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EPISODE 150: SPOOKY SEASON 2025
456 Plays15 days ago
150 episodes in, and we’re still telling scary stories around the fire. This time? Urban legends, ghostly encounters, and the dark psychology of why we LOVE to be scared.
🔥 HORROR IN REAL LIFE: A chilling Patreon listener story of perfume, shadows, and a not-so-lonely apartment in Arizona, more tales from listeners, and some urban legends
📚 URBAN LEGENDS: From The Vanishing Hitchhiker to Jeff the Killer, we dig into stories that refuse to die.
🎥 HORROR IN THE MOVIES:
- CAMPFIRE TALES (1997)
- SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK (2019)
🍿 WHATCHA BEEN WATCHIN’, BITCH?! Andrew & Matty cover Weapons, Unknown Number, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and more.
🎧 Available now wherever you get your podcasts!
👉 Support us: www.frigay13.com/support
#horrorpodcasts #queerhorror #spookyseason #horrorcommunity #urbanlegends #halloween2025 #getslayed #SpookySeason2025 #HalloweenHorror #ScaryStories #UrbanLegends #Creepypasta #CampfireTales #90sHorror #ScaryStoriesMovie #GuillermoDelToro
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Transcript
Introduction and Local Legend Discussion
00:00:00
Speaker
Fri-Gay the 13th Horror Podcast is a proud independent podcast. To learn more about the show, visit Fri-Gay13.com.
00:00:11
Speaker
Okay, your turn. Ever hear about the Whistler of Lesb-Gay Creek? Sounds like a bad Halloween special. They say if you're out by a fire, just like this, you'll hear him in the woods, a steady whistle.
00:00:26
Speaker
It starts soft, far away, but if you ignore it, it comes closer, louder, until it's right behind you. So what, some ghost just whistles at campers like catcalls them?
00:00:41
Speaker
Is he cute? Not just whistles. He collects the ones who don't believe. That's you messing with me. I didn't do anything.
00:00:54
Speaker
Okay, birds. It's birds. No birds whistle after midnight. Why did it stop? Because he's close enough that he doesn't need to whistle anymore.
00:01:08
Speaker
Let's sleep in the car.
Celebrating Episode 150 and Listener Contributions
00:01:10
Speaker
It's episode 150. Spooky season is terrifying.
00:01:17
Speaker
i am the writing on the wall. The whisper in the classroom. I'm Marjorie Greene and I approve this message to save America, stop socialism, and stop China.
00:01:31
Speaker
They define reality from life to death to rise. Horror in real life. Doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong.
00:01:44
Speaker
Horror in the movies. Where are going go? Where are you going to run? Where are going to hide? Nowhere.
00:01:58
Speaker
da When do we want it? Let's go! What you waiting for, huh? What you waiting for? I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning. Sometimes.
00:02:15
Speaker
that is what
00:02:19
Speaker
The spooky season is here and plenty of you are probably already getting your Halloween decorations ready. Me. The National Retail Federation predicts that spending for the holiday will hit $12.2 billion dollars this year.
00:02:29
Speaker
Up to $4 billion of that could be spent on decorations alone. Welcome back to another episode of Fry Gay, the 13th Horror Podcast. My name is Maddie. And I'm Andrew.
00:02:41
Speaker
Now listen, this is your first time with us on Fry Gay, the 13th Horror Podcast. This is the podcast that talks all about horror, horror in real life and in the movies from an LGBTQIA plus perspective.
00:02:53
Speaker
And listen, this is episode 150, people. fifty people Woo! In the words of Waiting for Guffman, that's the big 150. It's the sesquicentennial. Listen, dudes, this, like Andrew, we had a fun time releasing our, ah actually, i don't um I don't know what we did for our 50th episode, but for our 100th episode, ah we did, you know, we went to Salem, we did this, we had a whole thing, it was really cool.
00:03:17
Speaker
You can go back and listen right now. There you go. And now for 150, I mean, here we are kicking off spooky season so folks welcome to spooky season you're gonna get this what like right near the end of september yeah so it's a perfect time to you know and look i don't know about ah ah well you're probably still in indian summer right now i imagine andrew but i can tell you here in dublin it's really started to cool down like like the high temp today was like 55 and like people have their fall jackets on and you know they're putting on their boots and everyone's
00:03:48
Speaker
the leaves are falling and you know, you're drinking a nice, you know, pumpkin spice, something. It just feels like you're in that, in that right time of year, you know? Yeah. We're not quite there in Chicago yet, but, but listen, do you think I have not adopted this mentality already? Oh yeah.
00:04:07
Speaker
I have my, my candles out. I have my decorations up. I am ah ready to go because it's the only thing that I find joy in, in this time. Yeah. In this time of our lives, who would have thought? um you know that i mean What would you expect out of two horror podcasters, people? Would you expect anything less that this is the time of year that we live for?
Horror in Real Life and Film Discussion
00:04:27
Speaker
Well, listen, folks, we've got some really great stories for you today from listeners, especially from our patrons on Patreon, which, by the way, you can join our Patreon for just $1 a month. And we encourage you to go to Frygay13.com.
00:04:41
Speaker
Um, and, i thought and people, people sent in some really great stories. We're going to read those for you. We're going to talk about spooky stories in general, and we've got two films that really match this just perfectly.
00:04:52
Speaker
And they are campfire tales from, uh, is that 97 Andrew? Yeah. ninety seven And scary stories to tell in the dark from 2024. I mean, you really can't pick, you know, two, two better anthologies for this right now.
00:05:05
Speaker
So really cool stuff. We hope you enjoy the episode. Now, before we get there though, Andrew, This is the first time that we're recording. When did we last record? we we did a double We recorded a double episode. was that like the end of August?
00:05:17
Speaker
Late August, yes, I believe. yeah it oh was right after my birthday, I'm pretty sure. Yes. um A lot has happened since then. has it? it's it's been It's been over two weeks, and and we had to record a double episode just for a number of reasons. So you know that that that time period where you know where just where real life happens and we get to talk about that on the on the air has sort of – it's become shortened for us.
