Stories Across Borders

Daniel and Jon discuss the various Batman canons. However, they’re not interested in talking about the caped crusader himself. Rather, they dive into Batman’s extensive rogue’s gallery of villains and break down how the villains actually make the franchise what it is.

Daniel and Jon discuss an indie animation that took the world by storm, Hazbin Hotel. They talk about how the show juggles a large number of characters engaged in different forms of villainy and how it presents an interesting and compelling take on the redemption on villains

Daniel and Marv talk about all the different types of villains you may find in media, how they are classified and what makes for a good villain. While they’re at it, they also try to identify if villains have gotten too soft and argue about Cruella.

Jon reads Daniel’s short horror story, Chained and Damned. They discuss how the story uses uncertainty and mystery to raise the tension and make the reader question what is happening.Content Warning: Chained and Damned is a horror story. Some people may find it uncomfortable to listen to.

Daniel is joined by returning guests, Keith and Andy from Sonoran Desert Media. They discuss the 1990 psychological horror film, Jacob’s Ladder and how it incorporates a great deal of symbolism into is disquieting and disorienting narrative.

Daniel is joined by Sarah R. New to discuss her novella, Hypochondria. They talk about the different places horror can come from and how the most disturbing horror fiction is often grounded in reality.Content Warning: Hypochondria deals with abuse, body horror, medical trauma and self-harm.

In a first for Stories Across Borders, Daniel and Jon return to an old cycle theme - horror. They discuss all the different types of horror stories there are, what horror actually means and what makes for a good horror story.

Daniel and Jon break down Daniel’s short story, The Eyes of Eros, which is not about an individual romance but about the concept of love itself. They discuss the many different ways romance can be portrayed in fiction.

Daniel and Jon grit their teeth and take the plunge into Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight. They discuss the romanticisation of toxic behaviour in these stories (and others) and how, despite this, the stories successfully achieve what they set out to do.

In this episode, Daniel and Jon discuss how Mai Hirschfeld’s The Four of Them explores early relationships and budding romances in a grounded and healthy way - all without sacrificing character depth or development in the process.