The Age of Enfrightenment
by The Age of Enfrightenment
Earth has become a much smaller place. The mysteries of our planet are being slowly killed by the march of progress. Yet fear remains a constant of the human condition. It is the most basic of our emotions. It is what ties us all together and perpetually tears us apart. And we find fear fascinating. Twice a month the Age of Enfrightenment podcast will shed some light on the dark corners of the world and investigate the things that keep us up at night. Come along as we examine mysteries of the past, urban legends, and the anxieties of an ever-looming and unknowable future. We will discuss bizarre and macabre literature and cinema, and its role in society. If you have a passion for the eerie, the esoteric, and the extraordinary, then you have a home with us. Welcome to the Age of Enfrightenment.
Episodes
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EPISODE 28 INTERLUDE: A MILLIONAIRE'S TUNNEL, PHANTOM SLAPS, AND BLACK METAL
On Earth, our past and present are equally bizarre, grotesque, and surprising. This inescapable fact is precisely why The Age of Enfrightenment was founded. Throughout the ongoing Interlude series within the AoE catalog, each of your hosts have introduced eerie vignettes to one another as well as...
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EPISODE 27 LOVECRAFT PART II: THE CREATIONS OF MADNESS
On the previous episode of AoE, your hosts explored the brilliant mind and melancholy life of Cosmic Horror maestro Howard Phillips Lovecraft. In Part II, Theo, Dave, and Nick will each retell one of their favorite Lovecraft stories, what it means to them, and the significance of those stories...
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EPISODE 26 LOVECRAFT PART I: THE FATHER OF COSMIC HORROR
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." These words could easily serve as an introductory statement encapsulating the thesis of this entire podcast. So it is not by mistake that the man who wrote them in his 1927…
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EPISODE 25 SERIAL KILLERS
In past episodes, The Age of Enfrightenment has explored the fascinating yet unproven accounts of so many monsters throughout history. Gruesome accounts of mutilation and mayhem draw us in with their horrific nature, but often with the safety net of skepticism and rationalization. From the…
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EPISODE 24 VAMPIR
"When man meets a force he can't destroy, he destroys himself instead. What a plague you are." This line is spoken with the deepest contempt and disgust by the leader of a supernatural gang of predators to one of their victims in the film 30 Days of Night. The story accounts the misfortune of a...
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EPISODE 23 WAR: THE THEATRE OF HORRORS
For all of our immense achievements of progress throughout history, it seems as though humanity must pay an equally immense price. Every breakthrough in mass communication is twisted by dangerous and false propaganda. Every miracle of humanitarian aid arrives parallel to a new weapon of...
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EPISODE 22 VISION
How do you know that something is real? If you listen to this podcast, it's likely that you are a discerning skeptic like us, and as such you may answer that question by saying "I'll believe it when I see it with my own two eyes." But is that even good enough? Consider all of the things those...
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EPISODE 21 INTERLUDE: FAIRY TALES
Today there are few packages a story can come in that are more reserved for the realm of children than fairy tales. They are small, simple stories; often cautionary and perilous but ultimately toothless and appropriate for retelling before bed. But in the truth we can mine from history, they are…
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EPISODE 20 Cults
It is probably safe to say that all people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Whether it is as harmless as brand loyalty to your favorite tech company or as dangerous as giving all of your life savings to a shady organization offering the promise of fulfillment, each of us has...
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EPISODE 19 THE HIDDEN PEOPLE
For time immemorial, humans have looked to the heavens and wondered, "Are we alone in the Universe?" Perhaps though, many are right to have more local concerns. These are the people who ask "Are we alone... on Earth?" Ranging in size, distinction from or likeness to us, and most importantly…
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EPISODE 18 All Hallows Eve
It should come as no surprise that October 31st is deeply meaningful to your AoE hosts. The Age of Enfrightenment was built on the idea that the Universe's many unknown terrors are only matched by our endless fascination with them. There is simply no other night of the year that feels quite as...
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EPISODE 17 Monsters: The World Destroyers
It can often be easy for us to feel unintimidated by nature. We go about our daily lives secure in the confidence that we are the uncontested apex species of the Earth. But consider for a moment the lack of concern that you show for every insect that crosses you underfoot. You are not another...
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EPISODE 16 Clowns and Carnivals
Perhaps for some it's the garishly colored ill-fitting outfits. For others maybe, the monstrously exaggerated movements. Or the laughing... the laughing that never feels entirely sincere and seems to hide some deeply buried malice. Whatever nuances are woven into the fear, we can all seem to…
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EPISODE 15 Cannibalism
From fried tarantulas in Cambodia to jellied moose nose in Canada, human beings have developed quite possibly the most eclectic diet of all living things. It seems there is only one meal across nearly every culture that is so taboo and foul that even the mere mention of it is enough to curdle the...
