S.2 E.1 - The Haunting (1963)

What is behind that door? It's maybe the key question at the root of all horror. What is behind that door, what is in that shadow, what was that noise? It's a fact that RKO producer Val Lewton exploited better than anyone and one that Robert Wise, who was mentored by Lewton, used as the backbone of his 1963 psychological ghost story classic The Haunting.

For the season 2 premiere of Tracks of the Damned, the horror film commentary track podcast, Patrick is joined by author Christopher Olson (Possessed Women, Haunted States: Cultural Tensions in Exorcism Cinema) as they both watch The Haunting and wonder: Is there really a ghost here? Is there really a house? How did Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding go about adapting Shirley Jackson's classic horror novel? Is there a scientific rational way to measure hauntings?

We also talk about the lessons we wish modern horror films would take from The Haunting and other atmospheric black-and-white psychological horror films of the 60's. Good stuff!

0:00 - 5:36 - Intro

5:37 - 2:02:15 - Commentary

2:02:16 - 2:24:34 - Questions

2:24:25 - 2:26:13 - Outro