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Talking Shttt with Ron Gann
118 Plays1 month ago
Talking Shttt sat down with author Ron Gann for an honest, no-filter conversation about writing, creativity, and the stories that shaped his journey.
No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk and great insight you won’t want to miss.
🎙️ No filters. No scripts. Just Talking Shttt.
#TalkingShttt #PodcastLife #AuthorInterview #Ron Gann #WritersOfInstagram #CreativeMinds #IndieAuthor #Storyteller #RealConversations #PodcastGuest
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Transcript
Introduction and Network Promotion
00:00:03
Speaker
This podcast is part of the Deluxe Edition Network. To find other great shows on the network, head over to deluxeeditionnetwork.com. That's deluxeeditionnetwork.com.
00:00:46
Speaker
welcome to the show everyone my name is Brian and with me always is mark and we are talking shit today we are talking shit with famed Arthur of sackhead maybe you guys know the movie as right in the 13th part two are two are two guys we are brought to you in part by the deluxe edition Network follow the deluxe edition network as well as talking shit right here on youtube to mark who are the podcasts of the month barrel age flicks and history i'd like to fantastic guys head on over to the deluxe edition network.com check out those two exciting podcasts of the month as well as your favorite that's us talking shit
00:01:39
Speaker
We'd love to see you over
Guest Introduction: Ron Dan aka R.G. Henning
00:01:40
Speaker
there. Let's welcome our guest, Ron Dan, a.k.a. R.G. Henning, creator of Sackhead.
00:01:50
Speaker
How you doing, Ron? There you go. Well, hey, man, thanks for having me on the show. It's ah it's my pleasure, and it is my honor. The honor is always all ours.
00:02:02
Speaker
Yes, yes. Okay. Well, i can i can i can talk I can talk all night about my my books. so well i be I bet you could. I mean, I could sit there and talk about it a lot. um Well, let's first let's ah let you tell our listeners um something about yourself.
00:02:22
Speaker
all Okay. Yeah. All
Ron's Background and Influences
00:02:25
Speaker
right. Well, um Well, I'm a Gen X guy, so I'm 52 years old, which means that these movies, the Friday the 13th movies, fall right within my wheelhouse, if you will. I pretty much ah cut my teeth on these movies as a – well, I was 10 when Part 1 came out, 11 when Part 2 came out.
00:02:45
Speaker
and so forth and so on. So I came of age with these movies. And so I've been a horror buff for most of my ah my life. And that has continued into my adult my adult years. um I'm a writer. I fancy myself a creative guy. And writing is one particular outlet that I enjoy. i did not set out to actually write a book about Friday the 13th Part 2. It actually kind of came about naturally as a a few years ago, I started a Facebook group called Pakenack Lodge.
00:03:18
Speaker
That's based on the camp in Friday the 13th, part two. And that that group was exclusive to part two. And so the book was kind of born out of that. so But that I'm going beyond the question. I like to write. I'm married. i got three step sons. I've been married for almost 17, 18 years now. And so I'm having i'm having a ball.
00:03:40
Speaker
That's good. Good deal. I hope so. 17 years, man. If you're in there for that long, you got it. You've hit the whole time. ain't kidding. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, I most certainly have. yeah Although although she she doesn't like horror at all.
00:03:55
Speaker
you You know, like and one of my questions, Ron, was ah my question was going to be, are you just into the horror genre when you
Dual Career: Horror Writer and Pastor
00:04:05
Speaker
write?
00:04:05
Speaker
Or do you have you written anything else? Yeah. I have actually, and just to blow your readers' mind or your listeners' minds out of the water, I'm actually a pastor by trade, and so I've written some theological academic books, but they they haven't sold nearly as well as this particular book has, so as you can probably imagine.
00:04:28
Speaker
It's quite interesting. When I was looking you up, it came up, Reverend And I was like, no, this can't be the same guy. You got the wrong guy. Right. Yeah. So I kept, I kept looking. So I had to go under your, yeah you know, ah RG and I'm like, oh my God. Cause I yeah i was like, wow.
00:04:45
Speaker
It was just funny. Oh yeah. Well, you know, believe it or not, man, I actually I know a couple of pastors who are really into the horror genre. Of course, we're the same age. And so there's something to be said about nostalgia, which is the tie that binds.
Friday the 13th Film Analysis
00:04:58
Speaker
So, yeah, it's not it's not entirely unheard of to have religious guys like myself out there, you know, ah fans of the genre. So it's really yeah me ah me and Brian are about the same age. We're, you know, no cat. We're 45. You know, we've been married to ah other people, not each other. For over 20, what, you're going on 26 now in October, right? so
00:05:25
Speaker
I'm going on 2023 at the end of this month. yeah That's awesome. Yeah. I can't believe she still puts up with you.
00:05:35
Speaker
yeah that's what i wait a minute I can't believe mine puts up with me. So, yeah, totally. So, um let's get into the the book because, you know, I've seen it about two months ago i actually did order it okay thank you i get this i'm actually uh i'm halfway through the book i got sidetracked because another book came out i wanted to read and well you know shit happened yeah he finished that book what the hell mark i figured do that's something else but anyways i can't answer that one um
00:06:13
Speaker
So what what about part two, Friday the 13th, part two, that set you on this path of just this one book? Yeah.
00:06:25
Speaker
So um this is where I typically get in in trouble with the listening audience because i'm an old I'm an old fart. So what I mean by that is I'm one of those Friday 13th fans.
00:06:37
Speaker
Oh, then I got to walk softly here, but um I only recognize the first four films. Slasher Jason, as I call him. I don't get into zombie Jason, demon Jason, space Jason, fake Jason or any of that stuff. So I'm really one of those old school guys.
00:06:54
Speaker
And I'm always reluctant to say that because that can come off as pretentious and arrogant. And that's not what I'm trying to be. I'm just I guess I'm just old. But anyways, so there's that there's that. those first four films that I really thoroughly enjoyed because I came of age. Part two stands out for me because I'm pretty sure it's the first one that I saw.
00:07:15
Speaker
all of the quadrology, if you will, the first four. It was the first one that I saw. I remember where I was at. I remember exactly all the events that went down. There's an incredible sense of nostalgia I get when I think of part two. But beyond that, I genuinely think that it's an incredible entry in the franchise and in the genre in particular, in the genre in general and in the franchise in particular. I love the way that Jason is in his embryonic stage as a killer. That...
00:07:46
Speaker
he's a huge He's humanistic, he's realistic, he's authentic, he's not some sort of overgrown Hulk behemoth with supernatural powers. I absolutely love and adore the final girl, the character development of her, as well as all of the characters. In fact, there's not one character in the movie, not one, that you want to see die because they're all likable in most ways.
00:08:09
Speaker
You can't say that about other entries in the franchise, for sure. At least this is just my personal opinion. So...
Classification of the Films
00:08:16
Speaker
Part two just naturally rose to the top. I'm not saying it's the best one of the four. The way that I classify them is I say that I call part one the classic. I call part two the favorite.
00:08:28
Speaker
I call part three the iconic. and I call part four the best one. But part two is my favorite because of the portrayal of Jason, the way that he's presented and the final girl and the character development and all of that stuff. And by the way, I think it's really well acted.
00:08:46
Speaker
as well So that's the a rather long winded answer to probably an easy question. now That's just my opinion. Good hearted, well meaning fans agree to disagree agreeably on this particular issue. But for me, I'm a part two guy. I also like the sack, to be honest with you. And I know I'm in the minority when I say that, but. Not that I'm opposed to the hockey mask because I love Richard Brooker's Jason in part three, especially. I'm a fan of Ted White's as well. But I do like the sack look. I think it's so authentic to the storyline. And yeah, so part two just naturally rose because of nostalgia. It rose to the top for me because of nostalgia, but also because I think it's a and a credible entry in the franchise based on the characters and their performances.
00:09:30
Speaker
and you talk about And you talk about how you don't want to see certain people die. and Before we even came on, Mark and I were talking. And there was a character, Mark, that you said. oh come on. Yes, his name, Mark.
00:09:46
Speaker
You know, I think, you know, in that movie, they should have at least let him get laid before they killed him. Come on. He was already in a wheelchair. He was already, you know, you knew he he wasn't going get away from the killer. Now,
00:10:01
Speaker
ah when that was one of the iconic kills too, because you know, when, the you know, the machete goes through his head and his, his wheelchair goes backwards and all the, you know, I felt bad. You know, I always feel bad at that scene. I know what's coming, but I always feel bad at that one because he was just about to get laid.
00:10:19
Speaker
Well, let me, let me tell you a few things about Mark and Tom McBride who played the character. i think this is somewhere around chapter nine or 10 in the book. I can't recall, but, um,
00:10:32
Speaker
That was Tom McBride's first movie. It was an epic kill when it happened because what you have is a paraplegic or at least a paralyzed individual being killed In the movie, you didn't see that a lot. I actually misspoke in the book in his chapter. And I make the comment. I made an absolute statement, which turns out isn't as absolute as I thought. But I made the absolute statement that he was the first handicapped person to be murdered.
