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It’s Christmas, dammnit, and Horror Heals is decking the halls with horror, heart, and holiday cheer.

This episode marks the relaunch of one of our most beloved Christmas conversations, featuring horror icon Jill Schoelen, actress, fan favorite, and now holiday music maker. Jill joins us to talk about returning to creativity after stepping away, why the horror community remains one of the most welcoming spaces around, and how Christmas music can coexist beautifully with a love of all things spooky.

We dive into Jill’s holiday release, Christmas Is Forever, including her joyful original song Mingle and Jingle, which is all about showing up for life, leaning into connection, and letting the season pull you back into the moment.

We also talk about one of the most fun horror holiday collaborations you will hear all year, Here Comes Santa Claus, featuring a lineup of horror royalty including Barbara Crampton, Judie Aronson, Diane Franklin, and more. It’s festive, playful, and proof that horror fans know how to bring the light when it counts.

Along the way, Jill shares thoughtful insight into why horror resonates so deeply with so many people, how fear can be cathartic rather than harmful, and why physical media like vinyl still matters, especially when it comes to art made with intention.

If the holidays are joyful for you, this episode adds to the fun. If the holidays are complicated, this episode reminds you that you are not alone.

Because horror has always been a home for outsiders, survivors, and people who feel deeply. And yes, even at Christmas.

Stream Jill’s music, support independent artists, hug your fellow weirdos, and remember, when someone asks, is horror good for mental wellness, you tell them, of corpse it is.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

Send us a text

Black Christmas may have turned fifty last year, but its power has never faded. This episode is a relaunch of one of Horror Heals’ most important holiday conversations, revisiting why Bob Clark’s bleak, unsettling classic still feels disturbingly real decades later.

Corey and Kendall are joined by Lynne Griffin, who played Claire, one of the most enduring images in horror history. Together, they explore why Black Christmas refuses to age out of relevance, how fear of the unseen hits deeper than gore, and why this film continues to resonate with audiences who feel like outsiders.

The conversation moves beyond nostalgia into fandom, conventions, mental wellness, and the surprising comfort horror can bring during the darkest time of year. Lynn reflects on the strength of the film’s women, the strange intimacy of fan connections, and why horror fans often form some of the most compassionate communities.

This is not just a Christmas horror movie. It is a ritual. One that asks us to sit with discomfort, uncertainty, and survival.

And if you are still wondering, is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

Send us a text

To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Wicked, we bring you something rare and unexpected. Years ago Corey sat down with Gregory Maguire for a candid, hilarious and deeply thoughtful conversation about the moral complexity of Oz, the origins of Elphaba, the impact of politics on fantasy, and the loose ends that make his work feel so human. The original audio has been lost to time. But with the help of AI we rebuilt the conversation from Corey’s transcript. And because it is Horror Heals we could not resist adding a twist. The recreated Corey voice is performed as a British woman named Imogen, which gives the entire interview a surprising charm.

What makes this conversation special is how timely it still feels. Gregory speaks openly about public rage, war, art under pressure, and the ways fantasy helps us process the truths we cannot face directly. He talks about readers who misinterpret his work, fans who adore his characters, and the younger audiences who discovered Wicked through the musical and wanted more. He also shares early and often painful stories from his first book signings, which proves that even bestselling authors start small.

Corey opens the episode by explaining why The Wizard of Oz has always carried a streak of horror. Baum’s original books, the classic MGM film, and the darker modern retellings all share unsettling elements. Flying monkeys. Bewitched forests. Shifting reality. Dreams that turn against you. For many of us, Oz was our first exposure to the uncanny, long before we had the vocabulary for horror. It is no surprise that fans of Wicked often overlap with fans of the horror genre.

This special episode blends nostalgia, literature, Oz lore and the darker emotional themes that make Wicked endure. Whether you came for the witch, the musical, or the monsters under the yellow brick road, this conversation shines a light on why Gregory Maguire’s world continues to resonate.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse, it is.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.