What would you do if you were a young lady and were proposed to by the local lord who was hideous and had a ghastly beard? What would you do if your poverty compelled you to accept his offer and you moved with him to his magnificent castle in Brittany, complete with servants, jewels, delectable foods and much wine? What would you do if your husband gave you the keys to all the rooms in his castle but told you not to use one special key? Well, obviously you'd run like hell to the door and use the key to see what hubby's been hiding, right? What if the castle servants were told to bring you anything you wanted and you ordered a midnight feast of avocadoes and shrimp only to find that the discovery of his previous dead wives in the locked chamber killed your appetite....pardon the pun. We'll discuss these fascinating questions as we analyze the connection between food, horror and fairy tales in the Perrault classic Bluebeard, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, and a few other tales of nasty husbands. We are joined by two very special guests: Jamieson Ridenhour and Hayley Heninger of the podcast Palimpsest, so join us for this wild ride into the horrors of matrimony and cuisine!

In this episode of Fear Feasts, Alessandra and Vanessa venture into the dark fairy-tale world of Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth (2006).Set in Spain in 1944, against the backdrop of Franco's dictatorship, the film follows young Ophelia as she navigates a brutal world of political repression while simultaneously undertaking a series of mysterious supernatural tasks. Together, we explore how food operates throughout the film as a symbol of power, resistance, temptation, care and survival.From Captain Vidal's lavish banquets to the haunting table of the Pale Man, we examine the film's striking contrasts between abundance and deprivation, privilege and hunger. We discuss the symbolism of forbidden fruit, the unforgettable terror of the Pale Man's feast, Mercedes's acts of culinary resistance, and the ways food becomes entangled with family, memory, and political control.Along the way, we explore:• The historical context of post-Civil War Spain and Franco's regime• Guillermo del Toro's use of fairy tales to confront historical trauma• The symbolism of grapes, milk, mandrake root, rabbits, bread, and feasting• Family, motherhood, resistance, and rebellion• The parallels between Captain Vidal and the Pale Man• Food as nourishment, temptation, surveillance, and power• Why the true monsters of Pan's Labyrinth may not be supernatural at allWe also revisit some of the film's most unforgettable scenes, including the Pale Man's banquet, Mercedes's kitchen knife moment, and Ophelia's final act of defiance.Join us as we explore one of the most layered, unsettling, and beautiful fantasy films ever made, where every meal carries meaning and every feast hides a darker truth.Warning: This episode contains major spoilers for Pan's Labyrinth.Fear Feasts is hosted by Dr Alessandra Pino and Vanessa Baca.

What would you do if you fell in love with a prince on a boat who ate oysters and fell overboard? Since you're a mermaid, you'd save him and fall madly in love with him, right? What would you do if you sold your singing voice to the sea witch and her flesh-eating eels to become human? What would you do if your husband kidnapped a mermaid and kept trying to feed her fish and potatoes when all she wanted to eat was human flesh? We explore these fascinating questions as we analyze the connection between food, horror and fairy tales in Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale The Little Mermaid, along with two other modern fish-female films The Lure and She Creature. So please jump on into the water and join us!References:Ondine (2009), directed by Neil Jordan.The Lure (Córki dancingu) (2015), directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska.She Creature (2001), directed by Sebastian Gutierrez.BooksAnaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. Berkeley: TQS Publications, 1972.Gabaldon, Diana. Outlander (Outlander Book 1). New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.Jarvie, Gordon (ed.). Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales. London: Penguin Books, 1992.Mother Earth, Father Sky: Native American Myth. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1991.

What would you do if your horrible mother married a dude with a beautiful daughter and made you and your plain sister feel terrible about yourselves? What would you do if your beautiful stepsister became the house servant and went around in ugly clothes with ashes in her hair and no shoes? What if your mother tried to make you pretty and didn't allow you to eat? What if you found out there was a ball in your village and a handsome prince would be choosing a bride from the local young ladies? You'd probably starve yourself by swallowing a tapeworm and allowing your nose to be broken and reshaped, right? We'll be exploring these ideas and discussing the connection between food, fairy tales and horror in the classic story Cinderella and some more recent iterations, including the highly visceral The Ugly Stepsister film as well as others, so please join us!Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward DurhamConfessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory MaguireCinderella - 1950 film by @DisneyThe Ugly Stepsister - 2025 film by Emilie BlichfeldtInto the Woods - 2014 film by Rob MarshallAshputtle by Peter Straub

What would you do if you were a young lady with hair black as ebony, lips red as rubies, and skin white as snow? You'd probably be called Snow White, right? What if your father married a woman who hated you and she tried to have you killed so she could eat your heart and absorb your beauty? What would you do if you were rescued by dwarves and a wicked witch tried to kill you AGAIN by making you eat a poisoned apple? You'd probably be off apples for awhile after that. We explore these fascinating questions as we analyze the connection between food, horror and fairy tales in the classic tale Snow White and some of its modern iterations, so please join us!Links to references below:Snow White: A Tale of Terror Dir. Michael Cohn https://share.google/bXj2R16ezdcSzaW1SThe Grimm Reader: The Classic Tales of the Brothers Grimmby Maria Tatar: https://archive.org/details/grimmreaderclass0000unseThe Young Slave by Basile, Giovanni Batiste. Il Pentamerone, or The Tale of Tales. Sir Richard Burton, translator. London: Henry and Company, 1893.https://surlalunefairytales.com/s-z/sleeping-beauty/stories/youngslave.html