00:11:03
Speaker
in a slasher movie, which turns out he's not the first handicapped person, much less the first person in a wheelchair. But he is certainly, I think the i think the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a guy in a wheelchair that was killed, I'm not mistaken. So so i am built I embellished incorrectly in that, but that being said, his death was probably, in my personal opinion, in fact, I'll say in my studied opinion, was the most notorious of all the handicapped people.
00:11:32
Speaker
ah people to ever be killed because he had such a big part. So he was a likable character and it was pretty gratuitous at the time. The other thing that I'll say um about Tom McBride was just to follow up, that was his first movie. He didn't do much acting after that little tidbits here and there. And of course, he died in 1995 at the age of 42.
00:11:53
Speaker
forty two I want to say from HIV, from AIDS. He was an openly gay man. But it was it proved to be it proved to be one of the hardest chapters I had to write in the book. There were four that were really hard, and his was arguably the hardest because of his short life. He's not on record at all about Friday the 13th, part two. um He died long before the the convention craze was born, so he didn't do any interviews for the movie. And so there's nothing on record. So I had to rely heavily on his colleagues in the film, Lauren Marie Taylor, Bill Randolph, who i both of whom I struck up a rapport with, and I was able to interview them about him. So sorry, that's a kind of ah a diversion, but I just wanted to circle back to No, no, no, no. more I like that. Yeah. yeah
00:12:44
Speaker
Yeah, the character Mark. I did kind of speak a little bit in his chapter. I made an absolute statement when it's not as absolute as it it should have been. There have been other handicapped people and or I should say ah wheelchair bound people killed in slasher films. But his was certainly the most notorious and was the most controversial when it happened. So and then secondly, about the actor itself, that was his first the actor himself. That was his first movie. And he proved to be a real challenge to write about because of his early death.
00:13:15
Speaker
I was going to ask ah one of my questions was actually, did you work like real tightly with the cast of the franchise of the of this particular film?
00:13:29
Speaker
Thanks for the question.
Insights from Part 2 Cast
00:13:30
Speaker
It's a great question. I volunteer with CNV Promotions. I don't know if the name Stacy Lee sounds familiar to you or not, but she's a familiar face in on and ah social media platforms, especially in the world of Friday the 13th.
00:13:43
Speaker
She is a convention agent for the surviving for all of the surviving cast of Friday the 13th Part II, except for Warrington Gillette. So having volunteered with her, ah for her. I've had the privilege of working at four or five different conventions with the Part II cast. And in doing so, yes, I was able to establish a personal rapport with many of the actors. Bill Randolph, in particular, he wrote the foreword to the book.
00:14:09
Speaker
And so I worked closely with him. He vetted the book as well. He helped me out quite a bit and made some... He made some... ah some invaluable, excuse me, some invaluable corrections, some of which, um ah here's a perfect example of the benefit of knowing a cast member when you're writing a book.
00:14:30
Speaker
um If you check IMDB, if you check all the online resources as to when Friday the 13th Part 2 started filming and when it ended, it all says the same thing. I think it says it started October 3rd and it finished sometime in mid to late November. That's pretty much what going find anywhere and everywhere online.
00:14:48
Speaker
That did not land well for Bill when he read that. And I said, hey, Bill, look, that's what all the records are saying. And he's like, man that just doesn't seem right to me. And this freaking guy, God bless him, he goes into his drawer and he pulls out his pay receipt from his pay stub from 1981.
00:15:08
Speaker
When he actually started shooting and lo and behold, he was a. able to deduce that the start date of Friday the 13th Part II was September 3rd. So a whole month prior to all the other, that's just inane trivia, but I found that to be very helpful. And that's an example of knowing, when knowing the cast or working with the cast proved very beneficial in some of the factors and trivia. He was very helpful. He read the book. he gave me some feedback. He was very complimentary. He took he had a very sober attitude when it kind of came to writing the foreword. He wanted to give it his best. Laura Marie Taylor was another one who was absolutely invaluable to me, especially after the book came out. She actually interviewed me on her podcast, so she was really big in promoting it. Amy Still, my favorite final girl of all all time.
00:15:59
Speaker
has graciously made the books available for sale at her desk when she does or at her table when she does conventions. And that's via CNV promotions. And so and she has and she has been a staunch supporter as well. And the list could go on. And I don't want to grovel any more than that. But, yeah, I worked with the cast. You know, these guys.
00:16:21
Speaker
These guys are on record and have been on record for so many years about this movie that honestly, I didn't need to interview any of them. All of their interviews exist, the only except for Walt Corny and Tom McBride. But all of they've said everything that they've needed to say already. I really just tried to compile all the information.
00:16:44
Speaker
i had the I had the fortune, the good fortune of being able to work with them and actually add some personal insight into these interviews as well. and And by the way, Russell Todd was another one who was very helpful with me. Those were the big three, the big four, Amy, Lauren Marie Taylor, Bill Randolph and Russell Todd. And, you know, working with them like gave gave it some extra juice and gave me some extra insight into their personalities, which I describe at the beginning of each chapter of their respective chapters. But in terms of interview, I could not ask them a single question that they haven't already been asked a thousand times. And trust me, I freaking tried, man. I tried deep cuts. and
00:17:23
Speaker
So basically, yeah, I'm babbling now. But yeah, working with the cast was very helpful. And it gave it some street cred, to be honest with you. Yeah, we get to a point sometimes where we, Mark and I will sit here and and try to go over some stuff. And I'm like, dude, I don't know what questions to ask because I'm afraid that I'm going to ask a question that's been asked 152,000 times.
00:17:49
Speaker
And I don't want that. I want, I want the most original question. So I tell Mark, listen, at some point there might come an off the wall question. It's coming from right field. Like, Hey, did you play baseball in high school?
00:18:02
Speaker
that Let me tell you something. brian Brian, that's the way to
Interviewing Approach
00:18:06
Speaker
go. let me Not that I'm a professional interviewer by any stretch of the imagination, but here's what I found out, and your stream of thought is right on. If you're talking to Tom Savini, you know who Tom Savini is?
00:18:18
Speaker
I do not. Tom Savini is the guy who did the movie. all right Tom Savini is one of the most famous special makeup people, makeup effects artists out there. He has a college, a school. He did part one. He did part four in the Friday the 13th franchise and a bunch of other horror movies, including Day of the Dead. i always forget the zombie movies. But if you ask him, a quick hey, what was your favorite zombie? What's your favorite makeup? His eyes just roll over white.
00:18:43
Speaker
He's bored out of his gourd. He's been asked the question a million times. But if you ask him, hey, what do you think of black and white movies? All of a sudden, his eyes light up. And it's just you're getting their personal opinion on something other than the genre. And they light up and they start talking 100 miles an hour. I learned with the cast from part two that if you really wanted to have an authentic interview, ask them how their day is going.
00:19:08
Speaker
Ask them what their high for the day was, what their low for the day was. Or in the case of Russell Todd, he's a perfect example, not to drop names here, but he and I, I'm middle-aged now and he's a few years older than me. And so I asked him some middle-aged questions that I was starting to experience for the first time around this, that, or the other thing. He's been there and his eyes lit up and we had this, that's how we really got to bond and get to talk was on personal level. Once you get past that, then although the stupid questions that come, they're more than willing to entertain because they have a relationship with you. So I like your train of thought, Brian. That's the way to go, man.
00:19:47
Speaker
Thank you. i appreciate that. No, I, the thing with our show, we try to not make it a whole thing about Q and a, we're going to ask the questions. We want to ask the questions and stuff like that.
00:19:58
Speaker
At the end of the day, we put the show on for our guests. This is your hour. We're giving it to you. We're just, we want you to get your, what what you want to talk about out there. So you don't want to talk about the book. You say, you know what?
00:20:11
Speaker
Don't talk about the book for the day. I'd like to talk about some football or I want to, you know what I mean? It's just, We're in that situation. I'll talk your ear off about football as well, least football. But I'm more than happy to talk about my book. I really enjoy writing my book. We appreciate you coming on to talk about the book for sure.
00:20:35
Speaker
but Just let you know, Brian, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, Ron. um The mask that ah Bray Wyatt wears for The Fiend, That's made by Tom Sabini.
00:20:47
Speaker
Oh, really? Yeah. Learned something new today. Yeah, you know Tom Savini, he's the guy that created the original makeup for Jason in part one as an 11-year-old boy. He left the series. He didn't want to do part two because he thought it would be ridiculous that there was no story there. So he just poo-pooed it, and he went off, and he did a movie called The Burning, which, although the special effects were great, the movie itself I consider to be quite inferior. But that being said...
00:21:16
Speaker
He came back in 1984 to be the special effects artist on Friday, the 13th final chapter, because he was told it was the final chapter. And since he's the one who quote unquote gave birth to Jason in terms of his creation on the screen, he wanted to take him out. And so that was his last hurrah. course, as you know, and I know that wasn't the last installment of the franchise, but yeah, he's,
00:21:43
Speaker
the way like they wanted The way that they wanted to go about with the franchise after four anyways, they wanted to try to make it, you know, Friday the 13th is going to be about a new killer just pretending to be, you know, Jason. ye yeahp It could have worked if the fans weren't just so keen on Jason.
