#lovecraft country episode 2 review

[initiumseries]

Haha fun ask. Yes! Ngl this will mostly be Asian dramas lol. Ok so in no particular order:

2521 So...I had a feeling based on the present day dialogue that they weren't going to end up together, but having that confirmed was FRUSTRATING because they were the only part of the show worth watching. Even the lead actress begged them to change the ending. It was definitely WTF because of ALL the hills to die on.

Red Sleeve

The drama was FRUSTRATING because there was SO much tension, SO much chemistry, but the political stuff was sloppy, so I watched for them, and then the SECOND LAST episode, she dies. WTF.

Lovers of the Red Sky I watched Red Sleeve after abandoning this one only to be frustrated AGAIN lol. So this drama was advertised as this fantasy romantic drama, but what we GOT, was some weird fantasy political shit and very little in the way of romance. The shift was SO wtf because again, the chemistry was there and I was WAITING to see them get together, but instead it becomes about succession. Who cares?

The Story of Yanxi Palace Can't find gifs of it right now, but basically the Empress Fuca (below) was envied but everyone, specifically Noble Consort Gao (red dress), so when they were all at the banquet and the Empress was being fawned over because she was pregnant again. Noble Consort arranged this elaborate ass plan where a maid dropped a dish of I think deer liver and the stench attracted a SHIT LOAD of BATS and then everyone started screaming and she used that opportunity to throw the Empress off a ledge that wasn't very high, where she hit her head went into a coma and lost her baby. First of all, bats aren't even carnivores. Second of all, there's NO WAY you could ensure this plan would succeed. What if only like 2 or 3 bats showed up? Flimsy. WTF

The Rebel Princess She gets kidnapped like 50 times, and the guy who kidnaps her and tries to sexually assault and/or rape her "falls in love" with her so when he kidnaps her a second time and tries to force her into marriage and that goes left, he sacrifices himself for her in a declaration of...love I guess. Dude you tried to assault her and also kidnapped her from her lawful husband TWICE. WTF

LOK I have my overall issues with the storytelling on LOK but the most WTF was Korra and Mako. I just...hated it. They barely spent any time together, they barely talked, and Korra was SO pressed to be with him and I was like...but why? and their break up was just as wtf as their so called relationship. It was a no for me.

Peaky Blinders This ENTIRE season just had me like...??? But ESPECIALLY because of her. Any time a show incorporates Russians it goes off the rails.

Lovecraft Country I...did not particularly enjoy Lovecraft Country, but this ENTIRE SL...there’s a LOT, probably TOO much to unpack there so we’ll keep it as it just had me like...seriously...WHAT the ENTIRE fuck. 

The Originals Can’t find the gif right now, but I remember when me and @zalrb were drunk reviewing this episode and I was  SO OFFENDED because Cami was dying and Klaus was DRAWING her and I was like...LOL WTF?!? That’s such an incredibly shitty thing to do. Drawing a subject is such an impersonal thing, and this is supposed to be an intimate moment. It was clearly a scene created by not artists who thought it was romantic instead of...bizarre. 

Attack On Titan Honestly, the show was recommended to me by an ex and I had 0 context for what the show was, so when I saw this shit. I absolutely lost it. Then later coming full circle and finding out that it was Eren’s dad’s first wife who killed his second wife? It’s just...

Kakegurui  Literally everything about season 1 was just...WHAT?

But especially her 

I’m CONFIDENT there are other shows but this is what immediately comes to mind lol. Fun ask! 

[chinoygeek]

JANUARY 2021 MONTH-ENDER TV SERIES PICKS:

1. Lovecraft Country- stellar cast and stupendous visual effects, it’s interesting but horribly weird with the slow pace and confusing plot. Don’t mind if it’s not renewed.

Ratings & Review: 6/10, (Negative)

2. Sweet Home- terrifying & gross series yet it was unpredictably good, not the zombie series you expected, Monstrously epic and wise characterization . Looking forward for a 2nd season.

Ratings & Review: 7/10, (Fair)

3. Bridgerton- biggest netflix series ever is a revelation! Not fond of historial period dramas but this was fascinating and elegant. The costumes, setting and vocabulary were aesthetically pleasing. Mesmerizing sex scenes were WOAH. Can’t wait for Season 2

Ratings & Review: 8/10, (Positive)

4. A Discovery of Witches- it was simple yet impeccable. The concept of timewalking and weaving blown me away. 2nd season was better than 1st season as it was dull. Waiting for 3rd part

Ratings & Review: 7/10, (Fair)

5. Fate: The Winx Saga- 6 long episodes wasn’t enough and lack of characters. Great cast and concept. Ending was a shock and i want a 2nd season quick.

Ratings & Review: 7/10, (Fair)

6. I Told Sunset About You- this BL thai drama is underrated. It deserves more recognition in the likes of 2gether & Tharntype. Undeniably one of the best BL series of Thailand. The soundtracks, cinematography, location of Phuket, and behind the scenes documentary is perfectly beautiful and remarkable. That sexual tension between Oh Aew & Teh was done well. 2nd part this March 2021 and i’m excited! ♥

Ratings & Review: 10/10, (Positive)

7. Tharntype 2: 7 Years of Love- normalizing a lot of BL couples in this series is lovable. The continuous sequel plot was fine and funny. I like the ending it was a final closure that don’t need a 3rd season. Tharn & Type forever ♥

Ratings & Review: 8/10, (Positive)

[rachaellikesyaoi]

I posted 8,839 times in 2021

20 posts created (0%)

8819 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 440.9 posts.

I added 4,161 tags in 2021

#dean winchester - 657 posts

#castiel - 625 posts

#make me laugh - 606 posts

#destiel - 592 posts

#spn - 550 posts

#julia - 292 posts

#supernatural - 290 posts

#barry - 203 posts

#deancas - 178 posts

#sam winchester - 168 posts

Longest Tag: 133 characters

#there are so many pieces in the finale that just dont make any sense. it fundamentally breaks and pulls and references so many things

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I can't wait for 20 years from now when they reboot supernatural and we all rise up from the grave like those shitty zombies at the end of s14/start of s15. It'll be great.

1 notes • Posted 2021-02-28 12:48:10 GMT

#4

I just want to fucking scream

1 notes • Posted 2021-06-18 11:06:04 GMT

#3

spn asks: 8, 9, 11, 14, 27

Oh my god!!! Yay! Thank you for the ask!!!

