HORROR IS PSYCHOLOGY: Behind Our Manson, Bundy & Amanda Knox Episodes

Why is horror the deepest genre out there?

Content note: discussion of serial murder, missing and murdered children, child sexual abuse allegations, a contested murder case, and illness.

For our 200th episode, we look back at how two friends who threw Halloween parties ended up recording a horror and true crime psychology podcast at a kitchen table. We talk about why horror taps our conscious and unconscious fears, the episodes that changed the show (the Manson series and the Tate-LaBianca murders, Leaving Neverland, Amanda Knox, Joker), the ones listeners surprised us by loving, and why we retired What the Hell. Plus the Sunday paper saga that explains Shrink Chat better than we ever could.

Therapists Shannon and Cathy talk about why horror deserves to be taken seriously, why telling a crime in full is a way of respecting victims, the backlash that comes with putting your voice into the world, therapists as humans, and what makes a creative partnership last.

Covered in this episode:

• Why horror is psychology, and the deepest genre out there
• How Terror Talk started: Halloween parties and a kitchen table
• Ted Bundy, Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer: our first true crime series
• The Tate-LaBianca episode and why we tell the crimes in full
• Leaving Neverland and how trauma disclosure unfolds
• The child crimes episodes listeners wouldn’t stop downloading
• Amanda Knox, developmental stage and getting backlash
• Joker and the start of our psychology-of-a-film episodes
• Why Shrink Chat exists, and why What the Hell had to go
• The Female Psychopath series and what’s next

Clinical themes: why we seek out fear, the stigma around horror fans, trauma disclosure, respecting victims in true crime, compassion fatigue, therapists as humans, collaboration and ego.

Corrections and updates: The child crimes episode covered Madeleine McCann and JonBenét Ramsey. The Chicago World’s Fair killer is H. H. Holmes. Jordan Peele is producing, not directing, the People Under the Stairs remake announced in 2020.

Related episodes:

• Analyzing Amanda Knox: Psychology, Culture, and the Netflix Documentary
• Joker - The Making of a Psychopath
• Child Crimes - Gregory Villemin & Gabriel Fernandez

If you enjoyed this episode, follow Terror Talk and leave us a 5-star rating. It’s the single biggest thing that helps new listeners find us.

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

Until then... sleep safe. 😴
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