00:21:59
Speaker
Yeah. ah You know, this is interesting because Steve Miner directed part two. he He also directed ah part three.
00:22:09
Speaker
And the continuity issues between part two and part three are so profound, so glaring that it actually drives me freaking nuts as well as it does most hardcore Friday the 13th fans.
00:22:22
Speaker
And basically, you lose continuity from part three to part four to part five and all the way down. Jason looks different in every single movie. He's got a different outfit in every... single different moon his mask Different size. different mannerisms different masks it's just if there's one thing that drives me nuts about this theories and that is it's continuity issues not just around the appearance but also the aesthetics the storyline and that made my life very difficult because in the book
00:22:54
Speaker
At the close of each chapter, I have a section called Ask and Answered, where I try to scholastically, scholarly answer some of the the the plot holes and or continuity issues. I think I do a pretty fair job. I give it a lot more attention than it deserves. At the end of the day, it was a low-budget horror movie, and I'm acting like it's the Holy Bible. But I do include an ask and answered section at the close of every chapter that deals with every conceivable and perceivable question that has been raised about part two. I think I covered all the bases, but it but it was really tough because of the continuity issues. And I had to rob Peter to pay Paul, which is to say I had to do a little bit of some intellectual gymnastics to give coherent explanations as
00:23:42
Speaker
why Jason's look changed so drastically from part two to part three. Part two, he's five foot 11. He's 175 pounds. Part three, he's six foot three. yeah Exactly. and And then part three, which is supposed to only be three days later, he's, you know, he's 220 pounds and he's six foot three. How do I explain that? Plus he's bald.
00:24:03
Speaker
So anyways, that would that that was that was that was some exercising that I had to do. But i was i was that was i was really happy to write about that stuff in the book. I think it it it really elevated the book beyond just a retrospective.
00:24:16
Speaker
Okay. um i Since, ah you know, the you know the the book or the yeah the movie really doesn't say, you know, except, you know, after that she wakes up, you know, when Jenny wakes up.
Unresolved Character Fate Discussion
00:24:29
Speaker
um what What happened to Paul? Yeah. that That was my one of my questions that I had with the the movie itself because I rewatched it last night for like the union age too many times my wife has counted.
00:24:42
Speaker
um And i was like, okay, you know, it it always I always question that. What happened to Paul? Paul was alive before the attack or, you know, during the attack. What happened afterwards?
00:24:53
Speaker
And i was – Did you read the chapter? No, not yet. Okay. Do you want me to – I can give you the spoiler. Spoiler. You can okay spoil it. I'm going to read the book anyways, but what ah here's the question. you know it's the most It's the number one question that's asked of Friday the 13th Part 2. It's such a popular question, Brian, such an important question, Mark, that if you are at a convention, it's the question that they ask Amy Steele, and of course it's the question that they always ask John Fury, who played Paul. And by the way, John Fury, he doesn't know. But Amy still has a coherent answer to it, and I'm going to work with John to make sure that he answers the question correctly. I still do ah do deal with the question in the ask and answer section of of Paul's chapter or John Fury's chapter. So if you want me to answer that question, I can do that. for No, no, Brian don't want the answer, so oh I'll have to read it. Okay.
00:25:49
Speaker
Okay. Well, that's like same with the dog. They don't show the dog after that neither. So I mean. The answer for the dog and Paul are one and the same.
00:26:01
Speaker
That's all I'm going to say. And I answered the dog question later on in the book, but it draws heavily on the same answer that's for Paul. That's all I can say. But there's a reason. And you'll get it. What I'm getting at when you read it you're go to say, OK, now I understand. Yeah, don't let anybody spoil it for you. Not even the writer. Come on, Mark.
00:26:18
Speaker
Now, have you ever read?
00:26:21
Speaker
Have you ever read any of the novelizations for the book? I did. Yep. It's written by Simon Hawk. And by the way, I have an answer for the the Facebook user who just posed a question in just a moment. So I see you there. um I did read the novelization. it's It's bare bones. And what I mean by that, it's written by Simon Hawk. It was came out six years after the movie.
00:26:44
Speaker
And it basically just follows the script beat for beat. It does add a few little insights about the character Ted and why he survived. A little bit of backstory around Jason that they retrofit. that he youth they The writer uses knowledge from 1988 that Jason's a zombie, kind of like it.
00:27:02
Speaker
kind of retrofits that in the book or at least alludes to it. um But other than that, it wasn't very revelatory at all. it didn't tell It doesn't tell you anything that you didn't know from watching the movie, more or less. 99% of it is straight up the script. just is The script just dramatized with a little bit of backstory here and there. um Should I answer the Facebook user's question? or Yeah. your owner before he Before he does that, you you know did you know, Brian, that book, part two,
00:27:31
Speaker
If you were to go buy it right now online, it is $2,000. Oh, yeah. Simon Hawks. Yeah. Yep. I wanted to. Why? I want to read because they're not in circulation no more. And I want to read them. So I'm going to just download the PDFs for them and read them that way. And they're good. We have this thing here called Library. I don't know they still have them there. No, they don't have them there.
00:27:55
Speaker
I already looked. I've checked. But part one yeah part one, I can get it for $70 something dollars. There you go. but yeah yeah I'll tell you about I had, ah as I said, I was the creator and the admin of a group on Facebook dedicated exclusively to part two. And I had the novelization that a group member sent to me to read and to help me. And she loaned it to me indefinitely.
00:28:23
Speaker
So I had it in my possession for about a year and I had all the cast members sign it. So now you want to talk about a book that's worth something. Because the reason it's so expensive, Brian, is because the book's out of print. And so now I actually had a paperback of it signed by all the surviving cast members. I eventually sent it back to the original owner because she wanted it back. And so she got herself a nice little gift and then she unfriended me. I don't know what to tell you. What?
00:28:55
Speaker
yeah this like You let people write in my book. for Yeah, right. I thought I did her a favor too, man. But anyways, yeah. um Regarding the the great there are like the the Facebook user says there are four characters that you see during the orientation and dinner in part two that you never see again. Who are these people? It's actually I'm going to correct the Facebook user. It's not four. It's six.
00:29:18
Speaker
It's six. six people. And one of them went on to have a pretty good career in acting. The black gentleman, their names, their names escape me right now. But forgive the shameless plug.
00:29:32
Speaker
I actually I actually answered the question in the ask and answer part of the book. i I can't recall the chapter where I actually show a picture of all six of the extra counselors and their names and pretty much what they're up to.
00:29:49
Speaker
today. So they didn't have any speaking lines or anything like that. Go ahead. I'm sorry. It's called this, guys. If you want to know what happened to them, buy the book. It's not expensive.
00:30:02
Speaker
It's actually personal. don Oh, they actually liked it. But buy the book. I mean, it's from what I've read so far, it's well worth buying. And i yeah I love I love reading about horror as it is, you know, because I went out and I try to get as many different type of horror books.
00:30:19
Speaker
But right now, you know, I got like a talking shape and talking shape too. You know, those are really good about the Halloween series. Um, yeah, right. I, I want to get, I want to get the, um,
00:30:33
Speaker
but I heard, ah I heard a whisper from above Chloe, my daughter. Yeah. Hi Chloe. If I wanted shot, no.
00:30:44
Speaker
Uh, but yeah, I, I want to get the, um, The one about crystal Camp Crystal Lake and stuff, it looks really good. but Now you're you're talking about you're talking about the the the volume. yeah yeah Yeah. Okay, gotcha. Oh, look what I got, by the way.
00:31:05
Speaker
This is the script from part two, actually autographed. I can't probably autographed by, it's autographed by Amy Steele. It's actually color coded. You can't probably see it with the lighting because- You can see that you could see the slashes, like, yeah.
00:31:21
Speaker
Yeah, okay. Yeah, and and the different colors pertain to different versions of the script because of rewrites and whatnot. Sorry, I just totally took you off. No, no, no, no, no. I'm glad you did. I mean, that was freaking awesome though. Oh, yeah.
00:31:34
Speaker
ah yeah I'd love to have something like that, but I'd love to have Amy on the show. she's She's awesome. Let me tell you what. She's she's a hard catch. I know who – I can refer you to her agent if you want to make that happen. She's she's an absolute sweetheart. she She'll make you feel like you're the only person in the room. So I highly recommend it. She's the final girl.
00:31:58
Speaker
yeah yeah just You were just at a ah conference or a convention not too long ago with all the final girls, weren't you? You know what? Yeah, thanks for that. Yeah, actually, part the all the first five final girls minus Dana Kimmel from part three. She was a last minute cancellation, which was a massive bummer. So they replaced her with Melanie Kinnaman from three.
00:32:20
Speaker
part five and so I was fortunate enough to work with them and uh for the week excuse me to work with them for the weekend and then get my picture taken with them so it was pretty nice and they were very supportive of the book as well yeah that was freaking out I've seen that on your uh profile i was like wow yeah and that's when I was like man I'm gonna just book them screw it I want them on the show I'm I'm honored man you know I was thinking oh go ahead No, good I mean, I was, I wanted you on the show before then, cause we had talked beforehand anyways, so you cause I, when I seen that you had the book and that you went on a Peter Anthony show and I was like, oh crap, he got him. I like, well, you know what I, I, and then he was talking more about the book and I was like, man, hold on, you know, I got to get this book.
