Here you’ll find mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian Era. If you consider yourself an enthusiast of creepy Victorian history, you probably already know about the age of spiritualism, the grizzly murders, the grave robbers, twisted pseudo psychotherapy, and memento mori – But I try to dig a little deeper. This was a time full of lace corsetry, romantic poetry, and a deep reverence and affection for the dead. It was a cultu ...
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Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi will bring you back to when you first fell in love with the speculative genre, which includes science fiction, fantasy, and horror, their mashups and subgenres, whether that be the written word or movies, TV, theatre, comic books and graphic novels. Whatever the format, if it can’t happen in real life, it may be brought up. --- What is it that first brought you to love the things that could not happen? --- What is it about the speculative genre that keeps you readin ...
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Ep. 10 - Body Snatchers and Women on the Rampage
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In today’s episode, Genevieve dives back into the Illustrated Police News from 1871 - the insane Victorian publication full of grizzly murders, botched suicides, body snatchers, mice in donuts – it was a publication full of complete chaos.By Genevieve Manion
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Welcome to Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi. This is our second episode of Season 6. This season is "Two Old Farts Meet the Glass Teat" The late great Harlan Ellison wrote a series of essays about TV for the LA Free Press. He referred to TV as a "Glass Teat." This is our all-TV season. We will look at shows from the 60s, through the 80s and beyond. The sh…
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Ep. 9 - Dangerous and Deadly Victorian Fashion
32:48
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In today's episode, Genevieve discusses how Tuberculosis influenced fashion, hazardous beauty routines, deadly hatpins, the dangers of corsets, and strange, kind of gross beauty trends, as well as some really weird and intriguing facts about Victorian fashion. References for today's episode: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-tubercu…
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Welcome to Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi. This is our first first episode of Season 6. This season is "Two Old Farts Meet the Glass Teat" The late great Harlan Ellison wrote a series of essays about TV for the LA Free Press. He referred to TV as a "Glass Teat." This is our all-TV season. We will look at shows from the 60s, through the 80s and beyond. T…
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Ep. 8 - Hideous Orgies and Coffin-Shaped Tables
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Today’s episode is going to be a little different. Genevieve will be reading horrifying stories from the Illustrated Police News from 1871, and giving context to the stories. Warning: Some of these are deeply disturbing, and related to child abuse, domestic abuse and suicide. If you’re triggered by these topics, please be aware that they will be di…
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Ep. 7 - The Dawn of Victorian Spiritualism
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In today's episode, Genevieve dives into the spine tingling world of Victorian Spiritualism. She'll talk about where it all began, what a Victorian materializing seance would entail, the ways mediums would trick people into believing they were talking to dead people, and the history of the Ouija board. References for today's episode: https://www.th…
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Ep. 6 - The Wild World of Victorian Vampires
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In today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the wild world of Victorian vampires. She'll discuss vampire panic and vampire autopsies of the 1800s, real vampires - or at least, folks who were believed to be real vampires, and the inspirations for everyone's favorite vampire, Dracula. References for today's episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_E…
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Ep. 5 - The Life and Times of Typhoid Mary
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On today's episode, Genevieve talks about the life and times of a Ms. Mary Mallon, otherwise known as Typhoid Mary – much to her chagrin. References for today's show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon https://the-line-up.com/north-brother-island https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/north-brother-island https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2019/03/28/ar…
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Ep. 4 - The Horror of Victorian Children’s Stories
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In today's episode, Genevieve talks about the deeply disturbing world of Victorian Children’s stories and the twisted origins of some nursery rhymes of the time that we still enjoy today. References for today's episode: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/04/the-creepy-and-harsh-lessons-of-early-childrens-books/ https://news.ufl.edu/archive/19…
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Ep. 3 - The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
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In today's episode, Genevieve covers the life and mysterious death of beloved gothic fiction writer, Edgar Allan Poe. My Main References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a45782209/edgar-allan-poe-death-mystery/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/still-mysterious-death-edgar-allan-p…