00:05:42
Speaker
So the the big thing that has happened, and um and we're not going to spend a lot of time on this because it is spooky season. But look, once again, we are the we are the horror podcast that talks about horror in real life.
00:05:53
Speaker
We have to. Yeah. And if you don't want to hear about that, there's plenty of horror podcasts that don't. So you can go listen to them. But it's important for us because we understand that horror is is is a ah mirror to the actual horrors that we are experiencing every day.
00:06:08
Speaker
And we just happen to live in a really terrifying time, especially if you're black, especially if you're gay or queer or trans or a woman or you name it right now, any sort of minority. and there's There's a lot of reasons for all of us to be scared.
00:06:23
Speaker
I think that what's happened in the last week with the the murder of Charlie Kirk in Utah, I think that that is especially scary, the aftermath of it.
00:06:34
Speaker
Um, because this is, I think we're seeing the Trump administration and everything that they're doing. We're seeing them probably at their most sinister right now.
00:06:45
Speaker
And they are making moves and doing things that are terrifying. And I was talking to Andrew before we started recording the show. And, you know, like, look, we we are not stupid. We are fully aware that we are two podcasters of an independent podcast that, you know, we we wish had a million listeners, but guess what? We don't.
00:07:00
Speaker
um And so, like, you know, look, we're we're small potatoes in in every sense of the word. But. What happened to Jimmy Kimmel last week in America is very scary.
00:07:11
Speaker
Now, look, I don't even really like Jimmy Kimmel. people I don't think he's that funny. I've rarely ever watched that show. But that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you think he's funny, if you think he's not funny. It doesn't even matter if you think he's offensive or not.
00:07:23
Speaker
The fact that an American president told a network to get rid of somebody because he doesn't like them, that's the reason why, and they did it, should scare everybody. like Everything has been really scary.
00:07:36
Speaker
This is the scariest. And the way that they are making other moves right now that are extrajudicial to get around things is scary. And it I was thinking about this yesterday while I was walking around, like, you know, yeah, we are just a small potatoes podcast, but at the same time, like, you know, how long is it until the only news that you get that you can trust comes from podcasts, comes from people like me and me and me?
00:08:01
Speaker
yeah yeah Yeah, but that's not influenced. It comes from people that you can actually trust to have an opinion and to like you know and on some other podcast, maybe even report to you what the news actually is. And then i then I thought, well, how long is it until Trump tells Apple, hey, you don't get to put out podcasts anymore. You have to stop that part of your business.
00:08:19
Speaker
Or Spotify telling them you can't put out podcasts anymore unless they're Joe Rogan, unless they're Lex Friedman, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, even Joe Rogan at this point is going out against the administration. so I mean, i I don't think that that time is that far away. And I just think that's really scary. And, you know, like, I don't know. Watching watching from 4,000 miles away, it has been it's it's it's been like watching a circus.
00:08:43
Speaker
And, like, I can't believe we even have to say this. I don't condone the murder of Charlie Kirk. There you go. But at the same time, like, I am not going to fall into some fucking weird gaslighting trap.
00:08:55
Speaker
where I say that he was a good person. I got news for you. Fuck no. He was not a good person. He was a racist. He was a bigot, a homophobe, a transphobe, a misogynist.
00:09:09
Speaker
he he He stood for it everything that we don't stand for. And even still, I believe that he had a right to speak that absolute trash, that absolute nonsense.
00:09:20
Speaker
But will I ever mourn him? Fuck No, fuck. green And fuck anyone for thinking that anyone needs to or memorialize him. Or there's this new thing about like they're trying to get they're trying to like force everyone to memorialize him, whether it's at a game or whether it's a college campus.
00:09:37
Speaker
Like there's like there's actually bills in state houses right now forcing universities to put up statues of Charlie Kirk. I'm not. And that's not the onion.
00:09:49
Speaker
That's real right now. That's real. So, man, I don't know, dude. it It's been bad for so long. you at Sometimes you you just think, like, could it get any worse?
00:10:00
Speaker
And then it does. And then it does. You know? i don't know. Yeah. The martyrism that's happening on the right is... insane to me.
00:10:11
Speaker
um And that's all kind of all I have to say. I, I, this, this has been the the darkest time that we've been in, in a very long, dark period. And I, and I, and it's, it's just, it's, it's very hard to live through as as a, as a full functioning person that wants to read the news and wants to be involved and wants to understand what's going on in the world. It's really hard to live right now.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I agree. You know, like, look, just want to repeat once again, we do not condone the murder of Charlie Kirk. Why would we? Because we are good human beings. We don't condone the murder of anybody, for God's sake.
00:10:50
Speaker
We literally have cried on this podcast over reading stories of people dying. Why would you ever think that? We would ever condone it. But but but but you know i I do think that the antidote ah to to violence is more speech. Yeah, yeah, I do agree with that.
00:11:07
Speaker
And so let's keep talking and let's keep let's keep speaking our truths. And anyone out there that's listening to us, we encourage you, keep speaking. Keep speaking out. keep don't Don't let
Religion, Fear, and Right-Wing Nationalism
00:11:16
Speaker
them scare you into submission because that is not where we need to be. That's not going to help anything.
00:11:22
Speaker
So, you know, look, that we we are in spooky season, which is fun, but we also just happen to be in like actual spooky season. Like it's like a real horror movie. um So let's make sure that we're the final girls, that we're the final boys that come out of this. Like, let's make sure that we survive.
00:11:37
Speaker
um And I think that a way that we can do that, that we can do that and thrive is make sure that we never lose our voices, that we never lose sight of who we are and what we stand for, which is ah compassion and which is goodness and which is inclusion and diversity and joy and happiness.
00:11:56
Speaker
Like these are the things like, yeah, and we're horror movie fans for God's sake. Like this is the stuff that we stand for. The other side, they stand for beating you down. They stand for telling you that you can't say things.