8. Favorite Cas?

Endverse!Cas. Love my little Stoner dude who fell from grace and would follow Dean to the end of the world. I've literally been reading 'Down to Agincourt' by seperis and I'm almost on book four. Which is dedication, because it's beautifully written and lacking any smut. That's how much I love Endvers!Cas.

9. Favorite Dean?

Demon!Dean. How could you not love him? Sure, he's a 'bad guy,' but so is Billie Eilish and I'd follow both of them into hell with a smile.

11. Which episode do you wish we had gotten?

I honestly think it's a tie between Human!Impala, and a body swap episode. I would have loved to see Baby as some hot stud and Dean being all flustered when Baby inevitably asks why Dean is calling him 'the car' or 'impala' instead of their given name which is Baby. BUT I would have also loved to see Cas and Dean switch bodies and see Jensen and Misha acting like the other's characters. It would have been great.

14. If there was a reverse French Mistake, who would cope the best?

I think Jensen would, because he's essentially Dean Winchester, but more adjusted. I'm sure if given some time to train, then he'd fit into the position well.

27. Which would you rather have addressed in canon: Cas killing countless copes of Dean or Dean's grief each time Cas died?

I think I'd want his grief addressed, because unlike with other deaths of Dean's loved ones, I feel like Cas' deaths never got the same treatment? I dunno. I'm probably wrong, but I feel like when John, Mary, Bobby, or anyone else got a more fleshed out grieving Dean than anytime Cas passed. But maybe that was the point? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you for the ask! I don't think I've ever done one before!

2 notes • Posted 2021-03-09 15:15:00 GMT

#2

Need New Blogs to Follow

I haven’t done this in years, but I’m looking for active blogs to follow for all of my fandom needs. If you post any of these fandoms, please reblog or like this post and I will check out your page and probably follow!

Supernatural

Doctor Who

Umbrella Academy

Marvel 

DC

Star Trek

Yu Yu Hakusho

Lovecraft Country

Disney

Stardew Valley

Animal Crossing

Kingdom Hearts

Good Omens

The Boys

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Persona

Spider-Man (Anything)

Sherlock

Miss Kobiyahsi’s Dragon Maid

Fruits Basket

Cowboy Bebop

Yuri on Ice

11 notes • Posted 2021-06-15 14:43:40 GMT

#1

I was today years old when I learned that Sean Gunn, James Gunn brother and the actor who plays Kraglin in the MCU, also does the motion capture for Rocket.

He also did the mod-capping for the Weasel in the new the Suicide Squad movie. 

Huh.

22 notes • Posted 2021-08-25 14:25:14 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[ggyppt]

In my 380th review, I take a look at Loki 1x01 "Glorious Purpose"

Spoilers Below

Now, I don’t know if it’s just because Falcon and the Winter Solider set the bar so damn low that it wasn’t an issue to jump over, but this opening episode was solid. In retrospect, this shouldn’t have been as much of a surprise as it is, mostly as Loki is a character with so much more to play off of than either of the leads in the Falcon and the Winter Solider. That depth is something that this episode really pulls on, being as much a deconstruction of the Loki character as a set up for a series.

Within that, they have kept the cast small, only really showcasing maybe three characters in the opening span. Of course, heading up the project is the titular Loki, still being played by Tom Hiddleston. He continues to adjust and remake this character as needed, though much of what this episode does have him retreading old ground to get the character to the point he would have been at if we had picked up from Endgame. As someone who is much most interested in how characters evolve within TV, this retreading is both understandable, but also slightly frustrating. Then we had Owen Wilson (notable for Wedding Crasher and Starsky & Hutch) playing Agent Mobius. He ends up working as a foil for Loki to play off of, and in that, he serves the role beautifully. Then we have Wunmi Mosaku (from End of the F***ing World and Lovecraft Country) playing Hunter B-15. She feels like a character that is going to be better served the further into the series we go, but as of now, she feels rather flat. Most of her usage in this episode was in service of jokes.

That leads into my biggest problem with this show and it is the same one that I have with the majority of the Marvel stuff at this point, I don’t find their jokes funny. They’ve been playing the same style for the last decade, and I’ve fallen out of step with them a while ago, somewhere probably in stage 2. When everything else is functioning so well, the jokes falling flat is even more noticeable than ever before. Humor isn’t the most important thing within a show though, and the moments this episode really needs to hit, it absolutely hits out of the park. Most of that are the retreading of character beats, and getting Loki into the right position for the rest of the show to use him as a pure face, as their starting point is the most he’s been a heel in the franchise.

There is a lot of good work that this episode puts in, and while it has some of the chronic issues that are coming from the larger whole, it hits its big moments amazingly, and so it gets a pass at least in that respect. 7.5/10

[ellestra]

Power games

I was not going to write about Lovecraft Country episode 2 ending because it seemed pretty obvious to me but I saw so many reviews with people completely confused what was happening that I started to doubt myself.

But I can’t be the only one who noticed it was Christina who messed up her father’s spell, right?

The ritual to create gate to Garden of Eden worked - that's the flowers and vines coming thought it and Samuel smiles triumphantly but then there is another black smoke spell coming out of the ring and the vines on the door die. Christina used Atticus as a Trojan horse to sabotage it. She gave him the ring that the black smoke spell came out of. And she told Tic that smallest thing can set him on a new course he just has to see it and seize it. And you can see he gets it when he puts his hand with the ring in front of the gate and it redirects the connection from Eden through his male ancestor Titus to his female ancestor Hanna and all the vines die and all the wizards turn to salt.

This was all part of Christina's plan to take over. We get all those hints she’s not fully behind her father’s plan. You can see how differently she acts when her father is watching compared to when she’s alone with Titus. There are all the hints she and William (boy who is a friend) drop about being on Atticus side and not following the paths set by others. And she arranges to get her first shoggoth - to have one only she can control.

It was obviously Christina’s play for power. Tic rightly deduced she was hating the fact that as a woman she was excluded from wielding any real power in the family and the Order. Not even allowed to come to dinner. Now they are all turned to dust and she has it all. Or almost all. Hannah escaped with a book and I’m pretty sure it was The Book of Names so I bet Christina will be back for it.

And, of course, she uses Atticus to get rid of others wizards to have all the power to herself with no men to tell her what to do. She gets what she wanted. Atticus has to save himself from the destruction but there is no one to heal uncle George so Atticus is the one who pays the price anyway. It's just a different Braithwhite who used him.

