Podcasts
‘Rose Red’ Marked the End of Stephen King’s Miniseries Boom [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
Stephen King’s Rose Red had auspicious beginnings. According to King, it began life as a potential dream collaboration between him and Steven Spielberg, who wanted to make a haunted house movie that echoed Shirley Jackson’s iconic The Haunting of Hill House. King, an avowed fan of Jackson’s masterpiece, ran with the idea but also wove in the legend of the Winchester Mystery House, a West Coast architectural curiosity suffused with eerie lore. He wrote a feature-length script, but creative differences between King and Spielberg plagued the project and it was eventually shelved.
Spielberg would go on to produce 1999’s reviled The Haunting, while King would rework his script as a TV miniseries, a format that’s served him well over the years. ABC brought back Craig R. Baxley, who helmed the affecting Storm of the Century, and turned the three-part series into event television, commissioning a prequel novel (a diary supposedly written by former matriarch of the Rose Red estate) and borrowing some digital marketing tricks from the team behind The Blair Witch Project.
Despite a critical drubbing, Rose Red was a ratings smash. Several members of The Losers’ Club recall watching it when it first aired and they’ve gathered on today’s episode to revisit the estate’s phantom halls. Join Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, Ana Marie Cox, and Dan Caffrey as they discuss the series’ impressively bizarre ensemble, its wretched CGI, and the surprise tragedy that nearly derailed production.
Stream the episode below and return next week when the Losers unpack one of Stephen King’s favorite novels: Peter Straub’s 1979 horror epic Ghost Story as one of our Danse Macabre book episodes. For further adventures, join the Losers’ Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
You can also unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive content in The Barrens (Patreon).
Podcasts
Beverly Sutphin Slays to Defend Suburbia in John Waters’ ‘Serial Mom’ [The Lady Killers Podcast]
“Chip! Our mother is Charles Manson!”
What does it mean to be a good mother? Is it the ability to cook the perfect meatloaf or a talent for bird calls? Is it an impeccably turned out family each Sunday morning and an organized recycling setup? These may be important to a picture-perfect suburban life, but when it comes to being an effective mother, they’re merely window dressing. What truly makes a mother succeed is a dedication to the wellbeing of her children. But should that extend to murder? John Waters explores these questions in the 1994 film Serial Mom featuring a murderous mom who will do anything to give her kids a happy life.
Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is the picture of maternal perfection. Her charming children and dreamy husband gather around the breakfast table each morning to discuss their lives and the hot button issues of the day. But once Beverly sees them out the door, she indulges in her real passion – tormenting those she deems unworthy of her high standards. Her antics escalate from prank calls and anonymous letters to vehicular homicide and premeditated murder. Beverly claims to kill for family honor, but does her violence hide a crippling need for conformity and perfection? And can she contain the madness or will her bloodlust destroy everything she holds dear?
The Lady Killers kick off a month-long exploration of killer mothers with the John Waters camp classic Serial Mom. Co-hosts Jenn Adams, Sammie Kuykendall, Rocco T. Thompson, and special guest Rachel Reeves will put on their seatbelts (it’s the law!) and drink with the garbage collectors in a hilarious conversation about pussy willows, swap meets, courtroom hijinx, and white shoes after labor day. What are the ethics of True Crime fandom? Would we want a killer for a mom? Would we survive a run in with Beverly and which one of us would Suzanne Somers play in a TV movie? Join the Lady Killers at the dinner table for a weaponized leg of lamb and a wide-ranging conversation on this quirky film.
But please be careful. You know how we hate the brown word.
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