Xenomania

Martin Kearns
  • 5.0 (4)
  • IMPROV
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Xenomania: A Cult Horror Odyssey is your new favorite podcast for all things spooky, strange, and downright weird! Join three friends—Jon, Ryan, and Kearns—as they dive headfirst into the eerie world of cult horror. From obscure horror flicks to creepy pop culture and the quirky psychology behind humanity’s love for the macabre, this podcast has it all. With its unique blend of deep research, casual banter, and spine-tingling storytelling, Xenomania invites listeners to delve into the twisted allure of cult horror, one haunting episode at a time.

  1. 6D AGO

    Scream Six Sucks?

    Xenomania Episode 62— Scream VI New city. Same rules. Worse consequences. This week we head to New York for Scream VI, the franchise’s loudest, meanest entry yet. No small-town nostalgia. No safe houses. Just subways, alleyways, and a Ghostface who feels less interested in games and more interested in making a point. We talk about the shift in setting and how the city changes the tension. Crowds don’t make you safer. They make you invisible. The subway scene alone is worth the price of admission, and we break down why it works so well. We also get into: The evolution of the “core four” and whether they’ve earned plot armor The franchise leaning harder into brutality The ladder scene and why it’s one of the most effective sequences in the series How this film handles legacy without leaning on it Scream VI feels bigger, faster, and more aggressive than 5. It knows the audience understands the rules, so it pushes harder against them. Is it the best in the franchise? Maybe not. Is it the boldest since the original? That’s a real conversation.

    1h 6m

  2. FEB 26

    Scream (2022) — Xenomania

    Legacy is a dangerous thing. This week we revisit Woodsboro for Scream (2022) — the sequel that pretends to be a reboot while quietly sharpening the knife. New cast. Old trauma. Same mask. We talk about how the film balances nostalgia with new blood, and whether it actually earns that balance. Does bringing back Sidney, Gale, and Dewey feel necessary… or safe? And more importantly, do the new characters stand on their own? We get into: The “requel” concept and how the movie openly mocks it The hospital sequence and why it’s one of the cleanest suspense builds in the franchise Dewey’s arc and whether it hits the way it’s supposed to Toxic fandom as motive and whether that angle still lands Scream 5 knows the audience is in on the joke. The question is whether that awareness makes it smarter… or softer. It’s self-aware. It’s polished. It’s brutal when it wants to be. And it proves one thing: Ghostface doesn’t need a reason. Just a phone call.

    1h 6m

  3. FEB 19

    Baskin (2015) - Xenomania 60

    This week we finally tackle Baskin. It starts like a grimy cop movie. Guys in a patrol car. Dumb jokes. A late-night call that feels routine. Then they get sent to an abandoned building, and from there the movie just keeps going down. Literally. The shift is what makes it work. You’re grounded for just long enough to feel stable, and then that stability disappears. The film stops explaining itself. Scenes stretch. Conversations feel wrong. The deeper they go, the less it feels like a mistake and the more it feels like something waiting. We spend a lot of time talking about the Father. Not just how he looks, but how he carries himself. He isn’t loud. He isn’t rushed. He feels certain. That calm is what makes him stick. We also get into the way the movie handles power. These are men who think they’re in control. Uniform, authority, weapons. None of that matters down there. The movie strips them down slowly, and it doesn’t offer an easy way out. The ending isn’t clean. It loops back on itself. It leaves you sitting with it. If you’ve never seen Baskin, this is one of those watches that feels less like entertainment and more like you stumbled into something private.

    1h 11m

  4. FEB 12

    Heart Eyes – Xenomania 59

    RomCom tropes to die for.” In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns spiral into the sticky, savage chaos of Heart Eyes — a film where the apocalypse isn’t just viral, it’s romantic. We break down why the monsters don’t attack Luna, how this world turns affection into infection, and whether the line between symbiosis and codependence has ever been blurrier. There’s something unsettlingly sweet about it all: the pastel lighting, the almost-musical pacing, the way decapitations land like love songs. It’s a love story dressed in flayed skin, a YA fever dream mashed into a Goya painting. And yes, it works. We also talk about how Heart Eyes joins the ranks of recent horror films that dare to ask: What if the girl survives because she’s the problem?

