Paranormal Pajama Party
By Steph Summar
Isn't it weird how often the horrors in our favourite scary stories tend to look a lot like, uh… ladies? Join me as I dig up the social and cultural contexts behind classic ghost stories and legends to challenge the often one-dimensional portrayal of women in horror.
Latest episode
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The Women of “Dracula”, Part 2: Patriarchy Bites
Send me a text message! This isn't just a vampire story; it's a chilling exposé of Victorian anxieties. In part two of our series on the women of “Dracula”, the Paranormal Pajama Party podcast plunges deeper into Bram Stoker's classic, exploring how … -
The Women of “Dracula”, Part 1: Lucy Westenra and Victorian fear of female desire
Send me a text message! Think you know “Dracula”? Think again. In this first part of our two-part deep dive into the world's most famous vampire novel, we're sinking our teeth into the real monsters of the story – and spoiler alert, it's not the Coun… -
Hagsploitation: “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” | 33
Send me a text message! In this spine-tingling episode, we watch the 1962 psychological thriller "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and dive deep into the hagsploitation film subgenre it spawned. When Hollywood legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford f… -
The White Witch of Rose Hall: Annie Palmer and Madame LaLaurie
Send me a text message! What do the White Witch of Jamaica’s Rose Hall and New Orleans tour staple Madame LaLaurie have in common? They're both infamous female figures in ghost lore, accused of monstrous violence during the era of slavery. But dig a… -
Botan Dōrō: Love, Death, and Samurai
Send me a text message! Join me to examine one of Japan's most influential ghost stories – Botan Dōrō (The Peony Lantern). This tale of love beyond death helped establish the archetype of the long-haired vengeful female ghost in Japanese horror. When… -
Wise Wives and Witch Hunts: The Women Scotland Burned
Send me a text message!This episode of "Paranormal Pajama Party" is spine-chilling – but not because of the paranormal parts.We're headed back to Scotland to discuss the North Berwick Witch Trials – a dark chapter of history that inspired Shakespeare… -
Monsters and Morals: Vengeance, Virtue, and Emotional Labour
Send me a text message!What do a trickster forest goblin, a horse-faced seductress, a desert phantom, and a deer-footed avenger have in common? They’re not just the stuff of nightmares – they’re symbols of women as society’s moral guardians.In this e… -
Historical Horror: Chloe, Cleo, and the Myrtles Plantation
Send me a text message!Welcome to America's Most Haunted House... or is it? Tonight, we’re partying at the Myrtles Plantation, where the famous ghost of an enslaved girl named Chloe is said to roam the halls.But as we unpack this classic Southern gho… -
Hillary Clinton and the Lizard People
Send me a text message!Hillary Clinton and the Lizard People | 27 Put on your tinfoil hat and grab your favourite pantsuit – “Paranormal Pajama Party” is back! In the Season 3 premiere, Steph connects the dots between confused Victorian lemur scienti… -
Ladies, Listen to This Before You Build Your Crow Army
Send me a text message!I get it. It’s hard to be a woman. Almost as hard as it is to be a monster.Get ready for a spine-tingling third season of Paranormal Pajama Party!This fortnightly podcast explores folklore and the horror genre with a feminist t…