00:33:06
Speaker
Cause you know, it's not too often you see something wrote about just that movie these days. You know, you've got the novelizations and stuff like on Halloween and stuff. But other than that, yes, I got a lot. well You know what? You know, some sometimes people ask me, well, why did you write a book on just part two? and One of the reasons is it hasn't been done. The Crystal Lake Memories book that you want to that you want to get, Mark. That's a that's a question of all. And I.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah, it touches them all. So it's not exhaustive. It's incredible. Don't get me wrong. And and I cited a couple of times more than a couple of times in my book. But um it's kind of a 30,000 foot overview of all of the movies. Right. Whereas my book is, well, the definitive retrospective. and And I think just for your listeners, I would just tell them what they could. I can i want to tell them what the book is not.
00:33:56
Speaker
it's not It's not an encyclopedia. It's not going to bore you. It's not a it's not a ah reference or dictionary. Each chapter is dedicated to a character to every character in the movie.
00:34:09
Speaker
I start off each chapter um by telling the character's story in narrative form. So it's almost like you're reading the novelization, although it's not. It's my writing.
00:34:20
Speaker
And then after I tell the story of the character in detail, I then transition to an interview with the actor who played the character. And then the chapter ends with an ask and answered section where I answer some problematic questions, either about the character or about the movie general.
00:34:34
Speaker
There are three or four chapters that are more historical and kind of talk about slasher. I start off the the book talking about the movie Friday the 13th Part 2, why it got made, how it got made, when it got made, and all of that stuff. But once I get past all the preliminaries, I'm going talk about what is it? 12 chapters? 12 chapters are dedicated to each character. And i think it i think it's it's not boring. i don't think it's boring. So it's not the best thing ever written, that's for sure. But I think that if you're a fan of Friday the 13th in general, and part two in particular, you would be remissed if you didn't read it. That's my personal opinion. so
00:35:14
Speaker
Yeah. So I think that's going to be for any horror genre fan. if i mean, guys, listen. You can like Friday the 13th. You don't have to like Friday the 13th to go out and get the book to read it and then be like, holy crap, now I want to go and watch all these movies.
00:35:30
Speaker
Because, I mean, something's got to start from something. You don't start something from nothing. You know what i mean? ah I do. I do know what you mean. Absolutely. And let's be honest. 20 years from now, these movies that we're talking about right now are going to be considered the classics.
00:35:46
Speaker
Because they're to be remade. They're going to be new series. It's like... a um The Wolfman, Frankenstein. I was going to say that. That's exactly what it is. you We all know that there's all kinds of different movies about Dracula. There's all kinds of movies that have been made about Frankenstein. Nobody goes back. Well, we all but there's always the original classics that we know.
00:36:08
Speaker
about from 1931 to 1941, right? And that's how these Friday the 13th movies are going to be. Those that came out in the golden age of the slasher genre, 78 to 84, which you guys, myself, ah we were old enough to be a part of, those are one day, if they're not already, because they're 40 years old now, they're considered the classics. And once these new Friday the 13th movies roll out, books like this, I think are going to be even just as important because they're going to hold on to the legacy of the original film.
00:36:38
Speaker
classics for lack lack of a better way of putting it So, okay. I'm going to get off the book for a second. Yep. Now, you know, as well as I do, 2000, 2000, late and stuff,
00:36:56
Speaker
um you know about the lawsuit.
Legal Battles and Franchise Impact
00:36:59
Speaker
um And I mean, for Brian, if you don't know, um Sean Cunningham and Victor Miller, the original writer of halloween are Friday the 13th, went to court because Victor Miller wanted to his rights back because he wrote the script. He wanted to do something with that part one, in which he is now doing.
00:37:23
Speaker
He gets to do what he wanted to do, um but it took about eight years for him to actually come together on an agreement finally. And yeah it it killed, it it killed the video game. It killed all movies that we had going for it. It even stopped a lot of merchandise from going forward.
00:37:44
Speaker
And so here's the question. What was your thought on that? On the lawsuit?
00:37:51
Speaker
Or you don't have to answer if you refuse. oh no because because to Because to me, ah you know, everybody jumped all over Victor Miller.
00:38:02
Speaker
because they thought he was in the wrong for wanting his rights back because he wrote the he wrote the script. um and But in the long run, I think that, you know, to me, Sean Cunningham should have just sat down with him and said, hey, look, let's work out a deal so we both get something out of this. But it took it took going to court and going all the way up to the Supreme Court for it to come to ah to light.
00:38:28
Speaker
So I do have an opinion. I'm going to give you my rated G Christian pastor answer. Okay. All right. Cause I get it. I do get animated about it and I do get emotional. um i'm I'm not a big fan of Sean Cunningham and the way that he handles himself during this lawsuit. Let me tell you something. This is not about art.
00:38:48
Speaker
This is not about integrity. This is about money. And um that Sean Cunningham has no vested interest in any of the sequels. In fact, probably not even the original, except for dollar bills. it All it is is a payday to him. There is no creative, artistic passion that he has to safeguard his baby, his property. That means nothing to him. This movie, the first one was a fluke to him. It paid off in spades.
00:39:21
Speaker
He's been cashing checks ever since. Victor Miller's not far removed from that. He wants to get paid as well because he created the character Jason. um I'm glad that Victor Miller won the case. i'm glad I'm just glad the case is settled because by the time the next Friday the 13th movie comes out on the big screen, it will be close to 20 years since we've had one.
00:39:42
Speaker
And so I'm just glad that it's solved. But at the end of the day, Sean Cunningham is producer in Hollywood and all that that means and all that that entails. all comes down moolah, dinero. Well,
00:39:59
Speaker
The one thing that I never understood is why did they let the video game go through if they knew that there was a lawsuit and could have just destroyed the video game? mean, I i still I still played the video game. I like it. You know, I beat it. You know, I got all the achievements. I've got everything for know, there's nothing left for me to do. But I used to have a ah big following of friends on there that, you know, you know, we play it from, ah you know, five, six hours, sometimes 12 hours a day, you know, it just depends. We bullshit on there and, you know, it was, it was fun. And, uh, you know, it was like, wow.
00:40:34
Speaker
And then once it died, no content coming into it, nothing. And then it was like, why play it? It would, you know, I play it every now and then, but you know, other than that, yeah. Now you guys are aware, i don't know Are you aware of crystal Lake, um, crystal Lake, all it Oh, yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
Camp Crystal Lake. Thank you. I think that's what it's called.
Upcoming Series 'Camp Crystal Lake'
00:40:54
Speaker
The series. The series. Yes, I can't wait. to be yeah Peacock. I can't wait because Peacock has it. It means that it will be able to go through more changes than, you know, they'll be able to do what they want to do in the series, you know. And don't get me wrong, you know, I'm a a horror fan. So with horror, it comes blood, guts, and nudity.
00:41:16
Speaker
i'm just hoping I'm hoping that they'll use the streaming format to actually develop a story. Well, that's what I want. That's what I wanted to. I want to. I want, I was just curious on if it's ever, if it's going to go from, you know, sort of like, um, instead of like a Bates Motel did, you know, if they're going flash forward a little bit, show. I think they are. I think they are. And then, then again, know, um, who was it? Who was it? Um,
00:41:44
Speaker
I know that, oh, hell, what's her name? of Andrea King is supposed to be back in that one. and but i Yeah. and king yeah i She's not to be playing Alice because Alice is dead. dead So I don't know you know. I was just with her in Monster Mania and I actually want i was working alongside her as well as the other final girls and I wanted to ask her about it and I forgot to. I think she's i think she she definitely has a consultant role. I think she's going to be on screen. I can't speak too intelligently about it because I don't know everything. But I'd be shocked that they brought her back as Alice because Alice died in 1981. Right.
00:42:17
Speaker
or canonically 1984, but right. Well, what the i was wondering if they were going to do it as, uh, she was like, um, an off-person voice, you know, sort of, you know, have that type of role to see what happened. And then, you know, everybody knows if if you know the story, you know, she's dead.
00:42:36
Speaker
but know what's cool? You know what's cool, Mark? She actually is of age where she could play Pamela Voorhees. Well, sorry, a friend of mine, we actually talked about that. but But don't know if I'd want to see her play that Pamela Voorhees. Why? That would be weird.
00:42:55
Speaker
it would be weird it would be knowing that the person that kills her well no not kills her but the person that uh you know she chops the head off of she finally becomes it's the multiverse it's the multiverse yes yeah i i i loved it you know i love the fact that part one you know you you got that feel that you know you didn't know who the killer was Part two, you really didn't get to know who the killer was until towards the end.
00:43:24
Speaker
I love that. And then, you know, part three, we knew who the killer was for, you know, the rest of them. um Not five. Nobody knew who the killer was until the end anyways. um But it was like, wow. You know, I like that or that part where, you know, when they stopped or they started showing people, hey, look, this can work without showing the killer on screen.
