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EPISODE 131: HALLOWEEN 2024 - HAUNTED HOUSES ARE TERRIFYING!
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Our annual Halloween episode gives you the frights you need to hear as we approach our favorite holiday!
HORROR IN THE MOVIES
THE HAUNTING and THE OTHERS will have you thinking about what’s lurking in YOUR house!
WHATCHA BEEN WATCHIN’, BITCH?!
Listen in to hear what we’ve been watchin’... bitch!
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Transcript
Introduction and Halloween Episode Tease
00:00:00
Speaker
Frage the 13th Horror Podcast is a proud independent podcast. To learn more about the show, visit frage13.com
00:00:11
Speaker
Can you believe it's almost time I know our happiest time of the year We wait all year for October to roll around and then it's finally spooky season and That also means it's also time for our annual Halloween episode
Haunted Houses and Ghost Stories
00:00:28
Speaker
That's right. It's episode 131 haunted houses are terrified. I Am the writing on the wall the whisper in the
00:00:57
Speaker
the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong.
00:01:16
Speaker
da
00:01:25
Speaker
I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning. Sometimes. this but slamming doors and ghostly figures that glide through rooms. Well, that's just a typical night at Planters Hall in Vicksburg. Sounds like my kind of place. Yeah, the mansion's owner says her family is sharing her home with several spirits, including a Civil War soldier. Tonight in my special report, we try to find out what or who is haunting this historic home. We ran in here and we were standing there and all of a sudden, I hear going across the floor very loudly.
00:02:04
Speaker
and then something went right across the wall.
00:02:10
Speaker
Welcome to Frage the 13th Horror Podcast. My name is Andrew. And my name is Maddie. And this is episode 131 of Frage the 13th Horror Podcast. And today we are celebrating our annual Halloween episode.
00:02:27
Speaker
yay yeah and today we have decided that we're bringing back an old theme and that is those haunted houses that everyone loves to talk about whether it's residual energy or a poltergeist we're gonna be talking all about it Now, Maddie, I know that we've talked a lot about our experiences with hauntings and with haunted houses, but do you have any news stories that, I mean, i i ah it's not around a a house per se, but I do remember a very haunting story about a ah man on the side of the road that you and Courtney encountered. Did I even talk about that on the podcast yet? I don't think so. I i think I meant to and I forgot about it. Oh my God, I'm glad i'm glad you said this.
00:03:11
Speaker
um Andrew, do you remember when that was? Do you remember when I said that? You were here for something. You were here for like Thanksgiving or something. Was it June or was it around Thanksgiving?
00:03:22
Speaker
I honestly don't remember. It was one of the times that you came back. so it it was either so Sorry, listeners. I honestly can't remember the exact date because this is just coming back to my head right now. um It was either June or November, two very different months in Northwest Indiana. Let me just put it that way. um But yeah, i was I was visiting back in the States. right and um When I visit back in the States, I usually do like Chicago for like you know at least a weekend or ah love a little bit longer and then I go to Indiana to go see family and stuff like that.
00:03:51
Speaker
But of course, I still see friends in Indiana too. And one of our really dear friends, one of my best friends for a very long time, Courtney, um her parents still lived in Hobart where I'm from then. And we were we were like having dinner with a couple of other friends in Hobart, that kind of thing. And I was going back with Courtney to stay at at her parents' house that night because it was just easier that way.
00:04:11
Speaker
And so Courtney and I were driving, um, you know, just back down the old country roads that we, you know, just kind of, you just kind of instinctively know when when you're from a place, right? Like, I mean, Andrew, like if you went home right now, you would know your way around in a heartbeat. right ah same Same kind of thing here. And so we, um, we're going on this road that would be, it's called, it's, well, it's the name of it is Arizona. Um, which is a weird name for a street and hoper, but whatever. Um,
00:04:36
Speaker
And ah but we we would all call it snake road because snake road because it's just's like really curvy basically that that's that's all. And so like growing up was actually like a really fun road to drive because they there was never that many people out there on it really and you could like kind of go fast around the corners and it was just kind of exciting whatever. And so we were driving back ah down the street and then when we get to the end of the street it ends in a T at a cornfield and it's just cornfield all around you basically.
00:05:04
Speaker
And when you turn right, um it would lead to the subdivision where Courtney's parents lived. um they They literally, like they just moved like like four or five months ago. and so it And when you turn right, it wasn't that far down the road. So we pull up to this T, right? And it's probably like,
00:05:22
Speaker
I want to say 1130, 1145. And like we had just been at my friend Lizzie's house in Hobart and like we we were in the hot tub. And like yeah, we had had like a couple glasses of wine, but like Courtney was driving and she's very responsible. So obviously we weren't being idiots, right? And um so we we we pull up to this tea and like you know we're talking, and listening to music, all that kind of thing. And it's very dark out, of course. And you know we've got our lights on, obviously.
00:05:47
Speaker
And as, as, as Courtney makes the turn, I just kind of stay looking forward at the tee, if that makes sense. And I don't really know why, because like, you know, like, think about it when you're in a car, you just kind of like follow where the car is going with your head. You know you know what I mean? and But for whatever reason, I saw something there and I was like, holy fucking shit, Courtney, did you just see that?
00:06:10
Speaker
And she actually saw it too. She was like, what the fuck was that? What the fuck was that? Because what we saw was this person standing there by the cornfield. And so the reason why we could see this person, I'm going to say him because it looked like a man or like i like a young man, is because there's also a light there. And I mean, this is in the middle of the country, right? So there's really not, like I said, it's just cornfields and then further down the road as a subdivision.
00:06:39
Speaker
right where that is just corn fields just darkness there's no reason why anybody would be standing there at eleven thirty at night in the middle of november around thanksgiving like i said or even if it was june they wouldn't be doing it then either trust me so we see it and like our hearts are pounding and the courtney Did you see, like like ah he had like a striped jacket on. Did you see that? And she was like, yeah, I saw that. And I was like, it looked like it was like a vintage jacket, like like from like the 80s or something. then She was like, exactly, totally. So where so we we pull into like the entrance of the subdivision, and we're both like but breathing heavy. We're like, oh my god, we just saw something. Was that real or not? And so we're like, let's let's go back right now. Let's go back right now. And so we turn the car around.
00:07:30
Speaker
And it's probably like like a minute and a half you know back to where it was basically from the entrance of the subdivision, you know when you're driving in the car, of course. And so we get back there and like we're like, what do we do? Do we look out the window? Should we roll down the window? Should we say something? like your And so we drive past and we see it fucking again. We see it fucking again. And this time we keep driving down the road, but by this time we're like screaming because obviously we just saw this thing again.
00:07:58
Speaker
and we we go to turn around at and at the at the like the next intersection thing and then we turn back around and like we're racing back to see if we can see it again. Poof, it's gone. They love And like we we just felt, and like that's the thing, like what could it have been a person? Yes, I concede. It could have been a person. Sure. I just want to point out, once again, no reason somebody should have been standing there at all. Trust me on this. Not one reason in the world. Number two, why were they wearing a vintage style striped jacket? Why? It doesn't make any sense.
00:08:35
Speaker
And number three, like if they did start walking somewhere, they're not going to start walking in a cornfield. I don't know the last cornfield that you walked through, but it's not a good experience to do that. No. They're going to walk down the road. They're going to walk down you know something like that, whatever. We even drove around a bit. No sign of this person anywhere.
00:08:53
Speaker
And we had just, like I mean, like I said, it was like a minute and a half down the road. When we passed them, it was another minute and a half, basically. So it's not like we spent like 10 minutes going down the road here. It was wild. And we just felt deeply like we had seen something. We had seen some kind of ghostly paranormal, we don't know what, but some kind of thing.
Halloween Traditions and Celebration Stories
00:09:15
Speaker
It just felt that way deep inside. Does that make sense? Yeah, totally. That was the story. That was it.
00:09:22
Speaker
spooky dookie the only one that and the only one that i have in my ongoing sleep horrible nightmares um is um i still am being plagued a little bit by something in my sleep when i'm starting to fall asleep i don't Wait, is i has your sleep not gotten better? I thought um it's better. It's definitely better. But there are a lot on it or whatever. Yeah, there are like spells still, though, like like so. For instance, there was a night where I was trying to fall asleep. I was having a little bit of a hard time falling asleep. And so I have kind of this ritual that like if I'm having a hard time falling asleep, I can just start counting like one.
00:10:01
Speaker
two, three, four, and eventually it takes your brain off of like whatever you is plaguing you to be able to not fall asleep. That's basically it like ah threat the theme. yeah And um I was doing that and as and I don't know if this is just, if this could be some sort of haunting or this could just be something that my brain plays tricks on me. I don't know. But um as I'm starting to do my my ritual, I'm getting up there, I'm like 14,
00:10:26
Speaker
And then all of a sudden this voice joins me. 17, 18. And then that voice takes over and I'm no longer counting and that's counting. And that's when I got freaked out and I woke myself up and I was like,
00:10:41
Speaker
Okay, that was really weird. Um, but I can't attribute that completely to haunting, but it was something very spooky. That is dead crazy. That's crazy. God, that would freak me the fuck out. And it was not, and it was not like a normal voice. You know what I mean? Like it was definitely, you remember the voice? Like, like what, it what it was like? It was definitely like, it was definitely like a calming voice, but it was definitely very like much deeper than my voice. Like very deep, a deep, deep voice. Interesting.
00:11:12
Speaker
So I don't know, how don't that's not even something that like, it was not a voice I could register, so it was not like I was pulling, because you know they say in your sleep, in your in your dreams, you you' your brain can't make up things, it only pulls from what you know. So like people that you know are like sounds that you know, like that kind of things. And it was not something that I had registered before. So that was the only spooky thing that's happened to me lately. Wow, that's crazy.
00:11:39
Speaker
and talking ah but In talking about Halloween though, considering it is a Halloween season, yeah um one of our favorite times and one of the times where we miss each other the most because we would definitely be doing so many things at this point in the year. Oh my god, we would. It would be so much fun. did Do you have any Halloween plans, any new traditions that you celebrate? What's your Halloween look like these days?
00:12:04
Speaker
Well, I will say, like, i you know, I love living in Ireland. It's a great place to live. It is not super big on Halloween. I'll be honest. that's So funny because there's a new commercial for Ireland here. That's all talking all about. It's where Halloween started. And you should come here for Halloween. And that's just it. It is. And like, to be fair, like there are places where Halloween is big here. So like in Derry, for example, they have this really big Halloween festival I was supposed to go last year, but I just I just couldn't make it work.
00:12:33
Speaker
um So like this year I might actually try to make it up for that especially since I have a fucking driver's license now motherfucker cool um So that might be what I do. um That's also a bank holiday weekend for us So like we just get a random day off, which is nice. So um I don't know I might do that I might go out west to see my friend Granya out in Tipperary. And if those things fall through, that's okay. I will just stay in Dublin and find something cool to do too, because there are cool things to do. Like yeah I talked about a great cemetery in Dublin that everyone should visit, Glasnevin, and one of our latest episodes. There are some haunted places here that are really cool. The Hellfire Club is an amazing place to go hiking, and it's so, so spooky. So like there are a lot of things that you can do in Dublin. You just kind of have to like do it on your own sort of business. yeah You know? Yeah. um So that's probably what I'm going to do this year, most likely. What what are you guys going to do? Cool. Well, we actually did a lot of our stuff yesterday. I heard we're a little early on this, but at just the way that everything worked out is um we were able to go to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer pop-up bar. Oh, fun. Which was really fun. It was done on Wicker Play or something.
00:13:41
Speaker
It was at New Acre Park at this place called Whiskey Business. Oh, fun. And they transformed the whole bar into like different vignettes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and they had like themed food. and like That's like cool. um It was really fun. um I think that if I was to do it again, I would definitely book the nighttime because we did brunch. um Oh, I see. Okay.