    1h 7m

  5. FEB 5

    The Strangers: Chapter 1 – Xenomania 58

    "You opened the door. They walked in." In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns return to the woods. Not the ones where magic lives, but where people do terrible things for no reason at all. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is not a reboot. It is a quiet escalation. A slower blade. And yes, it is still knocking. We dive into the bleak domesticity of it all. A cabin. A couple. A car that will not start. And why this film refuses to explain anything. There is no twisted backstory. No monstrous reveal. Just the cold echo of a line that hits harder than any jump scare: "Because you were home." We unpack the aesthetic upgrades, the tonal restraint, and why horror is still scarier when it hates you quietly. This is not survival horror. It is acceptance horror. And Chapter 1 may be just the first scratch on the window.   00:00 Introduction to Xenomania and The Strangers 00:41 Diving into The Strangers: Chapter One 01:22 Comparing the Original and the Reboot 03:13 Character Analysis: Maya and Ryan 04:17 The Airbnb Horror Trope 05:57 Beer Talk and Nostalgia 10:02 Back to The Strangers: Expectations and Disappointments 14:18 Renny Harlan's Filmography 14:54 Slasher Stash: Renny Harlan Movies 28:23 Chris Farley Stories and TV Edits 30:03 The Warriors: Original vs. New Edition 31:15 Gaming Culture and Microtransactions 32:42 Movie Reviews: The Strangers 49:35 Top Five Reboots 57:36 Top Five Obscure Masks 01:02:50 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

    1h 4m

  6. JAN 29

    28 Years Later: Bone Temple – Xenomania 57

    The rage never left. In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns trek through the ash-crusted mythos of 28 Years Later: Bone Temple, where blood memory and broken faith collide in the ruins of civilization. This isn’t just another infection movie, it’s a story about what survives when survival stops being enough. We follow Jimmy, a demented cult leader with running out of fingers, and Ian, the doctor who still believes mercy is sacred . When Ian gives the beast Sampson a syringe of morphine, it’s not cruelty. It’s communion. He still sees the man beneath the monster. Against all odds — and genre rules — Bone Temple dares to find a fragile, flickering light in the rage-plagued dark. It delivers devastation, yes, but also something bordering on grace. The ending shouldn't work. But it does. And it cracks the door open for what comes next. The virus has changed. So have we.

    1h 7m

  7. JAN 22

    Silent Hill: Cult Town, Knife Nurses, and Pyramid Schemes - Xenomania 56

    “Mommy, am I still me?” In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns descend through the ash-fog of Konami’s most cursed export to talk religious fanaticism, trauma cults, and how Silent Hill (2006) is somehow both aggressively incoherent and artistically iconic. We discuss why the town feels like a Lovecraftian divorce court, how Radha Mitchell sold genuinely unhinged mom energy, and why pyramid-headed grief demons are always the final boss of parenting. Plus: acid spit nuns, dead-eyed zealots, and a parking lot scene that lives rent-free in our collective psyche. Is the movie good? That depends on how many sirens you've heard this week.

    1h 7m

  8. JAN 15

    Sweet, Bloody, Vengeful: Candyman’s Back and Buzzin - Xenomania 55

    Say it once, say it twice, say it five times and get wrecked. In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns stare too long into a rearview mirror of American horror and watch it reflect rot,  gentrified ghosts, legacy trauma, and bees with union grievances. Candyman returns with a paintbrush dipped in blood and ink, and the Xenoboys debate whether this reboot-sequel-refracted-nightmare sticks the landing or gets stuck in its own honey trap. Spoiler: art is pain, and pain is profit. We talk Cabrini-Green, puppets that slit throats, and what happens when a myth fights back.

    1h 4m
See All (63)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Xenomania: A Cult Horror Odyssey is your new favorite podcast for all things spooky, strange, and downright weird! Join three friends—Jon, Ryan, and Kearns—as they dive headfirst into the eerie world of cult horror. From obscure horror flicks to creepy pop culture and the quirky psychology behind humanity’s love for the macabre, this podcast has it all. With its unique blend of deep research, casual banter, and spine-tingling storytelling, Xenomania invites listeners to delve into the twisted allure of cult horror, one haunting episode at a time.

Information

  • Creator
    Martin Kearns
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Xenomania