00:12:08
Speaker
They stand for submission. You have to believe exactly what they tell you to believe. and And I think you know one of the great things that that I will toot our own horn on this, Andrew and I don't agree on everything, right?
00:12:20
Speaker
No. we're Of course, of course we're we're we're great friends and we've known each other for so long. but like But we've had many arguments about many things. Oh my God, exactly. and and and what And what do me and Andrew do? We have a podcast where we literally have conversations.
00:12:35
Speaker
Not debates. We don't go to college campuses and try to debate young freshmen who don't know how to form a thought yet. we don't We don't do this. We don't do that. We have real conversations.
00:12:46
Speaker
And like i I do think that like that's how the world gets better is by having actual conversations. And when we remember, and I promise I'm going to stop talking, when we remember, that and I really do believe this, that we are really all the same, right, left, Democrat, Republican, Republican.
00:13:02
Speaker
We're pretty much the same. We just all believe the things that the ruling class wants us to believe. We fight the fights they want us to have so that they can bamboozle us.
00:13:13
Speaker
They can take all of our money. They can take all of all of our shit. And we just keep making them more money. And we just keep doing more of what they want to do. And we don't have to do that. We really don't have to do that. we can We can choose another way if we really want to.
00:13:28
Speaker
We just have to fucking do it. I don't know. Yeah. Anything you want add? No, I just think that like, it's really interesting that we're talking about this today because I did have a wedding yesterday ah and it was a traditional Catholic mass wedding, which I was wedding. Was it?
00:13:46
Speaker
It was Michael's cousin. Oh, okay. god And i have not been to like a traditional Catholic mass my entire life. Like I grew up. that was like with your was that Was that your first one?
00:13:58
Speaker
ah Yeah, I mean, ah maybe i've been to maybe I've been to like another wedding and in my life, but not that I'm like remembering. But, you know, I grew up i grew up very like Methodist light. Like, you know, like we went to church like maybe once a month, like type of thing.
00:14:12
Speaker
And so like going to this you and, you know, i i really i really listened in. I really listened in into what the in Catholic in Catholicism, is it a pastor or is it a?
00:14:25
Speaker
It's a priest. priest I really listened to what he was was saying. and like There was a lot of words in there that I was like, oh, wow, if people actually practiced this, it would be really good.
00:14:37
Speaker
But they don't. they they use They use these words to instill fear and instill hate on other people. and It's just so...
00:14:51
Speaker
ah Listen, I've said this a million times. If religion was ah real, if religion was used for the way that it's supposed to be used, it would be so powerful. But it is just used to strong arm people and make people hate each other.
00:15:05
Speaker
And I will never, ever forgive religion. our institution for making religion that and it sucks but yeah that's just it you know charlie kirk sitting here trying to be all all sorts of of of religious i put that in air quotes yeah fucking right dude like yeah it seriously do you do you think jesus was out there saying the shit that he was are you are you Are you kidding me?
00:15:27
Speaker
Absolutely not. It's anathema. It's anathema to Christianity, what he was out there preaching. Christianity has been completely bamboozled and desecrated by right-wing people, completely.
00:15:42
Speaker
They've taken it over. They've tried to make it what what they want it to be. They've tried to make it into this whole American nationalism thing. And it is bogus. It is absolutely bogus.
00:15:53
Speaker
And it just sucks. It really, really does. And money. As you say, something that could do so much good is just is just being bastardized. And that I think that really sucks. Yeah, the the grifting needs to to die. Yes. It's ridiculous.
00:16:08
Speaker
It's absolutely ridiculous. gis Now, look, that's enough on that. Everyone, just stay safe, take care of yourselves, and keep your voice up. Now, let's move on with the show.
Spooky Stories and Urban Legends
00:16:15
Speaker
So, um Andrew, you solicited, and we got a bunch of really great spooky stories from our listeners. yeah um but But also, you you have a little bit and on our worksheet here about why we love scary stories. So why don't you tell me a little bit about that?
00:16:28
Speaker
Yeah. so i the thought you know like it's spooky season let's get spooky and let's like just let our freak flag fly like and you know yeah ah a lot of times we get into we get into the weeds in our own podcast sometimes where we just are like ah things are so awful and i was just like you know what we need we need a break and so like let's just do something fun and so we're just goingnna tell some spooky stories So the first thing I have here, like you said, is why do we love scary stories?
00:16:59
Speaker
And this, this comes from someone that was ah conducting a an author, like ah she was doing like a ah panel of authors, and this was her ah kind of understanding.
00:17:11
Speaker
A fascination with the dark and macabre has deep roots in human psychology and culture. At a very simple level, being scared can trigger an adrenaline rush, which is a visceral, exciting experience, enjoyable for many people.
00:17:25
Speaker
Reading and writing horror also serves as a form of emotional release in which people can confront and process their own fears in a controlled and safe environment.
00:17:35
Speaker
In other words, we can experience danger from a safe distance. Through this experience, we also learn a little bit about ourselves. How do we react to fear? What does it feel like?
00:17:47
Speaker
How much can we take? Humans are naturally curious, so confronting the unknown and scary what-ifs through fiction is enticing. Makes sense to me. It really does.
00:18:00
Speaker
And then I ah so I've had this book. I'm not even joking you since I was a teenager. Oh, yeah. um And it's called The Vanishing Hitchhiker. And it's subtitled American Urban Legends and Their Meeting.
00:18:12
Speaker
Very cool. I I picked up this book this week, never having read the preface. And what do i find out? All of these stories were collected and studied by the Indiana University Folklore Program. That does not surprise me. ah So ah as people here might know, I am a Hoosier myself.
00:18:33
Speaker
The Folklore Program at IU, I can tell you, is ah amazing. Really incredible stuff. Yeah, it was i was ah I kind of just like picked up the book because I knew we were doing spooky stories. and I'm like, oh, maybe I'll lift one from here. And I and I did. But I was just like, oh, I've never actually like read the preface.