00:14:04
Speaker
It just like the it it felt good in there because they had everything like really dim and like it was really cool. But like some of the features weren't happening. Like um they they dressed up one of the bars, like the bronze, which is the nightclub for the coffee, but they didn't have a DJ playing because it was during the day. And like they had ah the magic box upstairs was supposed to have a fortune teller, but it wasn't coming until the night. And so like I was like, OK, if I was to do this again, I would definitely do the nighttime stuff. That's really cool.
00:14:32
Speaker
Um, but it was still fun. And then after that, we went to Jack's pop-up, um, pumpkin pop-up, which is basically, um, you know, there was some really fun things about it. Like, um, we got to do some axe throwing, which was really fun. i Um, i myself.
00:14:48
Speaker
And they had like really cool vintage like games, like break a plate with like a baseball and like hell. Yeah, it was cool. The only thing that i'm I'm noticing in this day and age is everything is catered to an Instagram moment. And so like just all around, there are all these like random vignettes for people to take photos. And I was just like, this is so weird that we do this now. case I don't know. Can people don't stop taking so many photos? I know. Stop it. It's OK. It's OK if you just like experience something for a moment, you know, but they had they had a corn maze and stuff, which was fun. There was like a secret bar at the end of the corn maze and like there was some fun stuff to do. And it was it was fun to see the kids having fun and
Personal Haunted House Experiences
00:15:30
Speaker
everything. So it had the only like downside that I and like I always think in my brain, like if I was to run this, what would I change? And like the only thing that I found that was kind of weird is that they were just playing like pop music during the whole thing.
00:15:43
Speaker
And was like, why aren't you playing like, like spooky music or like, I don't know, it's not that hard. That's sure you can just look it up on Spotify. That's very, very strange. I actually know one of the people that that organizes that event. Her name is you should tell them that. Well, Carol Carol is a very like she's a she's a veteran of events in Chicago. She's planned a lot of stuff that people have been to before. So I will. They put a lot of work into it, I can tell. But the only other things that I am hoping to do is that there is a there's something happening later and later in the month where they're doing a candlelight orchestra like playing all of like the horror movie themes. So that's happening here, too, in Dublin.
00:16:30
Speaker
I really want to go. I haven't checked into tickets yet. I'm hoping they're still available, but um it just be cool to sit in like a candlelit room and listen to those songs. So know I love talking about this stuff because it it reminds me of like when you're an adult, Halloween is definitely still fun for sure. yeah Like the magic of it when you were a kid. Oh my God. It's just like you're constantly reaching for that as an adult, trying to like recreate it for yourself over and over again.
00:16:57
Speaker
And like I just remember every Halloween when I was a kid and I know it was the same for you. It was just like the best day. It was just so fun. If you had to go to school that day, there was fun stuff to do at school and you got candy and everything else. You got dressed up with your friends to go trick-or-treating. You got to stay up late and watch some stupid, scary movie. like It's all the cliche things that like just make the day so... They make it so amazing. It's just... and I love Halloween. Well, that it also it also felt like a day off for me. Yeah, for sure. And then it's always like when it's over, you're like, oh, yeah, and here comes winter. My new tradition, though, is ever since we moved into our place that we currently live in, um we I do always leave the patio furniture out just past Halloween so I can sit out there and just like watch all the kids like, yeah, go trick or treating. And I don't know, it's it's a really fun thing. That's lovely. Absolutely lovely. So.
00:17:52
Speaker
And the Andrew too, you know when it comes to haunted houses, both you and I have our experiences as well. um Listeners, you can go back in time and listen to those things on all of our episodes. We talked about this a bunch. But you know there's something about talking about haunted houses on ah for for our Halloween episode that just makes a lot of sense.
00:18:12
Speaker
because I think for so many of us, like that's where that's that is like where you kind of get into this whole thing is because like you've had some kind of experience in a house or there was a you know a supposed haunted house in your neighborhood when you were growing up or you know you watched a movie about a haunted house and you got into horror movies. like The haunted house is so central to horror because it's it's about It's about horror happening where you live, which is you know different than you know being at a graveyard or being here or being there. You can't escape it. You can't escape it no matter what. Even when you sleep, you can't escape it. when you When you take a shower, you can't escape it. When you're doing other things, you can't escape it. It's always around you. you know um and I don't know. like Andrew, like give us maybe just one haunted thing from your past in a haunted house.
00:19:04
Speaker
Um, well, I've shared a lot of, of these, uh, over the cash one, two, if you want. Um, but no, so there was this, uh, a house that we lived in when this is so funny because I feel like I talk about, uh, different houses and I just want people to know that yes, I have lived in that many houses. We moved, we moved so much when I was a kid, I went to six different elementary schools in six different, uh, years. kind i got You went to that many.
00:19:32
Speaker
Yeah. And so um we just lived in a lot of houses and we lived in this one house. It was literally out in the middle of like a field. Like there was no it was not it was not farmland. It was just a field. That's all. And you're fine. Like what what? And it was completely made of like stone. Like it was made of not not like masonry, but like actual like rocks, like actual stones with like, wow, stuff in between. know um And it was a big old house. And we lived there with um my mom's roommate and my mom's roommate's kid. And we shared one of the big bedrooms upstairs. And this house, i I don't know if I can contribute this to haunting, but it was just one of those houses that you felt something was wrong. Yeah, I get that. And just you would wake up in the middle of the night and it would be freezing cold in June. You know what I mean? Or like you would hear like not just the creaking stairs, but you would hear the creaking stairs one by one by one because it sounded like things were coming up or coming down the stairs. no we Did you all hear this? All of you did? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
00:20:42
Speaker
And, um, there was just these, it just was this big old house. And you know, that was kind of what my mom always attributed it to is like, you know, it's just an old house that's it's settling. It's doing all this stuff. But I got to tell you when you wake up in the middle of the night, um, you know, in, you know, January with the night sweats or in June, freezing cold, there's something not quite right in that house. So yeah that's my only one. What about you?
00:21:07
Speaker
Um, yeah I feel like I've told maybe all of them if I'm being honest, but like, ah you know, I was actually thinking of one, um, yesterday for this has popped in my head for some reason. Uh, I, when I was growing up, my brother, Michael and I, but one of our best fans, by the way, is listening to this right now, Michael, you, you will remember this. We slept in the same bedroom. Um, and we, you know, we just both had like, but we had like, um, twin beds that were like,
00:21:32
Speaker
They were supposed to be a bunk bed, but you can take them apart. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like we just like we slept on the same side of the room like by the window and like obviously separated in between by like you. We had like a big like nightstand or something in between whatever. And this this is when I was yeah I don't remember how old I was, but this is when I was young. And this is when like other stuff was happening in that room like.
00:21:53
Speaker
but like I would like be, um ah like we we had like a 13-inch TV, which like every kid was so proud to have back then if he had a 13-inch TV. Especially if you had a VCR built into it. Exactly, right, right. we We weren't that rich, sorry. um And like this TV, like obviously I loved having it in the room because I could watch TV and I did have a VCR, we had a Nintendo, that kind of shit. And we had a Genesis, whatever.
00:22:15
Speaker
And so I loved it. And this, I just remember one day I was watching TV. It was just me in the room and I, and it had a remote. I had the remote next to me and I was like probably like on my stomach, like, you know, watching it that way. And the TV just shut off. And I was like, and I remember thinking like, that's weird. And then I turned it back on with the remote and it would go and then it shut off again.
00:22:37
Speaker
And then I did it again, and then it shut off again. And that was when I left the room. Because if my kid had it, I was like, something is not right here. and I didn't know what it was. um So like other things would happen in that room, too. like we We had like pictures of ships on the wall once. And I can't remember what it was, but like I think Michael was like looking michael was maybe like looking for his shoes or something like that. And I think he said, god damn it, ghost, give me give me give me the shoes back.
00:23:06
Speaker
And that harkens back to a time where my sister lisa lost shoes in the house and she swears to god that the ghost took her shoes hit them and then put them in the basement. just she She had these high heels she's gonna wear them to some dance or something right she could not find them it was driving her insane she didn't have any other shoes to wear.
00:23:26
Speaker
She couldn't find them whatever she went to the party it was over like a week later these shoes turn up like sitting next to each other perfect nothing wrong with them nothing at all sitting like right in front of the washing machine in the basement as though somebody had put them right there on purpose for her to find them.
00:23:43
Speaker
So like that was like the family story for a while. So Michael was like, you know, harkening back to that. So when he said, God damn it, ghost, give me the shoes back or whatever he said, pictures on the wall flew off the wall and and I was in the room for that. And then the specific story that I was thinking of was this one. There was a night I woke up in my bed and I i had to have been like maybe 11, 10 or 11, something like that.
00:24:09
Speaker
And I woke up and all and I woke up because I was cold because all the blankets and everything they were off of me. And I remember looking down at the foot of the bed and all of them were folded at the fucking end of the bed.
00:24:25
Speaker
Weird. Why would a kid wake up in the middle of the night and fold everything? like i was not like a I was not a clean child. this one I wasn't organized like I am now. like I was kind of a slob. that I wouldn't have cared about folding those things. So down at the end of the bed, there were my sheets folded.
00:24:42
Speaker
There was like the comforter folded and there was this clown blanket that that um this woman that I would I called Nani She she like knitted it for me. That was folded at the end of the bed Weird not fucked up strange. very I mean we know Normal times that and normal times I would be like that's a very nice gesture goes but not right now Wow. Exactly. They can like do this when I'm doing laundry, babe. um But listen, so those are just some stories from us.
Listeners' Ghost Stories and Loftus Hall
00:25:08
Speaker
Listeners, we know that you have them too. And so if you have them, please let us know on social media or you can email them to us to frag813 at gmail dot.com. Or if you're a patron on Patreon, you can also use the Patreon chat. We'll get that chat going for for everybody. We'd love to hear your stories of real hauntings because um it's spooky season and that shit freaks us all out. So this is the perfect time for it.
00:25:29
Speaker
But in the meantime, to be out and no and to be honest, we've told all of our stories to each other, so we need new ones. Like there's very little that Andrew and I don't know about each other, quite frankly. So like, yeah, we need yours now. Thank you. Yeah. Um, and listen to, we've got some stories to share with you right now too. Um, I've got one about a house in Ireland, Andrew, and this is, uh, called Loftus Hall. Have you ever heard of Loftus Hall before? No, sounds, sounds creepy.
00:26:00
Speaker
So Loftus Hall is the is what is referred to as the most haunted house in Ireland. um And it it really is something else. um What I'm going to read you right now, I was going to read to you from a book, but actually it's a little long. So I'm going to read from a from a website instead. And this is just from the Waterford Visitor Center dot com. so It's a pretty easy website to find. um And thank you, Waterford, for for giving this to us. um But this house is in Waterford. um Waterford is ah is a place in Ireland. My friend Emily is from Waterford. um I have actually not been there yet and I'm looking forward to, once again, now that I have a car, being able to go down there because it's a really, really beautiful part of Ireland.
00:26:39
Speaker
um So I want to tell you a little bit about what Loftus Hall is. And maybe when you come to visit me here, listeners and Andrew, you might make this part of your itinerary. So the history of Loftus Hall, a large mansion located along the Hook Peninsula, goes back through the centuries. The original hall was built in 1350.
00:27:00
Speaker
by the red i know right by the Redmond family during the time of the Black Death. It was known as Redmond Hall until the 1650s when it was given to English planters, the Loftus family. And from then on, it was known as a Loftus Hall. The building that stands today was heavily renovated between 1872 and 1879 in a preparation for a visit from Queen Victoria.
00:27:26
Speaker
The visit never happened and the Loftus family were left with a huge debt following the major work carried out on the building. God, I bet they were fucking pissed. The last, could you imagine getting ready for the fucking queen? And then she's like, actually, I can't make it.
00:27:41
Speaker
Sorry that you had to spend a million fucking pounds on this bitch. um Anyways, ah the last of the surviving Loftus family passed away in 1890 and the bankrupt estate was put up for sale. So it seems like, you know, that them doing this completely, they must have bankrupted them.