00:43:45
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So we'll see. I'm hoping for a good story. I do believe that Crystal Lake, mirror crystal lake whatever they're calling it, I forget. um I do believe it's going to flash forward and back because you got they they they're on record as saying, look, you've got to have Jason in it. He's the draw. But at the same time at the same time, they want to tell the whole story. So I think it's going to be present and past storytelling. and hey I hope it's not a... What's the show that everybody was really into and then they were like, oh, they're bringing dragons and then they didn't get dragons for the longest time. What movie was that?
00:44:22
Speaker
Or show? What show was that? Was it Game of Thrones? Game of Thrones, yeah. I'm not a fan. sorry You never watched it? You never watched Game of Thrones? Oh, come on. It's wonderful. I loved it. I loved it. Almost everyone had nudity in it. I mean, i sorry.
00:44:38
Speaker
Mark's over here about this nudity. No, that's not all. I mean, it used to be really oh when I was you know younger, the movies, you know if it didn't have nudity in it, I didn't want to see it. you know But then you know as I got older, I learned to... Friday the 13th, I got you. but you go on Yeah, that was one reason. But I mean i got the aspect of you know you have a killer there that you know nobody knows why he's killing.
00:45:02
Speaker
Except you know he's got his mom in the back of his head saying, kill these guys because they're the ones that killed you. But here's the question I have. If Jason was alive on this, and if it's in your book, you don't have to tell me, um who was helping him?
00:45:19
Speaker
so after his mom's After his mom's death. Okay, so I'm going to give you a canonical answer here. right Canonically speaking, according to canon, there is nobody helping Jason.
00:45:33
Speaker
um I actually, yeah, I'll leave it at that. Now, I'll be honest with you. What about his dad? There's a fan. Well, you're talking to a guy who only recognizes the first four flicks, right? So the dad's really- that yeah Not unless you read the comics and the comics came, you know, Pamela tells, it shows that, you know... Right.
00:45:55
Speaker
or Yeah. you know here's a Here's a fan theory out here that I actually find gravitating. And you tell me what you think. It's not about the second movie. It's about the
Fan Theories and Story Depth
00:46:06
Speaker
first movie. Because let's just call a spade a spade.
00:46:10
Speaker
there's no way There's no way Betsy Palmer, who played Pamela Anderson... Pamela Anderson. LAUGHTER We know where his mind went. Yeah, right. Well, you're talking about naked girls.
00:46:23
Speaker
There go. Okay. There's no way that Betsy Palmer, who played Pamela Voorhees, could throw bodies through a window and then within a matter of seconds pull up in a Jeep, if you remember the first one, or impale a man up on a wall with arrows.
00:46:40
Speaker
No, women don't have that kind of strength. the theory is Jason as an adult helped her. Okay.
00:46:52
Speaker
So she lost her mind at the at the thought of her 11-year-old son drowning between part one or ah between the drowning in 1957 and
00:47:04
Speaker
And her crusade in 1979, they somehow reunited. She continued. She was still insane. And she brought her son into her insanity to help her keep Camp Crystal Lake shut down. And so it was Pamela Voorhees and her son.
00:47:22
Speaker
um Jason, who was doing the killing in part one, which is why the killer seems to be omnipresent and everywhere. One minute he's she's killing Steve Christie up at the top of the camp. The next minute she's down at the bottom of the camp and she's throwing bodies and lifting grown men up and holding Kevin Bacon down with one arm in order to stab him. from a No woman has that kind of strength. And I say that with all due respect to the women who are listening.
00:47:45
Speaker
And so the the fan theory is that Jason actually was helping her in part one, but he had no help in part two. So anyways, do with that what you will. Food for thought. I mean, a lot a lot of people think it was Elias that was helping yeah Jason alive.
00:48:02
Speaker
um I mean, I'd like to believe that. and I would love to have a them introduced Elias into it a lot sooner. But, you know, they didn't think of that.
00:48:13
Speaker
I did. i will be honest with you. My hypocrisy goes so far. I did mention Elias in the book. I actually tell the canonical story of Jason Voorhees in chapter three, I think it is. And I start from soup to nuts from his birth to 1946, all the way up till the events in part two. And I i did that because A, I wanted to know it better.
00:48:39
Speaker
So I wrote it ah from a canonical perspective. And I did make a reference to eli Elias having left Pamela and Jason when he was young because of his...
00:48:52
Speaker
deformities and because of his love affair with the with the bottle. But that's neither here or there. i did so i did Even though i only recognized the first four movies canonically myself as a fan, I did mention Elias in in the book. so Very good.
00:49:06
Speaker
I'm trying
00:49:11
Speaker
to see how i want to answer this question. I feel like I asked this question already. As far as this book, have you written another book along the same lines as this for any other genre or not a genre movie but another type of film this is my first book uh in the genre all my other books have been theological academic books yeah this was my first book that uh of the horror genre and whether or not i'm writing a one another one i can neither confirm nor deny that means yes i just need to know what to look forward to
00:49:49
Speaker
Yeah, well, me too. here For me, you know, most of the time when they say I can i cannot or confirm or deny it, most of the time that means yes. No comment. No comment. No comment. No comment.
00:50:02
Speaker
Have you you talked with ah Peter Anthony and stuff? Have you watched any of his pen films? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. In fact, he sent me his, before I did the interview, because I had, no I'm not a big fan, film I'm not a big fan film guy.
00:50:17
Speaker
um i just, I just have never been. I'm a big fan of Never High. e alone I love that if you've seen that fan film. But then he sent me vengeance and I watched that one. And that was brutal, man. I was thoroughly in it. Yeah, I was thoroughly entertained, thoroughly entertained. So he he kind of ah he kind of converted me. i owe him. he's He's done a few other ones. that I got I got to check out and I've been lazy, but he definitely locked me onto Then there's um there's the ah fan film Victim No More, directed by Bob Heckman, written, produced, and directed by him. I enjoyed that one as well. There's Nine Lives by Alex Edwards and his gang. That's got over a million views, and that was shot with a cell phone.
00:51:03
Speaker
um So I'm coming around to fan films thanks to some of the ones that Peter Anthony has been in and helped produce as well as Bob Heckman. Yeah, i mean some of the ones that I've watched, Vengeance, Vengeance 1, Roseblood, The Fall of Camp Blood. Those are all great films. um Never Hike Alone.
00:51:23
Speaker
ah It's a short film, but it is great. I can't wait for them to finish that series. Yeah, it'll be nice. Never Hike ah never hike in the Snow.
00:51:34
Speaker
That was another one, because i always wanted to see what it was like for Jason to be in the snow and what it would be like. along with ah other people, but, you know, I never got that. Mark's absolute dream is to either be written, written into a book or to be in one of Peter Anthony's fan films.
00:51:53
Speaker
No, I don't with fan films. I don't think that that's it. Well, you got, you got to understand the film, fan films cost a lot to do and' get some in to get some of these people. But no, I would love to be in a movie where I got killed by one of the killers or even be a killer.
00:52:09
Speaker
Die. Well, you know, you' pin in the because it's a, you know, you don't get that by, you know, a fiction fictional character that you grew up watching. You don't get to do that that often. But, you know, if I if I had to choose between dying or becoming one of those, yeah are you well, I hope somebody afraid of a five foot nothing person because I would go after him, you know, no problem.
00:52:36
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I, you know, to this day, i always, dream it would be a dream come true to be in your favorite slasher film and to fall victim to your favorite killer. The interesting thing about me is, as I've already said repeatedly, I'm 52 years old. And on occasion, I still dream of Jason chasing me.
00:52:56
Speaker
The same dream that I had in 1982. It takes on various different incarnations. But, you know, it's not unusual for me to have a Jason nightmare once a year, a couple times a year. And every single time, and I'm not kidding you guys, every time I have a nightmare where Jason is chasing me,
00:53:13
Speaker
It is always Richard Brooker's Jason from Friday the 13th, part three. It's not Steve Dash from part two. It's not Ted White from part four. It's always Richard Brooker. He was the one that put the fear of God in me.
00:53:26
Speaker
when His incarnation, his version of Jason in part three. Say what you will about the movie, and that movie's got some problems. But he he elevated that movie and just absolutely intimidated the daylights out of me. So it's interesting. I would have loved to have met him before he died because that would have been close to me being killed by my childhood Jason. And that's how I am with ah Freddie.
00:53:52
Speaker
yeah yeah Because I grew up you know i grew up on – well, I was living on the road a road called Elm Street at the time. Come on. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. Ron, can I ask you this?
00:54:06
Speaker
You're a great writer. Let me ask you, though, did you take classes in school other than English lit or anything like that? Did you take any special classes in high school or in college to get you to where you are today?
00:54:21
Speaker
I did not. But when you're in college, and in my case, as a pastor, I went to Bible college, right? I'm writing essays all the time. So I did cut my teeth on some in in college writing a lot, but they none of it was what I would consider publishable.
00:54:38
Speaker
What had happened was I started getting serious about writing in 2007. And at that time, I was an avid reader. And the more you read...