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In this week's episode, Genevieve talks about elaborate Victorian funeral traditions, what was, and was not, acceptable mourning fashion of the day, Queen Victoria’s obsession with her dead husband that sparked the trends, the hardship and power of 19th-century widowhood, as well as the almost fetishistic keepsaking of the deceased.…
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In this episode, Genevieve covers the mysterious death of Octavia Hatcher – a women who died in 1891 who, according to legend, was buried alive.By myvictoriannightmare
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Spaceballs The Star Wars parody (with a bit of Star Trek and Lawrence of Arabia thrown in) may not be Mel Brooks' best film, or his funniest comedy, but it is a film that grows on you with each successive viewing. This episode is released in 2024 on Star Wars day, May the 4th, as in, May the 4th be with you. Dan Miwa joins Troy Harkin and David Cli…
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Queer SFFH (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror) has been with us for a very long time. One of the first English-language science fiction novels is Frankenstein, 1818, and it was written by bisexual author Mary Shelley. And representation has recently reached new heights, in both how many queer creators there are, but also the number of queer char…
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CSFFA – The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association
1:12:38
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CSFFA, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, is the organization that is tasked with running the Aurora Awards and the Hall of Fame. Troy and David invite to the show Clifford Samuels, who is the Aurora Awards administrator. This is Clifford's first appearance on the show, and as with all new guests, Troy and David ask Clifford abou…
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NEUROMANCER Stephen Humphrey joins Troy and David on this episode where the novel Neuromancer is discussed. It looks like they are finally going to be bringing the book to the small screen, after a number of attempts. Apple TV+ announced they are bringing Neuromancer to the small screen... https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2024/02/apple-tv-announces…
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Valentine’s Special PT2: Love in the Stephen King Universe
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Our Valentine's Day Special, pt. 2, continues to look at love in the Stephen King Universe. Our guests from part 1 return, the same guests that joined us for our Halloween Special, the two who run SK Tours (Stephen King Tours), Jamie Tinker and Jennifer Millar. This is a 2-part episode. PT1 was be broadcast on Saturday, Feb 10, 2024. PT2 will be br…
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Black Superheroes have been around for a very long time. Troy and David welcome Wayne Brown, and they discuss some of the great and not-so-great black superheroes. This is Wayne's first appearance on the show, and as with all new guests, Troy and David ask Wayne about his first experiences in the speculative genre, and what was his first genre love…
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Valentine’s Special PT1: Love in the Stephen King Universe
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Our Valentine's Day Special looks at love in the Stephen King Universe. We have our guests from our Halloween Special, the two who run SK Tours (Stephen King Tours), Jamie Tinker and Jennifer Millar. This is a 2-part episode. PT1 will be broadcast on Saturday, Feb 10, 2024. PT2 will be broadcast on Saturday, Mar 09, 2024. In between, on Feb 24, wil…
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This is TOF's second Live Show. The first one was a celebration of their 50th episode, and had the theme of Time Travel. This live show is all robots. Each season TOF will host a live show. This show was recorded on Tuesday, December 19th, from 8 pm - 9:30 pm, Eastern Time. 13 or 14 or so attended the event, including five previous guests: Sandra K…
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TOF tackles the subject of religion, how it relates to genre, mostly movies and TV, mostly a Christian perspective. Religion is such a large topic, that it is hard to do it justice in one episode. We only have time to cover a few things. Jerome Stueart joins Troy and David for the episode. As a first time guest, we ask Jerome his first experiences …
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Dr. Strangelove is the granddaddy of all satirical movies. A great cast contributes to the story of a bomber crew being ordered to drop the bomb on the Russians. The order did not come from the President. It came from Jack D. Ripper, the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, who exceeded his authority. He also seems to be overly concerned with bod…
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Superman pt.3 – The Movies (2 of 2)
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This is the second of two parts that look at Superman in the movies. Troy and David look at the movies, from the George Reeves Mole Men to Zach Snyder's Justice League. Troy and David also do their DREAM CAST and SCHRODINGER'S CAST for Superman - the 1978 film, looking at these 6 roles: Character(s) Original Star(s) Superman / Clark Kent Christophe…