00:27:57
Speaker
Over the subsequent years, the building served as a home for Benedictine nuns, a school for girls run by the Sisters of Providence, and at one point even became the Loftus Hall Hotel, which closed in the early 1900s. In 2011, the house was sold to its current owners, the Quigley family. The family have secured the structure and are regenerating the walled gardens, the courtyard, and house to ensure the future of Loftus Hall for the next generations.
00:28:23
Speaker
There is an eerie story that has sucked with Loftus Hall for many years. According to legend, one stormy night, a stranger approached Loftus Hall on horseback and was invited in by the Tottenham family who were living there at the time. The young Lady Anne Tottenham became enchanted by the stranger. One night while playing cards, Lady Anne dropped a card, and while bending down to retrieve it, she caught a glimpse of the strange under the table.
00:28:53
Speaker
He had a stranger under the table. Pardon me. He had clothing hoofs instead of feet And with that the stranger shot through the roof and a ball of flames What story goes on to say that lady and never recovered from her ordeal and was locked in the tapestry ah Tapestry room where she died years later Servants and family members reported seeing her ghost wander the house at night since Loftus Hall was open to the public in 2012 There have been reports from visitors who claim to have seen and felt ah unexplainable things while in Loftus Hall. Would you have the courage to visit? Well, you can find out more listeners at LoftusHall.ie. I cannot wait to go there myself. Looking forward to it. And and that's where the the old story of the devil coming coming to play poker comes from. And um
00:29:44
Speaker
Pretty wild shit, though. And there's a lot of other stories about like ghosts and voices and other kind of crazy stuff that happens there. Can't wait to go visit it. Cool. I love it. um Sounds like a spooky good time.
00:29:59
Speaker
um I'm gonna share two ah posts that I found. I was trying to look for like more modern hauntings, um but it's kinda hard. like they don't like People are not really talking about it that much anymore. yeah I'm not gonna lie, Andrew, I did the same thing today. I would yeah i like i literally googled recent hauntings or 2024 new ghost stories or whatever. It's kinda hard to find.
00:30:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's because everyone hoards them for um profit now. for kind social yeah You're absolutely right, dude. Yeah, but um so I found a couple. I'm just going to read these top two because I kind of the more um shorter ones. um So this one reads, this is a weird post, but I'm fairly sure my house is haunted and I want to see about others having similar experiences. This house was built in 1954, so not terribly old but old yeah and I moved in about two and a half years ago. and little We know where this is, by the way. I don't. These are just kind of pulled from social media posts. I live alone with my dog. ah Things started to happening within a few weeks of moving in, lights turning on and off, doors closing on their own, you know, et cetera, things like that.
00:31:17
Speaker
typical haunting stuff. ah One night, I was sitting in the kitchen island eating dinner and a hand grabbed my torso. No, no, I can't. Yeah, I've i've had that happen before where you feel something on your shoulder and it is the worst feeling. Jesus, man, so awful. um I also randomly smell cigarette smoke or strong perfume from time to time. Oh, my God.
00:31:41
Speaker
ah So if i this a one this is one where i'm i this is weird because like if you this person lived in like a condo building or like in an apartment, I would kind of be like, well, that's probably just your neighbor's apartment. But this person is saying they live in a house. So that's really weird. um My guest bedroom is carpeted and you can easily see if someone has walked across the carpet. One of my favorite things, vacuum lines. If you interrupt my vacuum lines.
00:32:07
Speaker
um But often the blinds will be randomly open after I have closed them with no visible footprints on the carpet. What? My mom came to visit and said she was getting ready in the morning when someone loudly said her name. Oh my god. and my best friend My best friend was getting ready one morning in the same bathroom and and he said he backed up into a person. But there was nobody there. Oh my god.
00:32:36
Speaker
They each told me today my AirPods case randomly flew off with the kitchen counter. So kind of like what you were talking about with the pictures. um I know this kind of sounds ridiculous, but I really think this place I don't think this sounds ridiculous. I think this sounds scary. Yeah, it sounds like it sounds like you're telling the truth here, actually. um So they basically just conclude with I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar or how they live with it.
00:33:03
Speaker
That's an interesting way to put it, how they live with it. I don't feel threatened or unsafe, but it's just weird. um and that's so beautiful i feel like ah ah Number one, i I do think it's a great question. And then I feel like yeah at a certain point, like if if you want to stay there and like if you're ah Concerned, I guess, is the is the is the word i i would I would think. If you're concerned about like making it better or like if you're really scared, like I guess I would just talk to the ghost kind of thing. like At least try to talk to it and just like see what that might do.
00:33:37
Speaker
Yeah. um it's It's so interesting to think about this topic when it comes to um like housing prices and just being like, well, I got to deal with what I got to deal with and imagine being what you have to deal with as a ghost.
00:33:57
Speaker
Oh, it's so funny. Um, and then the second one here I have is, um, from a similar time, so only a year apart. So the fifties apparently is where all the the disgruntled ghosts come from, but it reads, uh, my house, 1953 has two ghosts. My stepdaughter and her stepmom claimed to be able to sense them. They both said it's an old lady and an old man, but don't worry. They're friendly. Yeah. They said the old lady used to be a gardener and she likes the plants you have. One day this neighbor was walking by who hadn't been in by our house in some time and told my wife, oh my gosh, I haven't been by in forever. I remember the old lady who used to live here. She always had flowers out front out front here and a bunch of plants inside the dining room as she looks in our in our window and says, just like you guys do.
00:34:51
Speaker
Oh, that's kind of creepy. My neighbors have to be so creepy. I know. I just don't don't be that. They mess with us mostly me often. I set my cooler down to wash it and turned around to see to turn on the hose. When I looked back, I saw that my dog's toy was in the cooler.
00:35:10
Speaker
They've turned the lights on and off. The craziest one was when I threw away some moldy cheese in the morning and went to work. When I got home, the cheese was back in the fridge. I asked my wife if she had took it out and she said, why the fuck would I take moldy cheese out of the trash and put it back in the fridge?
00:35:30
Speaker
So I mean, these are a little bit more modern. um But I just I thought that these are were interesting, like the things that ah ghosts or ah or energy feels it needs to do to either like let their legacy live on or help out in a way or in some of our, you know, movies that we're going to be talking about scare people away. um So it's just interesting how different ghosts or energies manifest themselves and what they're tasked to do with their either afterlife or continued life or however you want to kind of yeah sure think about that thing. Wow. Should we just go ahead and do this third one? It's not that yeah go ahead, please. Okay.
00:36:13
Speaker
All right, my grandma was a force of nature and I loved her. When my grandma died, the relative, this one's weird because of this part of the story, but um when i my grandma died, the relatives locked up the house and it remained untouched for 10 years.
00:36:29
Speaker
And then parentheses that says, hey, we're Italian. We don't let go of things easily. yeah um Except for biweekly cleanings. So they still kept they still kept up the house, but nobody lived in it. um I eventually bought the house and started clearing things out because everything was exactly how it was the day she died. The first night we were in the house, it was hot as Hades. But my kids, who were teenagers, tried on grandma's fancy robe, jewelry, and wiglets.
00:36:56
Speaker
They rooted through ah dressers and trunks. It was all fun and games until it wasn't. In the middle of the night, my 19-year-old daughter came running into our bed crying and yelling about the woman standing at the end of her bed. and It seems it got very cold in her room and she sat up to pull up the quilt. The woman was standing at the end of her bed, staring.
00:37:20
Speaker
um Oh, and these beds were originally a house. um We laughed and poo pooed her and she refused to return to her room, typical kid stuff. So she stayed in our bed that night and then the many nights to follow. I did tell her that we were sleeping in the bed where my grandfather died and she vowed to never return. So these days I had scared her out of the bed. So on the second night in the house, so that was just the first night in the house. Jesus God almighty.
00:37:46
Speaker
On the second night in the house, my husband woke up and asked who was in the hallway. Thinking it was one of the other kids, he got up to take a look and ah to look around, but there was no one. wow was one of the It was one of the girls in their rooms heading to the bathroom, except it wasn't. My husband was a nuclear scientist. This is a weird fact. My husband, the nuclear scientist, decided it was just headlights passing by, um it just him being the voice of reason.
00:38:14
Speaker
A few weeks passed and all was quiet except for the middle of the night smell of brewing coffee and burnt toast, which was grandpa's favorite breakfast. Wow. My daughter went next door to the cousin's house. This is so Italian. The cousins live next door. right Yeah. um My daughter went next door to the cousin's house to let the dog and to let out the dog and return with a picture of a family reunion. She pointed out my grandmother and said, this is the lady standing at the end of my bed. jesus She had never met her great grandmother. Wow.
00:38:49
Speaker
I went down to the basement and chatted with Grandma. I don't know why Grandma's in the basement, but there she is. where is she bullet wait Telling her that while I loved her presence there, she was scaring the kids. I told her that I loved her and I would take care of the house and she and that she and my grandfather built and ah that it was okay for her to move on. It's been quiet ever since. Wow. That one.
00:39:17
Speaker
There's always one more story, isn't there? I'll give you one more. I'll give you one more story, Andrew, because you know that you know this person. You you remember my friend, Emmy, you haven't seen her in a long time. But yeah, right. Emmy, she moved to Washington a long, long time ago. It it's it feels like now. Actually, like maybe like even like 10 years almost. Anyways, her mom died last year.
00:39:37
Speaker
And you know she lived a good long life, but you know you know she but she was living with Emmy at the end. It was it was a lot. you know Whenever you have a parent live with you at the end, that's it's not like it's an easy thing, right? So Emmy had to do quite a bit to take care of her at the end of her life. And it was really hard on Emmy and she would call me a lot and we would we would talk about it, that kind of thing.
00:39:55
Speaker
And the night that she died, she called me and she told me about it while her mother was dead right next to her in the room. And that's a lot to deal with. Anyways, a few weeks go on, maybe even a month and a half or something, and I get a call from Emmy. And it's hard because when Emmy calls me, the time difference is huge between Washington state in Dublin, so it's always, it's never a good time for us on either side. So anyways, you know, I answered it and I was really tired, but she was like, I have to tell you what's going on. And she was like, we were eating dinner. And Emmy's family is actually Italian. Her mom was big time Italian. And her mom was always in the kitchen, always cooking. And whenever I saw Mary Ellen, Mary Ellen would be like, oh, Maddie, come here, I'm gonna make you a pastrami sandwich. Like that's literally how she was like an Italian mama.
00:40:46
Speaker
Um, and so like they were sitting down in the house, her and her two sons, her and the boys to eat dinner. She said they sat down and then in the kitchen, which they could see from the table, the fucking refrigerator door opens and then the fucking cabinet door opens.
00:41:03
Speaker
And like they're all just sitting there watching this happen. Like your refrigerator door does not open on its, I don't care what kind of refrigerator you have. Like they're not built that way. You know what I mean? They don't just open up. Like somebody has to pull on it, pull on it. And it happened right after the old girl dead. You know what I mean? It's fucking crazy. That's that energy just lasting, you know? They're with us, dude.
Media Reviews and Recommendations
00:41:31
Speaker
Boo, with us. Andrea, it's always fun to talk about this shit. I'm glad we're doing that. Should we take a break here and talk about some stuff we've been watching lately? Yes, let's take a break and we'll be right back with what you've been watching, bitch.
00:41:59
Speaker
And it's time for what you've been watching, bitch. What you've been watching, you haunted little bitch. And this is the segment in the show where we talk about what we've been watching, besides the movies that we watch for this episode. We must have four things that we bring to the table on these usually, and that's what we're gonna do right now. So Andrew, why don't you tell us the first thing that you've been watching, you bitch.
