. Ash has also worked as a scare actor, including a memorable turn as a Southern cannibal grandma. Naturally, Kendall and Corey had to know more. But, Ash’s relationship with horror started in a very different place. For much of Ash’s life, scary movies and haunted attractions weren’t fun. They were genuinely frightening. After experiencing trauma and anxiety, horror could feel like one more thing to avoid. Just a few years ago, Ash had a panic attack inside a Halloween Horror Nights attraction and had to be escorted out. Then, Ash made a choice: go back inside. In Part 1 of our conversation, Ash talks about that remarkable evolution from being terrified by horror to creating it, and how controlled scares became an unexpected part of healing. We also get into scare acting, the psychology of haunted attractions, moving to Salem, launching Dead Puppy Studios and learning to channel difficult emotions into art. Plus, we learn how those wonderfully disturbing human-skin masks are actually made. It’s funny, candid, creepy and right at the heart of why we created this podcast. Horror Heals: Where the things that scare us can also save us. Come back next week for Part 2 with Ash. Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  7. Aug 11

    Growing Up in the Town of the Living Dead

    Send us Fan Mail What happens when you grow up loving horror in the town that gave us "Night of the Living Dead?" Filmmaker and actor Robert Oppel joins Kendall for a trip through Pittsburgh horror history, beginning with George Romero, "Dawn of the Dead" and the Monroeville Mall. Robert remembers being so obsessed with Dawn that he recorded the Goblin soundtrack from the movie onto cassette, dialogue included, then walked around the actual mall listening to it on his Walkman. That kid eventually found his way into the movies himself. Robert talks about landing a role in "Children of the Living Dead," getting killed and coming back as a zombie, working on a movie with Tom Savini and later telling Savini that he played Brad in the film. Savini’s response: “You tell people that?” Robert also shares how his mother and grandmother encouraged his fascination with movies, the magic of watching actual film run through a projector and how those early experiences helped push him toward acting and directing. The conversation also turns personal. Robert discusses making Uncle Bob, his documentary about his uncle and namesake, Robert Oppel, who famously streaked across the stage during the 1974 Academy Awards and was murdered five years later. His uncle’s story also intersects with San Francisco counterculture, John Waters, Divine and the city’s art scene. It is a conversation about horror fandom, family, creativity and what can happen when the movies you obsess over as a kid become part of what you do with your life. And when Kendall asks Robert to name his favorite Final Person, he goes straight back to where it all began: "Night of the Living Dead." Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

  8. Aug 11

    They Said a Trans Scream Queen Would Never Happen

    Send us Fan Mail Timothy Waldron wanted to be a scream queen. The problem? People in the film industry kept telling her it wasn’t going to happen. She had other plans. Timothy joins Corey for a funny, candid and occasionally very bloody conversation about carving out her own place in indie horror as a trans actress. She talks about discovering horror as a kid, her obsession with Sarah Michelle Gellar in I Know What You Did Last Summer and why Helen Shivers helped teach her to be a fighter. Timothy also gets into the pressure she faced to adopt a more traditionally feminine stage name and why she refused. Her name is Timothy Waldron. She knows exactly who she is, and Hollywood doesn’t get to rename her. The conversation goes from there to working with Horror Heals alum Debbie Rochon, learning acting on the job, trans representation in horror, her love of practical effects and why she tells directors not to hold back when it’s time to kill her character. No off-camera death, please. Timothy wants the blood, the prosthetics and the whole damn thing. She also explains why every scream she gives on camera is real and where all that emotion comes from. Naturally, Corey has to put that scream to the test. Timothy also previews Slaughter at Camp Swinelake, The Yellow Balloon: Curse of Vincent Farrow and La Suicida. And there’s one more reason Corey is excited about this episode: it’s his birthday episode. Huge thanks to Timothy for creating some killer social media content to help Horror Heals celebrate and spread the word. Follow Timothy on Instagram: @timothywaldronofficial If you enjoy Horror Heals, give Corey a cheap birthday present and share this episode with another horror fan. Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.  Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing. If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages. You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way. Horror Heals is produced by Mosaic Multimedia LLC. Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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About

The Horror Heals Podcast is about how horror culture, movies, and performers aid so many of us with mental wellness. Firsthand we’ve seen and heard the power of horror to help us feel better mentally. (Being part of the horror convention community is great for lowering our anxiety!)Here’s the “why and how” of the Horror Heals Podcast:Kendall and Corey host the podcast with guests on each episode, including horror enthusiasts who are willing to share their stories about how horror has helped them heal, be it from trauma, anxiety, depression, or whatever their circumstances.They will also feature luminaries from the horror world who will share—one—how being part of the community is great for their own mental health and—two—will share stories of meeting fans and their experiences with healing through horror.After hosting our successful Family Twist podcast for two years, Kendall and Corey pondered a horror podcast, but with so many in existence, we wondered, “How can we be heard in the noise?” Corey had an “aha” moment at the horror convention earlier this year.He was in line to meet director, Sam Raimi, packed in tightly. Corey observed a young man in the next row, clearly nearing a panic attack. He was obviously in distress. Corey was about to ask the people in front of and behind him if they wouldn’t mind holding his spot in line so he could step away if he needed to. Then someone asked the young man about the stack of DVDs he was holding.Immediately, the distressed young man’s demeanor changed. The anxiety seemed to melt away as he chatted with his new friend. He was seemingly fine and relaxed for the duration of the line. That is the healing magic of horror—just one example of many.

Information

  • Creator
    How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    95
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC
  • Show Website
    The Horror Heals Podcast

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