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Ghosts, Werewolves, & Vampires, Oh My
81 Plays11 months ago
On todays Commonroom Chat, we are gabbing about [spooooooky things!]. You've been warned, ickle firsties!
Remember, ickle firsties, there will be spoilers!
Our episodes are edited by our very own James Beltran. The music is licensed from Pond5 and were created by contributors: P_Ball, MLevanios, and JamesBlundson.
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Thanks for joining us, ickle firsties!
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Transcript
Introduction and Theme of Spooky Things
00:00:24
Speaker
where sometimes we host a chapter by chapter page to screen analysis of the Harry Potter series. And sometimes we just have a common room chat. I'm Sarah Day. I'm James. And I'm Meeks. And on today's common room chat, we are gapping about spooky things. So you've been warned, Iglversies. Before we begin, a message from the Daily Prophet.
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00:00:57
Speaker
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00:01:15
Speaker
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00:02:02
Speaker
dreams, if you have anxiety, you you know where I'm going with this. So I really wanted to stop drinking so much caffeine, which um kind of ah makes your anxiety height heightened. um And so I was really grateful to get these samples and learn more about Rasa. I tried the coffee detox and um it was really great and I drink it every morning and Sometimes I'll have a cup of coffee or I'm sorry, a cup of Rasa in the afternoon as well. um And it's I don't have the jitters, I don't have the anxiety. It's a really great coffee alternative.
00:02:40
Speaker
Yeah, I'm so glad that it worked out because I was actually given those samples by somebody else just to test them out. And um some of the flavors just weren't ah my particular flavor profile, but I figured that you would like them. And I knew, like you said, that you were trying to cut out coffee. And so I was like, oh, this is perfect. And so I sent those over to you just kind of to see if you would like them. And I'm so glad that it worked out. It was it was ah really cool how that happened. Yes, thank you so much.
00:03:10
Speaker
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00:03:41
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Halloween Traditions and Harry Potter's Spooky Appeal
00:05:40
Speaker
Okay, welcome back, Listers. So in today's Halloween-themed episode, we are gonna be talking about different monsters and kind of their history, where they came from. So I pulled a few facts from different scary creatures. So what do you guys wanna talk about first? I've got ghosts, banshees, vampires. I think we should start with ghosts. Werewolves.
00:06:07
Speaker
well i think actually we should just definitely mention like how how halloween has become the harry potter see like marathon viewing type thing like when people when people get around this time of year it's like the first thing they go to is harry potter and like they do a whole like harry potter marathon and i think it's because of the the magical creature-ness of it all and like um and stuff like that so it's interesting that you say that because i actually feel like christmas christmas christmas marathon well but both christmas is so magical at hogwarts but also it is after all a story about witches no yes i agree i think that there's ah like i think
00:06:57
Speaker
Okay, I think there's a lot to it. I have to go on another tangent because I really want to talk about spooky things. But I feel like when the fall hits, you are thinking about cozy in books and cuddle up with a blanket and a sweatshirt and like hot cocoa or tea and reading. And so Harry Potter is seven books that you can read during the falls. And then of course, like you said, witches,
00:07:23
Speaker
Harry Potter, Halloween, um in the books they always have a Halloween feast. um So yes, I think it can kind of start. You start the marathon in October, you have a little break in November to catch your breath, and then you do it all over again in December. Interesting. Yeah. I just had to bring it up because I've just been noticing that now that it's October, there's a lot of like,
00:07:50
Speaker
reels and little like clips and stuff of people going like ooh Harry Potter marathon and I'm like interesting how that's a thing now is like October is the Harry Potter marathon
00:08:05
Speaker
I think it's just this time of year. This is my favorite time of year from October 1st through January 1st. Love it. This is such a great time of year. Anyway, so what miss mystical, spooky monster do you want to talk about first?
Ghosts in Harry Potter and Personal Encounters
00:08:22
Speaker
Do you need the list again?
00:08:24
Speaker
Well, no, I just think ghosts this is a good starting point because ghosts are very prominent in the Harry Potter universe. Yes, that's true. um And it's the first magical creature, not that that's a creature, but that we see in the Harry Potter series, isn't it? The Hogwarts ghosts? Yes. Yeah.
00:08:48
Speaker
depending on if he saw any in Diagon Alley, then yes. True. Goblins. Oh yeah, I didn't write anything about goblins. So anyway, ghosts. In folklore, a ghost is obviously the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghost lore, depictions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to a translu translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic life-like forms.
00:09:31
Speaker
There's references to ghosts back to the Mesopotamian religions, um and the concept of ghosts even um predate many religious belief systems.
00:09:47
Speaker
According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they've seen a ghost.
00:10:01
Speaker
have I I am one of the 18 percent. da OK, well, actually, I have not well, I have not seen a ghost, but I have experienced three ghosts.
00:10:21
Speaker
Hmm.
00:10:24
Speaker
I won't tell us. Okay. I have two positive ghost stories and one not so positive ghost story. Which would you like to hear first? Positive, negative, positive positive before negative. Okay. So.
00:10:44
Speaker
These ones are shorter than the the other one. So the first one is more of a guardian angel story. Um, but I was in my car. Um, I had had a flat tire. I didn't know it was a flat tire at the time. I was waiting for my uncle to come help me change my tire.
00:11:02
Speaker
And it was I had closed. I was a closing shift at an outlet, a clothing store at an outlet. And so it was like one o'clock in the morning, and pitch black, I'm in the middle of nowhere. These outlets are kind of like on a, well any road at 1am is not going to be Um, busy, but I saw a person all in black dressing, like walking on the street and it was just scary. I was, you know, um, probably 19, 20 years old. That's scary. I started getting nervous. Um, and when I was little.
