Welcome to “HORROR!”, a podcast by the researchers of the charity University of the Underground’s Horror Programme. This tuition free programme was led by speculative designer Agi Haines from November 2021 to March 2022, as a critical exploration into illicit societal fears and a dive into horror as a complex tool and genre. In every episode of this series we will explore research topics from our projects, with the help of experts, practitioners, artists, and much more. Our host throughout this podcast series will be Necro, our cheeky demonic guide on a nightly journey full of ghosts, shadows, and inexplicable monsters…but no need to worry, as all our guests, human and non-human, have promised to stay in the studio. Be prepared, though: these encounters might easily transport into your homes some uncanny perspectives on our present. Find the full HORROR! playlist here on soundcloud.

In this episode, Agi Haines gives us some suggestions about teen horror, red pill community, and myth of chastity belt, our researcher Emilie Alstrup sits down with Maia Kahlke Lorentzen, whose research tangles subcultures, social media phenomena, hate-forums and digital harassment, to talk about the cultural and psychological context of online abuse. Our host Necro is joined for an exclusive interview by a young Troll. Beware, if you follow us into the dangers of the internet realm, digital glitches and voices could soon take over your speakers.

Featuring:

Agi Haines, speculative designer. Her work is focused on the design of the human body as a malleable object through which she explores how far we can push our living flesh while still being accepted by society.

Emilie Alstrup, artist based in Copenhagen, her work revolves around the notion of the’ Hybrid’. The human as an organic hybrid constructed of a soft, sexual, animalistic, queer system penetrated by technology. 

Maia Kahlke Lorentzen is a trainer, facilitator and consultant in the areas of internet literacy, cybersecurity, online activism, and digital self-defense.

Emilie Alstrup as a young female identifying Troll, who loves to create confusion in chat rooms, to shock the sad humans and to provide trendy beauty tips.

James Nola as Necromantique or Necro, our demonic host who pays homage to 80s cult horror, that will get your bones giggling.

Thank you for listening. We hope that this series will contribute to inspire, to communicate powerful messages, to expose enduring dynamics of the contemporary world and to challenge our understanding of its structures and taboos. If we didn’t scare you enough, and you want to know more about our projects, join us for more episodes or visit https://universityoftheunderground.org!

Coordination, proof-listening: Veronika Hanáková, Ludovica Battista

Scripting: Veronika Hanáková, Emilie Alstrup

Production, editing, music selection: Ludovica Battista

Hosting: James Nola, Emilie Alstrup

TRACKLIST:

CNN Predicts a Monster Storm – Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet

Fz Pseudotimestretch+E+3 [138.85] – Aphex Twin

Emotional Eater (Zaliva-D Remix) – Tzusing

Intro – Gorillaz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epBgHEFbrlg & feature=related – Lorenzo Senni

The Internet is Handmade – Eartheater