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 cosmic horror and different temporalities. Our researcher Laila Saber Rodriguez sits down with Jo Voorst, who is a Dutch official tour guide for the Maastricht caves, and Mick Bönnen, the paleontologist, to talk about caves and new spaces and temporalities that could be found under the surface. The last segment of the episode is reportage on looking for Cavus Reptilia. Dark, distant creatures and verses populate our soundtrack for these encounters.

Featuring:

Laila Saber Rodriguez, Egyptian and Mexican artist who uses experimental video and film in the form of installation. In her film installations, she creates fictional worlds blended with real events to dissolve the legitimacy of linear time and truth, offering alternative visions of reality. Laila investigates themes related to genesis, mythology, and historical storytelling.

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.

Jo Voorst, Dutch official tour guide for the Maastricht caves, which is a national monument of the Netherlands. He’s been a tour guide and official storyteller for 12 years now, guiding audiences through experiences in cities, caves, forts and casemates.

Mick Bönnen, Dutch paleontologist born near Den Haag, in The Netherlands. Mick is currently in the last year of his masters in Biological sciences, where he’s enrolled in the Ecology and Evolution track at the University of Amsterdam, writing his thesis on current forest fires in the Amazon, and how that information can be used to identify forest fires in the past.

Laila Saber Rodriguez also narrates the history of Cavus Reptilia, a monster living in caves; no one has yet been able to find the origin of this unearthly creature. 

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, Ludovica Battista, Laila Saber Rodriguez

Production, editing, music selection: Ludovica Battista, Laila Saber Rodriguez

Hosting: James Nola, Laila Saber Rodriguez

TRACKLIST:

CNN Predicts a Monster Storm – Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet

Approaching Darkness Fish – Nurse With Wound

Antiform – Lucrecia Dalt

Introducing – Jan Jelinek

Intro – Gorillaz

Oh My God (Sleepnet Remix) – Sevdaliza