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Episode 11 - It's My Nightmare and I'll Cry if I Want To
15 Plays6 months ago
The Nightmare Cottage welcomes a new Nightmare Kitty, Sushi. She fits right in with our spooky bunch. Nylene takes a glimpse at the disturbing truths about dangerous wellness. Nym dives deep into the life of Mary Shelley and takes a look at the many adaptations of Frankenstein.
Enter the Nightmare for transcription, show notes, source, and more.
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Transcript
Introduction to Nightmare Cottage Podcast
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we discuss dark locations, sinister media, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
Reflections on 2025 and Personal Celebrations
00:00:50
Speaker
love And my best radio voice. Yeah, no. um We've kind of been through it. We have. We've been getting through it. I know it's cliche to say it, but 2025, I thought it was going to be my year. I don't know. It might still be, but like man, man. It's going to be man. It's going to be an adventure. Expensive.
00:01:15
Speaker
Well, you know no adventure is free. So Nim knows. She knows everything that happened, but i'm I'm going to share with the world the chaos of my new year. My birthday is on January 8th. My husband's is on January 9th. So we do a co-celebration. So it's a whole thing. I happened to work that day. So I went to work.
00:01:36
Speaker
They told me to go home early because it was my birthday. They were like, have fun, have a good time. My husband works right down the street. Just so happened his building was not, did not have running water that day. So they let him off early too. So I want to go pick him up, picked up my kid, went home. And I was like, you know what? It's such a beautiful day. It's about to be really, really cold and icy. And we're not going to be able to go outside for a few days, you know, like out, out, not like,
00:02:05
Speaker
outside like I wouldn't die if I went outside but you know what I mean I was like you know what do you want to go for a walk to my kid and he's like I'm gonna ride my bicycle this kid never wants to ride his bicycle he hasn't wanted to ride his bicycle since we got it like two years ago oh yes insane. Okay, let's get on the bike. So he got on his little
The Rescue and Adoption of Sushi the Kitten
00:02:23
Speaker
bike. He's having the time of his life and I'm walking around the neighborhood and I keep hearing a meowing sound and it's a circular neighborhood. I don't understand how it's possible that no matter where I go, I hear a meowing sound. So I went to the center of the neighborhood and there's this big storm drain. It's square shaped.
00:02:42
Speaker
like one of the square shaped storm drains where water goes through any end and inside I see two tiny little glowing eyes and the loudest meow you will ever hear. I could not leave that poor little kitty down there right before this big storm. in coyote country because that's where I live it was tough so my kid immediately is telling me to call the firefighters because he's three and he's been watching a lot of you know like save the kitty he's like looking for firefighters he wants us to get a crane he's telling me to get the cement mixer for some reason because he's gonna save the kitty with the cement mixer I don't know. a lot of A lot of people should have been called. But I was like, let's go get Daddy. So we went and got Daddy from the house. First thing we tried to do was a blanket down the storm drain to see if it would climb on. It did not want any part of that. We tried a board to see if it would climb it, did not want any part of that. We tried to coax it out with treats. It just wanted to crunch on them down there. So finally, my sweet, sweet husband went down into the storm drain, even though he's very scared of a dark
00:03:47
Speaker
confined spaces and got that little kitty out. And the second I saw it, I knew that I had to keep it. So... It's the the cat distribution system. Okay. The amount of times I've heard people say that, that is like, I've literally never heard this phrase before. Well, it's because you probably don't ever get on Reddit. That's true. My husband was like, it's all over the internet. Yeah. And I was like, well... To be fair though, Monkey hadn't heard of it either. Because I was like, did you know that Nylene had never heard of the cat distribution system? And he's like, what?
00:04:16
Speaker
<unk> like the the what? Well, we're the same person. i well yeah That's true. That's true. so so yeah But he's all over Reddit, so I don't know. That's true. That's fair. that's That is a weird one. Yeah. So I ended up calling Nim over because I do not have cats. I'm also going to start this by saying that Naomi does not call me. We don't speak on the phone. No. We text and we talk in person. And even worse is I like video called you. yes I do not do that because we are both very anxious, nervous people. And that's just not something you do to someone who's anxious and nervous. It's like there's something on fire if I am calling you, especially face calling. You called me, you video called me. That made me feel like this was very important. Also, it was your birthday. Am I ever going to not answer the phone?
00:04:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it was my birthday. So yeah, yeah, I get a call. And as soon as I open it, I see Bash playing with a cat inside Nylane's home. Nylane doesn't have a cat. And listen, we have all talked about and like, no shame to anyone out there who's done it. But like,
00:05:20
Speaker
I just don't feel like pets are presents. Like that's not something we do. So she knows that's out of the ordinary for me to have a cat for my birthday. Like I'm not going to go out on my birthday specifically and get a cat. No one's going to give me one because that's not, that's just not, it's just not it it needs to be a well thought out thing. yeah Um, and I think that's what I struggled with a little bit to be honest is I felt bad that I didn't make this conscious decision to have a cat.
00:05:45
Speaker
And you're such a planner. Yes, I'm such a planner. But yeah, she brought over and brought over some litter and some food and everything we needed to hunker down for a few days with the kitty while it iced and pretended to snow outside. And honestly, she's been ah so sweet. I It's a torti. I don't know if any of y'all know what that is, but it's like a tortoiseshell colored coat. She's like a Halloween cat. She is half black, half orange, and it's all mixed in, and it's so cute and so pretty, and she's got the sweetest eyes, and she purrs constantly. Apparently, these cats are supposed to be like the sassiest little creatures in the world beyond what most cats are already. I haven't seen that yet. We'll see what happens. But yeah, I have a new nightmare kitty.
00:06:30
Speaker
We have a new niece. We I have a new niece. Her name is Sushi. Sushi Sushi. Yeah, she likes it. I do too. and She's very sweet. She gives nice soft little bites and nibbles whenever its something she doesn't like, but it's all very gentle and soft and nice. So so far for me not having been a cat person really, it's been really great. so I just couldn't take her to a shelter because I know what happens. There's like so many animals out there. I just, I couldn't do it. And she's so sweet. So I told her she just has to get along with my doggy dojo. Yeah, so far. She's not a fan. He wants to cuddle with her. She does not want him to come near her. And I'm thinking maybe she's just afraid of dogs, but it's a whole new situation and he's an awfully weird looking cat. So real quick,
00:07:19
Speaker
the whole coincidences of it all. and Because I asked my husband, I was like, are you gonna be upset if I keep this kitty? And he said, there are entirely too many coincidences that had to have happened for you to have found this cat that I cannot tell you that you can't keep it, so follow your heart. Which is like the worst thing you can say to me, because I am so indecisive. For Christmas, him and my son picked out, well, my son really picked out from the store this little lucky cat.
