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Episode Description
The Craft at 30: Witchcraft, Teen Horror, and the Satanic Panic with Abby Brenker (Lunatics Project)
We welcome Abby Brenker of The Lunatics Project to dig into The Craft on its 30th anniversary, tracing why this 1996 teen witchcraft horror classic became a sleepover staple despite mixed reviews and an R rating. We explore how the film centers female friendship, anger, and power outside of romance, while portraying boys as secondary villainous caricatures, and we unpack gendered conflicts around beauty, identity, mentorship, and isolation—especially for Bonnie, Sarah, Nancy, and Rochelle. We connect the movie’s rituals, Wiccan and occult-inspired magic system, and iconic lines (“We’re the weirdos, mister”) to broader 1990s witch media, from Sabrina to Buffy, and to real-world fears: self-harm, rape, bullying, and primal horror imagery like mirrors, snakes, and spiders. We also touch on The Believers, Blair Witch, and the Satanic Panic, and Abby shares where to find Lunatics Radio Hour and her feature film Voices Carry on Tubi.
Chapters
00:00 Meet The Guest
00:28 Lunatics Project Origins
03:02 Why The Craft Matters
03:58 Film Setup And Legacy
07:49 Women Center Stage
11:18 Boys And Beauty Standards
15:21 Rituals And Power
18:02 Fear And Dark Themes
23:32 Iconic Lines And Scenes
25:36 Witch Shop Mentor
27:45 Rochelle Lacks Support
29:14 Racism Then and Now
30:40 Hair as Social Power
35:05 Nineties Witch Boom
40:02 Satanic Panic Memories
43:38 Ritual Games and Mirrors
45:45 Iconic Final Confrontation
48:26 Violence and R Rating
51:08 Blair Witch and Viral Hype
53:58 Closing and Projects
Links