For a moment, I hoped that bonding about bad fathers meant something. After all Tic agreed to do it because Samuel promised to heal George like he did with Leti. I’m not sure George dying is what he would chose. But she didn’t ask and just used him as Trojan horse. I suppose I should’ve known when Christina said bringing Leti and George with him was on Tic and not her problem.

I was hoping Christina would save uncle George so Tic could learn the truth (and also so we wouldn’t lose Courtney B Vance). After all Tic was a good tool for a coup and he deserves it in return but I suppose she got what she wanted so she doesn’t care anymore. She didn’t even care if he survived the coup and if it wasn’t for Hannah showing him the way out he wouldn’t.

The place may have looked brighter than the cabin in the woods, the horrors and abuse subtler than the policemen in woods but they were being imprisoned, tortured and used all the same.

I wondered why George and Leti were so carefree in the opening but that was because only Tic remembered what happened at night. The first indication of his inheritance - the forgetting spell didn’t work on him. This was, as William said at the end of last episode, his home. But of course, any kind of good time came with strings attached in place like this.

The rich people entertained by their desires and fears. I knew it wasn’t real Atticus wit Leti since we knew he couldn’t get out of the room. The others being confronted by their lost loves confirmed it. But we learnt George had an affair with Tics mother and may be his real father. It somehow makes  letting Montrose abuse Tic even worse.

And it wasn’t only Montrose who was imprisoned. It just that his looked more like a prison. The others got “kind” version as long as they didn’t cause trouble. The moment they try to escape the hostage situation becomes very clear. Either Tic agrees to be sacrificed or those he loves die. And Samuel knows it’s Leti and George that really matter.

With Samuel having both magic and monsters the only option is to hope Christina’s promise of friendship is real. But of course she also uses Tic for her own goals. She protects him from the main spell to get rid of her father and all the members of the Order who shunned her but she doesn’t seem to really care. To all in that manor Atticus was only mattered as an object to use to achieve their goals and all the others mattered even less. The got free in the end but the price was one Atticus sacrificed himself not to pay.

[dualredundancy]

In this week's clip show episode we look back at our discussions on the shows that are nominated in the outstanding drama series, comedy series and limited series categories for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. These reviews include The Crown (2:25), Lovecraft Country (16:35), Ted Lasso (27:35), PEN15 (35:10), WandaVision (42:55) and The Queen's Gambit (58:00).

http://www.dualredundancy.com/2021/08/our-2021-emmy-coverage.html

[bearded-shepherd]

Let’s Talk: Lovecraft Country Full Review (Spoilers)

Short answer: It was good, the last episode felt a bit rushed and anti-climatic (seems like a lot of shows deal with this problem); I expected more instead of the speedrun flashbacks...

Anyways, the first couple of episodes were amazing (episodes 5 and 7 are up there too).  Episode 7 took the cake of being the best written episode.

I love Hyppolyta, I love the easter eggs and references in this episode. The 3 second glimpse of Frida Khalo was a yes. Also, dang does Hyppolyta look great with blue hair!

If ya know me, I love me some morally-grey characters, I live for that shit(...and sadness of course). Like, I’m surprised they killed off Lancaster so quick; I expected him to come back like the big bad but nah bruv, Death kept his ass on a leash.

Speaking of death...the saddest death was of course Uncle George. I mean he was my favorite character until Ruby came into the ball court. Honestly what was the point of Yahima (I mean I love this character) but just killing her off like that was just..wah. (Yes, I’m aware that the writer mentioned about this before)

This also kinda got me thinking about GSRM characters in general in this show and uh... damn where they all went (partying with death of course) except for Montrose and (potentially in a comatose state) Ruby.

Jamie Chung character Ji ah aka Naruto is amazing. I glad she made it through to become THE NEXT FUKIN HOKAGE!!!

The scariest Motherfukers and Dee had it rough that episode... but I’ll still allow them on the club floor or something...

LETITIA FUKIN LEWIS

Hells yes. Her and Atticus are a pretty cute het couple. Felt sorry for the baby in the womb, boy was riding a walkin roller coaster cause of all the shit Leti gets into.

...these two...

Honestly... not gonna lie, these two had the most interesting dynamic in the show. Toxic as the bowels of 4chan but they just be interesting. Also Christina did catch some feels (I mean who didn’t, just look at Ruby), HOWEVER she had some fuked up ways of doing shit.

We all knew their 'relationship' was going to sink faster than titanic and I was just there chillin on the deck honestly. Didn't like how their (whatever they had) relationship fell off screen tho (I'm a sucker for confrontation).

Anywho... The ending scene with Dee. It was a bit overkill, Christina was going to die either way with asphyxiation. IDK, I feel like this is foreshadowing for season 2 about Dee.

7.7 Black Shoggoths out of 10

Lovecraft Country, The Haunting of Blair Manor, and Raised by Wolves kept me sane this past month or so.

[constantlyirksome]

Lovecraft Country 1x05 Review: Come on Out of Your Shell.

(Spoilers!!)

I was a latecomer to Lovecraft Country, so it’s taken me a few weeks to watch episode five on time this week but BOY have I never been so excited to finally be able to do a review for this show that is rocking my world and has me giddy in a way a show hasn’t in a while.

Firstly, last week’s Indiana Jones-esque episodes in the tombs of a museum was dope. I just needed to get that out there, but this week the show goes to new heights. Never before has the show been so mind melty, so gory, so rife with racial complexity and struggle, and this show already had all of that in spades.

This episode focuses mainly on Ruby, Letitia’s oft overlooked sister as she continues her affair with the mysterious, pale William, with one extra wrinkle. He has, without her knowing, given her the power to transform into a white woman. How isn’t immediately clear but the show does take this pretty old “body swap” trope and throttles it with it’s gruesome visuals and ideas. William, fascinated by butterflies and their transformations, literally puts a white woman’s skin over Ruby’s. Each time she has to claw and scream her way out of the white husk like the Bride clawing out of the husk of another person, meat dripping off of her like overcooked ribs, until she’s herself again.