00:11:39
Speaker
my my cousin was murdered and at his funeral they passed out pins with his picture on it and that pin was in my car um attached to my rearview mirror and I was starting to get nervous and the moment that I looked at his picture I felt a hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt a sense of relief.
00:12:04
Speaker
Um, and security and, um, that I knew I was going to be okay. Um, so again, more of a guardian angel type of story. Um, the second one, again, actually very guardian like.
00:12:19
Speaker
I was alone at the office and our office was down in this like basement area of a hotel. This is when I worked at a hotel. anne It was a resort and the hotel that at my office was in was one of the less used hotels, conference center. and we were at I was in the basement. My managers were both off-site at meetings.
00:12:44
Speaker
And the door to the office was shut, but I kept seeing a shadow walking back and forth. And so I went to the door and opened it up to see if anybody was out there. I didn't see anybody went back down to my desk and I saw the shadow resume his pacing. And so I finally started asking around and I i do live in a historical area.
00:13:08
Speaker
And I started asking around like, has anybody ever passed away around here? And they had told me that a chef had passed away. And I was like, tell me about this chef. um And they were like, yeah, he definitely would have like tried to protect you and like stand guard.
00:13:26
Speaker
um to like make sure that you were safe, um you know, and that nobody, so I don't know if there was like another spirit trying to get in or, you know, somebody was at the resort and he was like, you know, just standing guard pacing back and forth, making sure nobody got into that room.
00:13:48
Speaker
That's very sweet. Those are nice ghosts. Yeah, those are nice stories. Okay, there's the other one. Interesting how how you can have like experiences like that but the ghosts in Harry Potter are kind of like you because you described very like safe fairy relief feelings right but then like the ghosts if you touch them in Harry Potter are very cold very icy Uh, kind of scenario. So it's interesting how like really the only elements of interaction ghosts or spirits can have is that, that feeling you get kind of, kind of thing. Whereas like your ghosts weren't visible, but are visible in Harry Potter.
00:14:31
Speaker
But like if you touch one or one goes through you, like you feel, you have that feeling go down in like your spine, but it's very chilly. Whereas like you were describing feelings of like warmth and like safety and protection kind of. yeah So on those two, yes. So this last one is the.
00:14:52
Speaker
um In the middle this this occurrence that I'm going to tell you happened in between these two occurrences and um What happened was I made my first mistake um At an anthropology club and I told you guys before that I was in a fear of magic class which got me into anthropology so I joined the anthropology club and One day somebody brought a Ouija board And yes, listeners that aren't watching the YouTube, James immediately started shaking his head, he knows. And I will never ever again, do not. And listeners, if you've ever been interested in messing around with a Ouija board, do not because essentially a Ouija board is a key to your body, I guess, or like,
00:15:47
Speaker
you're When you're using a Ouija board, you're allowing spirits to use your body to move the cursor around. um So you're allowing spirits, you're opening yourself as a vessel, I guess. I'm not saying that I was possessed, and this is not the way this story is going to go. um I don't know that I believe in possession, but basically you're accepting, interacting with spirits.
00:16:12
Speaker
so
00:16:14
Speaker
Um, this was when I was in college, obviously anthropology club, and we, I was living in an apartment and the first thing that happened was, um,
00:16:28
Speaker
I had a calendar like a whiteboard calendar that was attached to my wall with command strips. Well, it fell off. No big deal. It was ki command strips. So I stuck it back up there with brand new command strips. A couple of nights later it falls down again. I'm like, okay, maybe this calendar is just too heavy for a command strips.
00:16:46
Speaker
um I don't remember what I did with the calendar. um I was also in a car accident um a few weeks prior to this, so I was in physical therapy and I was having um like massages. And when I went into one of my massages, the masseuse was like, um what are these marks? You have like bruises on your back. And I was i was like, I don't know what you're talking about. um And when I went home, I looked at
00:17:27
Speaker
my back to see what he was talking about. And it looked like it was thumbprints, but they weren't purple bruises. They were like pink bruises. and So I kind of started filling in some of my friends that were in the anthropology club letting them know what was happening Being like this is so weird and I compared Like I tried on different bras. I tried on different tank tops to see if Something could have left those marks on my body and nothing really lined up and then um
00:18:04
Speaker
i I think some other stuff like was happening through this time and I can't quite remember, but the moment that really freaked me out and i was my one of my classmates was finally like, I think we need to go talk to the professor and get her input on this was one night You know that feeling when you're falling asleep and you look jerk or awake, you feel like you're falling. I had that feeling, but it wasn't quite me falling. It was just like I jerked awake. And as I opened my eyes a split second, I saw
00:18:43
Speaker
more like a demon face, like you like more like an Asian demon style mask. um It wasn't red like the masks are, but I just I saw that as a split second and then it like disappeared and I kind of just shook it off like I was dreaming or something. Well, that morning I saw scratches on my back. I had three.
00:19:10
Speaker
scratches on my back. my god And they were like the Nike check mark, a shape like the Nike check mark, kind of. And there was three of them. Again, I tried everything to see if I could have scratched myself in my sleep. When I told my friend about it, we went to the bathroom.
00:19:31
Speaker
And like i I pulled the shirt off my shoulder and she even tried to force my arm to be able to get to the scratches where they were on my back and we couldn't do it. So that's when she was like, we need to go talk to the professor. And so I did, I filled my professor in on everything and even the Ouija board. and And that's who told me about when you use the Ouija board, you're opening yourself up as a vessel. So.
