Episode #189 with Paul Boyd on Scared To Death (2026) and The Shining (1980)

What this episode covers

Out in the hedge mazes of the horror-podcast ecosystem, where death stalks the airwaves, and the faint whirr of a cursed VHS tape somehow counts as ambience, there resides My Bloody Podcast. It occupies that curious liminal space between the memory of a late-night pilgrimage to Blockbuster Video and the sort of movie night that ends with someone whispering, around 2 A.M., “Wait… are hotels haunted?” Imagine if The Criterion Channel were briefly possessed, or if your horror-obsessed high-school friend actually followed through on his vow to “start something serious” with his equally deranged, deeply literate comrades. That’s the mood, scholarly panic. The show is hosted by Bryan Kluger, who speaks fluent Freddy and Jason with the confidence of a TED Talk delivered entirely in arterial spray. Bryan does not merely watch horror; he litigates it. He cross-examines it. He occasionally throws it out of court. Beside him sits Preston Barta, who glides in like a vampire with tenure, calmly dissecting dread with the composure of a man who has read the footnotes on fear. And then there is Chelsea Nicole, a cultural critic, scream queen, and walking IMDb of feminist horror, ensuring that every shriek, side-eye, and subtextual trauma receives its rightful close reading. In Episode #189, Bryan and Preston welcome filmmaker Paul Boyd for a lively autopsy of his career, from directing music videos for Shania Twain to his latest horror film, Scared to Death. The conversation inevitably wanders into the haunted corridors of The Shining, a film the podcast has tackled before but now revisits with the benefit of 2026 hindsight. Does it still scare? Does the drama hold up? Are we still unnerved by that carpet pattern, or have we simply grown accustomed to it? Boyd, who grew up in Scotland, home to the unicorn, a national animal that suggests the country has always been comfortable with the surreal, speaks candidly about filmmaking, origin stories, and the peculiar alchemy of horror and comedy. Along the way, the conversation swerves delightfully into discussions of vintage cars, Oppenheimer, and the strange roads that lead artists into the genre in the first place. My Bloody Podcast is a place where horror is not merely appreciated, it is worshipped, flayed open, and lovingly stitched back together with a wink. It is sharp, occasionally unhinged, and oddly comforting, like being told the world is terrible, but at least we can rank its demons. You can find it wherever podcasts lurk, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and in the darker corners of the internet, or by summoning the hosts directly at [email protected] . Whether you’re a seasoned devotee of cinematic carnage or merely horror-curious, it’s essential listening. Just don’t be surprised if, afterward, you start sleeping with the lights on. My Bloody Podcast iTunes My Bloody Podcast Spotify Thank you for listening. WRITTEN BY: BRYAN KLUGER Bryan Kluger is an entertainment critic, writer, and podcast host with a deep love for film, horror, and pop culture. His work has appeared in outlets such as Arts+Culture Magazine, High-Def Digest, Screen Rant, The Huffington Post, The Drudge Report, Fark, and Boomstick Comics. He hosts My Bloody Podcast and Fear and Loathing in Cinema Podcast, along with a weekly radio show,

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