00:42:21
Speaker
Yes. Um, so I started watching English teacher. It is just called English teacher. I always want to say the English teacher, but it's just called English teacher. Um, it's currently streaming on Hulu. So I think that that also means you can watch it on Disney plus because I think they share their content now in a weird way. I don't know, but I seem to see the same thing. Nothing, nothing makes sense anymore. I don't i know. Um, but I pay for both. So what am I doing with my life?
00:42:47
Speaker
um But no, this is honestly like I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite discoveries I've watched in a really long time. Really? Yeah. So basically, the English teacher is about this guy. He's probably in his like 30s, like younger to mid 30s, gay guy, openly gay. And he teaches English in a school in Austin, Texas.
00:43:12
Speaker
And so it just kind of explores the dynamics of modern teaching and like, you know, dealing with parents and then also dealing with kids that are a lot smarter because they have all the resources of like their smartphones and like AI and like all that stuff. And so it just deals with a lot of that stuff, but it is interesting. It is so funny. It is so funny. It's so like we need that. It's it's so quick witted. It's one of those shows that i I guarantee that I missed jokes because I was laughing. It's one of those kind of shows. It's just so quick. um It honestly reminds me ah a lot of one of my favorite shows, Happy Endings, in a weird way. Maybe it's just the writing or how it's done. But like it's an ensemble cast, but um they don't shy away from like
00:44:01
Speaker
You know, gay stuff, which I appreciate like there's in the very first episode, this is not giving anything away. It's just part of the plot. But um his job is threatened because a parent thinks that because he kissed his boyfriend in front of her son, that it turned her son gay.
00:44:16
Speaker
And so like there's like these all these weird dynamics that people have to go through in modern times, but it's all saturated with such humor that it's like it's it it balances this line of being like very heartfelt and warm, but also hilarious, which I think is really hard to pull off. And so I i tell you, if you like this kind of comedy, you gotta watch English Teacher on Hulu. That's awesome. um I think we all need a bit of laughter these days, don't we? So that's good to know.
00:44:45
Speaker
um Okay, I watched one ah called cobweb. um have you what I think you watch this. and Yeah. Is this so with the girl from Mean Girls, right? think I think so. Lizzie Kaplan. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah um So I mean, look, it's I know it's been around for about a year, I think. And I just I haven't gotten around to it until now because it was finally streaming. What did I watch this on? I think on Netflix, I watched it over here. It was pretty good. It was really good. but I was really pleased with it. um I watched it. i I had a pretty long day yesterday. I i ran a 5K and I went went out with my friends, had a few beers, that kind of thing. I i got home at like eight o'clock and like, you know, like when you've been out for the day like that, like you're kind of like half with it sort of sort of deal. yeah im look I'm looking forward to like watching it again tonight, to be honest, like with my full brain.
00:45:30
Speaker
um but what i saw last night i loved it was really really spooky and it was sort of like a little like um uh baba dookie it was a little bit like you know people under the stairs like it was just really spooky and scary and like when you finally do like get like the the reveal of what's really going on it is pretty haunting and and and scary it really is. And that third act is of a wild ride. Oh my god it's it's crazy. So yeah i I really enjoyed watching it last night. I'm honestly looking forward to watching it again tonight just to like really get the full picture. um But if you have not seen cobweb yet let me tell you I think for spooky season this is a perfect entry so go ahead and give that one a watch.
00:46:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's definitely like a good spooky nighttime kind of watch. So good. um The next one that I have is The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Wow. um This is also on Hulu. um So I went into this. I thought that this was a documentary series. like i thought that it was like because there I don't know if you know this whole thing about mom talk, which is like TikTok, but mom talk. um But they went through like this whole controversy. It was this group of Mormon women and this one girl that was part of this whole group, they did TikTok together. They made a ton of money on TikTok over it, um just like dancing and doing stupid shit that people do on TikTok to make money.
00:46:56
Speaker
um And this one girl finally, she sat down and on TikTok live one night and talked all about how all of them had been swinging with each other's husbands and wives and how they had all this thing about like, they called it soft swinging. So it was just like, oh, no penetration, but like oral and hand jobs and whatever. um And so I thought it was going to be all about like,
00:47:20
Speaker
the documentary about what was going on with that, but it's actually just like kind of like a Bravo ah like show like about these like ladies i know like and the fallout from that, which is interesting. And I find like, listen, I find other religions and cultures very, very interesting um because it's all like I feel like all religion is tied to like saying no to things. like You just say no to things. like They can't have coffee or tea. um they They have to wear their undergarments, all this stuff. and but they like But now like modern Mormons are finding ways around this stuff. so Of course.
00:48:02
Speaker
There's these places now, I think it's called Swig, um but they go and they get pop, they get soda. Like, and they they no no they think that that's like a workaround, but like these places, I'm not telling you, they're like not normal, just like soda. They like, they'll do like soda with like coconut cream and like with like different syrups and like all this stuff. And so like these, this one girl, she goes, um, yeah, I probably, I probably get like,
00:48:29
Speaker
two 44-ounce sodas a day. And I was like, holy shit. Jesus Christ. But they all have their own orders. It's fascinating. Are these girls pretty vapid and pretty hypocritical when it comes to being Mormon? Absolutely. But I think that that's what makes it entertaining. Very interesting.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yeah, there's a there's a lot of shit that goes on. I don't want to go into too many details. But if you like like these kind of reality shows, which I do find myself like just getting invested in certain ones. I don't know if I'm totally invested in this one, but I did find the episodes that I watched so far pretty fascinating just because it's totally different than the life that I lead. So that that sounds like something else right there. Yeah.
00:49:14
Speaker
Um, I, my next one I binged very quickly through the newest season of heart stopper on Netflix. So this is season three now of, uh, and this is the, the real life, uh, dramatization of, uh, well, not real life, but you know what I mean? Like it's like real people of, of Alice Osman's, uh, very, very popular, very famous, uh, graphic novel set called heart stopper. Um, and this one I'm really glad to report.
00:49:42
Speaker
this season is way better than season two because so good oh season two was a misfire for the people that were making this show. um It was just really, it felt really fast, felt really slapped together, didn't feel super thoughtful. It felt like a vehicle to just like get plays for really famous songs and get paid for them basically.
00:50:02
Speaker
And so this one really, I think they really did get the memo on that. And it's probably because of me. So thank you. You're you're welcome, everyone. ah My feedback is is what did it. um But I mean, for real, like the the third season deals with some pretty serious stuff for for the lives of these kids that you're watching. And um And they do it really well. I mean, this season deals with eating disorders. It deals with um kids coming out, not just being, you know, gay or lesbian. It comes up with a whole whole plethora of ways of of of coming out as trans or as asexual or aromantic.
00:50:38
Speaker
um it deals with It deals with young people having sex, which, yes, guess what, everybody? They do that. You can't escape that. So like isn't it good to like give them a story where they can you know relate to this you know on TV or on Netflix or whatever?
00:50:53
Speaker
and um and it's all done so well it's done it's all done so respectfully and i actually i made a ah i just like posted about it on threads the other day and i was like i yeah made it through the season you know as usual i cried a lot and i'm just so happy that like kids have something like this now to watch i could have never dreamed of having this when i was a kid in the 80s and 90s And somebody commented on it, and they were like, yeah, it's done really responsibly. And I was like, oh, that's a really great word for this show. It's a responsible show. It like it does not shy away from reality. It like shows like you know sort of like modern teen life. It doesn't censor them. you know They use cuss words, and they talk about sex, and they talk about this, and they talk about that.
00:51:37
Speaker
And like and it it just once again, it gives people that, you know, probably never thought that they would have a chance to see something reflected of of their own lives. It gives them a chance to see that reflection. So I just I adore the show. So I adore the books. I adore Alice Oseman. I adore the story. And I really, really enjoy this new season. So if you haven't watched Heartstopper, start at the beginning. um But I think you will enjoy season three.
00:52:02
Speaker
Cool. I'm glad to hear that it turned itself around because I remember you were very disappointed in the season two. um I finally got to watch. I saw the TV glow. Oh, good. It currently is streaming on on on Max, which is what it's called now.
00:52:18
Speaker
Um, and I, I gotta be honest, I, the first watch through, I didn't quite understand the end. I i had to like, there's it's like, it really is a lot because there is like the two storylines that you're following. I think it's Maddie and I can't think of the other kids name.
00:52:38
Speaker
um But like just that whole journey of their friendship and just the whole thing that happens at the end when it ended I Kind of turned to Michael. I was like, I don't think I understand like I don't think I i get it sure and and and so I did a little bit of reading I did a little bit of like what people were saying about it and some I did some ah interviews with the director and some of their cast and stuff and i I Get it now. I think that This is just one that you have to be really, really paying attention. You have to be really, really media literate to like get it. But once you get it, there is a really powerful message in there. And I understand that I understand that people that are going through similar walks in their life, you know, I didn't have that in my life. So maybe I just didn't latch on to the ideas that other people latched on to. But it's a really beautiful movie. um
00:53:31
Speaker
And i think like I think I owe it to myself now that I kind of understand what they were trying to say to go back and watch it again, just to like maybe put two and two together in my brain. But um it was so funny because the TV show that they use in it, The Pink Opaque, um it's such like it's such like a love letter to like Buffy and stuff. yeah so funny because we had just finished watching Buffy all the way through. wow For me, it was the fifth time. For Michael, it was the first time. yeah and so like Watching that, I was like, wow, that's ah so interesting. and Even Tara herself shows up in the movie from the show. She plays the mom of one of the characters. so
00:54:14
Speaker
a pretty cool movie. Like I said, I didn't latch on to the some of the main themes that they were trying to say, but that's not saying that they didn't do it well. It may be just something that I wasn't looking for. And so now that I kind of know what they were trying to say, I do owe it a second watch, but still liked it quite a bit.
00:54:32
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm glad to hear that from you. And and i I completely agree. like I caught on to what I could catch on to, for sure. But like it you did ah you have to give it a little time to process. And like I remember even like when it ended, I remember thinking, like oh, it's not going to end here. is ah that's like It can't end here. And then it ended there. And I was like, oh, okay. thats I have to think about this.
00:54:55
Speaker
yeah and And then you know giving it some reflection and then you're like, oh, oh, wow, that is really brilliant. Okay, got it. And and like you, I actually, I bought the movie like because so I could watch it again. um And i'm I'm looking, I haven't done it yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so because it is just, it's a really beautiful movie, but you're right. There's just so much symbolism. There's so much to catch on to. You've got to pay attention with this one. yeah I think like maybe like the most important thing is that um How can I say this? like The people that this is really intended for, I imagine, are probably getting those signals that you and I aren't getting. Right. Do you know what I mean? when that's what i That's what I mean. you know yeah like That's like the most important thing, but just really, really beautiful movie. Just gorgeous.
00:55:39
Speaker
um My next one is Unsolved Mysteries, a new season. Thank God. I just saw that these were on there last night and I'm so excited to get into it. And they're really good. there are There's two in particular that i that I was really, really happy with. There's one about cattle mutilation, um which is a very common thing to talk about with extraterrestrials, which I'm very into.
00:56:04
Speaker
Um, so that that's a great episode. And then they do a whole episode on a Roswell motherfucker. The Roswell one is really good. And the Calum mutilation one, if I'm being honest, is even better if you can believe it. So good. Cause I was worried about the Roswell one because last season when they did Jack the Ripper, I was like, well, that was, that was, um, that, that was not a good episode. And I'll be honest, like some of the other episodes on this one, I don't, I can't remember what they're about, but like, like the murder ones or whatever.
00:56:30
Speaker
ah Sometimes I don't get quite as into those on the newer seasons because yeah like they they they do kind of jump around a lot. Well, and they just and they kind of just piss you off because with like modern eyes, you know, it's obviously the police didn't do their job or like it's obviously that that guy did it or like, you know, exactly. But it's just like, yeah, there's just there's always so much going on and like they're bouncing back and forth with this, this, this, this, this, is this. And it's just like.