00:07:47
Speaker
right? That's where it starts, which was really funny. And then the same day, my birthday that I found the cat, the same day we were at work talking about how everyone had gotten new pets over the holiday. And they were saying, you know, it's time for you to get a cat ah an animal. and iileen And I said, if anything, I would get a cat, but I'm i'm just not doing that.
00:08:08
Speaker
and introduce the cat. And then, of course, it was my birthday. But we took her to the vet. She weighs 4.7 pounds, which is exactly what my son weighed when he was born because he was a preemie. And her birthday is the same week as my son's. So it's just like it feels like it's a little too meant to be. A little on the nose. Yeah. And I had to be off work. My son had to magically decide he wanted to go for a walk and ride his bike, which he never does. Like all of it had to have happened.
00:08:38
Speaker
The universe gave me a cat, and I have accepted this cat. It's usually hit or miss with kitties. you're Like, she's a snuggler. Yeah, she is. She's so cuddly. she She loves pets. She will sit on laps. And that's, you know, I can't think of a more perfect cat for you. Yeah, I agree. So here's to good things. I know I have been hogging this whole segment. So if you want to... No, no, no, it's okay. But I will say that we must put sushi on the social medias and whatnot. Oh, yes, we do. Yeah. Share her with the world. Everybody deserves to see sushi.
00:09:12
Speaker
one day i wish we could get all three of them together but i don't know that's futuruses potential adventure yeah if the the moment happens it happens but you know i i assume what would have to happen is i'd have to bring grandma yeah he is a he likes you know he has his harness we put his hoodie on for this to know store did he like it he didn't hate it but you know after a while he wants to like bathe right so he can lick his armpits because they were yeah great. So he doesn't hate it. ah He seems like snuggly in it. And when we went outside, I know he was happy to have it. I even stepped outside and let the snow hit his head and he was very ready to go back inside. it Oh, yeah, no, I do want it. That was another thing I wanted to ask you guys about some tips about harness training because I do want to be able to like let her come outside with me on the back porch. Patience.
00:10:00
Speaker
because it's a months-long process of put the harness on and watch her flop and not want to move and keep it on for a little bit and then take it off and you do it for, you know, you start for a few minutes at a time and then you work up to an hour at a time and and you work on getting her to play while it's on it. You know, we'll we'll talk about it when you do it, but it's it is a process and you just got to be patient.
00:10:23
Speaker
Got it. So how about you? What have you been up to besides helping, you know, me? stray hat I mean, that's been a big part of it. I don't know, man. I've been. Time means nothing to me right now because we had basically two snow days off of work and and I didn't leave the house for those. And I didn't leave the house yesterday either. And coming to the nightmare cottage today was the first time I'd left the house. And I get two doors down away from my house on the way to the nightmare cottage. And that something doesn't sound right.
00:10:50
Speaker
Turns out I have a very, very, very flat tire. So I go back and I get monkey's car and I head this way. But like, it you know, they're just that chaos and everything's fine. Just messy. Just yeah. Yeah, just messy. Yeah, things are
Nim's Hectic Week and Flat Tire Incident
00:11:06
Speaker
good. You know, but it's this, you know, this post holiday restructuring after the first of the year. And there was not like really a calm moment. And I feel like I usually get a calm moment. Oh, yeah. And that didn't happen this year, which is fine. But You know, yeah, I'm not as far ahead as I'd like to be by this time, but still the beginning of the year, we got time to make 2025. True. And I'm feeling confident because like right before, even though I had two weeks off, it was the busiest two weeks I've ever had off. I still got the house cleaned ah as as you've seen. It's it's what's it called? Devolved? It's entropy. Entropy is your glasses are falling down. You might want to. There you go.
00:11:47
Speaker
as I get ready to actually thought entropy was like them something like is decaying or like it's um it's a scientific concept that refers to a measure of disorder or randomness within a system. Oh, like of mine so oh I'm being atrophy. Oh, atrophy. Yeah, sorry. not Not that one. no Not that word.
00:12:05
Speaker
But yeah, entropy, it's it's it's real. It happens. That's why after a week of playing a video game with Monkey, when I don't normally take the time to play video games, my kitchen has been mounded over with bullshit despite the fact I haven't been cooking. It's just stuff set on the counters. And this and this is life. You're just living your best life. And that's okay. I am living some kind of life for sure. All right, listeners. So you heard it here first. Word of the day? Entropy.
00:12:34
Speaker
but
00:12:39
Speaker
As I stated, my life has been chaos. So I did something relatively short, so I'm happy you have something very long. There's so much that goes into this into this topic that I am a little sad that I couldn't go deeper, but I might just do another episode one day that goes into other stuff on it. I feel that.
00:12:56
Speaker
So I was looking into, I came across this thing on like makeup and how it used to be really bad for us, right? I'm not talking about like in the 1700s or even the 1800s, I'm talking about like 1900s and on, like when we should have started knowing a little bit better. So I want to say that it was the first time I really even considered something like that was when you were pregnant with Bash and you were like, I can't wear anything that has talc in it and like everything has talc in it. And I was like,
00:13:26
Speaker
What does that have to do with it? Like I had no idea. yeah would Never thought, I mean, I know that topical medications and stuff are a thing. So of course it makes sense that anything you put on your skin can have, I never considered it until
Dangers of Early 20th Century Beauty Products
00:13:38
Speaker
then. And it's crazy too. Cause I, even my mom was like, oh, we didn't worry about any of this stuff. And you came out fine. And I'm like, and that's fair. But did you though? that way Just kidding. I love you.
00:13:51
Speaker
Sorry. rude Um, anyways, yeah, I mean, like, it's just, you know, a level of care once you know things, but I saw something, I think it was probably Tik Tok or something that, that was talking about make it back in the day. And then it made me want to look into like wellness and health regulations, like prior to regulations, what things looked like in the New World when things were starting to, not just in the New World, and like as in the US, but like also just in general in that time period. Post-industrial revolution. like yeah Yeah. So what what did that look like? So we're going to start in 1898 when Marie Curie, we know who that is. yeah
00:14:28
Speaker
She was a Polish-French scientist. She coined the term radioactivity when she discovered radium. And by discovered, as she isolated what was now known to be radium. Medical practitioners at that time found that they could successfully use radium for x-rays to treat cancer, tuberculosis. So a lot of the consumer brands started to capitalize on this.
00:14:49
Speaker
and they said you know radiation therapy has a really good reputation for wellness oh no yeah to the point where brands are claiming to be radioactive even if they're not they're like this is radioactive like it's it's it's like fallout over here like so exciting yeah i'm like appalled right now oh it gets worse oh god yes So one example of this came in 1932 in a new line of scientific beauty products that was just boats. Yeah, she's using the air grown little bunny ears, scientific beauty products um that were introduced under the name so radio by pharmacist Alex moose Sally. I had to be really careful there. It's not Mussolini. It's moose alley.