The imagery of it does make the body swap angle fresh, as does the racial implications of a black woman swapping bodies with a white woman. In the 50’s. (Why is it the same woman as the racist farmer from episode 2?) I am not in any way qualified to talk about the experience of what it’s like to be black, or colorism so I won’t focus too much here out of respect, but it was a FASCINATING storyline. It was easy to see why she so quiclkly got swept up in the privileges, but it did NOT take long to realise, even from the inside, the racism in her world permeates everything. Her deciding to use that privilege for murder a racist sex pest in a very ironic twist… go off. Also multiple times Cardi B plays during key scenes of Ruby’s, (these is red bottoms/ these is bloody shoes), and in a show set in the 50′s i think that’s spectacular.

Another complicated story this week and one I hope we see much more of is of Tic’s dad, Montrose. Up until this point the audience has seen nothing but an abusive drunk, and that George, Tic’s uncle was more of a father figure.

But Montrose’s story is far more tragic and confusing, as it turns out he is also a gay man. That doesn’t excuse hitting your kid. Ever. But it does explain some of the anger and secrecy and adds a layer. He’s at the drag club with MFing Monet x Change and Shangela. He experiences euphoria and freedom in the arms of the queer community. The audience feels sympathy for this guy for the first time, which adds to the character, but I’m gonna need to see some healing with his son for there to be a full redemption arc. A deep conversation that leads to a better relationship.

Speaking of Tic, we don’t see much of him this episode, as he and Leti attempt to decode the codes of the cult that is haunting them, to some success, ending in a beautiful scene where they confirm their feelings for one another, and Tic shows that he hasn’t carried through his father’s cruelty and anger into his relationships, that he is a different man, and boy do we love to see it. There IS however the hint that Tic might head down a bad magical path. While his pursuit of “saving our people” by unlocking these magic mysteries every magic has a price. Leti sagely says “You’re father though he was doing good, and look what he did.” (Killed an ancient, innocent lady.

The final twist of the episode revealed to Ruby during a poorly timed visit to Williams house is the most shocked I’ve been by a show in a while. Whether that’s a testament to the show, or to  my own ignorance I’m unsure but it was a wow moment regardless. Turns out, hiding in Williams skin, like Ruby inside that white lady, was Christina, the shows mysterious, driven agitator and antagonist. Will Ruby be able to reveal this? What will Christina do? All I know is that I am hooked right into Lovecraft Country, and so should you be, provided you’re chill with gratuitous gore.

[unnursvanablog]

The TV shows I watched in 2020 / part 2.

Episodes I finished: 😊

Snowpiercer: I wasn't sure if it could live up to the movie and in my opinion it didn't even get close to it. I wasn't into the murder mystery. After a few episodes I was just watching it with one eye.

The Last Kingdom: What can I say, I'm incredibly fond of period shows. The Last Kingdom managed to tell a very contained story within each series that always managed to grab me and I had to know what happened next, while also raising the stakes for the next seasons and so on. I found this part of British history new and exciting and I liked the strategy and the comradery that we got to see here. This show is incredibly male centric tho and does fall into the traps that can come with that, which can be annoying.

Maximilium: Epic and sad. I really want to watch more period shows, and just shows in general, that is not contained to like British history or medieval fantasy inspired from that part of Europe. I really liked this show, I found it really pretty to watch and really well excecated.

Was it Love?: In my opinion this drama started of well. It was just some fluffy comedy with a ridiculous plot and I was just having a great time with it. But then over time, the episodes just got more frustrating and boring and so did the characters. It takes a bit of a skill to have four guys fighting for the attention and love of the main character and none of them end up being a good option.

It's Okay not to be Okay: unfortunately I thought the story here was stretched a bit too far, even though the basic story was cool and interesting. And that led to me not enjoying it. Most of the supporting characters were boring to me and therefor I got bored watching their filler scenes and product placements just so these episodes could be over an hour long. The story was not long enough to fill in every episode and it just dragged on.

Flower of Evil: I was amazed at how much I ended up loving this drama. It normally not the type of thing I go for. They were dramatic, dark and very emotional and I never knew what was going to happen, it kept me on the edge of the seat all the time. I loved it.

Cursed: this show had a really great idea, it tried to do something new with the Arthur legend. But they just weren't well written at all and just end up being a pretty big fantasy cliché.

The Medici: Masters of Florence: Neither the second nor the third series reached the same heights as the first one did for me. But still, this is a good period show. I just do not find the main character in the second and third series that interesting. He kinda irks me.

Ottoman - Rise of an Empire: A really fun and informative tv show / documentary. I knew little about the Ottoman Empire so I found it very exciting. And I do like battle strategies.

Record of Youth: I wanted to get so much more from this drama than I got. I cared so little about most of the character and even the ones I did care about didn't seem to do much towards the end. A little too slow for me, the plot wasn't interesting and I'm tired of some kdramas saying that they are about these two or more characters, but then just focus on the male character and the female lead is just there for the romance. It was a waste of both my time and Park So Dam's time.

The War of the World: A very interesting sci-fi period piece. Really well done, would have liked a better ending that answered all the questions I had, but I enjoyed the ride a lot.

The School Nurse Files: These episodes were so weird, but I mean it in a good way. I felt like I was watching a long and weird Doctor Who episode from the Russell T Davies era. They sometimes felt a little bit confusing and would have liked if the story was a bit more concise.

Lovecraft Country: This became this odd blend of horror, fantasy-adventure tale and then some sci-fi - Some of these episodes gave me a little Indiana Jones feel, which I enjoyed. At times it felt all over the place, yet it did serve a purpose. I expected more horror if anything, as I had been told it was really scary, but then I didn't really get scared. Maybe because I'm not the targed audience for these shows, as a white person from Europe. Really interesting show tho. Well worth the hype.

The Haunting of Hill House: Very cool show. I really enjoyed how each episode just raised the bar and you could start to see the story more clearer and better with every passing episode. And seeing how the house affected this family throughout their lives while we got to know the characters and their backstory was brilliant. You hate and love and understand almost every single character, as they all have their own baggage to carry. Really well made horror.

The Haunting of Bly Manor: eh, I felt like they never reached the same heights as the previous series. The story wasn't as captivating, the horror not that great, and I had already seen where the story was going long before it happened.

La Révolution: The story started slowly, but there was a really cool mystery at the center of it and this escalating tension that really just grabbed you and pulled you along. I also just really like a lot of the character. I thought it was a very interesting take on the French Revolution, and the horror elements surprised me in a really good way. I like period dramas that have horror elements to them. It's just a mix of two things I like. Visually it was stunning, it was well crafted, well acted and I'm excited to see more of there is more.