00:19:57
Speaker
She said, don't worry about it. I will call the spirit away from you um and it won't bother you ever again. I have several of them following me around. I'll just add one more, no big deal. um And after she said that everything stopped. Never had marks on my body. Stuff was never falling off of my wall anymore. Everything stopped after that. Wow.
00:20:24
Speaker
That's, that is so freaky. I've never had anything that I can think of happen to me, like to my person like that, like having marks or something. That's freaky. Yeah, I did not like it. Yeah. So I will know. I warn everybody don't do it. Don't do the word. And I can't watch.
00:20:46
Speaker
things like paranormal activity anymore. Because now it's just too real. Again, I don't believe in possession. like I think paranormal activity starts getting into the possession. um But um you know i and least to have marks on my body that I can't explain was just, it was too much. Yeah, that's crazy. When I was um I believe in high school, maybe middle school, um, I was at a friend's house and her house, there were quite a few rooms in it that felt really freaky. Like we just had a really uneasy feeling whenever we were in certain spots of the house and.
00:21:30
Speaker
There was one time where we were in one of these rooms and we we rarely went in there because it was like her her stepdad's like music room slash office or something. So like we just didn't really have reason to go in there very much, but there was a computer in there and this was back before everybody had laptops and stuff. And so I think we went in there because we had to use the computer, something like that.
00:21:52
Speaker
and there was nobody else in the room. And all of a sudden, one of the guitar strings plucked itself. And we, I i like have tears in my eyes right now, like remembering that because we looked at that guitar and we were like, we have to exit the house now. It was harded down scary. I've never had like,
00:22:20
Speaker
ah Do guitars do that? I'm not a musician. I don't have any instruments. I don't know if that's something normal or if it's like any guitar is sound normal or Guitarist listeners, please let me know if that's something that happens. I guess I could Google it. I've never looked it up because It just seems weird that it would do that, but it plucked. It was like very loud. It was not like we we could have imagined it. It was like, no, it sounded like somebody like strummed a guitar string loudly and it was just like standing there by itself and nobody was in the room. It was super freaky.
00:23:01
Speaker
Um, and then when there was one time, um, where actually this is when I was at a, like a youth group retreat back in probably around the same age again, like middle school, high school.
00:23:16
Speaker
and we were all like in a room together and I fell and I had my eyes closed and felt like a breeze go across my neck and it didn't and it felt it like it was like a guardian angel type of feeling. But it was like a breeze. And I think I felt like a hand on my shoulder too. But it was so real. And I remember opening my eyes and looking around because I was like, well, somebody just like touched me or like breathed on on me. And there was there. No, that was not happening. So that one was very real.
00:23:50
Speaker
See, that's the thing with with when I looked at my cousin's photo and felt a hand, like I felt a hand on my shoulder. Like I like i felt the pressure of a hand on my shoulder. It's crazy. hello um And then the house that I'm in right now, when we bought this house there right away, there was one room that felt very uneasy and spooky.
00:24:15
Speaker
And
Mediums and Haunted Experiences
00:24:17
Speaker
um ah when we first got the house, we had just cats and the cats were all very weird when they would enter this as one of the spare bedrooms. And so they would go into the room and they would like sit in a corner and stare up at the opposite corner. And they always looked at the same corner in the of the ceiling in that room.
00:24:38
Speaker
And every time one of us would go in there, it would feel something felt weird and off. And the cats were so weird whenever they went into that room. And usually when animals are acting strange, like they pick up on so much stuff, you know, like we have animals and children. Right. Because we, as people, like we watch movies and so we're like, Oh, is this just in my head? Like, am I getting into my head because of my imagination or whatever? But if an animal is doing that,
00:25:03
Speaker
They're not they don't have they're not like watching scary movies that are going to put ideas in their head. Anyway, so we had just that uneasy feeling and the cats were super weird whenever they went into that room. And um there's a family friend who she can communicate with spirits. I can't remember what she calls herself exactly. I don't know if she calls herself as a medium, but she essentially is able to see spirits and see ancestors and communicate with them um and has been doing this for decades.
00:25:39
Speaker
um and so she came over to our house like for the first time a couple months after we had gotten it and we were like do you want to just like we didn't tell her where anything anything weird was we were like do you want to just come to our house and just see what you feel because we're curious because also it's a new house so she might and we might not have even felt something and she might have picked up on something that we wouldn't have felt and so she walked around the house went into every room and then stopped at that room. Like she went through everything. And he didn't like say anything previously. No, we were like, we we were like, we just want to see if you're even feeling something because if we didn't tell her any details and she was feeling it, then we would know that something was going on. So she went and like went into all of the rooms and then went back to that room. And she was like, there's somebody in here.
00:26:28
Speaker
we were like, good. That's what we thought. And so she just like kind of assessed the situation, like she just kind of walked into the room and was like, just kind of feeling it out for a little bit. And then she was like, Do you usually feel something? And we said, Yes, this is like where we This is the the weird room of the house. And then she looks at that corner and starts yelling. And it's like, we don't want you here. We are not causing you any harm.
00:26:59
Speaker
We don't like, we don't mean you any harm. We don't dislike you, but we don't need you here anymore. And while she was interacting with this supposed spirit that was there, there was knocking on the wall. Oh my God, I have goosebumps. I've got goosebumps.