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Superman pt.2 – The Movies (1 of 2)
1:08:20
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This is the first of two parts that look at Superman in the movies. Troy and David look at the movies, from the George Reeves Mole Men to Zach Snyder's Justice League.By Two Old Farts
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Did you ever want to visit the sites in Stephen King novels? King set a number of his novels and short stories in the fictional town of Derry. Many feel that Derry is, in actuality, Bangor Maine, where Stephen has lived most of his life. Stephen King also believes that. Troy Harkin and his wife Christie went on the SK-Tours in October of 2022. TOF …
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Welcome to the first episode of season 5 of Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi! And what better character to launch a new season than a look at Superman? Troy and David look at Superman, from its beginning, the comics, graphic novels, the radio show, the various TV series, and some of the merchandise. Do you remember, as a child, running around the yard in …
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Troy and David continue their discussion on sports and games in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. This is PT.2 of a 2-part episode. This episode is being broadcast on Saturday, July 08, 2023.By Two Old Farts
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Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror are replete with sports and games. Rollerball and Death Race 2000; The Running Man and Field of Dreams; The Hunger Games and Ready Player One; games of chance, sports, and competitions have been a part of the genre landscape for many years. Harry Potter had Quidditch, and the Triwizard Tournament. Troy and David…
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The Thing PT. 2 Troy and David return with Carolyn Clink and Sandra Kasturi, to look at The Thing. First and foremost, the 1982 film, but also the 1951 film, and the 2011 film. They also do a Dream Cast and Schrodinger's Cast, of six of the main characters in the 1982 movie. Character Original Star MacReady Kurt Russell Dr. Blair Wilford Brimley Na…
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John Carpenter's The Thing. 1982 saw a plethora of great genre films, and this one got lost in the mix. How exactly do you compete with Blade Runner; E.T.: The Extraterrestrial; Tron; and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? It did not do well at the box office. It had some poor reviews, most notably from Roger Ebert, who said, "...this material has be…
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The Twilight Zone ran from 1959 - 1964. Hosted by Rod Serling Rod also wrote most of the episodes. This is part 2 of Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi's look at the Twilight Zone. This episode looks at (as Troy Harkin says): Rod Serling after The Twilight Zone, and... The Twilight Zone after Rod Serling. There were a few Twilight Zone series since the orig…
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This is our look at The Twilight Zone. Troy and David have a special guest for this 2-part episode. Tom Elliott. Please see his bio below. The Twilight Zone ran from 1959 - 1964. Hosted by Rod Serling. Rod also wrote most of the episodes. Many have listed it as their inspiration to work in the speculative genre field. Mel Brooks, a lifelong fan, wr…
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Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi celebrates their 50th episode in style. A live show, recorded on April 10, 2023. The Theme - TIME TRAVEL! We had a number of people attend, and there was a time travel quiz, on movies from 1970 - 2023. Troy plays an acoustic version of the theme. Listener mail. A Beatle-ism. And a Dream Cast and Schrodinger's Cast of peopl…
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Was Twiddle Twaddle the greatest science fiction series of all time? Was it better than ST:TNG? Star Trek Classic? Doctor Who? the Prisoner? BSG? Buffy? Many think so. Was it called Devon's Lair in Britain? David Clink (one-half of Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi) moderated a panel about the show, back on November 5th, 2022. The guests were Adrienne Kres…
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Troy and David talk about the Batman movie from 1966. In March of 1966, a decision was made to make a feature film of the TV show. An all-star set of baddies, called The United Underworld, decide to de-hydrate some of the leaders of the free world, and extort the nations of the world to have their leaders returned. July 30, 1966, released in theatr…
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Troy and David continue to look at the Batman TV series from the 1960s. They look a the theme song, and the parody. Here is a link to an article about the parody: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/the-jokers-still-getting-away-celebrating-50-years-of-jingle-bells-batman-smells-233532830.html Here is the 5th verse: Jingle bells, Batman smells Robin laid an …
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Batman from 1966. Troy and David look at the series in a 3-part episode. The first two episodes look at the TV series, and the third episode looks at the movie This is part 1. The series starred Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin. other regulars in the series were: Alan Napier as Alfred Neil Hamilton as Commissione…
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Love on the Set: A St. Valentine’s Day Special