00:18:50
Speaker
And I just was reading it. And I was like, oh, this is from i mean, you and Michael both went to Indiana University. So therefore, I now have kind university. So that's awesome. um It was really cool to see.
00:19:02
Speaker
um So I pulled a story, a variation of a story of the vanishing hitchhiker. We know with a Vanishing hit Checker story from our friend who we had on the podcast, ah the folklorist. I'm blanking on his name right now, but he told us a very ah a version of the story that he lived.
00:19:22
Speaker
um This one is very Chicago. So I will preface that. okay But it's very interesting. So just listen in for a second. Sounds good. People in an automobile going to the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago are hailed by a woman with a traveling bag standing by the roadside.
00:19:43
Speaker
They invite her to ride and she gets into the car, but her face is dark and they're unable to see it clearly. she gets into the kind and and She gets into conversation and tells them the fare in Chicago is going to slide off into Lake Michigan in September.
00:20:00
Speaker
She gives them her address in Chicago and invites them to visit her there. When they turn around to speak to her, they can't find her. She's disappeared. They then go to the address and meet the man, the woman's husband.
00:20:13
Speaker
After he's heard the story, he says, yes, that was my wife. She died four years ago. Now, if you know the story of the ah the the World's Fair,
00:20:25
Speaker
it did kind of, in a way, slide off into Lake Michigan. It did. It's interesting. Yeah, so kind of spooky. I thought that, listen, if you've if you've never heard of this book, I would highly encourage you to look it up. It's called The Vanishing Hitchhiker, American Urban Legends and Their Meanings.
00:20:42
Speaker
It kind of gives like a um an encyclopedia of all these stories that you've heard and all the variations that they were able to capture within this book. um And it's really cool because it gives you some insight into not only some of your you know favorite urban legends, but maybe some and that you've never heard of.
00:21:00
Speaker
um And especially if you're a Midwesterner, it's all collected from the Midwest. So it's pretty It sounds like a good book to have on hand. You know what I mean? It's one of the let's hook one of those, like you want to always have it on your shelf just in case kind of thing.
00:21:13
Speaker
Yeah. Now I do have um two stories from ah friends of ours. um One is a audio that I'm going to play for you. If it doesn't play correctly, I will just add it in, but I'm going to try to play it for you now. Okay.
00:21:29
Speaker
so This comes from my friend Ariel. um I grew up, ah we we became friends. And when I was late in high school, she was early in college, just out of college. And we became really good friends and still are friends to this day.
00:21:42
Speaker
And I asked her, I'm like, do you have any spooky stories? And she said, ah well, I'll tell you something that freaked me out. Okay. So we're going to listen to that now. so my parents' house is a ranch-style house with a full basement, but the basement is not finished except for there is a finished bedroom and bathroom down there.
00:22:07
Speaker
And this was, think, one of the very first times I ever stayed home alone, and I was downstairs in the finished bedroom because my...
00:22:22
Speaker
Cousin Ann was staying down there with us for the summer and she had a super NES that she said I could play whenever I wanted. So I had turned all the lights on upstairs, locked all the doors, went downstairs and had been playing NES for a while.
00:22:45
Speaker
and I started hearing noises from upstairs. And then I realized that I was hearing footsteps and I thought it was so weird because my parents were not supposed to be back yet from wherever they were.
00:23:01
Speaker
um
00:23:03
Speaker
so I slowly made my way upstairs and when I opened the basement door, um all the lights in the house were off and i immediately flipped on the kitchen light cause that's the room that you are closest to when you and come up the stairs um and grab every knife that I could. And i turned so I could look down the length of the house because it's kitchen connected to dining room, connected to living room.
00:23:41
Speaker
And I did like the typical horror movie thing and said, hello, is anybody there? and I was terrified holding, i think I had at least one huge knife in each hand, maybe more.
00:23:56
Speaker
And
00:24:00
Speaker
In the living room area, there's a little like alcove where there's like a closet and a door that leads out the front porch. And you can't see if somebody's in that area unless you walk and turn the corner into the little alcove.
00:24:16
Speaker
And all of a sudden, somebody jumps out from there. And scream and drop all the knives and run out of the house the entryway is right connected to the kitchen.
00:24:34
Speaker
And out into the garage before I realized that it's my dipshit brother Jason and his girlfriend Melissa, and they knew i was home alone and purposefully had used the spare key to come into the house and fuck with me.
00:24:56
Speaker
hilarious is insane also i i sometimes i i think about like scary moments like that where you're like oh i'm gonna grab a knife and then then you have like the the like the terrifying like thought that like what if i stabbed somebody on accident you know what i mean like it freaks me out no i think that's like but that's like i think that's why me and ariel are friends is because that would that would be my like response is like i'm gonna grab a knife but then i'm not gonna use it at all yeah that's hilarious oh my god um and then from our other friend and um you've met bailey before i have yeah um bailey sent me ah just a ah text and i i asked her i'm like do you have any spooky stories because listen uh bailey's one of my my great great friends i'm actually going to her wedding next weekend and um
00:25:45
Speaker
She lived in our attic when we were in college. Oh my God. like And when I say attic, it was like not heated. Like it was an attic. Jesus. Oh my Lord.
00:25:57
Speaker
Listen, we, we violated a lot of rules of the city of Grand Rapids when we all live together, because um i think there were at 1.5 of us living in this house. And so like, just take that for what it is. um And I asked her, I said,
00:26:11
Speaker
Do you have any spooky stories from when we lived together? da da da And she goes, and this is verbatim her text. Oh, you mean like the time you freaks made a Ouija board out of a pizza box? And then the entire night I hit laid in bed listening to a ghost in the attic at the carrier place walk back and forth.
00:26:29
Speaker
That kind of story. i haven't touched a Ouija board since. Jesus, this did unlock a memory for me is that so I don't know if you ever ah had this inclination, but like for some reason in my head, I thought if you make a Ouija board, like if you actually can make it, it's more powerful because it's like your like energy, like in the board that tracks. I mean i think I've heard that before.
