Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr is a weekly Canadian podcast about young adult literature, their film and television adaptations, and everything in between. Now in its sixth season, the podcast—hosted by film critic Joe Lipsett and English professor Brenna Clarke-Gray—aims to highlight the cultural worth of young adult and middle-grade texts, with a focus on Canadian, Indigenous and minority creatives and stories.

Join us weekly for deep dives, as well as a round of YA BINGO.

Book 6, Chapter 8: There’s Someone Inside Your House

Brenna and Joe wrap up another Spooky Season with Stephanie Perkins’ 2017 slasher novel There’s Someone Inside Your House and Patrick Brice’s 2021 Netflix adaptation.

The book is fast-paced, although it loses its message and winds up being a little forgettable, while the film starts off strong, then nosedives.

Plus: gory murder descriptions, a case *against* colour-blind casting in the film, and which set pieces we like the best/least.

Read on for more about this week’s episode from co-host Joe Lipsett:

Rest in peace Spooky Season 2023! Brenna and I had five weeks of horrific episodes on The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Love and Monsters, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Goosebumps (the 2015 film, not the recent Disney+ Goosebumps).

I saved a slasher entry for last because I figured Brenna might need to work up to it. Hilariously she had no problem with it…well, at least not the gore.

While the book is eminently readable (it’s the YA horror equivalent of a beach read), Brenna got really frustrated with the film. Brice’s adaptation teases a killer motivation that grossly equates addiction with physical abuse and racism, then abandons that for another rationale altogether. It’s a messy, badly written film that’s all the more aggravating for having such a solid start.

Ah well. Maybe next year! –JL

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