00:56:57
Speaker
Man, where are we right now? like there' there's There's too much going on. So yeah, anyways, Unsolved Mysteries Season 5. You can't go wrong. Give it a watch. Cool. My last one is Will and Harper. Have you seen this yet? I have not, but I do want to watch it though. So this is about Will Ferrell and his friend Harper Steele. ah Harper Steele was a lead writer on SNL and that's how they, they like started on SNL the same day. So like they were through that whole SNL journey together. Um, and Harper late in life in, in her sixties decided to transition to be her true self.
00:57:34
Speaker
and ah and came out to like all of her all of her friends and this is all about Will Ferrell and Harper Steele going across doing a cross the country road trip because this is what Harper Steele used to do all the time ah when she identifi when she identified as a man and didn't have any issues going into like seedy bars or going to Oklahoma or like and and she just wanted to relive that and relive it as herself and kind of wanted to know you and and wanted to just um be with Will Ferrell because Will Ferrell is one of her best friends and just wanted to be like, hey, Will, what questions do you have? That's fun. And it's so good. It's so, so good. um Listen, I am not the hugest Will Ferrell fan. Yeah, just like his comedy just doesn't quite always work for me. Sure. But to see the like real side of him
00:58:31
Speaker
um and it's And it's weird because there's a part where he tries to do like this whole like putting on a putting on a show for a crowd and it really turns on them and it actually gets really scary. oh wow and so like there's just like it's it's It's a fascinating look in America. It's a fascinating look at what trans people have to go through to just become who they want to be. yeah And it's also like a reflection on a life that people maybe feel like they were wasting. You know what I mean? and sure it's It's really good. You should watch it. it's It's very good. It's on Netflix. I highly encourage everyone to watch it.
00:59:07
Speaker
I'm looking forward to that. Yeah. Those are important stories that need to be told, especially, especially now. Um, my final one is live from the other side with Tyler Henry. You love this little twink. I don't anymore. Like, oh really ah so like i've I've watched like the other, ah the other show that he had, whatever it's called something with Tyler Henry, um, where he just like, you know, goes people's houses and does readings for, for them. And so like this one is, it's like a live one that happens on Netflix now.
00:59:37
Speaker
And like, OK, you can catch it live or you can watch the recording. Oh, it's actually live. Yeah. yeah And like you can. um And ah it's like they bring in like a like a group of like B-list, C-list celebrities, basically. And like he they sit on a couch and then he just has a bunch of readings. that's That's all that it is. It's really dumb.
00:59:56
Speaker
Oh, no. And like, and here's the thing is like, I really actually like believe in this stuff. And like, and I i take like, I take NDEs really seriously, I take mediumship really seriously, like all that stuff, like i I actually believe in it. And I think that it can be really like, helpful for people to go through like an authentic experience with this.
01:00:18
Speaker
But I really don't like it when it's just like this bullshit from Tyler Henry and like it just it just feels so fake and like and everyone feels so saccharine and like they greet each other and they're just all like celebrities. It's just it's it's really honestly I think it's gross and like I don't know maybe other people that listening right now like it I guess that that that's up to you. ah It will be honest like he is kind of twinkies like when I first started watching him I was like oh he's kind of cute.
01:00:46
Speaker
um Now he's like growing his hair out too long and it just looks weird Anyways, I don't recommend watching live from the other side with Tyler Henry Yeah, there's there's also something weird that you know, it's not his fault. He kind of fell into this but like this whole like circle jerk of like B-list, C-list celebrities all just wanting yes to be honest, to be on it. And it's, there's like a weird part of a culture that's happening right now. it's It happens a lot in the podcast culture. It happens a lot in reality TV culture of just like these people just wanting to like make their little group more famous. And it's weird. It's very weird.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, i don't I don't like it. I really don't. Yeah. Well, that does it for what you've been watching, Bitch. Maddie brought us Cobweb, which I think here in the States is streaming on Hulu. Heartstopper, season three on Netflix, Unsolved Mysteries, season five. I think there are five new episodes, right? and i I think it was five. Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:50
Speaker
and live from the other side with Tyler Henry. And Andrew brought us English teacher on Hulu, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, also on Hulu. I saw the TV glow on Max and Will and Harper on Netflix. So folks, that does it for another edition of what you've been watching, bitch. We'll be right back with our first film of the episode, The Hunting.
01:02:20
Speaker
There once was a house. A bright, happy home. Something bad happened. Now it sits all alone. Is this where you're going? That's Hill House. It's perfect, isn't it?
01:02:40
Speaker
You all suffer from sleep disorders. My job is to find out why. What's the deal with the Adams family mansion? I gotta be honest, I don't get a real strong sleep vibe from this place.
01:02:52
Speaker
Don't you love it here? This is so twisted. Calling it an insomnia study allows me to create a highly suggestive environment to observe the dynamics of fear.
01:03:05
Speaker
You don't tell the rats they're actually in a maze. I just think Dr. Marrow's up to something. Have you ever kept something to yourself because you were afraid? All the time. oh ah I'm sorry, huh? You scared the fu-
01:03:51
Speaker
Oh my god, what's happening?
01:04:04
Speaker
None of this is real. Oh, it is real.
01:04:19
Speaker
Get ready to flaunt that haunt, baby, because here comes the haunting! Andrew, tell us all about 1999's The Haunting. Some houses are born bad. Dr. David Morrow invites three distinct individuals to the eerie and isolated Hill House to be subjects for a sleep disorder study.
01:04:40
Speaker
The unfortunate guests discover that Marrow is far more interested in the Sinister Mansion itself, and they soon see the true nature of its horror. This is directed by Jabi... Jadi... Bont? Is that right? Oh, I'm sorry. I but forgot the N. It's Jadi Bont.
01:04:59
Speaker
Sorry. Well, Jan DeBont, that would make a lot more sense with an N. Written by David Self, based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. um We should say, I think you've already said this, but this is the 1999 version. Yes, yeah.
01:05:14
Speaker
Production and distribution distribution were handled by Roth Arnold Productions and DreamWorks Pictures. Nell is played by Lily Taylor. Dr. Morrow is played by Liam Neeson. Theo is played by Catherine Zeta Jones. Luke is played by Owen Wilson. Mrs. Dudley played by Marion Seldes. Mr. Dudley played by Bruce Dern. Mary played by Alex Kromze. Sure. ah Todd played by Todd Field. That one's not too hard. And Jane, weirdly played by Virginia Manson. Oh, we're going to talk about that, don't worry. ah Rated PG-13, this comes in at 114 minutes. It was made in Harlaxton Hall in the UK. It was released on june July of 1999. The budget was for this one, 80 million. It braked in 180 million. So I'm very surprised we haven't seen a sequel. but um
01:06:10
Speaker
That's the haunting, Maddie. I know this is not a first watch for either of us oh or or or different versions of the same story. But we'll stick to the 1999 version. What did you think? You know, so um the haunting of Hill House has been done so many times now in so many different ways. And I'm just really glad, Andrew, that the definitive version has been completed by Mike Flanagan.
01:06:39
Speaker
You know what I mean? And I hate, it I hate, we love Mike Flanagan so much on this show. Like, I hate to jump literally straight to a filmmaker that had nothing to do with this and had absolutely no no hand in this in the least, but i I have to. And the reason why is because it's done so well, right? Like, i was I was thinking as we were getting ready for the show today, like, if anybody else touches the the haunting of Hill House story to adapt it in another way again,
01:07:08
Speaker
you better be prepared to do it better than Mike Flanagan because I don't i don't know if if you're if that's possible, to be honest. So I just want to park that over there. um That is, I think, the best version of what's of of this entire of all of it. um And then you have a version like this called The Haunting. And I think that The Haunting had some good ideas. right There's a lot of a lot of great promise in this. it's I think it suffers from having so much shit going on at one time that nobody knows what's actually happening.
01:07:46
Speaker
whether it's the director, whether it's the actors, whether it's the writer, we're all over the place. And it just kind of all gets veiled over. Thankfully, for the for the movie's sake and for our sake, with a with a really fucking cool house and a beautiful interior that is kind of amazing to watch on screen like that is the saving grace of this movie is that it looks really, really cool. I would also say that, like, look,
01:08:14
Speaker
The the acting is not bad in this for sure. I mean, that we've got some great people here. We've got Liam Neeson, for God's sake, Catherine Zeta Jones, um we you know, whatever you think about him. We've got Owen Wilson um and we have Lily Taylor. Now, Lily Taylor.
01:08:28
Speaker
is tricky, right? Lily Taylor works in some things. And then another things I really can't fucking stand her. And so this is one where I honestly can't stand her. But like, if we think about the conjuring, she's great in the conjuring. Like i can't I can't imagine anyone else but Lily Taylor playing the mom in the conjuring. Um, but another example would be six feet under her character in six feet under.
01:08:53
Speaker
drove me up the fucking wall, Andrew, kind of almost stopped watching the show because of her. There are just some roles that Lily Taylor shouldn't play. And I think, I was trying to think like, well, why do you feel this way so much? I think it's her voice, Andrew. I think it's her voice. It drives me a little nuts. And in this one, it it's, she sounds so fake the whole time in this movie. yeah It's really hard for me to like believe anything coming from her. and And I get what she's trying to play. She's trying to play this like sort of naive, really innocent, very helpful person. Meek. like yeah Meek is a really great word for it. And I get that. I know she's trying to play that. And to be honest, she's not playing that poorly. I really do mean that.
01:09:41
Speaker
it just doesn't come out authentic. It it it comes out almost hammy in a way. And I think that, I don't know, like that that's one thing that I might have changed here is just the casting. It didn't really work out. But then when we think about casting further, a lot of this just comes down to stereotypes. like you know We've got Catherine Zeta Jones, who I think is a really good actress. She's done some really great stuff.
01:10:02
Speaker
um But for this one, it's like they just really didn't give a whole lot of thought to Theo. It was like, oh, Theo's is kind of a slut, and Theo's bisexual, and we're just gonna do this and give her some really cool Prada boots and call it a day. And that's kind of what the role came down to. So it is with ah with Luke too, played by Owen Wilson. And like he's just sort of like a bumbly, sort of you know half frat boy, half nerdy kind of guy, and that's like, they were like, okay, stereotypes done.
01:10:31
Speaker
And and the kind of the same thing with the doctor and kind of the same thing with the the caretaker. um And like after a while, it just gets kind of old, you know? And let's now jump back to what I parked earlier. Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House. He didn't do that at all. He took the time to flesh out these characters in such a thoughtful and beautiful way. None of them were stereotypes in The Haunting of Hill House. They were 360 degree people. You know what I mean? like Completely round characters that you cared about so deeply that by the time that show ended, you were like weeping for each of them. right And in this one, you don't get that.
01:11:13
Speaker
Um, there's more to talk about. How did you feel about it? Yeah. So, um, so here's what I think. I think that this is a very like pretty movie. Like as far as like set dressing and like the cast is all very attractive. Everyone like is dressed really nicely. Like all the costuming is really good. Um, I think some of the special effects work. And some of them look really cheesy and bad. agreed um But like overall, like i was in like i i saw this I remember I saw this in the theater and I remember liking it back then. But I remember being like, that ending, I don't really get the ending. like i And I was like, okay, this time I'm really gonna pay attention. I'm gonna try to figure out like what's going on here.
01:11:59
Speaker
And I still kind of don't really get the ending that much, um if I'm being honest. And we can go into the part where I just, like the the plot loses me at a certain point. But um for the first hour this time around, I was into it. I was like, why does everyone think that this movie is so bad? Because there's like a consensus now with Modernize that this movie's pretty bad. And like for the first hour, I was like, I don't know what people are talking about. This is is spooky.