00:15:28
Speaker
Alexis Moselli, he brought on the physician Alfred Curie as the figurehead of the company. It's assumed that he brought on Alfred to capitalize on his last name of Curie, ah which had been made famous by Marie and Pierre. So side note on this, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie actually tried to take on the collection for the company trying to attach the name Curie to these products. So this was an unrelated Curie? Yes, it was an unrelated Curie. They don't even know if his name really was Curie or, yeah, it's crazy.
00:15:58
Speaker
um But nothing ever came of of the legal action. I guess they couldn't write at the time. yeah Anyways, so the the line of a thoradium, it was named after the radioactive elements that contained thorium, radium, and bromide. This new brand promised to improve circulation, firm muscle tissue, reduce fat, smooth wrinkles, and give you cancer. At the time, all that was known about radioactive items was that they were pure energy. Because of this, all of these products implied that they would add vibrancy and glow to your skin, teeth, hair, and general health, maybe even a real glow. This line of products included lipstick, face powder, ointments, soap, suppositories, razor blades, energy drinks, and condoms.
00:16:43
Speaker
Yes. So these days, even the idea is a nightmare. But during that time, it was more easily accepted. So in you said this was the 1890s? This was in 1930s. 1930s, Jesus. okay As it turns out, the radioactive cosmetics like creams didn't provide the revitalizing effects that they promised. No kidding. But they had such low levels of radioactivity because think of it. Luckily, radium was very expensive, very, very expensive to come by to incorporate into these creams and stuff. Well, it breaks down. of Exactly. yeah So with a lot of the creams, like even nowadays, like in that they retested them, I think, like in the 60s and 70s of the older products. um And they still tested for like a little bit left, so the half-life was still there, but it wasn't enough to cause any harm, right? Luckily for the creams, it had such low levels that damage was very limited to the people. But another example of you know the harmful wellness products was an ingestible product,
00:17:42
Speaker
called Radithor, oh no so it caused a lot more damage. It was, quote, certified radioactive water, which consisted of distilling water with radium dissolved into it. It was advertised as, quote, a cure for the living dead, end quote.
00:17:59
Speaker
and promised to cure a plethora of problems from diabetes to sexual decline. my god This drink ended up killing its most famous promoter, American socialite and athlete, Eben Byers, who was well known to drink up to three bottles of Radithor every day for years, upon the being prescribed it by his doctor. Upon his death in 1932, news headlines read, quote, the radium water worked fine until his jaw came off, end quote.
00:18:29
Speaker
Yeah. I'm coming to laugh. What a headline, right? Luckily, the expensive price kept damage limited to a few consumers. So a lot of the radium products, luckily, like I said, it was very expensive. So those the damage was very limited. But other ones, not so well, right? Is this like rich bitches now putting eggs like stone eggs into their vaginas where the rich people are the only ones who are... I'm sorry, what?
00:18:54
Speaker
um Are you familiar with goop? yes with squi pal trolls tros Yes. She sells things like candles that smell like her vagina. and She promotes things like horrible, like so like vagina enemas with whatever the fuck. I can't remember what, but it was awful. And she sells these... Isn't a vagina enemas just a douche?
00:19:11
Speaker
Listen, if you're rich, it's a vagina enema. Okay. And ah she sells jade eggs and the various stones that you put into your vagina for some reason. ah Doctors tell you to not do that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm probably gonna have to cut all of that out because I don't want to get sued. but Because, you know, people listen to our podcast, yeah but whatever. um Yeah, it's a thing. Rich rich bitches will do anything for youth and beauty and... Would you say that rich bitches get stitches because they're like going under the knife? Jesus Christ.
00:19:43
Speaker
I'm just saying. Anyways, these examples along with the well-documented damage to the radium girls made the public and government take a second look at the use of radium and other ingredients that might cause harm to consumers. so In 1937, we're coming around.
00:19:59
Speaker
And the French government restricted the sale of products that contained thorium and radium. And in 1938, the Federal Food and Drug and Cosmetic Act outlawed ah deceptive packaging, which made it harder for these types of products to promote unproven claims from miracle cures. So thoradia, one of the ones we were talking about, they continued to make products all the way through the 1960s, but they removed a good amount of the radioactive materials that they contained.
00:20:23
Speaker
So one of the really amazing things that came from the 1938 act was a public campaign by the FDA's exhibition titled American Chamber of Horrors. Have you heard of this?
00:20:35
Speaker
No, it sounds just right up my alley. Yeah, if you haven't heard of this, I mean, it's not like traditional horror, obviously. Yeah, but like, that's kind of what we do, right? Yeah. But yeah, if you haven't heard of it, like, look it up. It's really interesting. and Not only did it highlight the dangers in the beauty industry, but it also opened the public's eyes to like toxic ingredients, um exaggerated promotional claims in a lot of other industries, specifically foods. So some of the health and beauty products that were highlighted in this chamber of horrors were Dinitrophenol, Coramlu, I'm sorry, Lashlor, Othine, and Paragla. So I'm going to talk about each one. Dinitrophenol, it was touted as a supplement to accelerate the metabolism and help with weight loss. So this industrial chemical eventually caused the user to experience a fatal blood disorder and or cataracts. Because it was classified as a cosmetic and not a drug, it was outside of normal regulation. So
00:21:31
Speaker
That's one of the things that this FDA thing started highlighting was like, there's a lot of stuff outside of the scope of regulation that we need to. Quorum loo, I'm sure I'm saying that wrong. Quorum loo, quorum loo, quorum loo.
00:21:45
Speaker
I'm leaving that in. Thanks. um It was supposed to help remove unwanted hair. So think like Nair, which I don't know if, have you ever used Nair? I know you're aware of Nair. I used it like way back in the day, like over 20 years ago. You're hairless. I don't know how that's possible, but anyways.
00:22:00
Speaker
ah I don't know. This was a top seller. Sold over 120,000 jars just in the first year alone. And the main active ingredient in corn loo was thallium acetate, which was commonly used as rodent side. So um it was rat poison. I'm sorry, are you trying to infer that mare Not Nair. Okay. Not Nair. Do I have cancer in my legs from using it 20 years ago? No, no, no, no, no, no. Kora M. Lu, that was what it was meant to do. Like it was supposed to be like Nair where like you put it on and it removes your hair. Okay. I'm just saying I'm comparing it to a current day product. Got it. Got it. know No, no. Don't sue us. Nair does not contain rodent side that I know of and you should be fine. It just smells really fucking bad. Oh yeah. Well, at least it used to. I don't know. And burns like a motherfucker.