00:26:58
Speaker
And so I took one of our, you know, listen, we had a lot of pizza in college. So, you know, we took up a pizza box and we cut out letters out of magazines. Oh, for for all you kids out there, magazines used to be a thing.
00:27:11
Speaker
That is hilarious that you've cut it out of magazines. i and and And we made Ouija board. Oh, my God. We did conjure a spirit. um I can't remember his name ah anymore.
00:27:24
Speaker
But he he came to us and we got a little freaked out just because, you know, ah typical, you know, late, you know, early 20s kids playing straight boards. But I had never heard this part of the story, whereas Bailey was antagonized by the ghost in the attic all night.
00:27:43
Speaker
God, that's crazy. Yeah. Now I know you have one more from a, from a
Listener Spooky Experiences
00:27:50
Speaker
listener. Would you mind ah sharing that one with us?
00:27:54
Speaker
Sure. And so this one is, its ah this is, this is really well written. And so I'll go ahead and read the whole thing. um But, and from Griffin, or right. So Griffin, we're going to read this to our audience.
00:28:05
Speaker
um and And Griffin, by the way, is also a patron on our Patreon that you can join for just $1 month. um so joining the share He joined to share this story. so I love it. Love it.
00:28:16
Speaker
Thank you, Griffin. So, at the time, I was living in a chin Chandler, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix, in a relatively new apartment complex in a fairly recently developed part of the city.
00:28:27
Speaker
My bedroom had its own adjoining bathroom with a shower and toilet behind a door, while the sink and medicine cabinet was open to the rest of the bedroom. My bedroom window faced west and due to a sleeping disorder, I spend a lot of time sleeping during the day.
00:28:42
Speaker
To sleep more comfortably in the Arizona heat, I covered the windows in tin foil and tape to block out the sun. So when the lights were out, the room was pitch black or at least as near to it as possible.
00:28:54
Speaker
I had recently moved to this apartment and so at at the time that this all happened, I didn't even have a mattress. So keep that in mind for what comes next. Every so often when I was at the bathroom sink and opened the medicine cabinet, and I would get a strong scent of perfume.
00:29:08
Speaker
Probably doesn't sound like much, right? I mean, the previous tenant could have had perfume in there, maybe even spilled it once or twice, but I used that medicine cabinet every day and the scent wasn't always present.
00:29:20
Speaker
Some days it was really strong, some days faint, and some days not there at all. Still, not a big deal. However, this was a perfume I recognized from someone that I used to know in high school, only i couldn't remember who.
00:29:35
Speaker
I don't mean that I can't remember now. I mean, even during this incident, I couldn't just remember who it was. The scent was very nostalgic, even though I couldn't ah couldn couldn't think of it, and still can't remember who had worn it.
00:29:47
Speaker
I used to open that medicine cabinet, just pick up its scent, because it was pretty, and it made me smile. So this went on for a few months, yet I didn't think too much of it because I figured that whoever had lived there before simply kept that perfume in the medicine cabinet, which is a perfectly logical and likely plausible explanation.
00:30:05
Speaker
However, it did get me wondering about who the previous tenant was. What was her name? What did she look like? What were her favorite movies or favorite bands? Was she in high school or perhaps a grown-up? And then I began wondering if she was still alive.
00:30:18
Speaker
What happened to her? That she was no longer in this room, my room. Oh, my God. after months of otherwise ordinary and mundane living in this apartment and this room i woke up to see a young woman standing in my room where i had been sleeping she wore jeans and a t-shirt she had a long hair that went past her shoulders And even though she was looking at me, I couldn't see her face. It was covered in shadow.
00:30:45
Speaker
In fact, she was entirely in shadow, yet I could still make out the vague idea of what she looked like. You know how if you see someone in a poorly lit space, so you can get a sense of their proportions and clothing even if you can't see them clearly?
00:30:58
Speaker
This was like that. At first. I didn't move. This had caught me so completely by surprise and was so out of the realm of my day-to-day life that I had to mentally fight to keep myself from freaking out. I understand, Griffin.
00:31:13
Speaker
I stared back at her while in my mind I said, calm down and try to understand. I repeated those words in my mind over and over even as she turned away and walked in the direction of the window. Oh, my God.
00:31:26
Speaker
Sinking into the floor the whole time as though she was walking down stairs that weren't there. Oh, just got the chills. Seriously. Then she was gone, vanished through the floor.
00:31:38
Speaker
That was my first visit. I eventually made my peace with it. I mean, ultimately, I wasn't hurt. It was just someone looking at me. And in spite of my initial shock, there didn't seem to be any attempt or intent to actively frighten or threaten me.
00:31:52
Speaker
If anything, in my experience, living people are scarier and more dangerous. Too true, Griffin, by the way. Yeah. Several months later, in the same apartment, in the same room as I was sleeping face down, I was woken up by someone jumping onto my back.
00:32:08
Speaker
It wasn't painful, but it was surprising. More so when that initial pressure shifted to the sensation of someone sitting on me. I could feel the outline of thin legs pinning my arms to my side with this person's weight.
00:32:22
Speaker
To be clear, this wasn't a sleep paralysis situation. I was able to move, but I had physical weight on me. Now, for anyone with siblings, you know what that feels like to have someone sit on you because they think it's funny or they think it's fun.
00:32:36
Speaker
Yeah. ah Now, this wasn't like that. this would Excuse me. This was like that, but without the fun or the funny. What's worse was that because I had been sleeping face down, I couldn't see what was going on.
00:32:48
Speaker
I made the decision to pretend that I was still asleep while I tried to figure out what to do. Now, I was calmer this time, but as I thought things through, I found that I was afraid of what I would find if I turned around.
00:33:01
Speaker
After a while, as this person remained exactly where they were with no signs that they would get up, I realized that the only good option I had of the very few available to me was just to push myself up, spin around, and shake them off.
00:33:15
Speaker
So I made sure I had a good angle with my arms and legs. Whether or not they noticed me moving or if my pretending to be asleep actually worked, we'll never know. Then as fast as I could with all the strength that I had, I was in my early 20s in decent shape back then, I pushed back and spun around.
00:33:31
Speaker
And I felt her slide off my back and there was nothing there. There was no sign of anyone. No sign anyone had been there. Like nothing had happened at all. Thinking on that incident often in the days that followed, I came to realize that while it had been scary, there wasn't any sense of malice.
00:33:50
Speaker
Like while I may have been pinned, I could breathe easily and there wasn't any pain. And the weight of that person was actually fairly light, probably lighter than what it would have been when they were alive. Had a living person done that, a person I knew, i would have thought they were being playful.
00:34:05
Speaker
The fear I felt had come from the surprise, the unknown of what was behind me. All that fear had come from myself. Granted, someone sitting on you while you're asleep and are supposed to be alone would give most people a good scare.
00:34:19
Speaker
Now, after that, I remained in that apartment for another year. If anything, the perfume yeah perfume part of me I used to smell so strongly began to fade until it was all but gone completely.
00:34:30
Speaker
I never had another visit, never saw or experienced anything remotely paranormal in that room ever again. Still, I remember how I opened that medicine cabinet just to get a hint of that perfume because it was lovely and made me smile.
00:34:46
Speaker
The memory of it still does. I don't know what became of that young woman, but I hope that wherever she is, she's happy. Because I think, ultimately, she may have just been a little lonely.
00:34:59
Speaker
oh Now, Griffin, I'll tell you what, pal, that's pretty well written. So thank you for sending it to us. I hope you enjoyed me reading it. I hope I didn't massacre it for you. ah But what a spooky story. I'll tell you what, the part where she's walking into the floor is just like, what? I i definitely got shit.
00:35:17
Speaker
I got the hair raisings on that. Oh my God. And Griffin's over here like, Oh no, I wasn't that scared. I'm like, what? Like, are you kidding me? I would have been like, I'm fucking out of here and I'm calling a priest immediately. And I'm also going to burn this house down. Like what the fuck?
00:35:31
Speaker
Griffin, you've got some, you've got some cojones and some bravery, dude. um Listen, that was a wonderful story. And yeah I just want to say it again. Our people on Patreon are so cool. And thank you for like being as engaged in all of this with us and for sending in your stories. How wonderful is that? So Griffin, thank you again for such a great story for Spooky Season.
00:35:49
Speaker
This one definitely chilled us. And honestly, Griffin, I'm just telling you, write Write these things down because you do have a ah really good voice for actually reading and writing. so Keep writing, dude. Keep writing. it And if you can, if this this what you have right here is the basis for a great horror story, for sure. that this This should be a little movie right there, I'll tell you what.
00:36:12
Speaker
All right. Well, I do have to share two other stories um just because they're going to connect to the end of our episode. And so it wouldn't make any sense if I didn't read a couple of creepy pastas.
00:36:22
Speaker
Creep me out, baby. All right. The first one is just called Mother. These are short, they're but they're pretty spooky. Are you ready? I am ready.
00:36:35
Speaker
A young girl is playing in her bedroom when she hears her mother call for her to come to the kitchen. So she runs downstairs to meet her mother, and as she's running through the hallway, the door to the cupboard under the stairs opens, and a hand reaches out and pulls her in.
00:36:50
Speaker
It's her mother. She whispers to the child, don't go into the kitchen. I heard it too.
00:36:58
Speaker
um That's terrifying. Is that the end of it? Yeah, that's the end. Jesus fucking Christ. My God, Jesus. All right. And the next one is another short one, but pretty spooky.
00:37:09
Speaker
Carrie had always loved Sundays. Her parents would go to run errands, leaving her to call her boyfriend. Her parents didn't know about him. And as an only child, her parents were overprotective and prohibited from dating until she was 15.
00:37:23
Speaker
She, of course, decided to keep Josh's existence from them. This didn't matter. She loved him. She loved talking to him. His voice set her heart aflutter. Sunday was the only time she could call him and not have him be worried about being caught.
00:37:37
Speaker
It became a ritual for them. Every Sunday she would call and they would listen and they would talk and her until her parents got home. There was only one blemish to the otherwise perfect scene.
00:37:49
Speaker
Josh's brother was nosy and he would always pick up the phone and listen on their conversation. And if people don't know this, there used to be multiple landlines. You could pick it up. You could listen to people's conversations.
00:38:00
Speaker
Um, Carrie could always hear his breath while they were talking. she he He tried to breathe softly, but she could still hear him. This went on for weeks, and slowly Carrie's frustration at the situation grew.
00:38:15
Speaker
Josh ignored it, but after one particularly heated conversation, Carrie asked, "'Could you tell your brother to buzz off? I can hear him listening on the other phone line.'" Josh's answer was sobering, to say the least.
00:38:29
Speaker
We don't have another phone in this house. um my god i thought you said you were the only i thought you said that you were certain that your parents had gone out to run errands. Carrie listened, and the phone clicked onto the receiver in her kitchen.
00:38:43
Speaker
She had watched her parents leave. Whoever was in the kitchen was not her parents.
00:38:51
Speaker
The call is coming from inside the house. Fuck. You know, those little these little tiny stories are always so, because because they they pack a good punch in a very short amount of time, you know?
00:39:03
Speaker
Yeah, you don't have to go through the exposition of like learning, like backstory, all that stuff. So it's spooky. It still leaves you fucking scared. Andrew, yeah listen, I hope that the start of spooky season is really great for you.
00:39:18
Speaker
We're getting there. We're getting there, my friend. You know, and I hope it's great for everybody, because this this is the time of the year that we all live for, as fans of horror and just like spookiness in general. So like, you know, yeah, I know the world is kind of fucked up.
00:39:32
Speaker
I get it. But think of all the great things that we have to distract us. do You know what I mean? Like us, like us.