00:27:16
Speaker
And I was with um my partner and his mom, and we were watching her do this. And so I was like, oh, he's just he would totally like play a practical joke on us or whatever. And I look over at him and he has his hands in his pockets. And he's like he had not moved. And I was like,
00:27:36
Speaker
Did you just tap on the wall? He's like, no, no, no, I didn't. And we were all like freaked out. And then his mom, she hadn't moved. I hadn't moved. And so nobody was moving. And then there was knocking on the wall. And then and then it happened a couple more times. And I was the only one that could hear it. And it was like loud knock. It was, like ah you know, to the point where I like looked around and I was like, who is knocking on the wall?
00:27:59
Speaker
And then she like banished the spirit away and then we never had issues with that room again. The cats went in there and they were just fine. We got, we didn't have an uneasy feeling. It was wild. I might have to have somebody come and just check out my house then because I do have, when I had the dogs, they would kind of like look at something and my girls have like,
00:28:26
Speaker
quite like woken up and like not been scared but they've talked about I think once they talked about a witch and this was before I showed the magatha so it was not because of Agatha um and so I would like to to see or just maybe um light some sage and walk around the house and be gone spirits be gone Yeah, you should see if somebody can come over. I mean, it's just interesting, even if they don't find anything. you know well Okay, I don't know that I want to open myself up to it because I've ever since that moment in college. um
00:29:01
Speaker
I've okay, you know, when you you hear like, if you're open to it, like, you're going to see more. And like, if you believe it, you're going to see more. Well, yeah I believe it, obviously, but I try to ignore things now, I guess, because I don't i don't care. i don't want I don't want to interact with you. I don't want to be scared of you. I don't want to be, even if you're friendly, I just don't want to interact.
00:29:27
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the interacting, but I'm like, ooh, I love watching other people do it, but yeah, I can't really do that. I do love hearing stories, but I'm done with, I don't want any more. I've plateaued, I don't need to, I've peaked, I guess, I don't need any more. You've reached your quota. You've reached your quota.
00:29:46
Speaker
and Yeah, I work you talking about the um working in the historic building before when I worked downtown in the town that I live in. It's a it's a historic downtown and like the buildings are old and they feel freaky when you're there by yourself. And you're like, there is a lot of stuff going on in here. And I remember There were a lot of like little things that happened at one of the places that I worked at. And a lot of them, I just can't really remember because they were small, but it was like so often something would happen that we were all like, Oh God, here we go. Here we go again. You know, but there was one time you talking about the, the whiteboard, there was a clock on the wall and we never had an issue with it. And then all of a sudden we were repeatedly having an issue with just a little clock hanging on the wall. It's not like it was a big, heavy thing, but it kept falling.
00:30:39
Speaker
right And and it kept like it was like it was going towards water or something. I don't know. There was like something Something really weird kept happening with this clock and we're like, okay I guess we won't put this clock back up on the wall then because it does not want to be up there, but there's a few um Mediums who just live in town that were regulars I worked at several places downtown so I would see them a lot because they would you know go to all the local shops and stuff and they were like Yeah, the buildings around here are are very weird and like the like, especially um there's one building in particular that's like on the corner of one of the streets and they're like, that place is just filled with spirits and um I haven't, I haven't gone all the way into it. But anyways, yeah, it's, ah it's, um it's interesting. Yeah. Ghost stories are always my favorite. Yeah, they're fun.
00:31:37
Speaker
James, do you have any ghost stories? written um Not necessarily, not like any intriguing ones. um I know for a fact my mom said that we lived, when I was like, kindergarten mind you, my mom said we lived in a haunted trailer.
00:32:01
Speaker
Um, I don't have any vivid memories from that moment. Um, or experiences, but I guess my siblings did. Uh, but I don't, were they older or younger? Younger. I'm the oldest. Okay. How old were you at this time? I'm just curious. It's like six or seven. And so the siblings were probably like two, three.
00:32:25
Speaker
Yeah. um And they and they expect to remember some certain things. um My sister that was yeah a year younger than me, like five. Uh, probably has the most to say about it, but my mom definitely remembers stuff and she tells us stuff about our experiences there. And I'm just kind of like, cool, cool. Just thanks. Are you skeptical or are you just like, I don't want to remember this. Okay. I just, I just don't, I'm i'm kind of just like, cool. Didn't want to really think about that, but okay. Thank you. That what were kind of some of the things they saw.
00:33:05
Speaker
Um, just disturbing the baby at the time. Um, don't disturb the baby. Uh, I think my sister fell off the bed once, uh, in a, in a, I can't remember exactly, but, and then just stuff moving around is what they said. And then I guess they heard creaking in the hallway.
00:33:32
Speaker
Which is, it was a very old trailer, so like they could hear, think you could hear people walking across it and stuff. And so they go and check, but everybody's in bed. ye So, yeah someone's walking around, but who's walking around? I don't know. um Stuff like that. So because I didn't experience it or have any vivid memories of it, I can't really like go into it.
00:33:53
Speaker
but i I just come from a belief system where we do know and believe that there are spirits on the other side, um good and bad ah kind of scenario. And, you know, like the whole guardian angel thing, like that definitely takes precedence and in our core belief systems with my religion and stuff. So I know they're there and it comes into just the, it comes into the idea of
00:34:24
Speaker
invitation, I guess. what if you' If you're inviting them in, they're going to come in. And so and it's just it's really easy to invite them in. It's a lot easier than some people think. um But by denying their invitation,
00:34:44
Speaker
Uh, and also just, you know, cause it's really just using the authority of of Christ, uh, you can command them to leave. So it's just, you know, it's, it's one of those things. Hmm.
00:35:00
Speaker
All right. Do we have anything else to say about ghosts or should we move on to another spooky? I guess we had a lot to say about ghosts. Well, I know. I was surprised that took so long. Well, I guess if we're telling ghost stories, then that would make sense. It's not really like vampire stories that we're going to have the same way. Maybe. That's true. I guess I don't know for sure.
