101 episodes

Every month (or so), Tenebrous Kate and Jack Guignol cover the weirdest, kinkiest, and most outrageous fiction we can unearth. The books discussed range from classics of gothic literature to startling works of new weird, from romantic potboilers to horror epics, from cult favorites to obscure pulp treasures. Join us for a smarter-than-average look at WAY-weirder-than-average books.

Bad Books for Bad People Tenebrous Kate and J. Guignol

    • Arts
    • 4.9 • 67 Ratings

Every month (or so), Tenebrous Kate and Jack Guignol cover the weirdest, kinkiest, and most outrageous fiction we can unearth. The books discussed range from classics of gothic literature to startling works of new weird, from romantic potboilers to horror epics, from cult favorites to obscure pulp treasures. Join us for a smarter-than-average look at WAY-weirder-than-average books.

    Live Girls - Vampire Hookers vs. Ping Pong balls

    Live Girls - Vampire Hookers vs. Ping Pong balls

    Ray Garton’s 1986 horror novel Live Girls may have the perfect bad book pitch: vampire hookers in seedy vintage Times Square. Jack and Kate travel back to a golden age of sleaze and encounter smokeshow bloodsucking strippers, donut-inspired dirty talk, and dancefloor remixes of “The Old Rugged Cross.”
    What perverted compulsion makes a vampire turn the worst dudes in the world immortal? Why are nightclubs never, ever as cool as the ones in bad books? What do table tennis and the Anarchist’s Cookbook have in common? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
    BBfBP theme song by True Creature. 
    Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at badbooksbadpeople@gmail.com

    • 1 hr 58 min
    Nightmare House and Airport 77

    Nightmare House and Airport 77

    Once again, Jack and Kate trade reviews of books from their archives. This time around, Jack explores the terrifying mystery and romance of Rae Foley’s Nightmare House (1968) and Kate plunges straight into disaster with Airport 77 (1977).
    Why is dealing marijuana a worse crime than murder? Does a nightmare dude make a nightmare house into a nightmare home? Whose dick will be compared to a tiny airline bottle of booze? Is Airport 77 the disco era counterpart to Moby Dick? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People. 
    BBfBP theme song by True Creature. 
    Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at badbooksbadpeople@gmail.com

    • 1 hr 48 min
    Best of 2023

    Best of 2023

    Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2023 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind, regardless of when it was actually produced. A little bit new, a little bit old, and a whole lot of weirdness is in store!
    Join your hosts for a discussion that ranges from a sinister girls’ school to a rogue AI (a court-mandated topic in 2023) to gratuitous comedy penises.
    BBfBP theme song by True Creature. 
    Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at badbooksbadpeople@gmail.com 

    • 1 hr 35 min
    Spawn - Welcome to 90s Hell

    Spawn - Welcome to 90s Hell

    Todd McFarlane’s Spawn is one of the great comics success stories of the 1990s, and yet… our hosts remain in semi-complete ignorance of this undead superhero. Jack and Kate decide to educate themselves by reading the first 18 issues of the series where they encounter a world of bedazzlement, from shape-shifting demons and mafia cyborgs to a controversial Neil Gaiman collab.
    Other than fighting, killing, and baseball, what exactly is Spawn good at? Can anyone possibly care about the Youngbloods? Could there be a shared Spawn / Jess Franco’s “Erotic Rites of Frankenstein” shared universe? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode.
    BBfBP theme song by True Creature. 
    Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at badbooksbadpeople@gmail.com 
     

    • 2 hr 8 min
    Vampira and Elvira - The Real Women Behind the Halloween Queens

    Vampira and Elvira - The Real Women Behind the Halloween Queens

    In a special, super-extended, spooky season episode, your hosts read a double feature of horror hostess biographies! Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi by Sandra Niemi and Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Peterson recount the drama-filled careers of two of the most iconic, goth-adjacent TV figures of all time. Jack and Kate take a candid look at the trials and triumphs of two real-life Halloween queens.
    Does the appeal of late-night metaphysical diner talk span generations? How young is too young to launch your showgirl career? Why do the Red Hot Chili Peppers ruin everything? Is a decades-long goth girl beef even more odious than the Red Hot Chili Peppers? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast!
    BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
    Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at badbooksbadpeople@gmail.com

    • 3 hr 5 min
    Priests of the Abomination and Still Dead, Book of the Dead 2

    Priests of the Abomination and Still Dead, Book of the Dead 2

    In this episode, your hosts dig deep into their collection of vintage paperbacks and share their thoughts on dusty, lurid tales from decades past. Kate reads The Priests of the Abomination, a cult-flavored 1970 crime conspiracy thriller from Ivor Drummond, and Jack selects three gruesome stories from the zombie horror anthology Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2. 
    Do rich people have a secret sixth sense that detects perverts? What is it with British pulp authors and their insistence on stopping the action for relaxing, fish-related interludes? Will Jack share the grossest story we’ve encountered yet? The Nineties - a different country or a whole ‘nother planet entirely? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
    BBfBP theme song by True Creature. 
    Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at badbooksbadpeople@gmail.com 
     

    • 2 hr 5 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
67 Ratings

67 Ratings

devil zilla ,

When people knew stuff

Born in ‘75, and remember a time when people read and there was a premium on having a baseline of culture, worldliness, and a vocabulary. Those times are long gone. Good to have a glimpse of them again with these hosts and their excellent podcast.

AsenathMB ,

Brilliant look at underanalyzed books

I love this podcast’s erudite and insightful look at the lurid underbelly of genre fiction. It also introduced me to Michael McDowell, who’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. 10/10, very high recommendation.

mlrun ,

Love these hosts.

This is the podcast I could listen to all day every day!

Top Podcasts In Arts

Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak
Lemonada Media
Fresh Air
NPR
The Moth
The Moth
99% Invisible
Roman Mars
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
iHeartPodcasts
Fashion People
Audacy | Puck

You Might Also Like

372 Pages We'll Never Get Back
372 Pages We'll Never Get Back
QAA Podcast
Julian Feeld, Travis View & Jake Rockatansky
Welcome to Night Vale
Night Vale Presents
Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG with Stephen Asma
Treefort Media & Touchy Feely Films
Just King Things
Ranged Touch
Behind the Bastards
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts