Satanic Panic Book Club: Rosemary's Baby and its cursed sequel, Son of Rosemary, with Sarah Archer
Added 2024-07-31 20:58:01 +0000 UTCRosemary's Baby has a sequel--published thirty years later and telling a tale of Rosemary emerging from a coma at the eve of the new millennium--but why doesn't anyone ever talk about it? Tradwife correspondent and Midcentury Kitchen author Sarah Archer is here to help us explore two books where the devil is in the details of domestic life for American women, and where too many twists are just enough. This episode may include Jerry Orbach impressions.
Content warning: In this episode we briefly discuss sexual assault committed by Roman Polanski, and the Manson murders, both between the 6-minute and 8-minute mark. It's smoother sailing from there unless inappropriate mother-son relationships make you especially uncomfortable. (In which case--spoilers for Son of Rosemary--this might not be a great episode for you right now.)
Comments
I gasped out loud when I heard “Oedipussy”
Octopus
2025-01-04 04:41:37 +0000 UTCI feel like The Devil's Advocate borrowed from this ending!
Aisling Walsh
2024-11-24 11:27:09 +0000 UTCOkay, I’ve been holding on to such a specific connection to Rosemary’s Baby for about 10 years now and I’ve shared it with a few people but I really don’t think it lands as perfectly with anyone as it might land right here… My mother’s name is Rosemary and I grew up in a rather religious household and neither of my parents saw the movie when it came out- and still haven’t. I always knew the general story and would joke that my little brother was actually Rosemary’s Baby- because he was the baby and a boy and very easy to make the butt of all jokes. Fast forward to 2014, I’m in grad school in Lincoln, Nebraska and the local movie theater plays old horror movies once a week throughout October. Rosemary’s Baby was on the list and I grabbed a friend and we went- excited because neither of us had seen it and we’d heard from so many people that it was the scariest movie of all time. We sat there watching, waiting and waiting for it to get really scary but not feeling it very much. Until she has the baby and it’s introduced to her as ADRIAN! And we both gasped so comically that we couldn’t stop laughing. MY NAME IS ADRIENNE! Essentially the same thing. I couldn’t believe it. I questioned my mom intensely over it since it came out so long before I was born- she had to have known! She truly wasn’t aware but is pretty down for a good joke. Fast forward another 4 years and I’m pregnant with my first baby, due in mid-November. But then I’m found to have preeclampsia and I am unexpectedly in labor on Halloween day. I was SO excited to have Rosemary’s baby’s baby on Halloween. I pushed and pushed and pushed but ultimately, that stubborn girl didn’t come until 12:21 am, November 1. Would’ve been perfection. But there you go!
Adrienne Cook
2024-11-08 19:16:40 +0000 UTCI'm so late on this episode, but I am so happy to hear it. I have had this book sitting in my closet for 5 years. I have read a lot of Ira Levin's work and I'm always so shocked as to how similar his books are to the movies. Reading The stepford Wives is like reading the screenplay to the film, it almost feels like a book adaptation of a film. Truly faithful film adaptations; there's something he should be proud of within his career! Also, there's a film sequel - Look What Happened to Rosemary's Baby! I am shocked to learn that this book closed like Newhart!! 😂😂 Keep the satanic book clubs coming! I still think you should cover Jay's journal! See you in Portland for the seance! We had so much fun last year.
Katie Larson
2024-10-22 19:43:26 +0000 UTCfairly clearly, the author means to show folks patriarchy is the actual evil... yeah??? it seems kinda obvious... for Rosemary's Baby, at least...
jenny wohl
2024-09-17 22:13:28 +0000 UTCI am extremely scandalized that Sarah hasn't read the Hunger Games books! Read them, read them now, and particularly read the audiobooks with Tatiana Maslany
Kirstine
2024-09-03 11:17:29 +0000 UTCBit late to this, but I loved this ep. My theory on the ending (SPOILERS) is that the devil has indeed taken to Rosemary to hell and her fate is to relive her experiences over and over again…
Frankie
2024-09-01 16:46:12 +0000 UTCCover the 70s "Whatever Happened to Rosemary's Baby" TV movie too and complete the Rosieverse! (please)
purplegrant .
2024-08-16 23:17:01 +0000 UTCThis is why I love you Sarah Marshall! I read this book as a teenager after seeing Polanski’s version of Rosemary’s Baby and reading the first book. You are the only person I’ve heard of that has the balls to do anything on the subject as far as satanic panic and be honest.