Film Critiques and Casting Opinions
01:12:23
Speaker
I love the house. I love how it's all like set up. and like I was into it. And then it like it just takes like a very hard turn and it just gets so crazy. Yeah, I agree. And the explanation at the end, which we'll talk about, doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. And so like nowhere comes out of absolutely nowhere. And so like it's kind of a mixed bag for me. Like I i have the same exact issues with the casting of Lily Taylor here. I think that her version of playing this kind of like
01:12:56
Speaker
um I don't know, kind of like a descent into insanity, but then getting stronger at the end. She just, what drove me crazy about her, and I think that that's something maybe you alluded to too, is just like the way that she expects people to hear her in a house of that magnitude where she's walking around going,
01:13:17
Speaker
Mrs. Dudley, Mrs. Dudley. She's not going to hear you from the door. like and so like There were just moments like that where she just really annoyed me. and Even though other people see things, they're so easily like um just kind of explained away in a way that doesn't make sense because even after the first I was excited because the first time that something happens, it happens to both Nell and Theo. So I was like, okay, there's no way they can explain this away because they both saw it. And then they kind of cut to Dr. Marrow turning the pipes on and off and it kind of makes a similar noise. And I was like, okay, that explains the noise, but that doesn't explain
01:13:58
Speaker
something turning the door handles and pushing the door open exactly exactly and so i was like this doesn't even make sense so like i don't know i was into it for a while and then it just kind of lost me that's kind of my initial thoughts and we can get into details uh if you would like yeah i mean you know i the um The premise of why this is all coming together is that there's a sleep study going on. These three people can't sleep and this doctor has lured them to the house um under that premise that they are going to be doing some psychological studies to help them sleep better. And they're using Hill House because Hill House is so remote and no one's around and no one has access to it. And that's the reason why he wants them to be there. The real reason is because it's like a study on human fear, basically.
01:14:47
Speaker
Um. And just that right away is dumb, to be honest, like it's it's not even that's not even a good idea, like that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
01:14:58
Speaker
Yeah. I think what he was trying to do was like manifest a haunting. So like make people think that they're haunted just by giving them like a story basically. see And i I think maybe that that could have just been like and articulated better from the very beginning. And like maybe there could have even been some more backstory on that you know with with the doctor to like add something into this to give it more flesh on the bone.
01:15:21
Speaker
They try, but ah it's not successful. It's not at all. And it's just it's like a dry skeleton out there, man. It's it's not it's not fun. It's not fun to see happen because by the time that like the the reveal of that finally does happen with with the ah the three subjects in this.
01:15:37
Speaker
it's It's kind of ham-fisted almost. There's even the part where like where Theo ends up slapping Liam Neeson, Dr. Mero, and that is so corny, you almost start laughing, to be honest with you. like it it's it It loses any sort of heft that it possibly could have had.
01:15:54
Speaker
Yeah. um ah So and there's a couple of things that I thought I pointed out this time around. And so I've always had an issue with that painting in the house. So bad. And then like, but this time around, I was thinking about like who Hugh Crane is and what he like did and this house that he built. And I was like, Andrew, Andrew, who he really is is Fraser Crane.
01:16:21
Speaker
Well, no, what I was thinking was, oh, you know what? Donald Trump probably has a picture that looks just like that in his house. So you know what? Fair enough. Fair enough. But some things that the things that drove me nuts is when I alluded to it a little bit, but Lily Taylor's character, Nell, she knocks on the front door and immediately hopes someone will answer it like there's not thirty five hundred like names in this house that this could be.
01:16:46
Speaker
but But the place is absolutely gigantic. This is not a ranch house, for God's sake. I am really disappointed that we lose um Mary and Todd so early in the movie because I do think I do think that Mary is an interesting character and I thought she brought something.
01:17:05
Speaker
Um, just a little bit more refreshing to the, to the movie but she doesn't do anything, but not at all. And she gone in a heartbeat. Like she's there and she's playing a piano forte. And then all of a sudden she gets whapped with that forte string, which is awful. i mean girl And gone. And it's so funny because like,
01:17:24
Speaker
The doctor says, like, as they're driving away, he's like, we're going to get you back here as soon as possible. yeah And they never show up again. They're done. So mean while we're talking about people that are suddenly gone, let's just talk really quick about Jane. Jane is the sister to now. Right. This is the storyline I have the most problem with. Yeah. And the movie starts out with ah with Jane and her husband or whatever, whatever his name is, it doesn't really matter.
01:17:50
Speaker
they're in the apartment that Nell lives in where she had been taking care of their sick mother, right? And um they're in there, they're arguing about the will, they're arguing about like who gets what, they're arguing about this place that she's living in. And so they're in there and Virginia Madsen and her husband are like, they're trying to like take the apartment away from Nell and they're like, here, take this old car, that that's like that's what you get. And Nell's not very happy about it.
01:18:17
Speaker
They cast Virginia Madsen for that role. And then she's gone. She's there for about a minute and a half, and then she's gone from the movie. Why? I mean, look, it's not like Virginia Madsen would not be known to horror people. She was fucking in Candyman in 1992. Duh. A bunch of other shit. Why on earth would you cast Virginia Madsen for a completely throwaway role and never bring her back again?
01:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, no, I this so this is the part of the movie I have the hope the word like that. OK, so you just told kind of what now was doing for the last I think she says like 11 years or something. She's taking care of her mother or whatever. And so but then there's this under layer of the story that this was like hell for now, like this was like the hell and like she would hear like the cane hit the um the wall in the middle of the night and she would have to help her mother go to the bathroom. And she made it sound like this is the worst thing in her whole life. But then when, at the end, when she finds this, and this sounds really weird, but she finds her mother's room in the house um or an exact replica of the room, then all of a sudden she's like, I am the caretaker. I have to take care of the children. I have to protect. And I'm like, wait a minute.
01:19:33
Speaker
you equated that to the worst time in your life. Why does that now all of a sudden make you want to do that? But that's not a so it's a wonderful point. That's not ah the full circle moment. I think that they think they're making. So I don't know that choice for me. And the fact this and so we learn that Nels, I think great, great grandmother was the second wife of Ukraine, correct? And something like that, to be honest, that that gets a little conflated. So why would the room look exactly the same as her mother's did in their apartment? I don't understand this. I never have I just it's a part of the movie that is escaping my simple brain I guess because it doesn't make any sense to me that why they would have the same room. I don't get it. I don't understand.
01:20:25
Speaker
I don't get it. And then at the same time, like and I mean this not in a flippant way, I don't care. That's the other part of it. is that like you know i I think that you you know this sort of gets brushed aside about whether or not the audience can care about something. That is so important. like You have to develop characters and and develop a storyline that there's some table stakes. at at at at like it's It's actually happening.
01:20:46
Speaker
Because you need my heart to be invested in it. My heart and my brain and my emotions. You want that for me as the audience member. And so if you treat that storyline like a throwaway, why the fuck am I going to care about it? You know what I mean? I'm not going to and I didn't. And that's what that's where we are.
01:21:02
Speaker
Some of the things that I did like, um I do like the transfer of the character Mrs. Dudley from the book from the old movie to this movie. I think that she's really successful in delivering lines. I would agree with that. Delivering lines by um like, no one lives any nearer than town. No one will come any nearer than that. She has a script that she's saying over and over again. Yeah.
01:21:24
Speaker
but i But I think it's successful. And I think that that's like it makes it kind of eerie. And that's why I think I like the kind of the the first half of this movie when they're kind of setting everything up. I just don't think it sticks the landing very well. like So I agree with you on her who I don't like. is ah This is another casting choice. I don't like Bruce Dern as Mr. Dudley. I think i don't. i He's so weird in this movie. But it's another, it's enough, like, every, you know who Bruce Dern is. Like, you might not remember his name, but as soon as he comes on screen and you hear him talk, he's a very distinct voice. You know, like, oh yeah, I've seen that guy in something before, right? Same thing here, kind of like with, with Virginia Madsen. And I'm not saying he's like a Virginia Madsen quality, but I am saying, like, why would you cast him for that role? That doesn't make any sense. Like, he's, he, Bruce Dern is too memorable of a character to have, to like have them,
01:22:12
Speaker
be in the same thing. It doesn't it doesn't make any sense to me. it It really doesn't. I did like at the end though when he turns to Liam Neeson and he goes, did you find out what you wanted to know, doctor? yeah I mean, it was it it was good writing. I just think like that did that casting didn't work either.
01:22:28
Speaker
um Some other things that I thought stood out to me this time um is when she finds all the photos of like Caroline and his first wife in Ukraine, the the choice of how they costume and make up Ukraine in the photographs, he looks like the fucking cowardly lion. like It is that insane. Do you know what I mean?
01:22:54
Speaker
That's ridiculous. but um And then with all of like the CGI stuff that you know really obviously is not going to age very well to a 2024 audience, um I do think some of it still looks okay. like The part where um there's like a and kind of like the ghost comes in through the curtains and then kind of goes to the bed, I feel that that still kind of looked pretty good. bad Yeah, it's the parts where like the um the children are kind of coming alive in the in the wood and that kind of stuff or that or in the sheets. I'm like, what is this? Yeah, that didn't look too, too good. um I do appreciate that we do get, you know, ah some stakes in this towards the end when Owen Wilson gets decapitated of all things with a fucking out like a lion head flu thing that that was crazy.
01:23:47
Speaker
I still don't quite understand why that exists. My clue is to just open the chimney. it's not okay but um There's just a couple things that they they just went a little over the top for story's sake. There's one effect that I wanted to point out that really stuck out to me this time and it's when Nell is looking through the fireplace ashes to see if there are any anything else in there besides like ashes and and wood and she finds a human skull but then the skull like sits up and like gives her like a scare and it looks so cheesy like it looks it almost looks better when they replicate it in scary movie too than it did here like yeah and then um then they still they just kind of
01:24:35
Speaker
they kind of chalk it up to like Nell's losing her mind, well here we go, hysterical woman syndrome. and i just It just doesn't work anymore. like so um The other thing that I was like is what contractor approved freestanding spiral stairs? and If at the end when they get to the top and they so escape, they go through the top. so Why didn't Liam Neeson just go through the top to rescue Nell? I didn't he go around the other way.
01:25:04
Speaker
Yes, like but instead of like doing this death to find, you know, thing to get up there, it doesn't make any sense at all. Yeah. And so like um and I did like there's like a certain things that in the house that I think are fascinating, like the mirror that's made to look like or I'm sorry, the wall that's made to look like a mirror, but you can step through it. Like I thought that was kind of fun. But like when Nell is running from the ghost of Ukraine, where does she run to the craziest room possible that's spins and has mirrors. I'm like, what are you doing? What a smart idea. I mean, look, that there's there's a lot of people with this movie, too, that that's sort of like walked away from it in a number of ways. steve Stephen King wrote the first draft of the script. When that fell through, he worked it in into Rose Red, something to think about. Stephen Spielberg apparently was so disgusted by the quality of the film at the end of the um at the end of the run that he made sure that his name wasn't nowhere near it.
01:25:58
Speaker
Oh, no. Yeah. And before the film got made, Wes Craven was developing a remake of The Haunting from 1963. But he dropped out in favor of directing Scream instead. Well, um so I think they all made good choices there. But I mean, like we could probably talk about this movie for a long time, Andrew. um What did you give it? What did you rate this movie? Um, so I, listen, I still kind of had fun going back to this 99 movie. I mean, this is the, this is the time when we would have been teenagers and we would have been going to the movies. Um, and so like, there is like a slice of nostalgia with this. So I, I, I'm going to give it
01:26:38
Speaker
I'm struggling between a four and a four and a half. um ah You know, I'm going to give it a four and a half. I said ah the atmosphere of the first half always has me hooked. It's the lack of a cohesive story, some weird effects and some clunky acting that takes me out. Yeah.
01:26:54
Speaker
um I gave it a four and I said, this movie has too much going on, too many cheesy CGI effects, and uses Virginia Madsen for about 30 seconds. There are many film and television versions of the story, and while this one might have had some promise, it doesn't work out in the end. Yeah, so that does it for The Haunting. ah We will be right back with our second movie of the episode, The Others. There is something in this house.