00:35:22
Speaker
Okay, well, let's move on because we could talk about um like, for instance, for vampires, we can talk about the different way they're portrayed like um Twilight versus True Blood. But um so we've got Banshees, vampires, werewolves, and I have a surprise little fun one at the end. there I did look up goblins since that's the first magical creature that Harry runs into. And interestingly enough, goblins are Described as a small grotesque monstrous creature that appears in folklore of multiple European cultures but It's more common in English Scottish Welsh and Irish folklore Which probably inspired like them being introduced into um Into the Harry Potter series
00:36:18
Speaker
But i just it makes me wonder, like do these men do magical creatures in the Harry Potter world have like specific homes? like Do goblins really disappear in the United Kingdom kingdom area? Or are goblins everywhere?
00:36:36
Speaker
um And same thing with like other things like Banshees. We know the in the Goblet of Fire, there's um What are they called? Those ah those mascots for the Bulgarian, the Bulgarian Quidditch team, the villas, the villas. Like, do villas only come from Bulgaria? or Right. So like, does? Well, no, because well, maybe. But Floors grandmother was a villa and she was from the French school.
00:37:14
Speaker
her grandmother could have been in Bulgaria. So I don't know. i just I guess it just puts into contents like did the etymology or folklore of the creatures kind of dictate where they're appearing hu kind of scenario. so Let's do Banshee next because I don't think that will have as much to talk about as much as werewolves and vampires. um Because Banshees aren't really in a lot of content. They were mentioned in Harry Potter, which is why she's on the list. um I know they're in Supernatural, but have you guys ever seen like anything else about Banshees or Banshees included in any other content? I don't know. I can do a quick Google search.
00:38:01
Speaker
Okay, while you're doing that, I will say a Banshee is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking or keening.
Exploring Banshees and Other Folklore Creatures
00:38:15
Speaker
Sometimes she has long streaming hair which she may be seen combing with some legends specifying she can only keen while combing her hair.
00:38:24
Speaker
She wears a gray cloak over a green dress and her eyes are red from continual weeping.
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know like much about it. I just remember no like I'd heard the word, you know, like I knew that that creature existed, but I don't even remember where I would have heard it before. And then in Harry Potter, I at least. And I think the Banshee in Supernatural is killing people in in the way that her loved one was killed. A lot of creatures in Supernatural are killing people. Yes, yes, they are.
00:39:09
Speaker
But it's interesting that she's a band, she's also a spirit. Interesting. wonder how i I wonder how it's kind of like considered in Harry Potter lore. Is it considered a spirit or is it like something in between? I don't know. Oh.
00:39:31
Speaker
Banshees had the appearance of a woman with floor like length black hair, a skeletal face, and green skin. A Banshee's scream was fatal to the ears in a manner similar to fully grown mandrakes. Most Banshees were likely hostile at, as at least one wizard had a Baga art that was a Banshee. Hmm. Interesting. Why is Sheamus afraid of Banshees? Um, Oh, he was Irish and they, they're an Irish.
00:40:01
Speaker
They're an Irish thing. He's and he's heard many tales of how a banshee appeared before a person's death. m Well yeah and that brings back the supernatural thing that banshees were killing people. Okay.
00:40:21
Speaker
So something I can contribute to this as I'm looking up other media is um A banshee is a very popular Hispanic folklore called La Llorona. Yeah. It's actually probably one of the most popular stories to tell in Latin America. It's a song. But to sum it up, it's like it's just a
00:40:53
Speaker
It's just a woman, a ghost of a vengeful woman who is mourning the loss of her children and will haunt bodies of butter. But her cry is very, uh, I'm not sure if it's deadly, but it's like, it's very, like you could tell. There's a song about it, right? Yeah.
00:41:21
Speaker
Oh, they made a movie about it. OK, getting off that page. Yeah, don't watch the movie. No, no, no, no. um All right, let's move on to vampires. The notion of vampireism has existed for millennia. Cultures such as Mesopotamians, Hebrews, ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demons and spirits, which are considered precursors to modern vampires.
00:41:51
Speaker
Despite the occurrence of vampiric creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity known today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from the 18th century southeastern Europe, when verbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published.
00:42:11
Speaker
In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil bearings, suicide victims, or witches, but they can also be created by a benevolent ah by aevolulent spirit possessing a corpse or by being bitten by a vampire. Belief in such legends became so pervasive that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public execution of people believed to be vampires, much like the execution of witches.
00:42:44
Speaker
I mean, the most the famous one is probably Dracula. Not Nosferatu.
00:42:53
Speaker
Isn't that a vampire too? no I feel like that's a really famous one, but i I do feel like Dracula is very much like the go to the go to vampire. Yeah, yeah. How do you spell that one? I think he was like the original. I remember I think I learned about this one in my fear of magic plays.
00:43:14
Speaker
Nosferatu. How do you say Nosferatu? Nosferatu? I think I'm saying it worse and worse each time I say it. Nosferatu.
00:43:34
Speaker
um It does predate vampire. Nosferatu was an archaic Roman word. Interesting. but it was eventually popularized in fiction with Bram Stoker's Dracula and the titular film.
00:43:55
Speaker
Oh my gosh. The first, other than a movie called Nosferatu, Nosferatu, the top link on Google is from the bump Nosferatu baby name, meaning origin and popularity.
00:44:15
Speaker
Who is out there naming their babies Nosferatu? I don't know, but I want to meet them.
