Lunatics Radio Hour: The History of Horror

In the final part of our series on Atomic Horror, we look at the fear of nuclear war and the possibility of what could happen after the bombs stopped falling. During the Cold War, scientists began studying the potential global effects of a large-scale nuclear exchange, including the concept of nuclear winter, in which smoke and soot from widespread fires could block sunlight and cause severe climate changes.

We look at the science behind the nuclear winter theory, the 1983 TTAPS study, and the way these ideas influenced public fears about nuclear war. We also examine films including The Day After, Threads, Dr. Strangelove, and other movies that imagined what life might look like before, during, and after a nuclear conflict.

From atomic monsters to nuclear apocalypse, this final chapter of Atomic Horror looks at how horror films reflected one of the defining fears of the Cold War.

Support the show on Patreon⁠.

Follow us on social media @ TheLunaticsProject.

Get Lunatics Merch ⁠here⁠. Join the discussion on ⁠Discord⁠. Check out Abby's book ⁠Horror Stories⁠. Available in eBook and paperback.

Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.
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In Part Two of our history of atomic horror, Abby and Alan look at how filmmakers moved beyond the initial fear of nuclear weapons and began exploring the effects of radiation, mutation, and scientific experimentation.

From giant insects and oversized animals to shrinking and enlarging humans, the atomic age created a new generation of monsters. We look at films including Them!, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Amazing Colossal Man, The Fly, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, and The Hills Have Eyes, along with the continued evolution of Godzilla and other atomic monsters.

We also explore Nevada’s nuclear testing sites and how the real-world landscape of atomic testing became part of American horror, from atomic tourism to films about people transformed by radiation.

Listen to Part Two of our history of atomic horror and hear how nuclear anxiety continued to shape horror movies long after the first atomic monsters appeared.

Support the show on Patreon.

Follow us on social media @ TheLunaticsProject.

Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback.

Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.

Listen to The Great Atomic Power.

Sources

PBS article Atomic Tourism in Nevada

The “True” Story Behind The Hills Have Eyes on Reynold’s by Stephen Basdeo.

Mubi Article: Through the Eyes of America: Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes by Matt Carlin

Science History Institute article by Judith Kaplan: Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins: These four scientists codiscovered the double-helix structure of DNA, which formed the basis for modern biotechnology.

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The atomic bomb changed the world in 1945, but it also changed the way people imagined horror.

In Part One of our history of Atomic Horror, Abby and Alan look at how the Manhattan Project, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear testing, and the beginning of the Atomic Age influenced science fiction and horror cinema. As the threat of nuclear destruction became part of everyday life, filmmakers began turning those fears into stories about monsters, mutations, alien invasions, and the destruction of humanity.

We look at some of the films that helped establish Atomic Horror, including The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. We explore how these movies reflected fears about nuclear weapons, radiation, scientific experimentation, and the possibility that humanity had created something it could no longer control.

This is the beginning of the Atomic Horror story, from the development of the atomic bomb to the monsters that emerged from the nuclear age.

Support the show on Patreon.

Follow us on social media @ TheLunaticsProject.

Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback.

Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.

Sources

A Nightmare on Film Street article by Kimberly Elizabeth: Oppen-Horrors or: How I Recommended 10 Atomic Horror Movies to Blow Your Mind

History.com article on the Manhattan Project

An Atomic Heritage Foundation article by Paul Tibbets and Curtis LeMay: Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 1945

PBS.org article Letter from Albert Einstein to FDR, 8/2/39

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This week Abby and Alan discuss dowsing and divining rods, and how people believed a forked stick could reveal hidden water, buried treasure, minerals, or even supernatural forces.

From early references to divining rods and their connections to magic and folklore to the rise of water dowsing in Europe and America, we trace how a simple forked branch became an instrument of supernatural belief.

We look at the people, practices, and ideas behind dowsing rods, including rhabdomancy, the occult traditions surrounding magical wands, early modern beliefs about hidden forces, and the long-running debate over whether dowsing actually works. Along the way, we explore the folklore and history that turned an ordinary stick into a supposed supernatural tool.

Follow us on social media @ TheLunaticsProject.

Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.
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Death was a major part of everyday life in the Victorian era, and people developed elaborate ways to mourn, remember, and preserve the dead. In this episode of Lunatics Radio Hour, we explore the history of Victorian funerary traditions and the social and historical circumstances that shaped them in Britain and the United States.

We look at Victorian mourning customs, postmortem photography, mourning jewelry, human hair art, funeral rituals, embalming, funeral biscuits, mourning stationery, death masks, and Victorian cemeteries. We also examine how the American Civil War helped popularize embalming in the United States and how Queen Victoria's mourning for Prince Albert influenced Victorian mourning culture.

Along the way, we separate historical practices from later myths, including the popular story of Victorian "tear catchers."

Finally, we trace these traditions into Gothic literature and horror movies, looking at how Victorian cemeteries, mourning clothes, old photographs, preserved bodies, and memorial objects became part of the visual language of supernatural horror.

Because the Victorians weren't trying to make death scary. They were trying to find ways to live with it.

Follow us on social media @ TheLunaticsProject.

Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.

⁠Support the show⁠.

Sources

The Gettysburg Compiler: Until We Meet Again: Victorian Mourning Practices by Ziv Camri

The National Museum of Funeral History: 19th Century Mourning

Eat Your Sorrow With These Victorian Funeral Biscuits: Atlas Obscura

Another Atlas Obscura article: Clearing Up Myths About Victorian ‘Postmortem’ Photography

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