Were many nights of your childhood spent under a blanket reading the newest Goosebumps novel with a flashlight? Did you religiously carry a small paperback novel around in your backpack for weeks in elementary school? Do you enjoy hilarious storytelling?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will thoroughly enjoy the “Teen Creeps” podcast. Each week, hosts Kelly Nugent and Lindsay Katai discuss young adult pulp fiction novels and share their experience reading them with a new, grown-up perspective.
While they are a little bit older than the intended audience, Nugent and Katai share a funny and imaginative discourse surrounding the books’ meanings and mistakes. Their commentary makes you view the books in new and surprising ways.
While reading the works of pulp authors such as R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, V.C. Andrews and Caroline B. Cooney, the women explore a wide range of topics from extraterrestrials, to the supernatural and murder. As they discuss the horror and mystery inside each book, they often reflect on their childhood experiences and personal lives.
Outside of the podcast, Nugent and Katai spend their time participating in a wide range of artistic endeavors. As podcast hosts, comedians, actors and writers, they are equipped to comprehensively explain the plot of each novel, and dive much deeper to analyze the content in humorous ways.
In some episodes, Nugent and Katai invite guests to discuss the novels with them. This adds a compelling third perspective on the dramatic happenings and allows theory development around the many plot holes in each novel.
In a recent episode, the Nugent and Katai discussed R.L. Stine’s “The Prom Queen,” which tells the story of five prom queen candidates whose dreams are jeopardized when someone begins to kill them off one by one. The hosts put all of their comedic energy into simultaneously mocking and admiring the convoluted narrative.
On occasion they will read and discuss a novel chosen by listeners, such as Stephen King’s “Carrie.” In addition to classic pulp novels, they also read books that made their skin crawl as children, like “Go ask Alice” and “Jay’s Journal” by Beatrice Sparks, or V.C Andrews’ “My sweet Audrina.”
What happens when you’ve listened to every episode? How will you fill your days while waiting for new episodes to be released? Don’t worry, they have a solution for you.
The popularity of the podcast led the hosts to try something new with a slightly different angle. While episodes of “Teen Creeps” still come out every Wednesday, they release installments of their new show “Public Domain Theater” every Thursday. They describe their new show as “Masterpiece Theater meets Mystery Science Theater 3000, a podcast of highbrow readings and lowbrow commentary.”
Next time you need a good laugh, listen to “Teen Creeps” on your favorite podcast platform. Nugent and Katai are ready to walk you through the pulp fiction classics with their smart, funny and frequently thrilling commentary.