Jean Hope
2024-08-15 02:39:17 +0000 UTComg i feel like truly modern rosemary is giving NYC bordering-on-culty or tradwife homeschool mom
alexa 🌼
2024-08-08 22:57:53 +0000 UTCAs an Internet Old™ I wanted to add some personal context to "roast mules". Growing up in the '70s and early '80s I was part of a very Scrabble-oriented family, and though I was a precocious reader, I regularly got my ass beat by my mom at the game. At one point my crossword-obsessed grandmother came to visit and posed this riddle to my mom: "What common ten-letter word can you make from these letters?: ROASTMULES" I'm pretty confident my mom didn't get it, allowing my grandmother to crow about it. A few years later I began getting GAMES Magazine, and lo and behold I encountered this riddle again. I went on to see it in several other contexts before the Eighties were even half over. Anyway, as an adult I formed the opinion that this was perceived as a famous brain-breaker specifically for folks who considered themselves clever, because the solution defeats your SAT-driven root-word expectations with its letter sequence.
Dan S.
2024-08-06 17:18:06 +0000 UTCThanks for reading this so I don’t have to! I also wanted to say the non-Ira Levin sequel ‘Look what’s happened to Rosemary’s Baby’ is on YouTube. I searched for it for ages pre-streaming. It stars Ruth Gordon and Patty Duke as Rosemary.
Jasmin
2024-08-06 15:23:41 +0000 UTCI respectfully nominate Hunter Schafer to play Rosemary in this remake.
Melanie Schlosser
2024-08-06 14:08:08 +0000 UTCYes!!! It’s astonishing!
Maggie Murphy
2024-08-06 12:31:35 +0000 UTCOh! And "The Front Room," Kathryn Hunter (the brothel owner from "Poor Things") as a country-fried Ruth Gordon! And Brandy is there! (I haven't actually seen this, because it's set to be released in September, but I did see the trailer in the theater before "Maxxxine.").
Miriam
2024-08-06 06:02:46 +0000 UTCOne of them says something like, "This is girl talk, no boys allowed!" or "Just us girls!" And then the girl talk is actually: we are worried about you, we care about you, we are going to give you practical help, let's start with finding a new doctor. I'm honestly kind of amazed that it wasn't cut from the script by one of the dozens of men who were involved!
Miriam
2024-08-06 01:06:29 +0000 UTClove the combo of the sarah’s!! and as someone who’s ever seen either movie or read either book this was a gorgeous crash course
em
2024-08-06 01:06:09 +0000 UTCTwo other movies this made me think of: "Lyle," a very cute title for a very not-cute, actually upsetting (and strangely short) modern indie horror spin on the Rosemary's Baby story, with Gaby Hoffman. "Polite Society," a thriller comedy action film that reiterates the unfortunate fact: if you discover your husband has been independently tracking your menstrual cycle, that may be a red flag 🚩
Miriam
2024-08-05 23:52:36 +0000 UTCI loved the Adaptation reference.
Sarah S
2024-08-05 16:57:57 +0000 UTCSigns of satanism: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C84JzYmuxDh/?igsh=MWRrN2hnOGtzeGwyNQ==
Libby Bingham
2024-08-05 12:34:30 +0000 UTClistening to this in my apartment in bushwick on my checkered rug 😐
bailey sperling
2024-08-05 04:19:57 +0000 UTCJust dropping the trivia that a few months after Adaptation came up, a movie bearing an odd resemblance to "The Three" (Donald Kaufman's movie, from Adaptation) was released. Identity, starring John Cusack
Pablo Barría Urenda
2024-08-04 22:32:11 +0000 UTCYay for return to Satanic Panic book club! Can I just say, though, as someone who works in AI safety, that the problem isn't that no one's seen Terminator? The problem is actually the opposite (look up "the Skynet effect"). We have trouble getting people to understand the real harms of AI because it doesn't look like it looks in the movies. (The real harms are a lot more dreary and boring, which doesn't make them less harmful, just less cinematic.) Honestly, the way people keep bringing up Skynet makes me wish I could go back in time and neutralize whoever pitched the franchise in the first place.
Jessica Price
2024-08-04 18:14:49 +0000 UTCI just watched Rosemary’s Baby for the first time and let me tell you I teared right up at the scene in the Woodhouse’s kitchen when Rosemary’s friends lock Guy out and tell her they believe her about her pain and that she deserves to be listened to and to hell with everyone telling her otherwise. In a movie all about the horror of being a woman in a world that hates women, seeing a group of women wholeheartedly love and protect each other filled me to overflowing.
Maggie Murphy
2024-08-04 05:32:31 +0000 UTCIs the real horror that she's still married to Guy at the end?
