Fear Feasts

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!