00:22:49
Speaker
So anyways, it contained rotten poison, which eventually caused consumers to experience neuromuscular damage, respiratory problems, blindness, permanent hair loss. So I guess it kind of did what it was supposed to do, but there was one report that a consumer lost her teeth, her eyesight, her ability to walk, and she caused ah cost her to lose her job because she couldn't do anything anymore. So, yeah. Another one was Lash Lore. It was like early days mascara and eyebrow dye. It was cold, tar-based.
00:23:20
Speaker
and it caused users to lose their eyebrows and eyelashes. In some really bad cases, it caused vision impairment and blindness. right Othine was touted as a way to remove dark spots and brighten skin. Its active ingredient was mercury. oh Users risked bone deterioration, tooth loss, neurological damage, pulmonary damage, renal damage, cognitive and sensory impairment, and of course, death, because it's mercury. um And lastly, prolagla,
00:23:49
Speaker
paraal Paralga was advertised as a weight loss supplement that contained aminoprine and barbiturates. This led to something called, I'm so sorry guys, agranulositis, which basically just eliminated white blood cells completely in women.
00:24:05
Speaker
and of course left you open to infections and they couldn't fight off the infection, so they died. While these enforcements by the FDA didn't completely protect consumers, it was a good start to educate them about what was in the products that they were using. So manufacturers now have to provide scientific proof that products are safe to use before they put them on the market. They also have to ensure that labels are accurate and have necessary approvals by the FDA or risk being fined. um It's not a perfect system, but we do see this today in our current day regulations and voluntary or forced recalls that keep us safe. That's all very terrifying. Yeah. And that's it for me. Wow. I know that the FDA doesn't regulate everything.
00:24:46
Speaker
so Yeah, they just started regulating um how much lead can be in infant products. Right. I saw that. I saw that. Yeah. yeah And ah they don't regulate regulate supplements at all. Correct. And so many people just yep take those and there's no guaranteeing that what's in it is what's in it. Correct. Terrifying. Yeah, it's all crazy. But I mean, baby steps hopefully will get us somewhere. But it's crazy to look back. There's a lot of stuff that I'm probably going to incorporate in some other episodes too. Like this was just very baseline. Like I said, I didn't have a lot of time. but
00:25:17
Speaker
There's just so much out there that we've looked at and just been like, yeah, this is totally healthy for you. I mean, everyone knows cigarettes. Like, everyone was like, cigarettes, smoke them when you're pregnant. It'll help you. I don't know what we thought that could do. something I don't know.
00:25:37
Speaker
So what happened? So this story took a lot out of me. Okay. The story changed from the time I started researching till the time I finished it as far as what I was going to do. I knew Mary Shelley was a badass. We talked about her before in our I think our first ever nightmare fuel. Yeah. Mother of science fiction kept her husband's heart wrapped in a silk bag after his death. She's a fucking goddess. So my intent when I started this story was to briefly touch on her and then to focus on Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus.
00:26:05
Speaker
But then I started my research process, which is becoming a bit of a ritual, which I love, so thanks for giving me a reason to do that. But the ritual was a bit upended this time. I usually cover a lot of ancient folklore and traditions, and though I spend quite a bit of time poring over what the internet has to offer me, even tearing it down to what the scholars have been able to discover through the wee bits of evidence and tradition that we have left, the amount of information is usually simmered down to like, yeah, a few points, right? So there's only so much I can share and in I, you know, despite all of the resources I usually get about the same information. Yeah, I was running into that problem too. It's not necessarily a problem. But that's usually why I don't know. First of all, that's usually why it's so easy to contain my research, because there's only so much to work on. It's a problem for me, because I'm like, like, even like some of the stuff, they're like, well, you know, the radiant thing, it really sucked and it hurt people. I'm like, but how like, you know, just hurt people. And I'm like, how? And they're like, people got hurt. And I'm like, cool, how did they get hurt? And they're like, yep,
00:26:55
Speaker
yeah Yeah, good point. Excellent point because you know you have to you have to get through some of those resources with paywalls to get the real information. I've run into that so much. yeah At this point, there's a few that I've hit a couple of times that I might end up just... Let me know so we can just get a group subscription. Yeah. Anyways.
00:27:12
Speaker
Anyways, but yeah, so I get down to those bullet pointed bits and then and I get kind of snagged on some of like the the lesser known resources. My brain just is like, oh, that's not as official or whatever, which I realize is completely antithetical to the tradition of folklore and folk pills because it's, you know, word of mouth and spread the way it is. Right. But Still, I usually try to stick with you know reputable scholars and historians and like websites that... Yeah, but we can't access a lot of scientific journals because, again, they're fine. Yeah. So anyway, i really I ran into something wholly different this time. Not only did Mary Shelley live in much more in a much more recorded time and place in history than what I usually cover, she was a very voracious writer. She kept correspondence with a lot of people. A lot of those letters still survive. Oh, wow. And she also pretty much constantly kept up a journal. Oh, that's cool. and several of those have been published. Many of her friends were writers, philosophers, scholars, and and the like, you know, real similar, you know, types of people. And they also had many letters and journals that you can reference today. And so there's really just a whole lot more to pull from. So question Yeah, before I bring this up, are you going to mention how
00:28:16
Speaker
the idea Frankenstein came to be. of course okay I was just wondering before I brought it up because I was like, that's so cool. Sorry. Anyways. Yeah. Yes. In fact, i actually I ended up having to mostly focus on that because there's just so much information that I really couldn't diverge too much. And since my original intent was really to kind of follow the evolution of the story of Frankenstein from the book to, you know, throughout the generations of media that yeah come out, like we're coming up on the 200th anniversary of the or no we passed the 200th anniversary of the release because it and was originally published in 1819. Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. But through all the personal writing and as well as the published works of Mary Shelley and her entourage, a really vibrant picture of her life was teased out and damn, her life was interesting. All of that to say this is more Mary Shelley than Frankenstein, but it's still both.
Mary Shelley's Life and Literary Influence
00:29:03
Speaker
Quite honestly, I wasn't even able to get into all the resources I wanted to, several books and movies and documentaries and stuff on my to be read and watched list at this point that even though I'm done with like, I
00:29:14
Speaker
I feel like I should have waited on this story and continued to research it. No, because we have so many on the back burner. I know. There's just so much here. The amount of stuff I've left on the cutting room floor for this story, and it's still going to be overly long. Also, it's worth mentioning that if reality shows were a thing in the 1810s and 1820s, Mary Shelley and her, what she called her Italian circle, would have been prime targets for content. They were just very dramatic. In the real world, Mary Shelley and Italian.