01:27:27
Speaker
Something which is not at rest. ah
01:27:34
Speaker
a
01:27:40
Speaker
and Almost a week ago, the servants disappeared. You mean they just vanished? Did you really see a ghost? You're lying! I am not! Sometimes the world of the dead... gets mixed up with the world of the living. What do you want? Duncan! Leave us the pain!
01:28:09
Speaker
Where is my daughter?
01:28:19
Speaker
They're not your mom, your dad, or your brother or sister. They're the others. Maddie, tell us all about the others. Sooner or later, they'll find you.
Analysis of 'The Others' Film
01:28:30
Speaker
Grace is a religious woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect that the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.
01:28:50
Speaker
The Others was directed and written by Alejandro Amenabar, produced by Warner Bros. Studio Canal, Dimension Films, FilmFlex, Lucky Red, Back Films. There's a lot of them. ah Grace played by Nicole Kidman, Bertha played by Fiona La Flanagan,
01:29:05
Speaker
Charles played by Christopher Eccleston, Anne played by Alakina Mann, Nicholas played by James Bentley, Victor played by Alexander Vince, Mr. Tuttle played by Eric Sykes, and Old Lady played by Renee Asherson.
01:29:21
Speaker
Uh, this film is, I put NR, that's wrong. I believe it's rated PT 13. Um, it's 104 minutes. It is a product of USA, Spain, and France. Uh, it was released August 2nd of 2001. It was filmed at the Palacio de Los Honeos in Las Fraguas.
01:29:38
Speaker
can Cantabria, Northern Spain, and a Madrid, which I did not know until I looked that up. I thought it was from the knee. The budget was 17 million and this baby brought in 210 million. It was a knock out. I didn't realize it was that successful. Yeah, very, very successful. um Definitely not a first watch for either of us. So Andrew, take it away.
01:30:00
Speaker
So yeah, interesting story about the others is I worked at the movie theater when this movie came out. And the only reason I remember that is because it's one of the only movies ever in my, in my I think I worked there for about two and a half years, where people asked for their money back.
01:30:18
Speaker
And I never understood that because when I watch this movie, I think it's genius. um It has its flaws and and I'll make sure to like point those out where I think they have the flaws. But like for people to think that I don't know if it was the marketing at the time, maybe the marketing was making it look like it was more of a a a spookier like jump, you know, jump scare movie. And it's a little bit more of a slow paced like creeper movie. And so maybe people just weren't didn't like that. I don't know if it was a Nicole Kidman thing. I'm not really sure. um But yeah, overall, I think that this movie is pretty good. I mean, especially for the time that it was made, I mean, 2001 was kind of the dredges of horror at this time. Yeah, sure.
01:31:02
Speaker
And so like i i had a good I had a good time rewatching it. um The only thing I will say, and I think that you'll agree with me, is that this one does suffer a little bit from rewatchability because once you kind of know the twist,
01:31:18
Speaker
yeah The movie has a little bit of um I don't know. It's kind of like okay like we get it like move on to the next thing Yeah, fair enough, but I got it I got to take that out of the equation a little bit because I remember when I did first see this movie I didn't know what was happening and I didn't understand until the twist happened um I think I had kind of figured out the um the twist of the, uh, the servants. Um, but I had not figured out the twist of the main family until it kind of is revealed. yeah So I have to give it a little credit there. I mean, obviously this is a what 23 year old movie. Of course there's going to be diminishing returns on, on watching it with, with, when you already know the spoiler, but overall watching it this time, I think that unlike the haunting, I think that they actually get this casting almost perfect. And I would agree. I think that everyone is doing a bang up job. Even the kids in this, which I went to go look to see if the kids had really continued acting and they really haven't. Yeah. Was kind of a surprise to me because man, um, what's the daughter's name? And she is such a little CUNT. Like, Oh my God. I mean, like, yeah, they're, they're both, I actually did the same thing. I was like, have they done anything else since then? I hadn't thought about it until I did the rewatch and nothing really.
01:32:38
Speaker
I know. And listen, I know that Anne is just a product of grace and that's why she is the way that she is. yeah But it was fun watching this being like, ooh, that is daughter like mother, like of type of acting and type of um ah interacting with each other. So like, overall, I'm pretty high on this movie. I think it's creepy. I think it's spooky. I think it's a perfect movie for, you know, haunted houses. yeah um ah and And overall, I have really high things to say about it. There's just a few things here and there that stick out to me in in this watch, but I don't think they will ever ruin the movie for me, unlike the haunting. So what do you think of the others?
01:33:20
Speaker
Yeah, this is one of my favorites of all time. it is I think it's ah it's an um amazing movie. I think one of the most amazing things about it is that all of the effects, all of the scares, everything was done practical. So there is there's nothing here that we're going to have the the CGI effect of the haunting that was made two years before this.
01:33:43
Speaker
You don't get that here. Everything feels authentic. Everything feels real. Everything feels real in this movie. It feels like you're right there with them. um the The atmosphere that they create is just absolutely incredible and um and the acting is superb. but There's not one person in this film that does a poor job with what they are supposed to do on screen from Nicole Kidman obviously who also is one of the only horror stars to be nominated for a Golden Globe well for for a major award which in this case was the best actress for for the Golden Globes that year.
01:34:19
Speaker
which is pretty incredible. That never happens for horror movies as we all as we all know. um So from you know from um her to Fiona LaFlannigan as Bertha, God, is she good in that role. To even just like Eric Sykes as Mr. Tuttle, he's fantastic in that role. And for the little bit that we get Christopher Eccleston, who's ah an amazing actor, um he's fantastic as as the husband.
01:34:43
Speaker
So just the acting is really good. The writing is exquisite. There's nothing in this that that um that is superfluous, nothing in it for me that feels over the top. um And the the the the beginning of the movie, there's a little bit of trivia here for you. The movie opens with Nicole Kidman in voiceover reading a story. She begins with the words, now children, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.
01:35:07
Speaker
The BBC radio program Listen with Mother, broadcast in the UK between 1950 and 1982, always began, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. So I think you know for a very specific audience, they would have heard that and been like, ooh, that takes me back. um And you know that just kind of shows you the research that they were actually doing to make this film feel very, very authentic. And it feels that way.
01:35:33
Speaker
Um, so from the practical effects to the writing to the direction, which is incredible from Alejandro Menabar to the acting, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. What a fucking film. i I agree with you. I mean, look, it's, you know, this is, um, this is, this was another movie in the, in the string of, of horror films where twist really became important, um, in modern horror. Like you had six cents really kicked that off. And I mean, there's always been twists in horror, don't get me wrong, but I mean, like it became really important in like the nineties and the two thousands.
01:36:02
Speaker
And so you had Sixth Sense do it really well and knock everybody out with this huge twist at the end of the movie. And then this one too, not quite as big as Sixth Sense, but it was a real twist in this one too. um And I, you know, like like like any twist movie, of course, like it's it's not gonna be as, you know,
01:36:21
Speaker
zingy or tangy or I don't know what the word is I'm looking for here. It's not going to feel the same once you already know what's going on. and um But it but you know look, I still watch Sixth Sense again and I definitely still watch the others again. There's there's something about just the story itself that that keeps me hooked and the spookiness of it, the the spooky quality of it that even Even though I know what's about to happen, what's what's about to happen right around the corner and the twist means nothing to me anymore. and like It's still just like, ah what ah, what a world to live in for a couple of hours. um This one I was struck by, how I think, because I haven't watched it in a couple of years.
01:36:58
Speaker
I think this watch, I was um struck by the sadness of it. I would say, you know, like this is at the end of the day, you know, this is a story about a mother who unwittingly in a fit of of mental illness kills her children um and then kills herself. And they are now doomed to doomed or or blessed, I guess, whatever way you want to look at it. Right. Angel of some demon to others. They are now doomed or blessed to stay in this house for it's I'm putting air quotes about it. Eternity? Who knows? Constantly battling off the living people so that they can have a peaceful afterlife with their new friends, ah Bertha, ah Mr. Tuttle, and I forget the the girl's name now. like that's That's sad. yeah that That's not fun. like that that's That's terrifying. That's absolutely
01:37:48
Speaker
It's so sad, and and it's doubly sad when the dad, you know, when they make contact just outside of the house and like the the grounds, and when she finds Charles and brings him back to the house and Charles can't stay. Like, can you imagine that? Like, can you even be in the afterlife and you you get to, I'm gonna start crying, you get to like meet your dad again, and then he just goes away? Oh my God, that would like, that would kill you again, and you're already dead, you know? So I was really struck by that part of it this time around, which once again, I think listeners will will know I really appreciate thoughtfulness when it comes to creation. And this is clearly a movie that was just full of thoughtfulness.
01:38:27
Speaker
Yeah, no, i'm I'm right there with you. um I think, I don't know. did you So was this the time where Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were still together? You know what? I don't remember. Let me Google that really quick. Keep talking. Because he executive produced this movie and i didn't ever pushed I didn't ever put that together until I saw his name on the executive producer list.
01:38:51
Speaker
um And unfortunately, I also saw it in the producer list the Weinstein's, which shows they announced it in 2001. me on and this the When did this come out in August? So this came out near the end of the year. They had to have already been in the process of it. Yeah. It's just interesting to see like he hey that ah he executive produced this and then she's the lead. and she um A couple of things that stuck out to me this time is a lot of talk about purgatory and like yeah religion. I didn't remember
01:39:25
Speaker
ah like you Like you, I have not seen this in a number of years, but I did not remember all the religious iconography. So that was interesting to feed back into and how much religion really controls these people's lives and like how they live and how they're punished and theyre and what they're taught and like stuff like that. So that was an interesting angle that I kind of didn't remember.
01:39:49
Speaker
And I thought it was so funny when um Anne turns it around on Grace, yes yeah and she says to her, she says, Purgatory is for kids who haven't been baptized, and I have. like all right you know that's it's a It's a really good point, um you know and not to interrupt you, but but about the religion thing.
01:40:08
Speaker
I don't think I realized I think I must have forgotten that this story takes place on the Isle of Jersey. Right. And so it's in England, but it's not on the main. It's not on the I'm doing this in big air quotes now. It's not on the mainland of England. Right. Because, of course, obviously, England's a big giant island just like Ireland is.
01:40:27
Speaker
Um, so the aisle of Jersey is small and it was invaded by the Nazis during the war. And you know, she, she, she mentions that kind of briefly, but like they don't talk about, Oh, we're in Jersey. They, did they never really say that. And so I think a lot of people might miss that. Right. And so one thing to think about is like, it's not like they're they're in England and like they can get in a car and drive to London. Or like there's a village down the road. like Jersey is remote. And and especially at that time on Jersey, there there wasn't a whole lot there. It was was a vacation island, kind of, but like people also lived there. But like you're not like the weather sucks there. It's not going to be great for a lot of the year. like It's only nice in the summer kind of thing. In other words, what am I trying to say? They're very isolated. like yeah We already know that they're isolated, but now they're When you add that layer on, they're doubly isolated. And so how does religion become a comfort? it's like but It kind of makes sense with with Grace's character. like It's the only thing she has to hold on to because there's literally nothing else around her, you know? Right. Yeah, that makes sense.
01:41:32
Speaker
Um, one question I have for you that is never fully explained in the movie. Um, and I just want to get your opinion on it is that, do you think her kids really had a photo sensitivity to light or was that maybe a controlling thing that she did? Like that she put upon them and was kind of like, wanted them to just be in the house with her as like a control thing. God, you know, I never really thought about it that way. Um,
01:42:01
Speaker
I don't know, I don't know. I mean, I think like I want to believe that that it's true. um You know, while Grace clearly has a mental illness, she's she very clearly loves her children a lot, right? She's strict with them, but she's not harsh, you know? Like she doesn't beat them in this movie. She never hits them, right? No, no, well, she does hit Anne once.