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Whether it is True Blood's Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, or Game of Thrones' Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie, there have been a number of genre productions, whether it is a TV series or a TV episode, or a movie, where love blossomed between actors on the set. There are also genre productions, like A Quiet Place, where married couples (in this case,…
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Doctor Who may be the greatest sci-fi adventure of all time. The show focusses on a timelord from the planet Gallifree. The main character is Doctor Who, and is often referred to as, "The Doctor." The doctor goes through regenerations, where he or she can come back as someone else. He or she travels in a machine, called the Tardis, that can travel …
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A Christmas Carol is the Dickens novella classic that has been adapted to big screen and small screen and the stage, and has been referenced / parodied countless times. The Muppets even did a special based on the novel. And, don't forget Scrooge McDuck! Many consider the 1951 film version starring Alistair Sim as the best representation of the tale…
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TOF will return in December 2022 Troy and David will be taking a much needed break, and will work in 2-month breaks between seasons down the road. Their last show was the last episode of season 3, their Top Ten Horror films, dropped on Oct 29, 2022. At the moment the plan is to return on December 24, 2022, season 4 episode 1, to look at "A Christma…
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Troy and David’s Top Ten Horror Films
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Troy and David come up with an agreed upon list, what they think, collectively, are the top ten horror films of all time. They will also go into what did not make the list. On their previous lists, for top SF films and top fantasy films, they had their own top ten lists, and compared them. This time, this is one list. There have been a lot of great…
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Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences PT 3 (2000-2022)
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We are celebrating the 75th birthday of Stephen King with Bev Vincent’s wonderful new book from Epic Ink, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. Our three part series splits up Bev's six chapters, so we will look at two chapters in each episode. = = = PT 1 covers 1950 - 1979: CHAPTER 1: The Future Artist as a Young …
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Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences PT 2 (1980-1999)
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We are celebrating the 75th birthday of Stephen King with Bev Vincent’s wonderful new book from Epic Ink, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. Our three part series splits up Bev's six chapters, so we will look at two chapters in each episode. = = = PT 1 covers 1950 - 1979: CHAPTER 1: The Future Artist as a Young …
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Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences PT 1 (1950-1979)
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We are celebrating the 75th birthday of Stephen King with Bev Vincent’s wonderful new book from Epic Ink, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. Our three part series splits up Bev's six chapters, so we will look at two chapters in each episode. = = = PT 1 covers 1950 - 1979: CHAPTER 1: The Future Artist as a Young …
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Saturday morning cartoons were a staple back in the 60s thru the 90s. Remember Cecil and Beany? Scooby Doo? Spiderman? What were your favorites? Generally, the Saturday morning lineup was animated, and many were genre (science fiction, fantasy or horror). The Jetsons. Jonny Quest. Many remember fondly Spiderman and Rocket Robinhood, despite the poo…
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Mystery Men was a film released in 1999. It is based on a comic book series (1939-1942), and more of a direct connection from a comic book series in the 1980s. For those who have seen the film, they either think it is a great film or a not-so great film. That phrase, "You either love it or you hate it" was never more applicable. The most notable ch…
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Troy Harkin and David Clink (and Lee McCormack) look at Galactic Rock. This three-part series delves into Rock 'n' Roll that is "out there" and perhaps even "out of this world" including things that are science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their mashups and subgenres, and will delve into science and space, from the beginnings to present day. Were …
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Troy Harkin and David Clink (and Lee McCormack) look at Galactic Rock. This three-part series delves into Rock 'n' Roll that is "out there" and perhaps even "out of this world" including things that are science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their mashups and subgenres, and will delve into science and space, from the beginnings to present day. Were …
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Troy Harkin and David Clink (and Lee McCormack) look at Galactic Rock. This three-part series delves into Rock 'n' Roll that is "out there" and perhaps even "out of this world" including things that are science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their mashups and subgenres, and will delve into science and space, from the beginnings to present day. Were …
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