00:29:43
Speaker
ah Well, let's let's call it real world Geneva. Let's start with that because that's where that the the creation of the story happened. But we'll get there. So Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley might have been seen as a Nepo baby if she didn't struggle financially most of her life. Her parents were William Godwin, who was politically progressive and a philosopher of enlightenment. And Mary Wollstonecraft, who was a super feminist and wrote a vindication of the rights of women, which is still upheld as influential in women's rights today,
00:30:13
Speaker
I mean, these were two really great thinkers. And they actually met at a dinner party with Thomas Paine, who wrote Common Sense. I don't know the name sense. Yeah, it's a US history bullet point there. They spent the evening arguing, disagreeing with everything that each other had to say. And then five years later, they were married with a baby be on the way. So I lost actually a lot of time diving deep into her parents because they were truly remarkable people. And if they were even a little bit spooky, I'd find a way to do stories on one or both of them.
00:30:40
Speaker
But today we focus on Mary Shelley. So as I mentioned, there's an absurd amount of information on every single person, well, in her name, which, you know, Mary, Wollstonecraft, Godwin, Shelley, Wollstonecraft is her mother, Godwin is her father, and then Shelley, her husband, which we'll talk about him in a moment.
00:30:56
Speaker
It wasn't until the scholars began looking into her personal writings in the 1980s that people really stopped to actually look at her for her. She was mostly known for being Percy Shelley's wife by scholars, and her writing of one of the most lasting novels on the fucking planet was really just a footnote. Many people even questioned if she really wrote the story, assuming it was written by her husband instead. Wow. I know. through examinations of and of the revisions and notes made by Percy in the notebooks and stuff that, you know, were used for this. It's almost on par with that of a standard line editor. Like he really, yeah you know, she fucking wrote the book. yeah I digress.
00:31:31
Speaker
The first touch of darkness to hit Mary's life was actually the death of her mother 11 days after she was born. oh Her mother contracted a postpartum fever that was likely due to the doctor's attempts at removing the broken placenta and in a less than sanitized situation. yeah Her father was deeply heartbroken and Mary was raised reading her mother's writing and very much cherish the idea of her. She spent a lot of time at her mother's grave and she even learned to write her name by tracing the letters on the gravestone. She would go there to read and write and just generally chill.
00:32:00
Speaker
As I mentioned, her parents were quite remarkable and at least a little bit famous. William Godwin had many followers and fans. He was also supremely in debt. He was frequently saved from this by his powerful friends and affluent fans. One such potential benefactor was Percy Shelley. He was a poet and a philosopher who had been a fan of William and his wife's work and was very eager to meet with him. He had agreed to help William with his debts. Percy's aristocratic family didn't approve of his philosophical views that money should be used to help people that needed it. So they pinched off his allowances until he came into his inheritance. Rich people problems, am I right? Anyways, this may have been what led Percy to withdraw his offer to settle William's debts, which understandably ticked off William. Meanwhile, during his courting of ideas with William, he was also just plain courting William's daughter despite being married. The scandal, oh my gosh. The two would meet at her mother's grave and talk about philosophy, her parents' work, and other similarly sexy and tantalizing topics. Eventually, Mary confessed her love to Percy, and then he popped her cherry on her mother's grave. Oh my god.
00:33:01
Speaker
She was 16 and he was 21 by the way. Oh my gosh. Yes. Soon after this, Mary Percy and her stepsister Claire Claremont took off to travel through France, journaling all the while. This was in 1814. She came home pregnant and her father was thoroughly displeased and turned her away, which she was very much not expecting. Her family and domesticity was a very core value of Mary's and she very much believe one should never cast out their family. So those was very, very hard on her. Unfortunately, the baby passed away before it was named.
00:33:31
Speaker
Naturally, this was extraordinarily impactful on Mary and would affect the tone of her writing in a lot of ways, which we'll touch on soon. to Switching gears a little bit, let's head into 1816, the year without a summer. okay The year without a summer was basically a year where global temperatures dropped due to two years in a row of major volcanic activity. First in the Philippines in 1814, and then a major blast from Mount Tambora in what is now Indonesia in 1815, which the volcanic ash block sun and yeah vegetation. Absolutely. Yeah, temperatures drop. Europe experienced some of the most drastic disruptions with the coldest days on record for over 200 years. In addition to the extreme agricultural pressure due to massive crop failures, this was also when a group of artistic 20-somethings, well, okay, Lord Byron was just barely 30, but still, that when these 20-somethings escaped to a couple of rental properties in Switzerland to be young, pretentiously smart, and progressive.
00:34:21
Speaker
So part of Mary and Percy's shared philosophy was that monogamy was for jumps and they didn't care about marriage. It was agreed upon that either of them could take additional lovers, but it seemed to be a bit one-sided. There are many women who were likely lovers of Percy's, but most documentation makes it seem like Mary may have flirted with a few people, but she really only wanted Percy.
00:34:40
Speaker
You're like, I'm assuming he divorced his wife and then they got married, right? Or no, they never got married. Okay. Yeah. So this was one of the the bullet points that got dropped, but I'm going to talk about it now since you asked. He did not divorce his wife. He was estranged when he first went to go meet with ah William Godwin and flirted with Little Miss Mary despite being married. And also Harriet, his wife, was pregnant.
00:35:02
Speaker
When they get back from this 1816 trip to Geneva, yeah Harriet, after having the child, um committed suicide, oh and then the then Percy and Mary got married pretty much immediately. Did she commit suicide?
00:35:20
Speaker
Harriet, yeah, she did. okay yeah There's a whole lot about it, actually. There are so many big stories within these people. yeah yeah she just They had been estranged. they were They hadn't been close, but she was still having to deal with the fact that her husband was with this young trollop and you know gallivanting across Europe and and doing all of this stuff while she was raising her babies and because he had had one previous child. And I will say also after she passed away, they basically agreed to give the children to the church.
00:35:48
Speaker
oh wow what an asshole he just well they didn't the the court said he was unfit Why? Probably because he was unfit. These were these were party kids, and he was constantly escaping debtors and things like that. But yeah, that's one of the very, very many stories I did not include in this. But it's like, God, there's there's a lot of that is horrific in its own way. It it really, really is. Sorry. Anyways, no, no, no, please escape to this place. Yeah. The Year Without a Summer. Mary, Percy and Claire were joined on this excursion, which at this point, they were actually avoiding debtors. And then they were joined by Lord Byron, who was avoiding the fact that he was becoming famous for his writing. And he was also basically a pansexual romantic disaster. He slept around a lot and just needed to get away. Nothing against pansexual or romantic disasters. No, I would have both of those in our lives. I was about to say I am that myself. But and he also brought his doctor friend, John William Polidori, who ends up you'll, you may know him from writing The Vampire, which was a short story, but ended up it's probably the most
00:36:50
Speaker
inspirational original vampire stories that and it has the most vampire lore that is most stuck to now and it even inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. Oh, I did not know that. He started that in this year without a summer even though there's some debate whether Lord Byron came up with it or not.