00:54:49
Speaker
the better you can write. So, but I'll put my cards on the table. If you were to have read the first draft of this book, you would have laughed. it was horr It was horrific. So I had to go through a handful of proofreaders, my wife being one, my brother, I have a twin brother, he he was one. And then I brought in some people who are smarter than me. Now they don't change my voice. They just question me about this or question me about that. And through their feedback, I was able to make the, they were able to help me become a, be they were to they were able to make me a better writer than I actually am. yeah.
00:55:27
Speaker
You can never have too many proofreaders double checking your work and your run on sentences and your overuse of the Oxford comma and blah, blah, blah, blah. So. but Mark's putting that bottle up because i kind of get on them every once in a while. I'll post something on Facebook. I'm like, hey, you want to go back and read that again?
00:55:45
Speaker
And it's not. It's not the make ru's not to make fun of you. i Listen, I am not. I'm not a spelling. I'm not a grammar Nazi, but I got to be a grammar Nazi. I hate when my cousin does it.
00:55:56
Speaker
It's there, yeah not over there. it's you know what I mean? And and just yeah read what you what you're about to post because you don't want to come off as,
00:56:07
Speaker
Okay. All right. True confession time. True confession time. This version of the book, I had a reader read it with a skeptical eye. He sent me a Facebook message that was about as long as the Bible. Right?
00:56:23
Speaker
right And in it, it was all ah and he listed all every single page number where he took issue with something, whether it be sentence structure. wasn't sentence structure. It was plot points or whatever. Some of it was incredibly helpful.
00:56:37
Speaker
um But he he picked up on a misspelled word that I use three times in the book, and I'm absolutely mortified by it. So, Mark, you're not alone here. But I actually use the word dawning or he donned the clothes or um you know, and I spelt it wrong.
00:56:57
Speaker
I've since made the correction for later versions that are reprinted, but oh my gosh, I was absolutely mortified. So it's D-O-N-N-I-N-G for Donald. That's correct. And I spelt it.
00:57:09
Speaker
And it went through how many proofreaders and nobody caught it? Shame on those people. that Shame on me for crying out loud. I'm a pretty articulate guy. It went through the person that allowed it to get, a you know, published. So I mean, they're even at fault. I know. And it happens. i read Like I said, I'm an avid reader, and I read stuff from major publishing houses that I'm surprised it gets that doesn't get caught. you know So it happens. It happens.
00:57:37
Speaker
cool ah Cool. in writing So for writing, you you were in high school. You were in college. You got into writing more when you were in college, though. that Yeah. Mandatory writing. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
00:57:52
Speaker
Because of all the essays. So all those grammatical errors and stuff like that, you were going to catch on to. And now, so like if you put a post on Facebook, will you read it three or four times before you post it?
Challenges in Proofreading and Book Creation
00:58:05
Speaker
I do. And just to make Mark feel better, i can read it three or four times and there'll still be an error. I'm not kidding you, man. I don't know what it is. It's not just Mark. It's not just Mark. Even us professionals do it all the time.
00:58:21
Speaker
yeah what What was your and what was your um inspiration to write the book? Passion. I had started the Facebook group. I know we're running out of time, so i'll speak fast. I had started the Facebook group dedicated exclusively to Part 2. I was um i was fostering greater fandom for the movie among a lot of Friday of the 13th Part 2 fans. And I just decided to take all my research and my tribal knowledge and to just barf it out on paper and see how it went. I started with chapter, I don't write sequentially, so I started with like chapter eight.
00:58:55
Speaker
And I liked what I did. It felt good. I got the creative juices going. And so I just kept going. So the inspiration was basically just being the admin and creator of the Facebook group and having all this tribal knowledge that I wanted to evangelize others with. That was really what it boils down to. I wanted to give the movie a little bit more street cred than it than it's gotten over the years.
00:59:17
Speaker
Who's your favorite character other than Jason? Bill Randolph, Jeff from part two.
00:59:24
Speaker
If there's another horror book that you'd want to write about, Another horror that want to write about, what would it be? ah Not Friday the 13th. Not Friday the 13th. I mean, it could be Friday the 13th. I mean, you're sticking with the same thing. But if do you is it just Friday the 13th that you like, or would you write ah a different book on a different ah killer?
00:59:46
Speaker
Okay, great question. and ah In order for me to write anything the... that's going to be published, I have to have passion. Otherwise, it turns into a chore. It's laborious. It's boring. I don't want to do it.
00:59:59
Speaker
Friday the 13th is the series that I have passion for. And so that's why I wrote it. And that's why, you know, wink, wink, I can neither confirm nor deny I might be writing something else in the franchise. But outside of the franchise, you know what, to be honest with you I could probably see myself writing something along the lines of the exorcist and kind of ah a retrospective because there's a great story that led led up to that movie and blah, blah, blah. I could see myself going into into that genre, especially as a religious man. So but I don't think I will because I have to i have to have greater passion to dedicate eight months of my life to it. So is that how long this book took?
01:00:37
Speaker
It took me five months to write from soup to nuts, five months. But I studied the movie for two years and wrote a lot of it in advance, not knowing that I was going to write a book. I had written it for the Facebook group and I was writing daily segments. And so when I sat down to write, right now I'm writing a book that I think is going to take me a year to do. so But yeah, Sackhead took me five years to write, two years to study.
01:01:03
Speaker
Well, yes, we we have hit the hour mark, but if you've got other stuff that you want to know. I have other questions anyway, so I don't care. um do you have Do you have more time? I'm good.
01:01:15
Speaker
have you Have you been out to Pachnak Lodge or that that site? I have. I have a video on my YouTube channel that documents it. I went there in 2019 and I saw all the surviving locations. Pachnak Lodge, Camp Pachnak no longer exists. All the cabins have been torn down, but I did but i did go to the area. um Some of the areas, some of the filming locations are exactly the same as they were 40 years ago. I'm not kidding you.
01:01:46
Speaker
It's pretty phenomenal. Connecticut is where the movie was filmed. It's small town USA. I live in New England. I'm in New Hampshire. So it was just a two hour drive ah for me. So yeah, 2019, I put together a pretty sophisticated, pretty sexy video. i think it's about seven or eight minutes long that focuses on all the the filming locations then and now.
01:02:05
Speaker
And where can our viewers and listeners check that out? I have a YouTube channel called Sackhead Jason or the Granite State Jason, the Granite State Jason. Let me see what I got here. I'll do this. Let's see if can give it. Got a link.
01:02:21
Speaker
Here's a link right here. Boom. I don't know. I guess I can put it somewhere. um I'll put this in private chat. You guys can do with it what you will. Boom. You guys have a link for it.
01:02:32
Speaker
so We will post that on the after talk on this show. Cool. The book. Yeah. How much does it cost if I want to buy that book today, depending on where I buy it from? The book is the book is based on a page number. It's 277 pages. it does contain graphics and pictures, some of which I've created, some of which are still from the movie and scenes from the movie. So at 277-page book that is a retrospective nonfiction book, the book costs $18.99. Cheap.
01:03:09
Speaker
it's And I will tell you, and the funny part is, is I did not pay that. yeah I paid actually less. Mark went to Amazon and got it. yeah At the time, it was like, and I had deal going anyway, so I got some money off of it, so.
01:03:26
Speaker
Yeah. Do you sell? Well, I still get but i still get paid. I was going to say, do you sell them primarily on your website or is there other sites that you want people to check out for that? They are sold primarily on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, all the online sites sell them. I don't have a website. I don't peddle them. I peddled the link on the Facebook group that I manage, Pachinac Lodge, but um I know that c andv Promotions, who I volunteer with, who represent the Part 2 cast, she represents me as well. So she's making the books available with the part two talent when they are signing at conventions. And so books, copies of the books will be available on their tables for them to sign. that
01:04:08
Speaker
Well, you'll be paying more because in order to get that book, you have to get an audit. It comes with an autograph. I just, I just, I just went to one this past November, no December, November, whatever up here. It's called Spookilla.
01:04:22
Speaker
And yeah I got to meet, I got to meet, um you know, the the kid, Jason Ari. Yeah, Ari. I got to meet him. Oh, man, he was funny as hell.
01:04:32
Speaker
Yeah. um I got to meet Nick Castle. Yeah, yeah, Michael Lerner. David Howard Thornton, Art the Clown.
01:04:44
Speaker
um That was another favorite character. Yes. don't I don't know why I just because I got a big thing of a big doll of him and I have it signed. My wife hates clowns. She is not a fan. She was like, I swear to God, if you play that movie in this house, you can move out.
01:05:00
Speaker
I want to hear the house on fire. Do you want to hear a little secret? imen I used to be a professional clown, believe it or not. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
01:05:13
Speaker
Can I ask a favor? Yeah. Or my friend Mark? Mm hmm. If I pay to send his book after he's done reading it, if I pay to send it to you, of course would you mind signing that?