The Tale of the Nine Tailed: There was something about this drama that just didn't capture my heart, although I think the idea is cool and I really enjoyed how myths and other things were woven into the story. It always felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be like Goblin, you could see the influence there, and it just left me a little cold. The second leads and their story were also just a lot more interesting than the main ones. I got quite bored like half way through it.

Private Lives: I really liked this drama in the beginning. I loved how much it centered around the female characters and the story seemed cool. It sometimes jumped between timelines, which I did not like and I don't think it helped too much with the mystery. And once the more political aspect of the mystery started to creep in I found myself not as into it. And I wanted more comradery.

Birthcare Center: Cute and quite silly, but in a good way. It's really short, only 8 episodes in total, so it never dragged. I loved the whole cast and the dynamics that the character had and I felt like it did talk about some important topics about motherhood and the expectations set on women - says I who is completely childless. I enjoyed it, but I was not incredibly into it either.

The Crown: I don't think I have enjoyed this show as much as this season. In this season I had someone to root for and someone to emotionally connection to. A lot of the characters in this show are interesting, but very cold and distant, and I find it hard to relate to them, which can make it hard for me to fully get invested. But Diana was absolutely the heart and soul of this season and I loved her. The show needed her.

Queen's Gambit: I've never found chess interesting until I watched it in this show. I found it amazing how these episodes managed to create a whole story about chess tournaments and how it affected all of these characters. Amazing story, the characters were complex, and each episode just became more and more exciting and interesting.

Barbarians: I shall say it again! I love historical shows and period dramas. It isn't anything new under the sun, it feels a bit like other period shows such as Vikings, but I enjoyed it. I felt the story grew with each episode, with the first episodes being a bit more formulaic as they were setting up the story. But each episode always ended in a way that I just wanted to know more, there was something that grabbed me and I had to watch the next episode.

Sweet Home: quite a fun horror, and I usually really like how Korea does horror so while it did hit some sweet spots it also does follow some of the common apocalypses and horror tropes and I did think it brought too many new things o the table when it comes to these stories. I felt like a lot of episodes sort of lacked tension and just fell a bit flat.

Bridgeton: I love a costume dramas, especially like these romantic ones, with a hint of humor and a whole lot of yearning. I have a tendency to fall into such stories and people's lives, although it seems rather frivolous and unexciting to people who don't enjoy this romance. I sympathized so much with these characters and their ridiculous lives. I couldn't stop watching this show and it became all I thought about over the days I was watching it. There is something new about it, but it still rather familiar and maybe not as progressive as you might want at all times. For me, the main romance lost me a bit towards the end, but it was a great fun.

Show I did not finish: ☹

OCN Train: I am sure it was a well made show, I have not heard any bad review about it, just not the kind of drama that is really for me or to my taste. If I am suppose to watch and enjoy these types of show it sort of needs to do something amazing for me to be hooked into a murder mystery.

The Devil Punisher: I decided to try watching a drama from Taiwan again, since I had not done so for years and year. And although I thought the idea was cool, the first episodes were rather long-winded, all over the place and really about everything and nothing at the same time. So I just gave up.

Run On: I could actually feel it from the first episodes that this drama was not for me. Just not the kind of story that I am into at the moment. Mostly just about the lives of the people in it, but there is no bigger plot that pulls you forward. Too slow and light and not really about that much.

[hurrow]

Everything You Need To Know About Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country has received rave reviews ever since it dropped on HBO in 2020, with its mix of dark horror and social commentary. Here is everything you need to know about the TV series Lovecraft Country.

1. The HBO series Lovecraft Country is based on a 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff. It blends the horror fiction of HP Lovecraft and racism in the United States in the 1950s during the Jim Crow era. The book consists of eight interconnected stories.

2. The series follows a young black man called Atticus Freeman who travels across the United States in search of his father who is missing. Set against the backdrop of racial segregation in 1950s America, the show also uncovers some eerie and dark secrets about a town where horror writer HP Lovecraft is said to have based many of his stories.

3. The TV Show premiered on HBO in August 2020. Misha Green, who had previously worked on Heroes and Sons of Anarchy as a writer, is the showrunner while Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams are executive producers.

4. The main characters of Atticus and Letitia are played by Jonathan Majors and Jurness Smollett. Star of The Wire and Boardwalk Empire Michael Kenneth Williams plays Atticus’s father Montrose.

5. There are 10 episodes on the first series, which were released episodically each week from August to October 2020. It has not yet been confirmed if there will be a second season of Lovecraft Country.

Find more eerie horror tales with the books from www.hurrow.com.

[tabloidtoc]

TV Guide, August 31-September 13

You can buy a copy of this issue with Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the cover for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Collectible Cover 2 of 2 -- Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs 

Page 1: Contents, Ask Matt -- Will Sasso of Mom and United We Fall, Spenser Confidential 

Page 2: Readers’ Letters, CSI is returning with William Petersen as Gil Grissom and Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle plus new characters, NCIS plans to return to production on September 9 and Season 18 will include the milestone 400th episode 

Page 4: A long-lost episode of black-ish called Please Baby Please is now available on Hulu, TV’s top coaches -- Ted Lasso, Ben Hopkins of Hoops, Gwen Stefani of The Voice 

Page 6: The Roush Review -- Raised by Wolves 

Page 7: Coastal Elites, Love Fraud, Away 

Page 8: Cover Story -- Football is back -- previews of the NFL teams and players to watch plus 10 don’t miss matchups 

Page 12: Fall TV -- the shows we can’t wait to see -- The Crown, Ratched, Supernatural, Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Right Stuff, Fargo, Grey’s Anatomy 

Page 14: What’s Worth Watching -- Week 1 -- Chris Evert on the US Open 

Page 15: Monday, August 31 -- Being the Queen, black-ish, Planet Earth: A Celebration, Pawn Stars 

Page 18: Tuesday, September 1 -- Hamza Haq on Transplant, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Supernanny, The Son 

Page 19: Wednesday, September 2 -- Into the Wild Tibet, Coroner, Tough as Nails 

Page 20: Thursday, September 3 -- Dr. Sandra Lee on Dr. Pimple Popper: Before the Pop, A Hidden Life, Buried in the Backyard, Cannonball, Holey Moley, The Real Housewives of New York City

Page 21: Friday, September 4 -- Xena: Warrior Princess, Love After Lockup, Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, Saturday, September 5 -- Dolly!, Love Island, 21 Bridges 