00:37:05
Speaker
but the actual story was written by John Peledori. Anyways, so that's who all is here. We've got Mary and Percy Shelley, Claire Claremont, Lord Byron, and John William Peledori. Okay. So aside from Claire, who's really kind of most known for the company she kept, this group was very, very influential in modern poetry and literature. So like kind of a powerhouse kind of thing. and So real talk, this scenario, the whole them being holed up in this house, combined with the fact that I read The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingray, are you familiar with that at all?
00:37:32
Speaker
I've heard of it. Okay. When I was really too young to appreciate the tragedy of it, these two situations are the romantic images I had of being a writer. And like being a writer is like the thing that I wanted to be most longest you know over my my childhood and whatnot. Staying in a big house with my young, hot, smart friends while there are storms and we tell ghost stories until we decide to have a writing contest. Yes, please.
00:37:53
Speaker
ah The Sun Also Rises also made me think a writer could just live in Paris and sit at cafes with their friends and be, and I just thought it was so romantic and cool. Anyway, this isn't about Hemingway, but the story influenced me at a young age before I had read Frankenstein. I may have seen bits of the movies. I mean, the influence of was a young woman in a seemingly glamorous situation where she writes scary stories with her friends. I mean, that was really formative for me and actually kind of still sounds fucking awesome.
00:38:17
Speaker
As I've already mentioned, that's the story. It was the summer of 1816 and all of this group of friends were sitting by a fire while storms raged around via d.o.t, which I probably pronounced wrong. It still stands today, by the way. Telling ghost stories to pass the time. Lord Byron suggested that they each write their own ghost stories as a contest.
00:38:33
Speaker
Mary was frustrated because she couldn't come up with something right away. And eventually, in what she referred to as a waking dream, she recalled things that she had learned about galvanism, which is electrical currents produced by chemical reactions. And in this case, more specifically, electrical currents within biological creatures, but she began to devise what would today become Frankenstein. So a quick summary of the book for those who haven't read it, because it's it's very different from any of the adaptations I've seen. I haven't watched any of the modern stuff, like I say modern stuff, anything in the last 20 years.
00:39:00
Speaker
The only thing is like I just thought it was so cool that like literally this whole, I don't know if song is the right word, but this whole empire right of Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster and all of it and all the different adaptations like came from a few friends sitting together and being like her just shooting the shit me and being like, This is my story. yeah You know what I mean? like I just thought that was really funny and cute and you in just a really cool way that this whole thing started. Just so small. Absolutely. like Super agree with that. and and that was kind of That's what I was going to do. I was just going to tell that story of that day at the cottage or whatever it's a mansion. That day and then talk about the evolution of the story, but her story was just too good to not do. But quick summary, I say quick. Victor Frankenstein is a scientist, just completely obsessed with creating life. Definitely one of the mad scientists. They're
00:39:44
Speaker
too busy wondering if they could to worry if they should kind of types. Anyway, he, spoiler alert, succeeds, but is repulsed by the creation. Just straight up bounces. The story is told as a series of letters with various points of view. First through Robert Walton, who finds Victor Frankenstein while on a voyage of discovery and adventure in the need of help. Robert is telling this whole story to his sister via letters. He then recounts Victor's story to her, and this is in Victor's voice. And then the last bit of storyception is within Victor's story is the monster story told in his voice.
00:40:14
Speaker
Anyway, after Victor took off from the monster, he just continued on doing what he does until he received word that his younger brother was murdered, and so he goes home. He knows for certain that his monster, who was not given a name, was responsible. A close family friend instead was held accountable and hanged. So now Victor is full of turmoil due to having created an abomination that killed two people close to him, and he knows he is responsible.
00:40:36
Speaker
You also get the monster story of how he went from knowing just absolutely nothing to learning from a family he watched for years and working up to learning their language and understanding their life motivations. He worked up the courage to approach them to disastrous results. This generally being the breakdown of, damn it, I just wanted it to be cool and I think you are all great, but fucking no, you all had to be scared of me and just assume I'm horrid. So fuck you, fuck this, fuck everything. I'm out. Yep.
00:41:00
Speaker
Anyway, that's generally the setup, but I recommend reading it. There's obviously the things that happen from that, but that that kind of gives you a general idea of how it's different from what cinematic, ah at least cinematic adaptations I'm aware of do. Yeah, no, I will say I never read, I don't think I ever read the book, but I did watch one of the films.
00:41:18
Speaker
And the part I remember the most was the little girl that drowned in the water, spoilers, the little girl that drowned in the water. And he's just, he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't understand. Yeah. He doesn't. Yeah. He doesn't understand. He doesn't know what to do. And, and everyone's looking at him and they're like, what have you done? And he's like, no, no, no, no. Like I, I, I'm trying to help her well and she was trying voice that. he was She was throwing pretty flowers in the water. yeah And so he thought we just throw pretty things in the water and watch them float, but she didn't float. And it was, yeah Yeah, man, we'll get to that movie because that is one of my favorite movies of all time. But it's very, very different from the books. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, we don't have the time to talk about it, but it's, you know, definitely worth exploring. So it's pretty heavily debated how much of this is actually autobiographical. But I think there's some pretty heavy implications that it at least some of it is Mary was very much affected by the loss of her child. She created life, but it was gone before she could give it a name.
00:42:08
Speaker
There are arguments for the parallels between Mary and Victor with their tragic losses. And then it shifts the pair to the parallels between Mary and the monster feeling out of place and detached. While Mary was pregnant with her second child, Percy had been gallivanting around with Claire and most likely having an affair. You remember what it feels like to be pregnant and miserable. If your husband was going on dates with someone else, how would you feel? And I didn't really like him during that time, so I probably would have been fine with it. He knows. I was just not a fan. Fair.
00:42:38
Speaker
Fair enough. Anyway, there's a lot more to the personal stories of Mary Shelley. She was an active writer until her death due to a brain tumor in 1951. She was 53 years old. Wow. Yeah, there's just really a lot of fascinating points that I'm just gonna have to leave out for time because i I need to talk about the legacy of Frankenstein itself. So there's a list that you can find online of like, it's like 187 movies. Oh, wow. That are either starring Frankenstein, starring the monster, or inspired by one or both of them. There are a ton of TV shows, plays, music and fiction that have all been spawned. The very first film was a silent film released in 1910.
Frankenstein in Film and Modern Recommendations
00:43:15
Speaker
But the real fire started with her modern moviegoers with the 1931 Universal ad adaptation starring Boris Karloff. That was when we saw that's the one we were talking about. Yeah, this movie
00:43:25
Speaker
Okay, first, so I will say that there are no doubt adaptations that I'm aware of that really stick to the plot of the book. But having said that, like I said, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's top five. I feel the tragedy. You feel the heartbreak. you feel I felt so bad. I think I remember I was watching it by myself. I left the room and I was crying and Ace was like,
00:43:47
Speaker
it's just a movie. And I'm like, you don't understand the heartbreak. like He couldn't explain that all he wanted was to be loved and to be accepted. like He wasn't a monster. And that very much captures his his story part in the book, I want to say. like It was a different story completely, but the vibe is correct. I will say that the ending scene, and I guess I just won't say that because even though the movie's almost 100 years old, you know spoiler alert.