00:44:26
Speaker
So Dracula is definitely known. um Sorry, sibling name ideas, Lucifer. ah
00:44:41
Speaker
Some people. Why are you going and naming your kids these things?
00:44:49
Speaker
Anyways, as I was saying. Dracula, I think is popular also, not just because of like the fiction story, but like in history, there was a guy called Vlad the Impaler in Romania, who was a very brutal ruler.
00:45:10
Speaker
known for impaling his enemies. And that's probably what kind of got it all started. And he was he was known as Vlad Dracula, which means son of the dragon. And I remember that he he he kind of just set the the tone and ah people took that and went with it. It was all crazy.
00:45:33
Speaker
And now we have things like Edward Cullen.
00:45:41
Speaker
And Bill.
00:45:48
Speaker
Who's Bill? From. um True Blood. Oh, who's Bill the vampire? i And now I'm second guessing myself, though.
00:46:08
Speaker
I mean, I believe you I wouldn't you could literally tell me any name and I would say okay.
00:46:15
Speaker
I believe it is because she's like he's she okay. So let me set the scene for you makes since you haven't seen it. um His name is Bill Compton. And so it's modern day times and vampires have quote come out of the coffin as they say. but And She Suki works at a bar in this really, I think it's set in Louisiana um and Bill comes in and everybody can tell that he's a vampire and he orders
00:46:51
Speaker
Or she asks, she, cause she's a server. So she comes and she says, what do you want to order? And she talks, talking to him and you know, she's like, you're a vampire, aren't you? And um he says yes. And she's like, you're the first one we've ever had here. It's like, so sorry, everybody's staring at you. And she asks his name and he goes, it's Bill. And she's like, a vampire named Bill. That is pretty funny. I mean, yeah, that's how I would react to like, I mean, they're just normal people. I guess. Suck in blood.
00:47:23
Speaker
Well, not in the case of True Blood. They made synthetic blood for them to drink, and they stirred it at the bar. Thank goodness. Anyway, and um do you guys have any like vampire media that you really like? like Were you on the... um Well, mig you clearly didn't watch True Blood, but did you were you a Twilight fan at all? um When Twilight was first coming out, I was in middle school, so yes.
00:47:45
Speaker
um but then the movie started coming out and I was like, oh, nevermind. Um, so I, e you know, liked at the time, but it was, yeah, I mean, it didn't really like cause me to be like, oh my goodness, I love vampires now. It was more just that, like, I thought that, you know, at the time they were good stories and they were popular or whatever, but, um, I,
00:48:13
Speaker
Really, my favorite vampire content is what we do in the shadows. That TV show is one of my favorite shows ever. um So very different type of vampire content from Twilight. You and I have such different tastes. It's so funny, although that even though we connected in Marvel and Harry Potter, like our other content is so opposite from each other. I know it's so funny. Yeah. So for all the all the raging What We Do in the Shadows fans that we totally have listening right now. I'm a fan. I like the show. If you do, let me know.
00:48:51
Speaker
My favorite Marvel character, or sorry, I said Marvel. ah My favorite vampire character. I was like, what kind of tension are we going on now?
00:49:03
Speaker
My favorite character, or sorry, not my favorite character, but my favorite fandom, Marvel, has a character called Dracula and it's like all vampires and stuff and then there's Blade that interacts with the vampires and so like...
00:49:21
Speaker
My favorite rendition of the vampire is definitely Marvelized for sure. um And there's this whole thing with just Marvel characters interacting. In fact, they just did, I think it was earlier this year, a whole branching storyline where the vampires were taking over all the Marvel characters. I haven't necessarily read it.
00:49:46
Speaker
So I don't know how it ends or like how it begins and stuff like that But like they were doing all types of vampire covers with Mario characters with vampire teeth and stuff um That's fun. So I'm interested in reading that when I get to it and and kind of see like how how how that interacts. But Dracula is a very big vampire villain that multiple heroes face, not just Blade. um Jubilee from the X-Men is actually a vampire in the comics and she uses that with her power set.
00:50:19
Speaker
ah Uh, that becomes part of her, her history is she's dealing with being a mutant, but also a vampire, uh, and a single mom. She now has a child. So that's a, that's fun. thank you Yeah. I don't think I necessarily have a.
00:50:37
Speaker
favorite vampire media. um I guess if I had to choose, I would choose True Blood, but that's just the first thing that's coming to mind. I don't think that I've watched a lot of vampire content. um I always liked interview with a vampire growing up. That was always a good one. I haven't seen the new show, so I can't speak to that.
00:50:57
Speaker
um
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there's always Blade 1, 2, and 3. I would like to watch those, especially with you know Ryan Reynolds being in the second or third one. um I think some of the jokes would land better from Deadpool and Wolverine. And with the new Blade coming or not coming, um I would like to watch those and learn a little bit more about who Blade is.
00:51:27
Speaker
What was the other one with that?
00:51:33
Speaker
Oh, what was her name? There's Lycan in that one too. Oh gosh.
00:51:44
Speaker
I think it's a trilogy, but I can't, it's escaping me right now. So let's move on to werewolves, shall we?
00:51:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, say a lot of my exposure was Twilight and then now what we do in the show.
00:52:06
Speaker
um I'm like trying to think of anything else that's really popping out to me besides Harry Potter, of course. I don't watch a lot of fantasy stuff. um because I love Harry Potter, like the Harry Potter world so much that a lot of other fantasy content that I've consumed has just felt like it just doesn't hit for me the same way. So I'm pretty picky about any fantasy that I consume. So I'm not really, I'm not really good at this discussion.