Page 22: Sunday, September 6 -- Top Gear, Air Disasters, How It Really Happened With Hill Harper, Power Book II: Ghost, NASCAR, Major League Baseball -- St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs 

Pages 25-45 -- TV listings 

Page 46: Stream It! Your Guide to the Best Streaming Available -- Netflix -- Hilary Swank on Away, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, All Together Now 

Page 47: Prime Video -- Jack Quaid on The Boys, The Deep, Hulu -- Blindspot, The Kids Are Alright 

Page 48: New Movie Releases 

Page 49: Series, Specials and Documentaries 

Page 50: What’s Worth Watching -- Week 2 -- Lucy Worsley’s Royal Palace Secrets 

Page 51: Monday, September 7 -- Judy Spera on Devil’s Road: The True Story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, American Ninja Warrior, Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, NYPD Blue 

Page 52: Tuesday, September 8 -- Biography: I Want My MTV, Live With Kelly and Ryan, America’s Got Talent, Hard Knocks: Los Angeles, Harbor From the Holocaust 

Page 53: Wednesday, September 9 -- Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott on Brother vs. Brother, The 100, Crimes Gone Viral, NFL: The Grind, Stargate: SG-1, Major League Baseball -- Chicago White Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates 

Page 54: Thursday, September 10 -- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Christina on the Coast, Bin Laden’s Hard Drive, Impact of Murder, My Feet Are Killing Me: First Steps, Friday, September 11 -- Romeo and Juliet, 9/11: The Final Minutes of Flight 93, Selling the Big Easy 

Page 55: Saturday, September 12 -- Disney Weekend, Bonanza, Help! I Wrecked My House, Deranged Granny, Tennis -- US Open: Women’s Final 

Page 56: Sunday, September 13 -- Michele Buck on Van der Valk, Close Up With the Hollywood Reporter -- Damon Lindelof and Michelle King and Liz Tigelaar and Courtney Kemp and Alexander Woo, The Brady Bunch, Lovecraft Country, Outrageous Pumpkins, Tennis -- US Open: Men’s Final 

Pages 57-78 -- TV listings 

Page 80: Horoscope 

Page 84: Cheers & Jeers -- Cheers to Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Selling Sunset, Kelly Clarkson, Jeers to the networks for missing their shot at surefire fun, Comedy Central for screwing over its viewers, a Sarah Paulson surplus

[dovebuffy92]

https://fandomopolis.com/2020/08/25/lovecraft-country-season-1-episode-2-whiteys-on-the-moon-review/

Atticus, Uncle George, and Leti search for Montrose at the Braithwaite Estate, where the father is trapped.

Spoiler

Lovecraft Country Season One Episode Two ” Whitey’s On the Moon” directed by Daniel Sackheim wrestles with wizards, an elite KKK like organization, monster breeding, sexism, and racism. I love how ” Whitey’s On the Moon” delves deeper into the supernatural horror lore of this world. At first, Uncle George and Leti revel in the riches available to them at Ardham Lodge in the Braithwaite Estate, like their favorite books or beautiful clothes that fit them perfectly. But Atticus grows suspicious of the lodge since all these White people are so welcoming to them, especially after realizing that neither Uncle George nor Leti remembers how monsters attacked them in the woods the night before. The trio digs deeper into the Braithwaite Estate. They learn that Atticus Freeman is related to Titus Braithwaite, the founder of the Order of the Ancient Dawn and his slave Hannah.

One of my favorite parts of Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country is how she uses music to explore race issues in the series. The episode opens up with the theme song “Movin’ on Up” by Ja’Net DuBois from the 1970’s American sitcom The Jeffersons. The sitcom is about a Black couple that moves into a high rise in Manhattan after the husband George Jefferson’s dry-cleaning chain does well. The song “Movin’ On Up” is all about a Black family finally enjoying the American dream. Leti and Uncle George enjoy pieces of the “good life” that White American has kept from them in the first few scenes of the episode. Also, based on the trailer for episode three, Leti Lewis and her sister Ruby Baptiste (Wunmi Mosaku) will be moving into a “White” neighborhood. Our characters are “movin’ on up” like the Jeffersons.

The other fantastic song is the spoken word poem “Whitey’s on the Moon” by Gil Scott-Heron. The episode is named after the spoken word poem. “Whitey’s on the Moon” is about how the government can pay for White men to fly to the moon but leave their Black citizens with no safety net even though they help this nation function. This spoken word poem plays while the Order of the Ancient Dawn harnesses Atticus’ magical blood to open a portal that will bring the garden of Eden back to Earth in the hope, that they will become immortal and right “the natural order.” The Order attempts to lynch Atticus magically. This spoken word poem leads the audience to think about how through the government, White American society metaphorically (sometimes literally) lynches Blacks to gain power.

The Order of the Ancient Dawn has a lot of ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Samuel’s daughter Christina (Abbey Lee) tells Atticus that the Order of the Ancient Dawn is not part of the KKK, but there are many similarities woven throughout this episode. The costumes that the Order members wear are reminiscent of the White hoods. The Order’s hoods are colorful, but the style is identical to Klan’s outfit. The members wear the hoods to cover their faces while trying to “lynch” Atticus toward the end of “Whitey’s on the Moon.”

One of the other significant similarities to the Klan is the linkage to Christianity and sexism. Samuel considers himself like Adam. Adam put every being on Earth “in their place.” Since Adam created Eve from his rib, Samuel sees his daughter Christina and all women below men. They exist to serve their husbands and fathers. Women are not allowed to be part of the Order of the Ancient Dawn. Similarly, the Klan historically don’t have any women members.

Christianity has been used to excuse slavery and the violent actions of Alt-right groups like the KKK. Samuel expresses how he sees Atticus and other Black men as lower beings. The Order doesn’t allow Black members. Atticus is only allowed in the member’s chamber because he is directly related to the founder Titus, but they see his blood as tainted. Blacks only exist to serve White men in their minds.

Christina is a prime example of how our society oppresses white women, but they take part in Blacks’ subjugation. She benefits from the system. Christina may not be a member of the Order, but she still learned magic and lives in luxury. She is well educated, though she is just expected to serve her father. Christina’s father has no respect for her. Christina doesn’t believe in bringing back the garden of Eden, but she still lures her long-lost relative Atticus into a trap so her father can open a portal. She has many opportunities to free their three Black guests from the lodge. Instead, all she does is break the spell that made Uncle George and Leti forget about the monsters. Christina says she wants to be Atticus’ friend, however other than saving them in Simmonsville; she doesn’t do much to assist them.

