Fear Feasts

Fear Feasts
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A podcast that analyzes the horror genre - films and literature - through the use and symbolism of food. Join hosts Allie and Vanessa as they discuss the things that turn our stomachs in disgust, cause our stomachs to growl with hunger, and make our stomachs tighten in terror.

  1. 12/23/2025

    How Do You Like Them Apples? Snow White

    What would you do if you were a young lady with hair black as ebony, lips red as rubies, and skin white as snow? You'd probably be called Snow White, right? What if your father married a woman who hated you and she tried to have you killed so she could eat your heart and absorb your beauty? What would you do if you were rescued by dwarves and a wicked witch tried to kill you AGAIN by making you eat a poisoned apple? You'd probably be off apples for awhile after that. We explore these fascinating questions as we analyze the connection between food, horror and fairy tales in the classic tale Snow White and some of its modern iterations, so please join us! Links to references below: Snow White: A Tale of Terror Dir. Michael Cohn https://share.google/bXj2R16ezdcSzaW1SThe Grimm Reader: The Classic Tales of the Brothers Grimmby Maria Tatar: https://archive.org/details/grimmreaderclass0000unseThe Young Slave by Basile, Giovanni Batiste. Il Pentamerone, or The Tale of Tales. Sir Richard Burton, translator. London: Henry and Company, 1893.https://surlalunefairytales.com/s-z/sleeping-beauty/stories/youngslave.html

    35 min

  2. 11/17/2025

    Tale of Tales: Monstrous Appetites, Food and Fantasy

    This week, we dive into Tale of Tales (dir. Matteo Garrone, 2015) and explore the rich tapestry of fairy tales by Giambattista Basile on which the film is based. Drawing from Basile’s 17th-century collection Lo cunto de li cunti (also known as The Pentamerone), we look at how the film adapts these dark, fantastical stories for a contemporary audience- examining themes, imagery, and the enduring power of early modern fairy-tale tradition. At the core of our discussion is the deliciously unsettling intersection of food and horror in both Basile’s tales and Garrone’s film: the heart of a sea monster, a mountain of struffoli, and even a royal feast built around a flea. These bizarre, macabre acts of eating reveal just how deeply food shapes the film’s dark fantasy world… and it gets very weird. Link to Giambattista Basile's fairy tales Stories from Pentamerone: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2198/2198-h/2198-h.htm

    35 min

  3. 10/28/2025

    Those Damn Birds: Hansel and Gretel

    What would you do if you and your sibling kept being kicked out of the house by your mean and starving mother and were left to find food on your own? What if you came across a house made of candy, gingerbread and sugar? You'd start eating it unless you were dumb. What if the house was owned by a witch who wanted to fatten you and your sibling up so she could eat you? Gross, right? What if the breadcrumbs you used to track your way home got eaten by some greedy birds? We are discussing the connection between food, horror and fairy tales this season and we really get into the weeds with Hansel and Gretel, so please join us! Contact us at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fearfeastswithvanessaandallie@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Like us on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/fearfeastspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/fearfeasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Xcite us on X (Twitter): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/fear_feasts⁠⁠

    38 min

  4. 10/07/2025

    What Big Eyes You Have: Little Red Riding Hood

    What would you do if you were a young woman running through the forest in a red cape, taking cake and wine to your dear grandmother, and were surprised by the big bad wolf? What if you found out that your grandmother was actually a wolf herself? What if the wolf turned out to be a man who could shapeshift? What if the wolf ate you and your grandmother for lunch? What if the wolf loved sausages and maggoty cheese? We are discussing these age-old questions and analyzing the connection between food in horror in the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, and several modern iterations of the story, so please join us! Works mentioned Little Red-cap by By Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1812) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-h/2591-h.htm#link2H_4_0023 The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter (1979) https://ieas-szeged.hu/downtherabbithole/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Angela-Carters-The-Company-of-Wolves-Story.pdf The Company of Wolves dir. Neil Jordan (1984) Wolfland by Tanith Lee (1983) https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/wolfland.pdf Red Riding Hood dir. Catherine Hardwicke (2011) Wolf Border by Sarah Hall (2015) https://www.bookscumbria.com/product/cumbrian-books/arts-and-literature/fiction/novels-set-in-cumbria/the-wolf-border/ Mrs Fox  by Sarah Hall (2019) https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571351961-mrs-fox/?srsltid=AfmBOooW-gOyvyCZ_ZjcKcOwlfh13NRYzVtkWb0sRNbrglwOE7Uarit1

    41 min

  5. SEASON 5 TRAILER

    Season Five Has Arrived!

