October is over, Halloween has been and gone – but the spooky season never really ends. Following neatly from last month’s episode about cinematic ghosts, we’re finally getting around to talking about a ghost story on film that is close to our hearts… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Our November podcast is dedicated to that Mexican master of the macabre, spooky and fantastic: Guillermo del Toro. And, in true Damn Fine Cup of Culture fashion, we’re approaching this director, who has often been labelled “visionary”, by taking a closer look at three of his films. Starting with Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), continuing with what is perhaps the greatest success so far in del Toro’s career, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and then circling back to his Gothic ghost story The Devil’s Backbone (2001), we look at what we love about the films of del Toro, but also what we find frustrating about his brand of storytelling. Which del Toro is the real deal: the one that makes films about big-fisted demons who hunt other demons and fantastic beasts of all shapes and sizes? Or the one that tells stories about historical trauma and the fight against fascism through the lens of genre fiction?

P.S.: Since The Orphanage (2007), another spooky tale about Spain’s dark history which was co-produced by Guillermo del Toro, gets a shout-out on the episode, you may also want to check out our 2025 Halloween episode on horror films whose title begins with the ominous word “The”.

P.P.S.: And, seeing how Matt likes the Hellboy comics a lot more than the Guillermo del Toro adaptations (he hasn’t seen the more recent movie takes on the character), here’s a blog post almost 20 years old about the joys of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comics.

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