“Whitey’s on the Moon” solves a few mysteries, but more questions come up. The wizards cast a spell that makes Uncle George hallucinate his first love, Atticus’ mother, Dora. The two dance and reveal that George has two children. So far, we have only seen one child, Diana. This comment, paired with Dora being George’s first love, makes me think that Atticus could be his other child. Then after the group rescues Montrose, the two brothers fight over who is Atticus’ birth father. Was Dora involved with George before she married Montrose? Is that why he was abusive toward Atticus? The episode ends with Uncle George appearing dead after they all crash into an invisible barrier trying to escape the lodge. Next week we will see what happened to Uncle George and perhaps learn more about why Montrose went to the lodge.

[tempest07]

"Lovecraft Country" Season 1 Episode 2 - Whitey's on the Moon - Recap and Review

My recap and review of "Lovecraft Country" Season 1 Episode 2 - Whitey's on the Moon. We got to learn quite a lot about Atticus and his family.

What did you think?

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiaJXqyLf6A

[weirdletter]

Arthur Machen: Collected Fiction (3 Volumes), edited by S.T. Joshi, Hippocampus Press, 2019. Cover artworks by Matthew Jaffe, info: hippocampuspress.com.

This is the first complete edition of the fiction of Anglo-Welsh writer Arthur Machen (1863–1947) ever published. It includes the totality of his short fiction, novelettes, novels, and prose poems. While there is some debate as to what actually constitutes a short story in Machen’s work—especially given his bountiful array of journalism, some of which borders on fiction—the works in this volume are unquestionably narratives that feature one or more elements of fictional composition. A substantial majority of these works are tales of horror and the supernatural—a genre in which Machen has made a lasting and ever-expanding impression. The edition has been prepared by S.T. Joshi, a leading authority on weird fiction and the author of The Weird Tale (1990) and Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction (2012). Joshi has prepared textually corrected editions of the work of H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, and many other weird writers.

Volume 1: 1888–1895 This first volume contains his charming picaresque novel The Chronicle of Clemendy (1888), an exquisite imitation of the medieval narratives of Chaucer and Boccaccio. At this time Machen was a young journalist who had moved from his native Wales to London, and he wrote a number of humorous and slightly risqué sketches for fashionable London magazines. But then he published “The Great God Pan” (1894), one of the pioneering works in the entire range of weird fiction. It was condemned by contemporary reviewers as the work of a diseased mind. Machen followed it up with the episodic novel The Three Impostors (1895), containing the brilliant segments “The Novel of the Black Seal” (which features the Little People, a sub-human race lurking on the edges of civilization), “The Novel of the White Powder,” and other vivid narratives.

Volume 2: 1896–1910 This second volume of Machen’s collected fiction begins with Machen’s most accomplished novel, The Hill of Dreams (written in 1895–97 and published in 1907), which H. P. Lovecraft called a “memorable epic of the sensitive aesthetic mind.” It features Lucian Taylor, a young man from the country who struggles to become a writer in London. His ruminations on life, love, and authorship are extraordinarily poignant, and at one point he engages in a lengthy dream of being back in ancient Rome, in the town of Isca Silurum, near his birthplace in Wales. Later in 1897 Machen wrote a series of exquisite prose poems that were later published as Ornaments in Jade (1924). These ten vignettes display Machen’s luminous prose at its most evocative, and they touch upon the possibility of strange and wondrous phenomena concealed behind the outward façade of the mundane world. Machen’s most accomplished weird tale, “The White People,” is also found here. Its account of a young girl insidiously inculcated in the witch-cult, told entirely from her own perspective as she jots down her thoughts and impressions in a diary, achieves the pinnacle of clutching fear. A very different work is the short novel A Fragment of Life, telling of how a seemingly ordinary couple rediscover their sense of wonder in the world around them. The novel The Secret Glory (written around 1907) is a discursive novel that searingly condemns the British school system for destroying the imaginations of its pupils. The entire work—including the final two chapters, first published only in a limited edition in 1992—is included here.

Volume 3: 1911–1937 The third volume of Machen’s collected fiction begins with a tale, “The Thousand and One Nights,” that has never before been reprinted. It continues with a succession of tales that Machen wrote during and just after World War I, a cataclysm that shook Europe to its foundations. The most famous of these is “The Bowmen” (1914), a narrative of medieval soldiers coming to the rescue of besieged British infantrymen in France was widely believed to be a true account, in spite of Machen’s repeated protestations to the contrary. Machen’s final war tale, the short novel The Terror (1916), is an imperishable depiction of the revolt of animals against humanity’s rulership of the earth. In the 1920s Machen resorted to humor and satire to convey his dissatisfaction with the increasing secularization of his era, which he felt was robbing the imagination of wonder and mystery. He also began contributing to anthologies of original weird fiction edited by Cynthia Asquith and others, producing several memorable tales as a result, including “The Happy Children” and “The Islington Mystery.” Machen’s final novel, The Green Round (1933), is a subtle tale of supernatural menace, narrated in the blandly repertorial prose that Machen had developed in his later work. He then published two final volumes of weird tales, The Cosy Room and The Children of the Pool (both 1936), which contain many memorable tales, including “The Bright Boy” and “N.”

[quarantinethis]

Review Lovecraft Country Episode 2 SPOILER ALERT Breakdown Analysis

00:44 Episode Review#NoSpoilers 04:02 Episode Breakdown #SpoilerAlert 21:15 Review Summary 22:53 Outro

Intro Music ROYALTY FREE intro sound action electric guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wrLY

#LovecraftCountryCast: #JonathanMajors ...  Atticus Freeman #JurneeSmollett ...  Letitia 'Leti' Lewi #CourtneyBVance ...  Uncle George Freeman #MichaelKennethWilliams ...  Montrose Freeman #AunjanueEllis ...  Hippolyta #AbbeyLee ...  Christina Braithwhite #WunmiMosaku ...  Ruby Baptiste #JadaHarris ...  Diana #ChaseBrown ...  Young Atticus #MarcusGriffinJr ...  Teen Atticus #MacBrandt ...  Capt. Seamus Lancaster #AlexCollins ...  Crane #JamieChung ...  Ji-ah #JamieNeumann ...  Dell #JonathonPawlowski ...  Burke 

 #LovecraftCountryreview and in depth analysis of the #lovecraftcountryfirstepisode.Inspired by the #Cuthulhymythology written by #HPLovecraft. The mythology is based around #EdgaAlanPoe #Necronomicon.