Juliette
2024-08-03 06:18:13 +0000 UTCDid you jinx it!? Is Tim Burton going to try to remake Rosemary’s Baby!? 😭
Shannon
2024-08-02 14:31:48 +0000 UTCI listened to the first 20 minutes of this on the drive home from work yesterday, and was beyond delighted to be able to check the book out from the library as soon as I got home. About 2/3 through and can’t wait to finish this episode after I finish this most ridiculous, most entertaining book ever !
Kris
2024-08-02 07:32:40 +0000 UTCWorking my way through the goodreads reviews of this book, incredible, no notes.
Ailis Steele
2024-08-02 02:27:07 +0000 UTCI RAN to listen to this episode. Nothing I love more than Sarah (or two Sarahs) discussing book/film horror!
Jessica K
2024-08-02 02:11:55 +0000 UTCAnd! There's even the ending that leaves you wondering whether he's gonna start the cycle all over again. I just remembered that part.
Sean Kufel
2024-08-01 19:13:58 +0000 UTCI was thinking the same thing
SuchaHotMetz
2024-08-01 18:39:32 +0000 UTCIt feels like one of those weird media coincidinces that this book came out the same year as the movie The Devil's Advocate. (SPOILERS AHEAD) The Joe Mafia dialogue and manner of speech sounds oddly similar to Al Pacino's John Milton in that movie, and the movie has a similar time reset to save the protagonist at the end. Weird.
Sean Kufel
2024-08-01 18:15:49 +0000 UTCAlso, I laughed out loud when you said "Baby Fishmouth." That is a term of endearment in our home!
Sara
2024-08-01 17:57:46 +0000 UTCI love listening to people talk about a movie that they've clearly seen a million times. It's great hearing quotes with the same inflection as the actual lines. Rosemary's Baby is one of my favorite films. I hate that it's directed by a creepo literal criminal. Great episode!
Sara
2024-08-01 17:21:10 +0000 UTCI love this! Great song rec.
Sara
2024-08-01 16:36:39 +0000 UTCone of the best episodes!!
Mayara Pereira
2024-08-01 14:57:35 +0000 UTCMy mom was in a coma for about 3 months due to having two strokes caused by a brain aneurysm. She was in rehab for months relearning how to walk and move her body and feed herself. I get that this could have been based on other factors in addition to being in a coma but I'm gonna agree with you that after that long she probably wouldn't be able to walk right away. Remember the beginning of Kill Bill?
Zoey Charlemagne
2024-08-01 11:07:16 +0000 UTCYes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today is a great day
Ailis Steele
2024-07-31 23:58:23 +0000 UTCDo you know what you get when you only focus on the sons? Kennedys.
Kekki Wradams
2024-07-31 23:26:24 +0000 UTCOkay I don’t think I can nest spoilers in this app so SPOILERS SPOILERS but the double twist at the end I think is actually…. Genius. The fact that it doesn’t actually feel “of the time,” the weird incest theme, the general camp of it, all make more sense as a dream. But then he doesn’t let it mean nothing — in fact it means even MORE, because now she’s had a premonition of the coming horror and still is unable to escape it. Hot take, Son of Rosemary is a masterpiece 😅
Mikayla Holland
2024-07-31 23:17:42 +0000 UTCIt is a joy to hear sarah discuss literally anything with anyone. The joy is doubled when it’s rosemary and her troubles because I put this song on.
Toby Summerfield
2024-07-31 21:58:21 +0000 UTCIf I may share the best song about rosemary’s baby with the group: https://youtu.be/RtXeZ8J2Yj8?si=ihb4QX8q0Z_TSeI-
Toby Summerfield
2024-07-31 21:57:50 +0000 UTCJust shrieked in delight and then had to try to explain Son of Rosemary to those around me, thank you for this beautiful gift
Angie
2024-07-31 21:14:50 +0000 UTCWe recently read Rosemary's Baby in one of my book clubs, and I literally JUST read the sequel 2 weeks ago! I will pretend this ep was for meant for me specifically
Ashley Petty
2024-07-31 21:12:55 +0000 UTCPumped for this!!
Zoey Charlemagne
2024-07-31 21:09:55 +0000 UTCI can hear the Trench sisters chewing
Meggy Parsec
2024-07-31 21:08:48 +0000 UTCso exciting!!! Thank you ♥️
Mayara Pereira
2024-07-31 21:04:55 +0000 UTCHaven’t listened yet but so excited to because Son of Rosemary is WILD
Autumn Spayne
2024-07-31 21:04:45 +0000 UTCas i open my phone to desperately search for audio content at work 🙏
William Selig
2024-07-31 21:04:06 +0000 UTCSO exciting omg
Ivy McWilliams
2024-07-31 21:03:56 +0000 UTC
