★★★☆☆
Ruined is a recent addition to the roster of Crooked Media, progressive hosts of Pod Save America and other liberal-leaning brands. This horror-movie podcast chooses not to target genre fans, but instead takes a rather more chatty, genial path. Posting new audio episodes every week, hosts Alison Leiby and Halle Kiefer fill more than 90 minutes with conversation that’s both well-informed and not informed at all.

Kiefer is the horror fan, and she knows her stuff; Ruined has covered nearly 150 films to date, ranging from popular blockbusters to fan-favourite obscurities like 1981’s Possession. The unphasable Kiefer relates her experience of watching each film while scaredy-cat Leiby asks pertinent questions from the POV of a non-genre fan.

Horror can sometimes seem arcane to the mainstream viewer, and while this pod is probably best consumed by acolytes, the rambling bonhomie and scatological detail help make it a lot of fun. Ruined doesn’t spoil the films involved but offers an option of humour to the process of consumption. The hosts are clearly having a good time, and listeners curious about horror but with zero stomach for gore might just feel the same.

New episodes available every Tuesday.