01:05:26
Speaker
Of course. I'd be honored. I'm humbled that you'd even ask. gotta You can take it conventions or whatever, have them sign. want Ron to sign that for you because i mean it was great great that you got to to actually meet the person that wrote that book. oh um'm i'm very you know um' I love the book so far. What is the weirdest question that you've ever been asked?
01:05:49
Speaker
About the book?
01:05:52
Speaker
about About the book? i have The book or, you know, yeah. well right All right. All right. I'll give you a non-book question, and then I'll give you a book question. The weirdest question I've ever at been asked, as I've alluded to this earlier, I'm an identical twin.
01:06:06
Speaker
And ah my brother, so we grew up, everybody would ask questions. Hey, can you... You feel it when he's in pain and all that stuff. and And so one time somebody asked me, when he's having an orgasm, do you feel it?
01:06:19
Speaker
but So then that's that's the weirdest question I've ever been asked. That's non-book related. I think book related, um the strangest question I've been asked, jeepers.
01:06:34
Speaker
I don't know. Everybody's been pretty cordial and sophisticated, so I can't think of anything from the top of my head. But you know what's going to happen. We're going to end this interview and I'm going to hit the rack and I'm going to go, oh, I should have told them this. But right now I can't think of it. So forgive me What about what's the most common question you get asked about the book?
01:06:55
Speaker
Well, the most common question is why just part two? ah Why just part two? And of course, the answer to that is why not? and No book has been written on it. I'm the first to do it, and I'm a big fan of it. One question that I like getting asked because it conjures up all kinds of feelings for me is they ask, what was the hardest part about writing the book?
01:07:16
Speaker
And so and we to that yeah Well, I'll answer it. All right. um The hardest part about writing the book had to do, I'll give you four. Marta Kober, Jack Marks, Tom McBride, and Walt Gorney.
01:07:31
Speaker
so Those four individuals I had to write full chapters on and all of them are dead. Or Marta Colbert's not dead, but she's recluse. She's not easily accessible. And so I had to really rely on interviews that were legacy interviews, as well as interviewing cast members today about their experiences with these people, because two of the actors, Walt Gordon...
01:07:54
Speaker
Tom McBride not on record at all, as I said earlier, about their thoughts on the movie. So I had to write full chapters. If you're writing a definitive retrospective and you're going to be paying $18.99 for the book, I can't just phone it in and write a paragraph or two and put some lipstick on a pig and make it look nice. i have to really I have to really do it, right? So that was really hard for me, writing four chapters on four individuals, three of whom are dead and one is reclusive, about their experiences on the movie. And Thankfully, I like to think that I pulled it off. So, and i give the, I give the reader a bang for their buck, I think.
01:08:31
Speaker
So, so, so I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not buying the book. I'm just going to go to Mark's house and take it from him and read it. i'll So if you're okay with that, I mean, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not okay. but I will, I will forgive you. That's the Christian thing. Oh, I like that. Yes. Thank you very much. Yes. Okay. ah Who came up with the picture?
01:08:53
Speaker
thank you for asking me and Actually, that's a controversial story. So I made this book cover. I designed it myself. The sackhead Jason was created by somebody else. I give him credit in the jacket of the book.
01:09:09
Speaker
But he didn't. He used images from the video game. None of it is copyrighted. I then manipulated the picture. I put a pitchfork in Jason's hand and I made it a little bit sexier and I did some things to it. The artist wouldn't let me use it, even though it's not copyrighted.
01:09:26
Speaker
He just was all proprietary. I said, wait a minute. This is just images from a video game that you manipulated and on the back end. I'm going to use it because doggone it. I love it. And course, you know, I mean, he didn't care really. I mean, he it is what it is. some Some of these artists are really difficult. So basically I took a picture and then I manipulated it and I did some Photoshopping. Like I said, I created a pitchfork. I did the burning edges around it. And then I worked with the publisher to make it all tick tied and verified. So I came up with the cover.
01:09:56
Speaker
basically is the short of it but i did not design the sack head jason on it i got that from an artist i wish uh my jason looked like that mine don't look like that mine's just talking the shirt you're wearing it says jaws is it jaws one or two Jaws 1. I'm a big fan of Jaws 2. Don't get me wrong, but Jaws is my favorite movie of all time. so i did I didn't even realize I was wearing it, but yeah, it's my favorite movie of all time, 1975. And I am a big fan of Jaws 2 as well. that's where That's where my love stops, so those two movies. yeah One and two, that's all you need. and That's it, right, exactly. exactly guys Why is the shark still alive now? It's a tornado.
01:10:37
Speaker
Right, exactly. Wrong genre. No, I know, Mark. and i would be phyi I know, I know, I know. um You said earlier that you like football.
01:10:48
Speaker
Yeah. What's your favorite team? So I am a transplant to New Hampshire. So I came out here and got married back in 2005. But I'm born and raised. I bleed blue and green. I am a Seattle Seahawks fan. I'm from Seattle, Washington. Yeah.
01:11:06
Speaker
Well, don't start. Don't start. Don't start, man. he's ah He's a Lions fan. oh Hey, you know what? I got a lot of love for the Lions because they're a small market team. They they are snake bit. you know And, um man, if anything can if anything if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong in Detroit. However, I was really on the bandwagon this last year. I i want nothing but success for the Lions. I knew as soon as they started coming to life, at that loss to Seattle would bite us in the ass. Well, I remember it well. And sometimes our victories are bittersweet. that was a bittersweet victory. I did not like doing that. But I will take the W. But it it sucked that it had to be against the Lions. yeah I remember it well.
01:11:51
Speaker
i So do I. I had to turn the game off. Because I didn't think Geno Smith could ah actually do it. I really did not. well i'll be ah I did not have faith in him as a quarterback, but he sureur hell showed that he can do it. Yeah.
01:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. i'm not ah I'm not a firm believer just yet. We just signed him for three
NFL Discussion: Player Performance and Trades
01:12:11
Speaker
years now. All right. And God bless him. God bless him. Everybody loves a comeback story. So everybody's on the Gino bandwagon. But here's the deal, man. That guy needs to hold on to the freaking ball when the game is on the line. And he's there's a couple we took a couple of bad losses this year because when it really mattered, when it really mattered,
01:12:29
Speaker
He didn't hold on to the ball. So I'm not completely sold on him, to to be to be honest with you. But statistically, he's a rock star. So I'm going to hang with him. He's my boy. But I want more than just one and done in the playoffs. I want more than just one and done in the playoffs. so You know, they all got to get their start somewhere. I mean, you got like Brett Favre that started out. You got guys like.
01:12:52
Speaker
But he's not starting out. Gino Smith was with the Jets. Come on. Yeah, but I mean, come on, he was with the Jets. That's where people go to die.
01:13:03
Speaker
yeah I'm hoping that's where Rogers goes. Oh, my God. He is going to die. Well, he says he wants to go there. They still can't come to a ah trade agreement.
01:13:14
Speaker
What a shame. Because they want too much. um I bet you comes down to guaranteed money i bet is what it comes down to. Well, I also believe it has to do with, um you know, what they want for him. You know, guaranteed money, that you could split the money between both franchises. but they're not willing to give up first round picks for him.
01:13:32
Speaker
I want to see where Lamar lands. That's what I'm curious on that one too, because i think that the NFL is screwing them over right now. but you know what don't you get They should at least have, you know, him signed to at least one.
01:13:46
Speaker
Dude, he's asking. He's asking for the mint. I mean, he wants, what, 90% guaranteed? I mean, he wants Deshaun Watson money. I mean, here's the deal, guys. If he gets what he wants...
01:13:58
Speaker
if they if he gets what he wants say goodbye to the average layperson getting to go to football games on Sunday because you've got to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. yeah It's crazy, man. yeah and all these take I mean, to pay these guys means the ticket prices and all the ancillary stuff goes right through the roof, man. I'm telling you, I don't mind the owners going, no, we're going to – I should decide with – go ahead. Deshaun Watson did not deserve to get that contract either. Of course not.
01:14:26
Speaker
He didn't show that he went he could get ah anybody to the playoffs. Nothing. He had one that he had a old good season. and i mean Yeah, I'm not ah i'm not a Deshaun Watson guy. And I don't agree with paying them the money that they get paid anyways.
01:14:41
Speaker
They love the game. They should not be paid all that much money. it's It's Monopoly money now. that's It's so ridiculous. It's Monopoly money. they' When they die, they're going to still have tons of money left over, and we're just going to here like – They're going to give it to their dog.
01:14:56
Speaker
mean jump Probably. Probably. we we yeah We just lost all of our horror fans who probably have never watched the football
01:15:05
Speaker
the football game. So horror and wrestling. How do you feel about wrestling?
Jason Voorhees in Wrestling
01:15:11
Speaker
Because horror and wrestling go together. yeah I'm going to be honest with you. i I know you're right, and I will second that. It ain't my cup of tea. It just has never been my cup of tea.
01:15:22
Speaker
Wrestling, that is. so I was going to ask it if Jason were in... in wrestling as not having the mask. That's a different story. Not having the mask, not having the ability to kill people. and not would he be Would he be a top star or would he be a mid-carder?