    We are thrilled to introduce you to Season Five! We'll be analyzing the connections between food and horror in fairy tales, both literature and in film. After all, what is more frightening than being eaten by a wolf, getting lost in the woods because birds ate your breadcrumb trail, eating a poisoned apple, having your coach revert back into a pumpkin, or having a witch take away your pregnant wife's supply of rapunzel salad leaves? We will kick things off with an in-depth analysis of that classic Little Red Riding Hood, some literary retellings by Angela Carter and Tanith Lee, and the recent remake starring Amanda Seyfried, so please join us!

    12 min

  6. 09/10/2025

    Bonus Episode: Serving Food History Forth presented by Fear Feasts

    Serve It Forth: A Food History Festival  18 October 2025 – OnlineWe’re bringing together writers, historians, podcasters, and curious minds for a day of delicious discovery. Talks, conversations… all from the comfort of your own kitchen. In this bonus episode, Allie (one dark half of Fear Feasts!) is joined by her friends and fellow food historians Thomas Ntinas, Sam Bilton, and Neil Buttery. Together they share how each of them first got drawn into food history, what continues to inspire them, and some of the surprises they've encountered along the way. How do people find their way into food history? What myths surround the field? And do they sometimes meet with culinary catastrophes of our own?! Allie's input will of course be tinged with spookiness and dread in the company of death historian and funerary expert Dr Dan O’Brien! Their session, entitled: The River Remembers: A Journey Through London’s Lost Larder will take audiences on a dark voyage through food, death, and the forgotten histories of the Thames. From butchered whales washed ashore to bottles dredged from disaster sites, and from the feasting tables of the living to the memento mori traditions that remind us that bodies too become food. Allie and Dan will explore how the river bears witness to centuries of consumption and decay. Following the shifting shoreline, they'll trace fragments of lost lives and meals that once sustained the capital- an unsettling story of what (and who) London has eaten. Important Links Serve It Forth websiteTickets for Serve It ForthServe It Forth on social media

    1h 1m

  7. 07/22/2025

    BONUS EPISODE! Meatloaf, Mom, and Madness: A Halloween Feast

    What would you do if your mother lost her mind, cut off your dad's finger, went into a mental institution, came out and wanted to cook up a feast for Halloween? That's the premise of Guile Branco's darkly hilarious and horrific film A Halloween Feast, and the subject of our bonus episode today! We interviewed Branco on his latest film, the connection between food and horror (something we know a little about!), and what's next for this up-and-coming actor and director, so give it a listen! Contact us at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fearfeastswithvanessaandallie@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Like us on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/fearfeastspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/fearfeasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Xcite us on X (Twitter): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/fear_feasts⁠⁠

    47 min

  8. 07/01/2025

    Dinner Is Served… in Salem’s Lot

    Allie and Vanessa sink their teeth into Salem’s Lot, exploring the hunger that haunts Stephen King’s classic novel, the eerie 1979 miniseries by Tobe Hooper, and Gary Dauberman’s 2024 film. From small-town suppers to vampiric cravings, this episode serves up a feast of unholy appetites…

    52 min
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

A podcast that analyzes the horror genre - films and literature - through the use and symbolism of food. Join hosts Allie and Vanessa as they discuss the things that turn our stomachs in disgust, cause our stomachs to growl with hunger, and make our stomachs tighten in terror.

Information

  • Creator
    Fear Feasts
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    99
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Fear Feasts
  • Show Website
    Fear Feasts