Are You Afraid of the Dark Universe?

After a months of sequels and spin-offs, it's time for a wholly new addition to our Dark Universe, and it's even more different than anyone expected. On this episode, Dylan pitches a new take on the 1942 classic Cat People, a small-scale, low-budget, Sundance-style horror dramedy with minimal connections to the Dark Legion mythology. It's a very rough draft, but the hosts are ready for workshop — and so are the characters! (Jump to 01:20:19 if you want to skip to the end of the deliberately uncomfortable sex scene.) PLUS: A peek at the most recent episode of Are You Afraid of Dylan & Dalton?, the monthly podcast that's available exclusively to our Patreon subscribers. Start your 7-day free trial today at Patreon.com/DylanAndDalton!   00:00:00 - Start   00:09:40 - Fan Expectations   00:21:18 - Director Choice   00:23:20 - Cold Open   00:25:07 - Act One   00:53:36 - Discussion   01:03:36 - Act Two Part One   01:16:29 - Trigger Warning Start   01:20:33 - Trigger Warning End/Discussion   01:32:20 - Act Two Part Two   01:41:53 - Discussion   01:48:04 - Act Three   01:58:04 - Mid-Credits Scene   01:59:06 - Post-Credits Scene   02:04:51 - Discussion

Hello, gentle listeners, here's a little taste of what you might be missing on our Patreon at Patreon.com/dylananddalton. Once a month, we release a new episode of our bonus podcast, Are You Afraid of Dylan and Dalton?, where we talk about horror and sci-fi movies, challenge each other with stupid little trivia games, and answer non-Dark Universe-related questions from our listeners. We’re going to start publishing clips from the bonus pod on the main feed every month, and this episode felt like a particularly good one to start with. The latest episode features Dalton digging into much greater detail about how they composed the story and music for their musical episode, The Phantom of the Opera: Love Never Dies. Here’s a little taste of that conversation, and if you’d like to hear the rest, and to join our wonderful and welcoming community on Discord, head on over to Patreon.com/dylananddalton and start your free one week trial, after which you get a steady stream of bonus shit from us for $5/mo.

Acclaimed writer and illustrator (and voice of Hunter Marin) Kendra Wells joins your hellish hosts to resurrect an infamously bad Universal monster movie, The Thing That Couldn't Die! It's a movie so weirdly unsatisfying that the only way to enjoy it is via Mystery Science Theater 3000, but Kendra has arrived with a plan to reshape it into something worth watching. CORRECTION: Ayo Edebiri is pronounced "EYE-oh ed-DEB-ree" so we were all at least half wrong. Sorry, Ayo, we love you. PLUS: We announce our latest collaboration with Kendra, a new t-shirt featuring a certain socialist werewolf and the phrase "LITERALLY EAT THE RICH!" It can be found on our Threadless store and is available on a wide array of merchandise. PLUS PLUS: Check out Dylan's bizarre new YouTube project, Future Endeavors, in which he plays a professional wrestling fan who stumbles across a supernatural threat to our very reality.

Last season, Dylan surprised Dalton by composing four original songs for his Dark Universe take on The Phantom of the Opera. "Fuck," said Dalton, "Now I have to do a musical episode!" It's finally here, and it does not disappoint. The Phantom of the Opera: Love Never Dies is a new Dark Universe story, a sequel to Dylan's Phantom, a riff on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies, and a fully produced musical EP! What does Dalton have in store for everyone's favorite monster hunting power couple, Carol and Jenny? One thing's for sure: This episode's gonna get people talking. Guest starring Ella Dawson as Jenny Halsey and Steph Salo as Carol Laemmle! Our partner podcast this week is Finding Monster Right, where hosts Adam and Allie answer questions you've never asked about monsters from folklore, pop culture, and our own world. 00:00:00 - Start   00:08:17 - Fan Expectations   00:13:37 - Director Choice   00:17:14 - Act One   00:21:45 - “Previously On!”   00:25:55 - Discussion   00:28:34 - Act One Continued   00:44:20 - “Carol’s Lament”   00:48:20 - Act One Continued   00:49:26 - Discussion   01:01:34 - Act Two   01:15:01 - Discussion   01:22:09 - Act Two Continued   01:39:17 - “The Raven”   01:42:55 - Discussion   01:51:21 - Act Two Continued   01:58:24 - Discussion   02:06:22 - Act Three   02:18:20 - “Carol’s Lament (Reprise)”   02:20:20 - Act Three Continued   02:25:18 - Mid-Credits Scene   02:27:13 - Discussion   02:39:52 - Post-Credits Scene   02:42:49 - Discussion

You've heard us say it before and it's never been more true than it is now: This is the wildest guest pitch we've ever heard. Rax King and Amber Rollo, the hosts of Low Culture Boil, have reimagined the 2011 Edgar Wright film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World as an X-rated bloodbath slasher movie starring a certain very large six-time world champion professional wrestler. How will this new interpretation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels honor its legacy as a genre-mashing transmedia personal critique that went over the head of roughly half of its audience? Listen here to find out! Our partner podcast this week is 52 Pickup! 52 Pickup is a podcast about the strange and wonderful DC Comics series 52. Every other week, join Gita Jackson of Aftermath and Alex Jaffe of the podcast Insert Credit as we take you on an issue-by-issue journey through a comic book series that explains everything about the DC universe, if you only look hard enough.

