People Wearing Masks (Ep. 256 - Hocus Pocus/Rantasmo)

Hello, and welcome to The Sewers of Paris! Apologies for this episode posting a few days late — I’m on the road all this month, but I finally made it to a spot with wifi, and as we draw to the close of October, I wanted to bring you an episode from the Sewers of Paris vaults that asks the question — why is Halloween so gay? The topic is Hocus Pocus, Eerie Indiana, and Black Mirror.

Back in 2015, I spoke with Jamie Mauer, who you may know as the Needs More Gay culture critic Rantasmo. He grew up loving unsettling stories, like a lot of gay men. For those of us who feel pressure to hide their true selves, horror and fantasy — and particularly Halloween — provide a chance to trade one mask for another, be someone new, and scare everyone else for a change.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a big thanks to everyone who makes the Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of support on Patreon! Head over to SewersOfParis.com and click “support the show on Patreon” to join the folks who make the podcast possible, and to check out the rewards for backers.

And just a reminder that The Sewers of Paris is on Twitter and Facebook — I post clips of the stuff that we talk about on each episode, so you can follow the show on social media to get a look at the stuff that guests recommend.

And if you’re in Minneapolis, I hope you’ll come to Queens of Adventure LIVE at Lush on October 23rd — it’s a fun comedy adventure show featuring drag queens playing Dungeons and Dragons, starring Utica Queen, Kamaree Williams, and The Other Jeannie Retelle. Tickets are on sale at QueensofAdventure.com.