00:44:12
Speaker
But the very last scene is like the most horrific. Yeah. Experience I've had with any horror movie ever. I agree. Like I was actually horrified. And I don't know, it was just so impactful. And I still love watching that movie. It's, ah it's so good. I'm gonna watch it when I go home.
00:44:30
Speaker
ah So I definitely recommend that. We both recommend that. It's so good. After that, Universal released The Bride of Frankenstein and The Son of Frankenstein, with still having Boris Karloff as the monster. But after that, we start slipping into B-movie territory. I've only seen a couple of these, but I do intend to watch more. Like there's so many, you know, Frankenstein and blah, blah, blah. And we also have to think of like the Scooby-Doo of it all, you know? and some of the gems that stand out are like Frankenstein Meets Wolfman, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Oh, good. And then there's the Blaxploitation film, Blackenstein. Oh, god. I know. There's just so many. There are so many, like like just any genre you can think of there was a fucking Frankenstein movie.
00:45:06
Speaker
But my absolute favorite, as we mentioned, is the 1931 version. After that one, though, my next favorite is Young Frankenstein. I wanted to see it. I have not seen it yet. Ace has, ironically, he hasn't ever seen any movie, I swear. It has Gene Wilder. Gene Wilder as Young Frankenstein. Yes. And it's just It's just magic. I watched that one at least once a year. It's one of my favorite movies of all time also. I don't know. That one's supposed to be a comedy, isn't it? Yes, it's a Mel Brooks movie. He's at which I don't know if you're familiar with Mel Brooks. That made me feel very old. and But he did the name sounds familiar, but I thought Mel Brooks was an actor, so I might be wrong. He's a director. He's acted in some of his things, but he did Robin Hood, Men in Tight, Spaceballs, Placings, Saddles, um Young Frankenstein, a billion things. Mel Brooks movies are formative to my life.
00:45:56
Speaker
And I recommend most of them. And that would be my second favorite one next to the 1931 movie, though. There hasn't really been a stop to the artistic works inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There's even a new movie coming out this year directed by Guillermo del Toro with Oscar Isaac playing Victor Frankenstein. And I haven't I mean, I actually just I found out about that while I was researching for this. I didn't even know I'm not as up to date on current movies, even current current horror. So I haven't watched any of the Frankenstein movies from the last 20 years. So I'm probably going to try to start that so I can see see what they did, what what takes they took on those.
00:46:28
Speaker
So anyways, Mary Shelley is amazing and fascinating and her stories are worth visiting. I mentioned I had to leave out a ton of the gossipy tidbits and sordid affairs. like I mean, she lost three of her children out of four. Percy died in 1922 by drowning and she devoted the rest of her life to publishing Percy's writing and raising her son, the one surviving son. There's also this amazing story about how she helped a woman and a trans man escape to Paris where they were accepted as husband and wife. in the 1800s. I still have more reading to do. And even with the more research I wanted to do, I still wasn't able to include everything that I had. yeah Mary Shelley is definitely worth looking into. And her writing is also awesome. The end. I love that. I had a lot of fun with this. I've been with Mary Shelley for the last two weeks pretty solidly. Yeah. You know, I always knew that story of the summer of 1816. But I wish I would have known earlier to look into her more. Yeah. Well, now you know. Now I know.
00:47:22
Speaker
And now you know as well, listeners. I said readers, almost like readers. Dear readers. Dear readers. Dear listeners.
00:47:33
Speaker
So I think that my nightmare fuel is what I just talked about. I think that if you haven't watched the 1931 Frankenstein or Young Frankenstein or read the book, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, all worth your time.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yeah, and I think My Nightmare Fuel is the, as silly as it sounds, the FDA's American Chamber of Horrors. Yeah, I marked it as charade one. Just look into it, not just so much. I don't know if the FDA site really has, because I was looking at the FDA site. They don't have a lot of it anymore on there, but the original one I know was like toured by, it was an actual, think of it like a museum, like it was a tour, and it was toured by Eleanor Roosevelt, I think. And she was just absolutely horrified by the things that were being presented. And I mean, some of it's just as simple as these poor people who were literally poor and struggling to survive were being ripped off by deceptive packaging or coloring of packaging or ingredients that weren't what they said they were. The more things change, the more things stay the same. Yeah, exactly. It's an interesting read. And like I said, some of the stuff that I brought up, some of it's horrifying. You're like, they were trying to get people to put this on their faces. That is insane. And suppository is where I keep getting snagged. Exactly. You're shoving shit up your ass and you don't... Okay. Exactly. Well, the condom too. You're shoving... Oh my God. Yeah.
00:48:56
Speaker
On and in. On and all around, wherever. Smacking around. Anyways, so yeah, that's my nightmare fuel. Look into that if you haven't.
00:49:11
Speaker
Do you want to do a palate cleanser? I think that that is necessary. OK, so for the palate cleanser this week, I kind of just wanted to do like a ah of Q&A or anything, but like just ask you some questions and just ah get to know you kind of thing. Yeah. Gotcha. Get to know you. Sorry. Sorry. I'm trying to figure out where that song is from now. The Sweeney Todd song? No. What am I thinking? Now I want to watch a musical. ah Oh. The King and I. OK.
00:49:37
Speaker
First question, what's the most interesting place you've ever visited? Salem. And why? Because it's neat. Because it's old. It was so old. The Airbnb I stayed in was older than America. And we were right on the commons, right? Like everything was just walkable and so old. And so I just love old shit so much. And it was cool to, you know, obviously the touristy bits, it was fun to see where Hocus Pocus was.
00:50:02
Speaker
film. And it was really cool to go to all the shops. I didn't know it was actually filmed in Salem. Yeah, they would have done it in California. Part of the walking tours are include not Max's house, because that's, you know, like, a mile away from the main area. But Vanessa's house, the big know rich people house, you know, that's there and it has a big beautiful garden in the back and then the town hall. And that's actually where we met for the walking tour. Anyways, it was just, I don't know, I've always been a little witchy. And it's kind of, you know, little witchy, little bitchy.
00:50:31
Speaker
little witchy lot of bitchy. Yeah. All right. Let's see. What's your favorite book and why does it resonate with you? Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I read it in high school and I had never read a book so perfectly catered to my dark little mind. It's like, if you haven't read it, it's another one I recommend. We can just bonus that on fucking nightmare fuel. It's spooky. It's got a carnival, a dark spooky carnival, and it's kind of a coming of age situation with a lot of really dark themes and a badass scary witch with her eyes sewed shut and a fucking evil Calliope. Just so much cool stuff.