00:52:36
Speaker
um Well, I'm um moving to werewolves. Of course, we have Lupin is probably one of our favorite werewolves. But do you guys have any other werewolf besides Twilight again? Of course. Also True Blood also has werewolves. I feel like when you get different shows that start with one sort of magical creature will always introduce other magical creatures later on as the show or story or whatever continues.
00:53:10
Speaker
yeah um'm Just off of the top of my head, some of the stuff that I've seen with werewolves are Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Oh, and that's a huge vampire story, duh. Totally forgot about Buffy. But it was Daniel Osborne, friend of Buffy portrayed by Seth Green.
00:53:34
Speaker
Mm hmm. I guess he ultimately learns to control his inner wolf. I never finished the show. Oh, I don't remember if there's vampires in that. Did anybody watch Teen Wolf? Mm hmm. The MTV show. I think there's like multiple. There's lots. I really like I was in college when the MTV like so maybe like 2010 ish.
00:54:03
Speaker
really like to that show. I really like fantasy stuff.
00:54:08
Speaker
There was um vampire diaries as well. had some Oh, duh. Oh my gosh. Werewolves and vampires seem to kind of just go hand in hand. They really do. openingly enough
00:54:27
Speaker
And then of course, like Hotel Transylvania is one another one I've seen. Oh, if we're going to get into the kid stuff, let's talk about Vampirina. One of Drax friends is a is a werewolf.
00:54:39
Speaker
so um Vampirina is, sorry, my oldest wants to be Vampirina for Halloween. And um speaking of other creatures coming in, this one is so cute for a little kid's show. It's this family of vampires that moved from Transylvania to Pennsylvania to open up a scare B and&B.
00:55:04
Speaker
and they have a gargoyle, they have a ghost. Their dog, I believe, is a werewolf, actually. And then they've had other creatures from time to time. um There was a dragon. of Bigfoot led the camp, like he was the Girl Scout leader.
00:55:24
Speaker
um What else have I seen? I don't really watch it while I'm watching it with her, so I don't keep track of all of the characters, but that's- Yeah, does this sound like Disney Plus or something? Yes. Disney Junior. But yeah, it is on Disney Plus. Yes. Cool. Maybe I'll show it to my kids. It's a cute one. Yes, it is a cute one. And it's perfect for this time of year. Cool. Okay, so in folklore, a werewolf, or occasionally, like canthrope, is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf.
00:56:07
Speaker
um or in modern film especially a wolf hybrid like creature ah either purposely or after being placed under a curse or often bitten or scratched from another werewolf with the transformations occurring on the full night of a full moon and I thought I had copied over where it came from but um I must have deleted it because I have two paragraphs that are the same. So I think I copied over the wrong paragraph here. So I don't know where werewolves originally came from. My apologies.
00:56:50
Speaker
And we talked a lot about the different types of werewolves when we talked about Lupin's transformation earlier. um But it's interesting that they mentioned it here, that it's You know, werewolf is the old English werewolf, which is man-wolf, which means wolf-human. The like, and I cannot say this word, oh my gosh, lycanthrope is wolf-human. um And then they say, especially in the modern times in modern film, it's a hybrid, like a wolf-humanoid wolf.
00:57:32
Speaker
And we talked a lot about the different kind of versions of werewolves that we see across media.
00:57:40
Speaker
Yeah, all of these are just really interesting. i Obviously, like the heavy hitters like werewolves where there's just so much across different cultures, across the world, across history, like so many different variations, but also really interesting how a lot of them have those similarities. And it just really makes you think. Right.
00:58:05
Speaker
and So we mentioned that you know vampires and werewolves kind of go hand in hand a lot of times, but any um um favorite werewolf besides Lupin?
00:58:21
Speaker
I mean, I already gave my, my exposures to werewolf in the media. All right. Anything else you guys want to talk about? Sorry. I was kind of looking at, um, where they kind of came from, but it looks like they, it was more of just a European thing. Multiple European mythologies have a version of a man-wolf hybrid. Um, farthest I can go back would be Greek.
00:58:50
Speaker
But even the Turkish and the Albanians have versions of what a werewolf would be, which is which is just like going over the words and stuff, like not even just going over like what they look like.
00:59:08
Speaker
um It's interesting that a lot of these things and a lot of like this list comes from things that are mentioned in Harry Potter, but um these are also very much mainstream monsters in our culture as well. But a lot of these um stemmed from the European culture. So um it would have been interesting if she had something like the Jupicabra or Wendigo. Is Wendigo European too? Or like it's just some more obscure monsters.
00:59:44
Speaker
Do you guys have a favorite month? Like, is there any other like mythical monster creature that you guys are interested in learning? Like, have you ever been drawn to a certain besides that? We really got into the what mermaids. Oh, mermaids. Yes, me too. I love the water. Really? Well, I guess they can. Oh, like the siren, especially that lures sailors to their death.
01:00:13
Speaker
Oh, you know what that's making me think of um Wakanda forever. Oh yes. Mm hmm. Such a good scene. Well like I guess multiple scenes but the, you know, the beginning ish area um part of it with the, with the sirens.
01:00:31
Speaker
um
01:00:35
Speaker
The Pirates of the Caribbean, the fourth one, had um like more siren-like mermaids. um The Wendigo is a North American. um The substitute Elizabeth Swan and William Turner is the pirate the mermaid. who I loved it. I do. I love all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, honestly. The fourth one was kind of mid for me.
01:01:05
Speaker
And then the Chupacabra, he's from, oh, Chupacabra versus Wendigo, interesting.
01:01:14
Speaker
Yeah, the Chupacabra is more Southern American. Yes, it is. It's it's a Spanish for sucking, sucking the goat or sucking the blood of the goat. Huh.