It's the stunning conclusion of our giant-sized action-horror blockbuster, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Will Victor Frankenstein be able to reconcile with his resurrected son? What will become of Esmeralda? And, crucially, WHO WAS IN THE BATHROOM? These questions will be answered, plus a lot that you probably didn't have about Dylan's chaotic writing process vs. Dalton's more orderly and functional one. PLUS: The hosts get into their most heated argument ever, which will have lasting repercussions on the future of the Dark Universe! 00:00:00 - Start   00:22:14 - Act Two Part Two   00:33:29 - Elsa Discussion   00:35:25 - Act Two Part Two Continued   00:37:26 - THE GREAT ESMERALDA DEBATE   00:46:45 - Act Two Part Two Continued   00:48:21 - THE GREAT ESMERALDA DEBATE CONTINUED   00:55:39 - Act Three   01:18:28 - Mid-Credits Scene   01:19:55 - Post-Credits Scene   01:23:52 - Discussion   01:24:55 - Reshoots   01:36:20 - Discussion

A pitch too big for one episode! Dylan's brought in a whopping 80-page script for his half of the House of Frankenstein duology, The Hunchback of Notre Dame! How will he connect this massive Victor Hugo novel with the mythology of Frankenstein? How accurate are the fan predictions? Will the seeds planted by Dalton in A Native American Werewolf in Paris bear fruit? Find out now, and stay tuned for PART TWO in seven days! Our podcast partner this week is the sci-fi/fantasy book podcast Shit We’ve Read. Think of them as your friendly, neighborhood online book club. Each month, Laura Benson, Jason Rico, and Bella Romero (with the occasional guest host) will read a new book, then discuss it in an episode. 00:00:00 - Start   00:05:43 - Fan Expectations   00:21:59 - Director Choice   00:23:33 - Prologue   00:27:24 - Act One   01:03:40 - Discussion   01:13:52 - Act Two Part One   01:39:01 - Discussion

Comics artist Ramon Villalobos joins our devilish hosts to discuss what might be the worst movie we've ever had to watch for this show, "The Mad Ghoul," a creature feature so forgettable that Universal didn't bother renewing the copyright. Can this rowdy trio salvage a potentially ripe concept into a movie that belongs in our Dark Universe? Can they do it without saying anything inflammatory and losing half their audience? Only one way to find out. Our partner podcast this week is Left Trigger Right Trigger, your video game book club where the hosts discuss games centering around a new theme every week.

At long last, it's Dalton's first solo pitch of Phase Three and the first half of our loose "House of Frankenstein" duology: A Native American Werewolf in Paris! Dalton's all about fulfilling the promise of the premise, so how will they make this story appropriately wolfy, thoroughly Parisian, and respectful towards Gwen's indiginous heritage without overstepping their bounds as a white storyteller? For one thing, Dalton has curated a playlist of songs from Native artists that would be included on the soundtrack, which you can listen to on Apple Music or Spotify. (Don't try to play it overtop of the episode, though - Dylan scored over all of those sections with music evoking the vibes of the suggested songs.) How will Gwen's story play out now that it's in the hands of a different co-host? What kind of traps or trampolines will Dalton lay out for Dylan to use when he picks up the "House of Frankenstein" story in The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Only one way to find out. Our partner podcast this week is Finding Monster Right, where hosts Adam and Allie answer questions you've never asked about monsters from folklore, pop culture, and our own world. 00:00:00 - Start   00:03:18 - Fan Expectations   00:14:01 - Dalton’s Preamble   00:17:58 - Director Choice   00:21:47 - Act One   00:54:07 - Discussion   01:05:50 - Act Two Part One   01:22:37 - Discussion   01:27:39 - Act Two Part Two   01:50:12 - Discussion   01:57:42 - Act Three   02:12:02 - Mid-Credits Scene   02:13:00 - Post-Credits Scene   02:15:28 - Discussion  

It's the Dark Universe's first ongoing TV series pitch! Our hosts are joined by Joseph Fink, the legendary co-creator of Welcome to Night Vale, to workshop a new take on the 1985 sports comedy Teen Wolf! Note that we didn't call it a horror-comedy, and that we're sort of calling it a comedy under protest. (We don't like it very much!) How much inspiration will it take from the original Michael J. Fox vehicle? Will it have anything to do with the popular MTV show? What percentage of the episode will be spent talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer? There's only one way to find out. Our podcast partner for this episode is The Mirror Universe Star Trek Podcast, a thoughtful program in which an Australian and a Canadian have a conversation about Star Trek: what we think it is, how it's evolved over the years, and how it reflects our culture...like a mirror. Dylan has basically joined the panel for this show at this point, so check it out!