00:51:09
Speaker
there's whole lot There's a lot there. it's it's And it's beautifully written. It's so beautifully written. I actually, the last time I reread it, I had just recently read a bunch of garbage and ah like fun garbage, garbage that I enjoy, but like not high quality literature. And I feel like something wicked this way comes as almost more of a YA, but it's so beautifully written. It's just, ugh. I feel like there's a lot of heart in YA. I feel like it gets a bad rap for the writing style. I think that people assume that when it's labeled YA that it's for kids and it's not. Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of emotion and heart in it a lot of the times. right There's so much there's so much there and I think it's just people being snobs about it and saying oh I'm too good to read YA but there's so many great stories. I agree. What's the most unusual job you've ever done?
00:51:53
Speaker
but I mean, maybe what I have right now, but I don't want to talk about that. i did When I was in high school, I did tech theater. And because I was you know one of the ones that actually knew what I was doing, when one of the big ballets came to use our theater, because we had a really badass theater in my high school, I got to do the light and sound for like a Russian... I didn't know you did light and sound. I did light and sound. Did you really? I was an all around tech person. I did all of it, but light and sound was my favorite. And so, yeah, I got paid to run the light and sound board for the Russian ballet. It was really cool. What? That's amazing. ah If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would... Oh.
00:52:30
Speaker
That's not fair. I am obsessed with so many fictional characters. I know. I figured this question would be a good one for you. I have so many. That's a big question, but I'm gonna, okay, fictional characters. um This is probably, i did there's probably other different answers, but I'll say and there is a character named Alexia in a series of books I like to read from an author named Gail Carriger, who's possibly my favorite author. She writes Victorian steampunk vampires werewolves. It's really great. And it's funny and smart. And it's really good. Anyways, Alexia is the main character in her first series. And she's just so smart. And matter of fact, but also weird as hell and i funny. So I feel like we'd get along.
00:53:11
Speaker
I love that. Let's see. Let's do one more. Actually, I might do two more, but we'll we'll first do this one. If you could time travel, where would you go? Oh, God. Okay, so let's remove all of the horrible shit about you know how women are treated and all of time. I don't know. I think I would have done really well in the 70s, but I'm very fascinated with Victorian-ish era, late 1800s, provided that I am of aristocracy and can afford to not be a peasant, which I i know that's earlier. But like you know i want to be um I want to have means. I think I would have minded to like live a day or two, you know time travel, like maybe maybe take a week vacation in the peasant Victoria era. I don't know how long it lasts, but let's see. you know
00:53:57
Speaker
Well, I think part of the reason why I'd want to have money is just for a better chamber pot situation. Oh, fair enough. Yeah. And you don't want to empty the chamber pot. I don't want to empty the chamber pot. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Last question. What's a weird talent that you have? Do I have one that you know of? Am I forgetting something that I do? I mean, you're just i don't I don't know. I'm pretty straightforward, man. i ah I think maybe the weirdest talent I have is making everybody that lives in your house love me. Yeah, no, that's true. They are obsessed with you. I don't know if it's weird, but it's a very interesting thing. And I say talent because I don't know many people who can, but when it's something you're interested in, like um for you, it's it's books, obviously history.
00:54:42
Speaker
and anything relating to gardens. It's so weird the way that you can. I'm like, Hey, there's this weird thing. And you're like, Oh, yes, I know all of this information. And you just the vomited out. But it's just like, it's crazy, because it's like a whole dissertation. And I'm like,
00:54:59
Speaker
Where the fuck did that come from? But I can't memorize any of that kind of stuff. Like you asked me these questions. I would be like, I don't have anything. I'm not that deep. You are. You are deep. But I think that it comes from I i mentioned I think in one of our lost episodes that got lost to about editing.
00:55:15
Speaker
um Oh, we're talking about that. Well, we can bring it up. mean it's It's not quite as sore as it was. I think I had mentioned about how you're capable of liking something without making it your entire identity. I'm not. If I get into something, I'm fucking in it. This is why I've been obsessed with Mary Shelley for the last two weeks, because I can't half-ass multiple things, but I can whole-ass one thing real good.
00:55:41
Speaker
If it's something that I glom onto, i I have no chill and I will obsess over it. And this is why you can absolutely adore spooky things and your house looks like a well-rounded person listening. No, that's more shame for my parents. like i I just don't want to hear it. Oh, yeah. look Luckily, my mom's very cool. Yeah, I put up a school print and my mom was like,
00:56:00
Speaker
So you like dark, spooky things now? Like, it's not that serious, mom. It's just, it's going to be okay. where I left the cross up. You're going to be fine. I promise. Meanwhile, my mom helps contribute to my spooky shit. So yeah, I guess it does make it a lot easier. But yeah, that's, that's, I guess that is a thing is being obsessive.
00:56:22
Speaker
Obsessive in a good way though. I i feel like you're a obsessive where it counts in the way of being informative and helpful without being annoying. Oh yes, but it can be destructive though. We were talking before we started recording about how I've been playing a video game with Monkey and because I've been trying to play a video game and keep a podcast up and also exist, ah my house is trashed. Okay, but that's living life. i feel like I like i have have been appreciating a lot. like I know we're kind of getting off topic, whatever. Whatever, it's our podcast. But I've been appreciating a lot. i'm I'm a social media trash person. I never post, I just lurk. right And something that I've been seeing a lot more often is influencers who are like, yes, my home looks like this in the shot, but it also looks like this out of the shot or on other days. And it's a little, I don't know if humbling is the right word, but it's
00:57:15
Speaker
i I feel like that needs to be normalized. You know what I mean? like It's okay to live. It's okay to live in your house. It's okay to have a day where you don't fucking shower. It's okay to have a day where you just don't get out of bed and you watch TV. like Obviously, if you're having depressive episodes, please get help. I mean that in the most honest sense. I feel like it's just so, like in our especially in our world today and the way that we grew up, it's very much like Nope, go to work, go home, go to sleep, go to work, go home, go to sleep. You know what I mean? And it's like, it's okay to have hobbies and get excited and let it distract you from life. It'll still be there when we get there. It's too short. Yeah. But there's also something to be said for moderation. and Yeah, fuck moderation. Yeah, I'm not good at moderation.
00:57:59
Speaker
but Well, I feel like we have been talking, well, we being me have been talking forever. So I'm sorry I took over this podcast for today, but... I'm not. And I talked just as much as you because my story was crazy. Fair enough. So we're even. um This is our nightmare and we do what we want. It's true. It's my nightmare and I'll cry if I want to.
00:58:19
Speaker
sweet dreams. If you have topic suggestions, movie or book recommendations, questions for the cottage, or just want to say hi, you can email us at nightmarecottage at gmail dot.com. You can find us on Instagram at nightmarecottage and on our website at nightmarecottage.com. Sleep tight if you dare.