This week, we dive into Tale of Tales (dir. Matteo Garrone, 2015) and explore the rich tapestry of fairy tales by Giambattista Basile on which the film is based. Drawing from Basile’s 17th-century collection Lo cunto de li cunti (also known as The Pentamerone), we look at how the film adapts these dark, fantastical stories for a contemporary audience- examining themes, imagery, and the enduring power of early modern fairy-tale tradition.At the core of our discussion is the deliciously unsettling intersection of food and horror in both Basile’s tales and Garrone’s film: the heart of a sea monster, a mountain of struffoli, and even a royal feast built around a flea. These bizarre, macabre acts of eating reveal just how deeply food shapes the film’s dark fantasy world… and it gets very weird.Link to Giambattista Basile's fairy tales Stories from Pentamerone: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2198/2198-h/2198-h.htm

What would you do if you and your sibling kept being kicked out of the house by your mean and starving mother and were left to find food on your own? What if you came across a house made of candy, gingerbread and sugar? You'd start eating it unless you were dumb. What if the house was owned by a witch who wanted to fatten you and your sibling up so she could eat you? Gross, right? What if the breadcrumbs you used to track your way home got eaten by some greedy birds? We are discussing the connection between food, horror and fairy tales this season and we really get into the weeds with Hansel and Gretel, so please join us!Contact us at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Like us on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/fearfeastspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/fearfeasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Xcite us on X (Twitter): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/fear_feasts⁠⁠

What would you do if you were a young woman running through the forest in a red cape, taking cake and wine to your dear grandmother, and were surprised by the big bad wolf? What if you found out that your grandmother was actually a wolf herself? What if the wolf turned out to be a man who could shapeshift? What if the wolf ate you and your grandmother for lunch? What if the wolf loved sausages and maggoty cheese? We are discussing these age-old questions and analyzing the connection between food in horror in the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, and several modern iterations of the story, so please join us!Works mentionedLittle Red-cap by By Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1812)https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-h/2591-h.htm#link2H_4_0023The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter (1979)https://ieas-szeged.hu/downtherabbithole/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Angela-Carters-The-Company-of-Wolves-Story.pdfThe Company of Wolves dir. Neil Jordan (1984)Wolfland by Tanith Lee (1983)https://www.sweetstudy.com/files/wolfland.pdfRed Riding Hood dir. Catherine Hardwicke (2011)Wolf Border by Sarah Hall (2015)https://www.bookscumbria.com/product/cumbrian-books/arts-and-literature/fiction/novels-set-in-cumbria/the-wolf-border/Mrs Fox  by Sarah Hall (2019)https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571351961-mrs-fox/?srsltid=AfmBOooW-gOyvyCZ_ZjcKcOwlfh13NRYzVtkWb0sRNbrglwOE7Uarit1

We are thrilled to introduce you to Season Five! We'll be analyzing the connections between food and horror in fairy tales, both literature and in film. After all, what is more frightening than being eaten by a wolf, getting lost in the woods because birds ate your breadcrumb trail, eating a poisoned apple, having your coach revert back into a pumpkin, or having a witch take away your pregnant wife's supply of rapunzel salad leaves? We will kick things off with an in-depth analysis of that classic Little Red Riding Hood, some literary retellings by Angela Carter and Tanith Lee, and the recent remake starring Amanda Seyfried, so please join us!

Serve It Forth: A Food History Festival 18 October 2025 – OnlineWe’re bringing together writers, historians, podcasters, and curious minds for a day of delicious discovery. Talks, conversations… all from the comfort of your own kitchen.In this bonus episode, Allie (one dark half of Fear Feasts!) is joined by her friends and fellow food historians Thomas Ntinas, Sam Bilton, and Neil Buttery. Together they share how each of them first got drawn into food history, what continues to inspire them, and some of the surprises they've encountered along the way.How do people find their way into food history? What myths surround the field? And do they sometimes meet with culinary catastrophes of our own?!Allie's input will of course be tinged with spookiness and dread in the company of death historian and funerary expert Dr Dan O’Brien! Their session, entitled: The River Remembers: A Journey Through London’s Lost Larder will take audiences on a dark voyage through food, death, and the forgotten histories of the Thames. From butchered whales washed ashore to bottles dredged from disaster sites, and from the feasting tables of the living to the memento mori traditions that remind us that bodies too become food. Allie and Dan will explore how the river bears witness to centuries of consumption and decay. Following the shifting shoreline, they'll trace fragments of lost lives and meals that once sustained the capital- an unsettling story of what (and who) London has eaten.Important LinksServe It Forth websiteTickets for Serve It ForthServe It Forth on social media