110: Carnival of Souls
About this episode
The episode discusses the film 'Carnival of Souls' and its themes of alienation and ennui within the context of queer film history.
We round out our 2026 Pride series with a title that isn't typically included in the queer film history milieu but Dave is going to make a pretty solid case for how it absolutely fits with its themes of alienation and ennui. Carnival of Souls is a significant picture in the cult movie world and it's spooky as hell. In the tradition of directors who made one great movie and nothing else (e.g. Charles Laughton and Night of the Hunter, Leonard Kastle and The Honeymoon Killers), Herk Harvey made an extremely eerie and deeply paranoid movie that gets deeply under your skin and it's a shame that he never worked in features again. What begins with a fatal car accident leads the lone survivor, Mary, on a trip to Salt Lake City where she will play organ for a church. But along the way she finds herself stalked by a phantom as she tries to fit into this new city, navigating new relationships that she's barely interested in in the first place. By the time the film closes Mary will uncover the truth about the phantom stalker and what happened that day during the car accident. Get Physical Media Booklet Essay featuring Dave's Werewolf Women of the SS essay here…
People in this episode
Hosts: Bryan White, David White
Topics covered
- queer film
- alienation
- ennui
- cult movies
- horror
- psychological thriller
Keywords
- Carnival of Souls
- Herk Harvey
- queer film
- cult movies
- horror
- alienation
- ennui
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bring Me The Axe
Books & works: Carnival of Souls
More episodes of Bring Me The Axe! Horror Podcast
- 99CR 63: The Shark Hunter
- 111: The Visitor w/guest Love Connie
- 99CR 62: Dirty Dancing
- 99CR 61: Pre-Stonewall Queer Short Film Round-Up
- 109: Thundercrack!
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