ALTOONA, Pa. — Penn State Altoona faculty members Brian Onishi, associate professor of philosophy, and Jeff Stoyanoff, assistant professor of English and of women's, gender and sexuality studies, have released a new episode of their "Horror Joy" podcast. In the latest episode, the hosts examine Zach Cregger’s 2022 film “Barbarian” as a haunted house story without the supernatural element, arguing the “haunting” comes from misogyny, capitalism and systemic failure embedded in an apartement rental in decayed Detroit.
Onishi and Stoyanoff outline the film’s triptych structure — Tess’s uneasy stay with Keith, AJ’s arrival as the absentee landlord facing sexual assault allegations and an 1980s flashback revealing Frank as the house’s original torturer — framing these male characters as escalating forms of masculinity. The discussion connects hidden basement tunnels to epistemic tension and genre concepts like the “Terrible Place,” the monstrous feminine, and the “Final Girl,” noting failures of policing and protection, and interpreting the title "Barbarian" as critique of domestic invasion and violence.
The full episode can be accessed on podcast providers or on Red Circle.