01:42:31
Speaker
ah But no, she tries to strangle her once, and which is like replaying the whole thing. basically Well, that's like a whole another thing. It's a whole other thing. Right. Exactly. She's not like slapping the kids or like telling them to shut up or whatever. Like she's like actively trying to like homeschool them basically and like do the right thing by them, teach them the right way.
01:42:49
Speaker
And I'm like, look, it's it's a long time ago. The right way has changed since then. But like back then, this made a lot of sense. That would have been the right way. And so like you I have to believe that she has her children's best interest at heart. In other words, I don't think she would make it up personally. I don't think so.
01:43:06
Speaker
Okay, it's good. Yeah, I've just never that's always something that's um plagued me about this question. Yeah, but and I don't think it's ever been answered. So it's just an interesting thing to talk about. I want to talk about a little bit about the scenes with the husband, because I do think it's like ah a seminal part of this movie is when he comes back. But there's one line that he says, and it's almost one of the first lines he says to her.
01:43:30
Speaker
And it's, it always is like, wait, what? And you just that he just says to her, sometimes I bleed. And then they just kind of embrace and then they go about it, like on about it. And I was like, what do you mean? Like, does he mean like when he died? You know what I mean? I'm remembering that now too. Like I wonder like, um,
01:43:49
Speaker
Because like clearly he's been having his own experience. Yeah. um And like he must have died outside on the grounds somewhere like defending against the Nazis or something like that. I don't we don't we don't we don't find that out. But like it must be that like in his ghostly experience, he still has things happen out of his body or something? I don't know. And like, I wonder too, like how much, I was thinking about this on this watch. How much does he know about what's actually going on? He seems to have a better grasp on it than they do. I think so too. Yeah. yeah And so yeah but it does make you kind of wonder like maybe he knows that he's dead. and He's seen his family. He can tell that Grace has no fucking idea what's going on. And right and maybe that's why he has to go. He's like,
01:44:38
Speaker
I can't deal with this shit. Like ah the how that everything is too sad by. Yeah. Yeah. I never really understand that part either. it's It's it's it's mysterious, but it's also kind of good that it gives you something to think about in a way. Yeah. The only thing that I thought of is that his ghostly experience is out in the battlefield. It's it belongs there. Sure.
01:45:00
Speaker
And the convergence of those two ghosts coming together creates a rift that he can't stay for too long and he has to go back to his existence. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. um But that's just me making up the rules. You know what I mean? like but i mean that that's That's part of the fun of it. You know, you you get to do that. I do want to talk about the scene um because there very much is a the scene in this movie. I am your daughter.
01:45:23
Speaker
where, um the you know, the little girl is trying on her. I'm imagining some sort of like first communion dress or something. It was, it was her. It but it was, it was exactly that. Yes. Yeah. And um she, you know, convinces her mom to let her keep it on. And then she's playing in her room and Grace comes back and she's like, I told you not to sit on the ground. And I even put in my notes, she told you not to sit on the floor. and um And ah then, you know, she's playing with a ah marionette doll and she sees that her daughter now has very old hands. And then she kind of comes around the side and through the veil, it looks like an old woman has taken the place of her daughter. And then, of course, her daughter says, Are you mad? I am your daughter. And that's what insights this whole like, I'm you're not my daughter. Get out of here. You're not my daughter. And she attacks what she thinks is the old woman. What is really happening is
01:46:16
Speaker
I think that somehow Anne has gotten inside of the old woman or is like, um what do he you call like hard taking over her body momentarily? It's it's like the the old woman is is is visiting this the family who was trying to move into this house and she's doing all these different, you know, medium sessions with her. And like the style of mediumship that she is doing there is one where the spirit can inhabit her body. That's okay. Yeah. i took it yeah And then that's kind of the, you know, that's the incident that kind of pushes things over the edge. Um, and then kind of the, the, the grand reveal is kind of when they're having the, um, sit down. Um, what do you call that? Uh, or they're trying to come in contact. Yeah. answer Thank you. Yeah.
01:47:04
Speaker
um And that's when we learned kind of what what really happened. um Because up until that point, we kind of knew something was going on with the servants because obviously they just they just show up. And then, you know, Nicole Cummins character says, like, I never I never got to put an ad in the papers. How did you know about this? Yeah, sure. They explained that away by saying like they that they worked here before. And then um my only gripe about the story of this movie is it It's a small one. I mostly like this movie quite a bit. But I do think that the reveal of the photos is a little contrived because... Yeah, fair enough. who Who has a box in their attic or in a room of all the different people that have lived in their same house? You know what I mean? like The families would have taken those photos with them. Fair enough.
01:47:55
Speaker
yeah Yeah, you kind of have to believe it because it's like it's a big manor house since there's antiques that stuff gets left behind. So yeah, but but I do understand what you're saying. that It's not something that takes me out of the movie, but it is definitely something where I'm like, well, that's kind of strange. It couldt but it could have been better. Yeah. Yeah. um Because i I think that the reveal of the graves is much more effective than the reveal of the photo of the three of them dead.
01:48:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um And I do find that that part of the movie is pretty creepy because you know that, you know, all the servants are dead, but like, are they there to haunt them? Are they there to kill them? Are they there? Like, what's going on with how do they connect to the main family? And obviously, you find out that, you know, the main family is also dead. But up until that point, and they have a really, really spooky standoff with the servants at the door. Yes. And they're trying to tell Grace something But she's not quite comprehending it in the way that they're wanting her to. And so it's it's definitely a spooky, spooky moment because I'm sorry, that main woman, what is the ah her actor's name? Fiona, Fiona Flanagan. Yes. The way that she delivers those lines so deadpan and so like without any sort of like
01:49:07
Speaker
She's not trying to be empathetic. She's not trying to be spooky. She's just being like, listen, this is what's going on. I'm trying to tell you, but you're not hearing me, but it is so deadpan and delivered so well that it's like sends chills up your spine. Like it's very spooky. Oh, she is. If you want to love playing again is so, so fucking good. She's just, she's just amazing. Um, one thing I thought about on this, on this watch too was, hold on.
01:49:32
Speaker
Are they gonna be servants to them the whole time? i know like I was like, I hope that they're not. I hope that they all i get to live together and just like get over that kind of shit. That would that was kind of funny. um But I mean, yeah, like look, it's it's just, this movie just continues to be a solid work of horror. And it's just, it's amazing what can happen when people put their nose to the grindstone, work really hard to make something happen that is very cool.
01:49:58
Speaker
get the right people in the room and just do it and believe in the story as it is. They don't have to go over the top. They don't have to explain it away with this thing. They don't have to add some crazy storylines. It's just straightforward. Here's the thing that we're going to do. And it just, it just works. It works.
01:50:17
Speaker
I did, by the end of the movie, I did kind of have a chuckle to myself because I don't know if it's Nicole Kidman styling or her hair or whatever, but like, man, this movie is just about Nicole Kidman clomping around this mansion for an hour and 45 minutes. With those keys just dangling around, having to deal with all those keys. Come on. Oh, just it kind of gave me a little bit of a chuckle. But what do you give the others and what is your final takeaway? Yeah. So I got real generous with this one because like I said, it is one of my favorite of all time. Um, and I gave it a six and a half. It's damn perfect for me. And I said the others is a rare sort of horror film. One where excellence and direction storytelling, acting and practical effects combined to incredible effect. I'll never, I'll never forget the first time watching this. And when the twist is gone, I still delight in this haunting, sad and creepy tale.
01:51:09
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to give it a five and a half. um I still really liked it. Oh, yeah. um I said a very spooky haunted house film with great performances throughout. Although once you know the twist, diminishing returns on at least rewatch ability. Nice. Well, that does it for the others, folks. We'll be right back to close out the show.
01:51:58
Speaker
And folks that does it for episode one 31. But before we go a little Halloween treat for you, because listen, you're going to be hearing this a lot at your door very soon. So Andrew and I are going to play a little game called trick or treat. So Andrew, um, let me ask you a little question here, trick or treat.
01:52:24
Speaker
Oh, this is tough because treat seems very straightforward, but it could be a bad treat like a trick. Could the trick be a good trick or a tricky trick? I don't know. I think I'm going to go the safe route, hopefully, and say I'll take a treat. OK, well, it's a good thing you picked treat, Andrew, because guess what?
01:52:49
Speaker
I've given you a treat of a lifetime supply of whatchamacallit candy bars, otherwise known as the best candy bar in the world and happens to be my favorite. I'm making sure that you get this that for every Halloween now, you'll always have enough whatchamacallit no matter what. Congratulations. Love it. Halloween. All right, Maddie. Now I have to ask you a trick or treat. Give me the trick, girl. Let's go. Well, it's your lucky day because your trick is a night with Tom Daley. Congratulations. ah You know what? That's perfect. I love this cause he's cause he would just be your little trick. You know, God, you know what? He has a little sweet cutie. I wonder what he would dress up for as Halloween. Probably something very sexy.
01:53:31
Speaker
um Folks, that was episode 131 of Friday the 13th Horror Podcast. Hope you had a great time. Hope it gets you in the spooky season and Halloween mood. And ah thank you so much for spending time with us. We really appreciate it. Before we let you go, just a couple of things as always.
01:53:47
Speaker
If you want to support our little proud, independent podcast, guess what? It's easy to do. You can go to our website right now. It's www.frygay13.com slash support, or just go to the website and click on support. And when you're there, you'll see an option for pat for Patreon and also an option for our merch store. Both of those things will benefit our show directly.
01:54:12
Speaker
um We rely on our patrons on Patreon, and we've got a lovely crew of patrons on there um to help us keep the show going. um And look, we're not recommending that you do, ah we're actually gonna get rid of a couple levels, to be honest with you. Like, yeah no need for them. Like, if you wanna help us, guess what? All all we really need from you is a dollar a month. That's really all we need. And if you if you you just feel really generous, that's really cool of you, do the $5 option. There you go. I think, Andrew, we're gonna get rid of the rest of them, right?
01:54:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think we should. I think we should yeah be asking for $1 or $5. It's going to be $1 or $5. So if you can handle $5 a month, awesome. Guarantee, we will we will use it. It'll be very helpful to us. But otherwise, $1 a month or $12 a year, that's a pretty cool level to be at. well we And we put all of that to use right back into our show, whether it's about equipment um that we're using right now, whether it's about the software ah that we use called Zencaster, or the software that we use called Canva, or this thing that we have to do, or this thing that we have to do, or the movies that we rent, the money goes right back into the show. And that's what makes it so fun to be able to to to keep doing it, to keep making it better and better. So your support really does count. Do us a solid for Halloween for trick or treat and give us a little donation if you can.
01:55:27
Speaker
Yeah, and just think about it this way. We give you at least four hours of content every month to listen to. And that four hours for us is more like eight hours because it's watching movies, it's taking notes, it's doing research, it's looking up the stories, it's preparing for the episode. And so like just that $1, it may sound like we're you know begging or whatever, but like,
01:55:52
Speaker
It does make a lot of sense that you would just give us a buck. and And honestly, it really does make a difference. And so I want to say it once again to all of our patrons on Patreon. We like I'm not don't smoke up your ass. Like we really, really do appreciate your support um because it just it just means a lot to us. So thank you.
01:56:12
Speaker
And if you can't do it monetarily, we totally get it. You know, you get this for free. um But what you can do to support us is to leave a review. I've said it a million times. I'm not going to belabor but the thing, but it's really really easy. It's so easy to just hit five stars. And if you want to leave us a little message, we honestly, we honestly read every single one. We didn't like so we do every single one. we We literally text them to each other as soon as anyone comes in. So we read all of them right away.
01:56:40
Speaker
All right, well, that will do it for our Halloween celebration. we Have a happy Halloween, everybody. I hope it's a really, really wonderful Halloween for everybody. We hope it's spooky and filled with treats and not a lot of tricks unless they're the fun ones. And with that, and we will leave you you. I'll tell you, on Halloween, do you know what I hope happens to everybody? I hope that they all get slayed.