The Bloody Disgusting Podcast Network is growing! This week we’re excited to announce our two newest additions. For starters, we’re introducing our new horror video game podcast!

Readers may be familiar with Jay Krieger and Niel Bolt‘s bylines here on Bloody Disgusting. Last year, these two teamed up to make Safe Room, a weekly podcast analyzing all the innovations in horror video games! To learn more about the show, we sat down with the hosts to learn more about themselves.

Tell us about yourself!

Niel: I’m Neil Bolt, writer, podcaster, and occasional tirade enthusiast. I am the English half of our Cross-Atlantic show. Rumour has it I’m the older, heavier half too, but I refuse to confirm or deny this. My journey into becoming a horror fan began with watching the finale of The Terminator recorded off the TV when I was about 8. Cemented when someone gave me their copy of Stephen King’s IT five years later.

Jay: I’m Jay Krieger, a freelance writer, podcaster, social media guru, and all-around purveyor of nonsense. Whether it’s in print or on the airwaves, I strive to provide insightful coverage of games and film while never taking myself all too seriously.

What is Safe Room all about?

N: Safe Room is a podcast focused on horror game discussion, as well as the odd trip down horror-adjacent paths. We try to dig into what makes them effective, and mostly look for the positive in them because the genre needs a good dose of positivity. We still voice concerns and criticisms when necessary though!

What are the best episodes to start with?

N: If Jay said the first episode of Horror Bytes (our monthly review show of selected short indie horror games) then I pick the second one. Otherwise I think our spoilercast on Resident Evil: Village or the Wolfenstein retrospective are my favourite examples of what we do best.

J: Showing how well my co-host knows me, Horror Bytes is a great starting place for new listeners. It covers a wide swath of more accessible horror games that can often be completed in one sitting. As for other episodes, our chat on Silent Hill 2 with Matt Jordan, Murder House with Evan Millar, and the emergent horrors of Prey with Aaron Boehm are all solid starting points.

Do you have any special upcoming episodes? 

N: We’ll be discussing The Quarry soon, which should make for a fun chat given the choices in it.

J: But Neil and I are always digging for lesser-known horror games to cover!

What’s another podcast you think everyone should listen to?

N: Outside the BD Network? The Back Page Pod with Samuel Roberts and Matthew Castle is another gaming one I’d recommend because it covers such a wide range of games history in an insightful and humorous way. In the network I quite like Horror Queers. Joe and Trace are a great, often funny listen, and bring an interesting perspective to horror films.

J: I am quite fond of the killer couple Matt and Kriss Konopka’s horror film podcast Killer Horror Critic, as well as the ever-insightful Bloody Blunts Cinema Club hosted by DeVaughn Taylor and Garrett McDowell. Both have good horror vibes, enlightening discussions and are an overall good time.

What are your favorite horror games? And why?

N: For sentiment, I’d say Resident Evil 2, which sounds like a pretty standard pick, but it’s everything I love about genre movies in a single game. I was obsessed with it before I played a single second cos I was big into Romero and Fulci at the time and I’d read through this magazine guide for the game over and over until I finally got to play it. In terms of something modern it’s Alien: Isolation or Amnesia Rebirth.

J: Decisions… Decisions. While I cannot emphasize enough the impact games such as Doom, Resident Evil 2, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors had in shaping my horror history; my favorite horror game is The Last of Us. A fantastic merging of narrative with survival horror mechanics that showed me the true potential for storytelling in games that could compete and sometimes eclipse other mediums.

Gameplay or Story? Which is more important to you?

N: Cop out answer it may be, but I enjoy games best when they do both well. Amnesia Rebirth, for instance, makes certain mechanics a key part of its storytelling (we did an episode on it if anyone wants to know what I mean).

J: By and large, the story will always be the main draw for me. While technology changes and evolves, gameplay can become dated due to jank or gameplay mechanics that feel antiquated the further from their release, gamers are. Not to say there aren’t plenty of classic horror games that are still enjoyable. I would never. But when it comes to storytelling, the impact an engaging story, world, and characters can leave on a player can last a lifetime.

What upcoming game are you most excited for?

N: Undisputedly it’s Redfall by Arkane Austin. Prey is one of my favourite games of the last generation and the sight of that developer making a vampire slaying co-op game is everything to me.

J: Struggling to answer this without listing off 50+ games, but I shall do my best; Getting to see the vampiric combat of Redfall reinvigorated my desire to play that with pals. I am also looking forward to Atomic Heart which looks to be a creative blend of action RPG mechanics amongst a truly deranged alternate history backdrop. And hopefully, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl in the near future.

What are you playing right now? 

N: So much! Resident Evil 3 on PS5, Starship Troopers: Terran Command, God of War 3, a bunch of Steam Next Fest demos, Weird West, and Dread Delusion. I juggle a few at a time!

J: I am currently attempting (and largely failing) to keep all of the characters alive in The Quarry, replaying the fantastic Oxenfree and bumbling around in the dark in GTFO.

Where else can readers find your work?

N: Aside from a few past bits for Bloody Disgusting, I have game reviews at Gamewatcher and PlayStation Universe, as well as a column at DreadXP where I focus on weird indie horror games.

J: I occasionally write for Bloody Disgusting and Cultured Vultures. I am also behind social media for the latter. Other than that, I host a podcast called Daily Horror Habit, where I chat about current and classic horror films with various guests from all walks of life.

You can find Safe Room wherever you listen to podcasts! You can also follow the show on Twitter!