 Aired on #HBOMax and #NowTV in the #USA and in the #UK. Directed by #JordanPeele and #JJAbrams.

A great start to what seems to be an inspiring series. It hits the tones and ideas perfectly, telling a full and complete stories.

A great beginning that sets up the series and a good first episode that hits at what is to come. A brilliant #horrorseries and #monsterseries. Plenty of #mystery and #suspense. One of the #topseriesof2020   A TV piece of history and definately #oneworthwatching

Sign up to #QuarantineThis for more #moviereviews #filmreviews #seriesreview and #originaldocumentaries.

Sorry for any mistakes, I watched the episode when it aired and then made this in depth video in the proceeding hours. It was great fun and I cant wait for the next episode

[copperbadge]

Podcast Recommendations

So, I asked for podcast reccs and boy howdy did you guys deliver :D I didn’t really have a response to a lot of the comments but I wanted to both acknowledge them and also share them, so I thought I’d compile them here. I’ve taken out duplicates, and bolded and added commentary to ones I’ve encountered; as I try them out I’ll come back and add more. (At the moment I’m way behind and catching up, so it may be a few weeks.) 

Because I don’t want this to become like A Thing, I’m not going to add any more recommendations or respond to reblogs -- sometimes I just need to make a cutoff point. Thanks for all your thoughtful suggestions, guys! 

biblioaesthetica replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Fiction podcasts: Solutions To Problems is a little Night Vale-ish but snappier and funnier, premise a space alien and a human in the future give out love advice and time machines are tricky. 

The Strange Case Of The Starship Iris is like if Firefly were only overheard by the evil empire, it's queer, and the tension and mystery is great. 

The Bright Sessions is about a therapist's sessions with extraordinarily powered people. There's an underlying spooky tone to this

myjennieblr replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

You might enjoy The Fridge Light, a CBC series about the providence of many of our staple foods and changing trends in them. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thefridgelight

timetravelingvampire replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Up and Vanished. Host investigates missing persons, one person per season. Season 2 just began

jessiqa82 replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

LeVar Burton Reads is probably my favorite podcast. Each episode LeVar reads a short story. The genre differs story to story and it’s really just nice hearing his voice.

ilacatz replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

I really like the Phileas Club: 3 or 4 people from around the world talk about recent local and international news, with occasional specials about certain topics/countries

wordsandshadows replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Apocrypals is a really great show - two guys having in-depth discussions on books of the Bible & the Apocrypha (which I actually found, weirdly, because the writer of Magnus Archives mentioned it on twitter)

skulkingwriter replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

I would give a qualified rec to the Black Tapes 

maybe the first series of Tanis - when the slow burn faux-real urban legend horror stuff works it works, when it doesn't it gets a bit repetitive and shark-jumpy.

andromeda-reinvented replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

My roommate listens to “And That’s Why We Drink” which is like, combo true crime/weird shenanigans. She really likes it and the couple times I’ve listened in, I enjoyed it as well.

dragonmuse replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

If you like My Favorite Murder, you might enjoy S'laughter which is two British women discussing British crime some historical, some more modern.

bigwigs replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Re: true crime, I’d strongly recommend In the Dark - its focus is on the police investigation surrounding a couple of cases and it’s fascinating (though difficult) listening

ohgreatblackbunny replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Pounded in my butt by my own podcast by Chuck tingle is a fun romp for occasional listening. 

If you want to just learn about cults (Cults) is a good one. 

I like a lot of the how it works podcasts-stuff you missed in history class/stuff mom never told you/ridiculous history. 

(Sam’s Note -- I couldn’t get into Stuff You Missed In History Class, I think possibly because I knew a lot of the content, but I don’t think it’s a bad podcast, just not fitted to me.)

For news and current events I like 1A. 

And if you feel like old nior style radio drama The Control Group is a fictional story about institutionalization involving murder, brainwashing, abuse of power. It's an interesting take on a dark part of mental health care.

sphinxyvic replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Have you been recced to listen to Futility Closet?                    

gemini-melia replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

I've listened to a couple of true crime series by Wonderly, Dirty John and Dr. death. They are short enough and engrossing but I feel you on the iffyness of true crime glamorization.

vr-trakowski replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

You might try The Hidden Almanac, described as Prairie Home Companion meets Lovecraft. It doesn't always have a plot but it's often hilarious. And each ep is only a few minutes long.

brilliant-starlight replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

You might like "You're Wrong About" ... looks at both historical and recent past events, on a wide range of types of topics.

mstornadox replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Becoming Mother Nature just launched. Fiction, about a teen girl who finds out her grandmother is Mother Nature.

knownasbelen replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

I love anything produced by Gimlet Media, but their Crimetown podcast might appeal? It’s true crime ish but the first season is about politics and the mob and they have great production values.

Sam’s Note: I really wanted to love Crimetown and I think for a lot of people it’s a great podcast, but I couldn’t keep track of who was talking -- I fell way behind and didn’t understand what was going on because they kept quoting people in rapid succession and I’d end up thinking a cop was a criminal or vice-versa. 

tardis-stowaway replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

Have you tried Criminal? It’s a true crime podcast where the crimes range from the harrowing to the silly (like a guy who streaks at major sporting events). There are also episodes about more loosely related topics, like an interview with trauma surgeons about gunshot wounds or about the forensics of shark attacks. It’s part of radiotopia, the same organization that supports Allusionist and 99% invisible.

spiderine replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

If you like the Allusionist, you'll LOOOVE "Answer Me This". It's done by the same woman (plus co-host Ollie and Martin The Sound Man) and it's both erudite and utterly hilarious.

dreamwaffles replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

I highly recommend Wine and Crime, where three Minnesotan friends discuss themed cases and review a related wine for the week (relation of wine to the crime: varied). They hit some true-crime classics, but most are new to me. Also they’re ridiculously funny.

the-other-sandy replied to your post “Out of curiosity, which podcasts are you into?”

For True Crime, I listen to The Vanished (ongoing) about missing persons cases. 

If you're willing to branch out, I also like Countdown (limited series) about space program accidents.