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EPISODE 14 Interlude: Frightening Films
The earliest known "spook tale," as they were called until roughly the 1930s, is Le Manoir du Diable ("The House of the Devil"). Released just before the turn of the 20th century, the film is 3 minutes of black and white editing tricks that make eerie archetypes like bats, ghosts, and witches...
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EPISODE 13 Bad Omens
Dear listeners, Whatever you may think you are doing here, do not listen to this episode of the Age of Enfrightenment. Please come back in two week when we will be posting a perfectly safe and entirely curse-free Episode 14. Ultimately, your decisions are your own and we can in no way police what...
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EPISODE 12 Close Encounters
The Universe is unfathomably large, but the Earth is not. We know its circumference and its mass, and even how long it has been around. So it's easy to imagine that if we were ever visited by people from another world, we'd know about it. Where could they hide? After all, this is our house and we...
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EPISODE 11 Hollow Earth
There's nothing beneath our feet besides thousands of miles of rock, soil, and molten metal, right? Maybe a handful of wriggling sightless creatures who pose no threat to the likes of us. But what if there is so much more? Rivers, vegetation, even a small star... all of the necessary ingredients...
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EPISODE 10 Creepypasta
For thousands of years, stories traveled at the speed of human beings, from one campfire to the next – mouth to ears. Today our stories travel at an average speed of 4 Megabits per second. Among them are an infinitely growing number of tales that are too chilling for common forms of media, and…
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EPISODE 9 Horror in New Media
In a timespan of less than a few decades, video games and other forms of new media have provided entire worlds for humans to immerse themselves in. These worlds have their own laws of physics, rules, and moral codes and need not abide by those of reality. Essentially, they are ripe with the…
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EPISODE 8 Witchcraft Part II: An Interview
On this very special episode of The Age of Enfrightenment, your hosts learn even more about witchcraft from the first-hand accounts of Lauren, a practitioner of modern magic. The AoE boys ask the questions and Lauren is incredibly generous with her time, stories, and sense of humor. Enjoy!
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EPISODE 7 Interlude: Horrors From the Womb, On the Streets, and Buried in Snow
Looking back as far as ancient myths and as recently as the 1950's, your three hosts each share stories near and dear to their sooty black hearts. On this mixtape of terror episode, prepare to celebrate Mother's Day the AoE way, meet a fiendish figure from 19th Century England, and reach a whole...
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EPISODE 6 Witchcraft
"Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and caldron bubble." Whether in Shakespeare, modern horror films, adorable Halloween costumes, or ancient religious texts, witches hold a special place in our collective human experience. We've seen them as healers, amusing fads, and as mortal threats,...
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EPISODE 5 Nyctohylophobia
Dare to take a stroll through the wilderness with the Enfrightenment fellas and their friend Jordan? This conversation deconstructs one of our oldest and arguably most logical fears as human beings... the woods.
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EPISODE 4 Lycanthropy
So far on AoE we have explored some of the fascinating ways that the world, the people, and the technology around us shape our fears. On this episode, look deep within at the beast inside each of us as Dave, Theo, and Nick discuss the universally human concept of shape-shifters.
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EPISODE 3 Phonophobia Part II
On the previous episode of AoE, the Enfrightenment seekers digest the ways in which humans can understand and explain our sense of sound. In Part 2, hear stories of the unexplained.
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EPISODE 2 Phonophobia
All those with ears to hear know the chilling terror that can be induced by certain sounds. In Part 1 of our two episode series on fear of sound, your hosts explore the science behind auditory phenomena.
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EPISODE 1 Artificial Intelligence
The Enfrightenment boys speak with a guest about the fear and fascination we have for the next evolution of intelligent life on Earth... machines.
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EPISODE 0 Introduction: A Vigilante, A Helmet, and Something to Remember
An introduction in which the Enfrightenment boys each present one of their favorite strange or dark subjects.
About this show
Earth has become a much smaller place. The mysteries of our planet are being slowly killed by the march of progress. Yet fear remains a constant of the human condition. It is the most basic of our emotions. It is what ties us all together and perpetually tears us apart. And we find fear fascinating. Twice a month the Age of Enfrightenment podcast will shed some light on the dark corners of the world and investigate the things that keep us up at night. Come along as we examine mysteries of the past, urban legends, and the anxieties of an ever-looming and unknowable future. We will discuss bizarre and macabre literature and cinema, and its role in society. If you have a passion for the eerie, the esoteric, and the extraordinary, then you have a home with us. Welcome to the Age of Enfrightenment.
Hosted by
The Age of Enfrightenment