SHRINK CHAT: We Go On, The Frighteners, Hellraiser III & Body Swapping

What happens to your sense of self when you wake up in your best friend’s body? Scientists tried it, then pulled a knife.

It’s Shrink Chat, our weekly horror roundup. Therapists Shannon and Cathy dig into a 2020 virtual-reality study where pairs of friends “swapped bodies.” Their personalities shifted, and their memories slipped. That leads into a frank conversation about trauma, the mind-body disconnect, and why trauma therapy has to include the body.

Then we review We Go On, a quiet Shudder film about a man so afraid of dying he offers $30,000 for proof of an afterlife. Cathy’s Horror Facts lead to a 90s Peter Jackson favourite. And we argue about whether Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a disaster or a delight.

Plus: our private discord book club finishes Kill River and picks Salem’s Lot, a stack of thriller recommendations, Shudder’s ghoul log, monster cereal hot takes, and a giallo series we may or may not be brave enough to do.

Covered in this episode:

• We Go On (2016)
• The Frighteners (1996): Peter Jackson, Michael J. Fox & Jeffrey Combs
• Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
• The Witch in the Window (2018) and The Isle (2019)
• Night of the Demons (1988) and Fright Night (1985)
• Kill River by Cameron Roubique
• Book picks: Jefferson Bass’s Body Farm series, Lawrence Sanders’ Deadly Sin novels, The Magpies by Mark Edwards
• Joe Bob Briggs, A Creepshow Animated Special, Dario Argento and giallo

Clinical concepts: sense of self and embodiment, depersonalization, trauma and somatic therapy, episodic memory, death anxiety, unresolved grief, enmeshment.

A correction: Jefferson Bass is two authors. Dr. Bill Bass is the forensic anthropologist who founded the real Body Farm, and Jon Jefferson is a journalist.

Related episodes:

• PSYCHOLOGY: Se7en, John Doe, Seven Deadly Sins & the Mandela Effect
• SHRINK CHAT: We Summon the Darkness, Freddy vs. Jason & Phantasm
• SHRINK CHAT: Host, In Search of Darkness, Tom Savini & Lucio Fulci

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Two licensed therapists, one forensic psychologist, one clinical LMFT, take apart the minds behind the crimes.

Until then... sleep safe. 😴
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