Send me a text message! When you think horror, you think of Edgar Allan Poe. His stories go hard on the eerie atmosphere, intricate plots, and unhinged characters. But it’s important to note that most of those characters are men. And among Poe’s female characters, two recurring traits stand out prominently: they’re usually beautiful, and they’re us…

Send me a text message! The dark history of witch hunts has some unsettling parallels with modern misogynistic violence. Tonight’s episode continues our discussion on Heinrich Kramer’s witch-hunting manual, the “Malleus Maleficarum”, with a critical look at its legacy, especially as it relates to incel culture and the manosphere. We’ll examine the …

Send me a text message! Tonight we’re burning books! Well. Just one book. And it started it. We’re opening the pages of the “Malleus Maleficarum”, or Hammer of Witches, a 15th-century treatise on identifying, trying, and punishing witches. We get into the origins of the book and its misogynistic zealot of an author, Heinrich Kramer. I’m not saying …

Send me a text message! Last week on Paranormal Pajama Party, we met the monster girls of Greek mythology. This week, in part two of our monster girls series, we’re considering the representation of monstrous women in horror video games. Monster girls are female-coded creatures that blend human and monstrous elements, often portrayed as both alluri…

Send me a text message! This week on “Paranormal Pajama Party”, we’re kicking off a two-part series on the fascinating and often unsettling “monster girl” trope. These characters are more than just staples of horror media and anime; they are complex symbols that reveal deep-seated societal fears and fantasies about women. Monster girls have long em…

Send me a text message! Tonight’s special guest is the ciguapa, a legendary creature from Dominican Republic folklore. At first glance, the ciguapa may seem like just another fantastical being, with her backward-facing feet, golden or blue skin, and mesmerising black eyes. But a closer examination reveals layers of meaning deeply intertwined with t…

Send me a text message! Get ready to uncover the chilling mysteries surrounding the infamous Island of the Dolls. In this episode, we delve into the eerie tale of Don Julián Santana Barrera and his encounter with the spirit of a drowned young girl in the canals of Mexico City’s Xochimilco district. But why are dolls so inherently creepy? It's more …

Send me a text message! Welcome back to Season 2 of “Paranormal Pajama Party”! I hope you’re as excited to dive back into these stories as I am. Set against the backdrop of Regency-era England (think “Bridgerton” and Jane Austen), this episode unravels the tragic story of Sarah Whitehead, a woman consumed by grief and desperation after the executio…

Send me a text message! Paranormal Pajama Party Season 2 trailer Hey, boo. (Get it? Because ghosts?) It's me, Steph, and I'm delighted to announce that Paranormal Pajama Party is back for a second season, launching next week! Pull on your favourite pyjamas, grab a midnight snack or a warm drink, and join me for another round of spine-tingling stori…

Send me a text message! The Tower of London, Part 2: Ghost of Anne Boleyn | 13 Welcome back, as we continue our ghost tour of the Tower of London, focusing on the notorious female phantoms and femme fatales who have left an indelible mark on its history. In our previous episode, we met the Countess of Salisbury Margaret Pole, Lady Arbella Stuart, a…

Send me a text message! Tonight, we’re throwing our pajama party in the iconic Tower of London, a historic fortress that has long captured the public imagination. Renowned for its rich and often dark history, the Tower of London symbolises power, intrigue, and mystery. It’s also supposed to be one of the most haunted sites in the world – and its mo…

Send me a text message! Beatrice Cenci | 11 The life of Beatrice Cenci, born into the noble Cenci family in 1577, is a tragic tale of abuse, desperation, and defiance. Subjected to unspeakable violence and cruelty at the hands of her father, Count Francesco Cenci, Beatrice orchestrated his murder alongside her family as a means of escape. Their plo…

Send me a text message! “Coraline” (Part 2) | 10 Welcome back to part two of our discussion on the children's horror movie "Coraline". Tonight, we’re drawing on the works of Judith Butler, Barbara Creed, and Sigmund Freud to explore its themes of gender, power, and the uncanny. In this episode, we’ll talk about how the introduction of a male charac…

Send me a text message! Tonight on the podcast, we’re unravelling the chilling tale of Coraline Jones and her mother. No, not her mother. Her Other Mother. The one with the button eyes. Coraline – both the children’s movie and the novella – is the story of a girl battling for independence and identity. This battle is symbolic, sure, but it’s also l…

Send me a text message! Felines, Females, and Fear | 8 The relationship between women, cats, and darkness is as ancient as human civilisation itself – and that’s not just the toxoplasmosis parasites in my brain talking. Tonight, we’re diving deep into the connections between cats, women, and evil… or at least, male fear. The episode begins with a w…

Send me a text message! The Pontianak | 7 The Pontianak is the Malay Peninsula’s fiercest – and most fearsome – phantom. She’s a vampire ghost known for her terrifying appearance and insatiable hunger for revenge. This powerful entity represents a fascinating tension between traditional mystical beliefs, contemporary Islamic culture, and Western sc…

Send me a text message! 26.2.24 Paranormal Pajama Party The Headless Mule | 6 Tonight’s episode tells the story of Brazil’s headless mule, or mula sem cabeça, Argentina’s almamula, and their older sister, the muladona of Catalan mythology. Hold on – we’re in for a wild ride with this one. Imagine being cursed for eternity because you dared to defy …

Send me a text message! 19.2.24 Paranormal Pajama Party “The Boarded Window” | 5 ⚠️ This episode contains spoilers ahead for “The Boarded Window”, which I read at the beginning. You can read it here (for free!) first if you’d prefer. ⚠️ In Ambrose Bierce’s popular short story, “The Boarded Window”, the mysterious former pioneer Murlock lives out hi…

Send me a text message! 12.2.24 Paranormal Pajama Party The Night Hag, the Mare, and the Succubus | 4 Chances are good, I'm sorry to say, you've already had a run-in with the old hag, also known as the Night Hag. She's haunted the dreams of many across cultures for thousands of years. She's strongly connected to the mare, a spirit known for riding …

Send me a text message! 5.2.24 Paranormal Pajama Party Bloody Mary | 3 If you've been a preteen at a slumber party, chances are you've heard the chilling tale of Bloody Mary. Today, we'll dissect the origins of Bloody Mary and the various interpretations surrounding her name. Bloody Mary, the spectral figure said to appear in mirrors when her name …

Send me a text message! 29.1.24 Paranormal Pajama Party The Rusalka | 2 Get ready for a spooky episode as Steph delves into the Slavic legend of the rusalka. Although often associated with water, these spirits are far from the mermaids we might imagine. Instead, they're more like zombies... permanently trapped in puberty. It doesn't sound fun. At t…

Send me a text message! 22.1.24 The Vanishing Hitchhiker | 1 Welcome to the Paranormal Pajama Party! I'm so glad you could join. Get cozy, because we’re kicking off our first-ever party with a campfire standard — the vanishing hitchhiker. In this classic urban legend, a male driver picks up a seemingly innocent passenger, but the journey upends lif…

Send me a text message! From women in white to witches, have you ever noticed how often the horrors in our favourite scary stories tend to look a lot like, uh… ladies? Paranormal Pajama Party is a podcast that brings you classic ghost stories and legends featuring female phantoms and femme fatales. Join me, Steph, a horror fan and feminist, as we d…