Enjoying the Spooky Season and Recent Film Reviews
00:39:40
Speaker
So many great movies. like we're We're about to talk about some great movies and what you've been watching, and bitch, that you both of you I see. We both watch like three of the same things.
00:39:48
Speaker
Like, you know, there's a lot of great things that keep us going too. So I don't know. I guess I just want to end this segment with have a great spooky season because you deserve it. You fucking worked for it. And also like, enjoy it, you know, like enjoy the stuff that, that we love. Enjoy the horror movies, enjoy the scary stories, get into that stuff.
00:40:05
Speaker
Try to focus on that and not as much on all the fucking political bullshit. Yeah. All right. Well, we'll be right back with what you've been watching, bitch.
00:40:17
Speaker
Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves treat.
00:40:29
Speaker
And we're back with Whatcha Been Watching, bitch. And look, if this is your first time with us on the show, which it probably isn't, but if it is, this is the part of the show where we talk about what we've been watching. Whatcha been watching, you spooky bitch.
00:40:41
Speaker
Oh my God, Andrew, I didn't let you do that. It's okay. I i figured it in. This is what happens when like we get off our our yeah our like normal recording schedule. We're like, wait a minute, how do we keep doing this show that we've been doing for almost eight years? It's kind of hilarious.
00:40:56
Speaker
oh Look, enough of me talking. Why don't you tell us, what have you been watching, bitch? All right. my first one is on Netflix. And at this point in time, literally probably everyone has already seen it, but I need to talk about it. It's K-pop Demon Hunters. Have you seen this yet? I am one of the people that have not yet seen it, but it is on my list. I am. I'm going to watch it very, very, very, very soon, maybe even tonight.
00:41:19
Speaker
if If you're not, listen, okay. This movie, listen, I am not a huge animation person per se. I find myself in animation holes, like where I'll watch like two or three cartoons a row. Perfect blue or something like that. Yeah.
00:41:34
Speaker
But like I saw like literally like this weird phenomenon of like reels and TikToks all talking about K-pop demon hunters. And I was like, well, that's the most dumb title I've ever heard.
00:41:46
Speaker
But I kind of got to know, like, what is K-pop demon hunters? And the the the story is pretty much about um three women that in a it's kind of like a Buffy situation. Like in every generation, there are three women that are chosen to fight the demons and and make sure that they stay in the underworld.
00:42:07
Speaker
um A lot of Korean um like folklore built into this that I'm not as familiar with, so i'm not going to speak too much on it. ah i But it's pretty much about them trying to hold down the demons in the underworld and make sure that they don't influence the living. and And got to tell you, for a kid's movie, this fucking rocked.
00:42:29
Speaker
It's so good. the And I got to tell you, the soundtrack is What the actual hell is this? It so good.
00:42:42
Speaker
I've been listening to it on repeat since I watched this movie. I've literally discovered Blackpink. I've discovered Cat's Eye. I've discovered all these different K-pop artists just because I tuned into this movie.
00:42:55
Speaker
So... as ah As a horror person, there are definitely horror elements. It's definitely a kid's movie. i'm not going to lie to you about that. But it's got it. But it's got enough adult humor in it to satisfy all audiences, if that makes any sense.
00:43:09
Speaker
um So if you have not watched K-pop Demon Hunters, You got to watch it it or at least listen to the soundtrack because it's okay. It rocks. Fair. i I cannot wait to watch this finally.
00:43:21
Speaker
um So Andrew, I'll do the two. Why don't we do the two that that we didn't do together and then we'll do the two that we did together ah perfect for the last two. There we go yeah so So then the first one for me um that I saw that Andrew didn't see um is Downton Abbey, the grand finale.
00:43:35
Speaker
um Now, Downton Abbey, when did Downton Abbey actually first come out? I forget the actual 2012, maybe? Long time. Let me just look it up really quick here, folks. When was it? 2010. 2010.
00:43:48
Speaker
Right. i was close. i was close. So for 15 years, the Downton Abbey franchise has been around. And that that's that's the kind of shit that gets me going. I love it so much. It's basically a soap opera.
00:44:00
Speaker
And, you know, there were however many seasons there were on on, you know, both British television and then over in America on PBS and kind of all over the world. And then there were three movies. This is the final movie. And it is the final, as it says, the grand finale. It's the final chapter in the Downton Abbey story.
00:44:16
Speaker
So, you know, for me, as someone who has watched from the very beginning for 15 years, i have known these characters. I have cried and laughed and, you know, been frustrated and all the rest of it. And like, you know, back in the day when, when it first started, and like you had to like really go out there and pirate this shit so you could find it. You know what i mean? Like I had to like go on, like there was like that, like old, that old pirate Bay website. Remember? Yeah. yeah It was impossible to get in America. Like you had to wait.
00:44:46
Speaker
Yeah, you had to wait like a year and a half until the next one. And I was like, actually, fuck no. Well, I do that. I need to see it immediately. um But, you know, look, it's just it's a long history for me. And, you know, my mom, but I loved watching it with my mom and couple of my sisters really loved it.
00:45:00
Speaker
And it's just it's ah it's an important part of my life. And so the um watching the last one I went to the I went to the cinema to go see it. by myself. I didn't want to deal with anybody and their expectations.
00:45:12
Speaker
And I, I really enjoyed it, you know? And like, look, if I would say like, if you're just like, just coming Downton Abbey, maybe like, don't watch this one. last one But I would say, you know, this is one that is definitely for the fans.
00:45:25
Speaker
It is for the fans. And I think all fans of Downton probably feel the same way that I do, that it was lovely. And like, yeah, I probably would have done a couple things differently, but like, you know ah So many people on that show, like they're like actually old.
00:45:39
Speaker
mean, they're really old. And Maggie Smith, who was a part of the show from the beginning, died before this one was made. And in fact, and in the in the previous movie, she dies. right So in the second movie, she's she's dead.