01:01:39
Speaker
Well, let's finish off here with a quick one. This was always one of my favorite mythical creatures, and I was so excited to finally see it in Harry Potter and was so pissed that it was cut from the films, and that is the sphinx.
Mythological Omissions in Harry Potter
01:01:59
Speaker
And the earliest known reference to the sphinx comes from, of course, ancient Egyptian culture, where the creature was said to guard temples and treasure.
01:02:08
Speaker
the Sphinx was also popular with the ancient Greeks who believed it guarded the city of Thebes by famously asking a riddle. Hmm. That's not where the riddle part comes from. Yeah, I was really bummed that they didn't put the Sphinx in because I thought this would have been so so cool because Sphinxes are also like um pretty well known, right? And I think a lot of people are really interested um in Sphinx lore and particularly in like Egyptology stuff, um which I guess could be problematic that a lot of people are interested in like Egyptian lore without caring about actual Egyptian people. But I think that that mythology is um is really interesting for a lot of people. So I was also pretty bummed that they kept that out of the films.
01:03:04
Speaker
If we get the sphinx in the show, which I really hope we do.
01:03:12
Speaker
Do you want them to switch the riddle? Like I know we talk about sticking to the books, but like we already know the answer to the riddle. And I think I would like a new riddle so that we can as viewers. Yeah. youers Yeah. you're Questioning. Okay. What's the new riddle? I think that's a good idea.
01:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, I totally think that that would be pretty cool.
01:03:43
Speaker
You asked what our favorite like magical creature was. I'm not necessarily sure if this counts as a magical creature, but I've always liked the idea and was drawn to the idea of like people transforming into animals.
01:04:00
Speaker
So like animaguses. hu James, did you read the, oh gosh, what was it called? it Was it Animorphs books as a kid? Was it Animorphs? Of course it was Animorphs. You know what it was? Yeah. Yeah. James, did you, do you know what we're talking about? I don't think so. It was, it was all these kids that could, um, turn into animals. Hmm. I have to look it up.
01:04:30
Speaker
But yeah it's a science fantasy series of youth books written by Catherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant Told in the first person with all six main characters taking turns narrating looks I didn't realize that I don't it's been a long time since I read those books So I'm not necessarily sure if they count as magical creatures, but yes, of course Transforming into an animal was always fun What animal would you transform into? Easily a falcon. Meeks, what animal would you transform into?
01:05:18
Speaker
I think also something that could fly, even though I'm terrified of birds. So i my first thought, my first instinct is always like a lion or a cheetah or something, because I really liked big cats growing up. But realistically, something that can fly. And I would just fly constantly. Well, I was going to say something that could fly as well. But for the sake of being different, I will say something that can swim. I was going to say, you're going to choose a water mine.
01:05:47
Speaker
But I would I would you probably choose something that could fly um or something small, not necessarily a mouse, but something that could get into, yeah, yeah, you know, smaller spaces. Yeah, that would be cool. OK, so teacher. Yes, but I don't want to be a bug either. We'll have to ponder this um final question. Would you rather be turned into a vampire or a werewolf? Werewolf.
01:06:15
Speaker
Hands down, werewolf. Amigs. Did you say a vampire werewolf? Yes. Werewolf. Hmm. I would choose vampire. Well, yeah, actually, I mean, there's no painful transformation as a vampire, whereas with a werewolf, it's like a painful transformation every month that you have to go through. pen Oh, I wonder what that's like. fork it Depends on the folklore.
01:06:43
Speaker
you go behind. Because there are some in some people's magical worlds where werewolves don't experience. I wasn't going to comment because I'm not allowed to comment.
01:07:00
Speaker
Sorry, continue. I was just saying it depends on the werewolf folklore because there are some werewolves that don't go through a cyclical transformation every full moon. Some of them can transform willingly. Right. Not and it doesn't hurt kind of scenario. So I think that's how the Twilight werewolves are.
01:07:21
Speaker
um But definitely Harry Potter is is of the full moon type painful transformation. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll stick with vampire. Thank you. Live forever.
01:07:35
Speaker
I was more closer to like werewolves because of that whole like idea of wanting to be able to transform into something. and Oh, that's a good point. I mean, it's a wolf man type scenario, but like it was close enough.
01:07:53
Speaker
there There were times where I was kind of just like, what would it be like if I just transformed into a werewolf when I was a kid? Any final Halloween thoughts? I don't think so. Nope. Okay. Well, I hope everybody has a great Halloween. Happy trick-or-treating. I hope you get more treats than tricks and we'll see you next time. Thank you for going down this spooky road with us today. James, where can our friends find you? James M. Beltran on Instagram or TikTok.
01:08:29
Speaker
And you can find me, Meegs, on Instagram at M-E-G-A-N underscore L-A-C-H-O-W-S-K-I. And from there, you can find all my other projects. And you can find me, Sarah Day, on Instagram at Captain.McDee. That's M-C-D-E-E. And you can follow the podcast on Instagram at pewsesgapbest.
01:08:49
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen and please leave a five-star review. If you have any feedback, we would love for you to leave us a voicemail at 409-422-3378. That's 409GABFEST. Or you can email us at peevsesgabfest at gmail dot.com. And you can also come join the discussion in our Facebook group at facebook dot.com slash groups slash peevsesgabfest. Until next time, firsties.
01:09:29
Speaker
All right, any final Halloween-y thoughts? Wait, don't put them in there. Any final Halloween thoughts? I don't think so. That's going in the blooper section for sure.
01:09:50
Speaker
oh Okay, you can put that in the bloopers.