01:15:41
Speaker
He would kill everybody. He's not allowed. Then he wouldn't be there. What makes him Jason is that mask, is that mongoloid look. So he's got to bring that to the ring, man. Come on.
01:15:55
Speaker
he's got to have a and He's got to have a clear machete or something with him. He's got to kill. That's what makes Jason Jason. Otherwise, you know what are going to do? Put Michael Myers in the ring, take his mask off, and have him stalk his prey?
01:16:10
Speaker
Right. i No, you can't do that because Michael Myers is nothing without his mask. That's right. That's right. Well, hell, I think we answered ah answered and asked. Asked and answered?
01:16:22
Speaker
Yeah, ask and answer. i can't Hey, I just want to thank you guys again for having me on your broadcast. i Really, it means a lot to me. I'm flattered and I'm humbled. ah We really appreciate you coming on.
01:16:34
Speaker
Yes. Well, maybe maybe in the not-too-distant future, if something else comes down the pipeline, wink, wink, maybe I can come on back and we can talk about it some more. I like that option. Yeah, I like that option, especially when you're able to tell us you know what book you're writing next.
01:16:49
Speaker
Yeah. Before we let you go. We're going to ask one more time, where can our viewers and listeners, where can they get your book and where can they find you on your socials and and all that?
Book Promotion and Engagement
01:17:03
Speaker
The book is available on Amazon.com. It's called Sackhead, the Definitive Retrospective on Friday the 13th, Part 2. Available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, all your online retailers. It's under my pen name, RGN.
01:17:21
Speaker
Henning. You can find me on Facebook under my real name, ronal a Ron Gann. I am the creator and admin or former admin of the Facebook group, Pakenack Lodge, dedicated exclusively to part two. Come join us there. And I'm also on Instagram at Mr. Ron Gann. Come check me out. Thanks, guys.
01:17:41
Speaker
Thank you. Ron, thank you so much. look for Look for Mark's book after he gets done reading it. I'll be done in a few days. I'll shoot you a message. I want a full review. I want a full review.
01:17:54
Speaker
I'll give you a review. ah All right. Thanks guys. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Have a good one.
01:18:05
Speaker
How about that? You got the interview that you were searching. One of them. Yeah, that was a great interview. I mean, listen, we've got a great book that we're reading now.
01:18:16
Speaker
As soon as Mark's done with it, I'm going to kick him in the shin, steal it from him to get the perspective on on that Friday the 13th part two. Guys, if you have not watched any of the Friday the 13th series, just like- Where the fuck have you been?
01:18:31
Speaker
If you haven't- Just like Ron was saying, part one through four are the original four parts of that series. If you like the human side of Jason Voorhees, that's where you go.
01:18:43
Speaker
yeah If you like it from, you know, The killer that I like, you know, 6, 7, 8, hold on, no, 7, 8, 9, 10.
01:18:56
Speaker
um And I believe that's it. You know, I like the killer. He's he's really good in that one. It's all the same killer.
01:19:06
Speaker
um Other than that, you know, if you have not watched it, well, what the fuck are doing? Go watch it. and check out Ron's book again. go read it.
01:19:18
Speaker
Read it. One more time, Mark. Can you want to put that up there on the screen so people can see it in the bottom right there where your hand is? I think it's got his name now.
01:19:30
Speaker
No, it's under his right there above sackhead R G inning. Or you can look up ah Ron Gann. Get a chance to check that out, guys.
01:19:43
Speaker
Um, So b Brian Mark, what's happening? What do we got on Tuesday? Bro? I don't, I don't remember. Yes, you do. What's happening on you used to wrestle with him.
01:19:57
Speaker
Who? So Cal crazy. Woo So Cal crazy. That's right. Ladies and gentlemen from Southern California, a gentleman that goes by the name. So Cal crazy, the mass bandit of indie wrestling.
01:20:14
Speaker
Former member of SAW Wrestling, New Wave Pro Wrestling, SoCal Pro Wrestling, ah West Coast Wrestling Company.
01:20:26
Speaker
God, the list goes on and on. um It's going to be on our show. I can't believe that, man. That's that's fantastic. And all it took was I got a hold of Andy. Andy got a hold of him.
01:20:36
Speaker
And the guy, bam, I got the phone number that morning. And by mid-morning, I had him. And I was like, oh well, we got a ah date open.
01:20:47
Speaker
what What do you think? and he was like, jumped at it. Marcus, super. like Guys, I'm telling you right now, if anybody out there has a wrestling ring and you're living in Florida, please call me.
01:20:59
Speaker
I'll put my number on the screen if I need to, but good God, I got to get Mark in a wrestling ring. and Oh, no, I'm just having i'm having fun just interviewing these guys. I'm hoping it leads to, and I'm not going to say that they're not stars, but I want to lead to different stars too. yeah Different organizations other other than SoCal, which has been good to us so far.
01:21:19
Speaker
um i they've been I'd like to get their champ on here, but we'll see little by little. Um, guys also, if you do get a chance on Hulu, uh, excuse me on Roku, if you have a Roku device, if you type SoCal wrestling, you can actually download the free app. It's a hundred percent free and all their shows are played on there. Um, I don't know if they do live shows on there, but I know that they're prerecorded.
01:21:52
Speaker
There's some prerecorded stuff on there that you can take a look. at I think they're pay-per-views. They do. Um, And on the 15th of this month, two of my two of my cohorts in in new in New Wave and in SAW, a little band of misfits, they called themselves... Anchors Away. Anchors Away, as David E. Jones and Ryan Stone. Yeah.
01:22:25
Speaker
are going to be inducted into SoCal's, um, wrestling hall of fame. And I just wanted to say congratulations again, guys. Um, SoCal crazy is probably going to be right there with them too. You know, I mean, right after that, right after he ever retires, but yeah, right after that, we will have them on, on the 18th.
01:22:47
Speaker
We're going to have, uh, we're going to have Andy and, uh, and, uh, Trevor, No, no, It's Ryan Stone. Oh, no. Forget that. ah um hey liy David and Ryan?
01:23:02
Speaker
But in between that, we're going to have a um a psychic on here called – his name is Art. And that'll be next Well, think he already knows that, though. that's I mean, he's a psychic.
01:23:13
Speaker
Well, he should now since I talked to him.
Upcoming Guests Teasers
01:23:17
Speaker
I don't think he'll – it's going to be interesting. That one's going to be an interesting one. We are working on trying to get other folks on the show. So if you know anybody that wants to be on the show, somebody that has some kind of talent or somebody that has, I don't know, maybe been in the ring, boxing, wrestling. Boxing, boxing m MMA. um any Anybody that can do musical instruments that are you know that are good, not just starting out.
01:23:49
Speaker
Anybody that's up and coming that you want to see on here. uh your favorite tick tock artist if you have a direct contact with those folks tell them to reach out we'd love to have them on the show yes uh stacy wants me to reach out to somebody named the bean flicker i'm gonna have to go check that one out ah especially knowing that he stirs his drink with a damn vibrator mean i'm really gonna have to check that out that's on tick tock guys check out the bean flick leave it up to your wife man leave it up to your wife to find that too
01:24:21
Speaker
What are you talking about? She scrolls through TikTok. Does your not does your wife not just lay in the bed when you're boring her to death? She does not watch TikTok. She reads books?
01:24:32
Speaker
Yep. I need to buy my wife more books. They're, you know, romance books, but but that's besides the point. yeah
01:24:43
Speaker
But any which way, we'll be back Tuesday 8 o'clock. eight o'clock eight o'clock what time eight eight where eastern standard time please for the love of god when you message socal make sure that he is i already did he says he he said the same thing that matt it's 100 andy's fault yeah we he says that they could tell time nobody's gonna let andy live that one down after we're done it is it's great uh guys we are brought to you in part by the deluxe edition network head on over to the deluxe
01:25:20
Speaker
Oh my God, I can't talk. Deluxe Edition Network. And check out this little thing called the Denny's. Because, Mark, they've got my belt over there. And if these folks of ours that are watching, if the hopefully we have some fans in here.
01:25:36
Speaker
Ron, if you're still watching, head on over to Deluxe Edition Network. Click on the Denny's. The very first category is vote for your favorite podcast. We are the letter U. We are talking shit.
01:25:50
Speaker
There's a lot of great podcasts out there, like the two podcasts of the month, Mark. Do you remember who they are? Barrel Age Flicks and History I'd Like to Fuck.
01:26:01
Speaker
And you can also vote for those guys if you want to, but... Yeah, oh, you're already there. You might as well just hit U for us. That's right. The letter U.
01:26:13
Speaker
and a it's been It's been a lot of fun on this one, man. ah That was a great interview. i really enjoyed it. You were nervous about this one. I just didn't have a lot of questions. I didn't read the book, so I was very nervous.
01:26:25
Speaker
But did you have to ask a whole lot of questions, though? I didn't. No. he anded he asked the He answered everything before we even had to ask it. Yep. Pastor Ron was fantastic.
01:26:37
Speaker
That loves horror. And he loves horror. That is so great. Yep. Well, guys, let us hear it. talking shit. I'm Brian. I'm Mark.
01:26:48
Speaker
We're out of here. Have a good night.