00:45:51
Speaker
And um there's there's a great memorialization of her in the movie. And you know that's really cool. and I don't know. It just it filled me with a lot of joy. And like there were definitely parts where I cried because it's just like, you know, it's the last one. And you know that, you know, these characters now are are through. It's over.
00:46:07
Speaker
And, i you know, I just really enjoyed it. I just did. I had a great time watching it. It was a nice evening on my own. So I would say if you're a fan of Downton and you've been with the series for a long time and you've seen everything, yeah, you should go see the movie.
00:46:21
Speaker
If not, maybe don't do that. Do that first and then see it. But yeah, it was lovely. Highly recommend Downton Abbey, the grand finale. I'm glad that you were able to close out a series so beloved with something that was like an actual ending. That's really cool when that's able to happen.
00:46:41
Speaker
I agree. I agree. right. My next one is i Don't Understand You. Have you have you ever even heard of this movie? I have heard of this and somebody told me about it and I completely forget what it's about. So tell me again.
00:46:55
Speaker
So this is us currently streaming on Hulu. um I think you can get it many other places, but this is just kind of where it popped up for me. um And this is about a gay couple that are on the verge of adopting ah child.
00:47:11
Speaker
And so they decide to celebrate by going to Italy. so interesting. and Yeah.
00:47:24
Speaker
basically is like well to celebrate your new part life we're gonna set you up with like an experience of like where you go to like the country and experience like real italian food from a very like famous chef who no longer like cooks for a restaurant she only does like private stuff And because we're in Italy, there's definitely a language barrier.
00:47:45
Speaker
And so when the ah gay couple gets to the villa where they're going to have dinner, a series of events happens that leads to a lot of things happening. I'm trying to be vague because I don't want to spoil anything.
00:47:57
Speaker
Um, and you know, it it kind of just goes from there, but this is a pretty funny movie, even though it has like dark, I guess I would call it a dark comedy. Um, but pretty good stuff here. i it was one of those movies, you know, you know, like on a night where you're like, what are you want to watch?
00:48:13
Speaker
well i don't know what do you want to watch and you just kind of scroll for a little bit and you're like oh you watch this preview and you watch this preview and you watch this preview and i came across this and was like yeah let's try this out and it ended up being really fun and so i just kind of wanted to highlight it and it's dark it's got some like horror elements to it yeah um i'm trying to remember it's it's crawl uh i can't remember his first jason crawl right is that sound about right kind of i think so ah He's a comedian and then the guy from Girls, ah that they the gay guy from Girls who also has many, many things. Right.
00:48:46
Speaker
um But they they star as the the gay couple that are looking to adopt. And it's got a little bit of heart, but it's mostly satire and mostly like dark comedy. So I think like you and me, it works for it may not work for everybody, but I highly enjoyed it. and So that's I don't understand you.
00:49:03
Speaker
Nice. Cool. ah My next one is Eddington, which is the new feature film from Ari Aster and A24. i haven't seen this yet. Also saw this in the theater. um And it's, it's, i I think it's really, really good.
00:49:16
Speaker
um It is, Uh, the, the basic blurb is this, uh, in may of 2020, a standoff between a small town sheriff and a small town mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.
00:49:31
Speaker
So this movie will take you back to the pandemic. And, uh, it is, as you might imagine ah movie from Ari Aster, it is bizarre.
00:49:43
Speaker
And, um, you don't play You know, it it's some it's it's weird because it puts you into this space like where you feel like you're back in the pandemic again. And like back in that really weird first part of it where no one knew what to do.
00:50:00
Speaker
And you maybe didn't have a mask yet. So you you use like a bandana or like a T-shirt. And, you know, everyone was freaking out about being close to each other. And Some people didn't want to do it. So, you know, you'd you'd be in the grocery store, say, and like, you know, you've got your mask on, you're trying to do the best that you can. And like some, you know, fool would walk around without one or this would happen or that would happen. And like, you know, and then after we started to figure more things out, how everyone just started to yell at each other and started to not believe each other. And this conspiracy theory and that conspiracy theory and things just kept bubbling and bubbling and buing and boiling and boiling until the whole thing just keeps popping off. Yeah.
00:50:38
Speaker
And that is basically what happens in this movie. And, um, you know, like I, as I was watching it, it's yeah it's not a short movie, which, which shouldn't be a surprise, but it's not long either.
00:50:50
Speaker
But, you know, as you're watching it, as I, I shouldn't say as you, as I was watching it, I kept thinking like, do I like this? Do I like this? I'm not sure if I like this. I think I like this. I don't know. And then at the end of it it, it's one of those films where it just starts to make sense to you.
00:51:05
Speaker
And at the end of it, what I was left with was ah profound sense of sadness because it it really does tell you exactly where America is. and that really made me sad.
00:51:21
Speaker
Sad is the word. And like also scared. So like it shouldn't surprise us that like that comes from Ari Aster, who I think is a master at doing both of those things, at making us sad and at making us scared.
00:51:35
Speaker
And this is one of those movies. yeah I saw on Letterboxd, there's a review that calls it like the first truly modern American Western. And I don't think it's wrong.
00:51:45
Speaker
I think that might be a pretty good way to talk about it. And it sort of exists in a number of different genres. There's stuff in there that will make you cringe. There's stuff in there that will make you laugh for sure. And stuff that will make you just go to shake your head and just wonder where we are.
00:52:00
Speaker
ah Great performances from Joaquin Phoenix and from Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone and Luke Grimes. is in the movie and is really good. um the the Really, I think everyone in the movie just does such a great job.
00:52:16
Speaker
um In particular, Deirdre O'Connell, who, um if you don't know her name, she's been in a lot of movies that you've seen before. She's in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. um She was in ah the the the recent TV series, The Penguin. She's in that. She plays she plays the penguin's mother and like a bunch of other shit. She's so good and she's great in this.
00:52:36
Speaker
So um this is one that I think everyone should see. And I hope that you like it um in the way that you can. If you have a chance to see it in the cinema, I might do that if I were you. Just because, it's's as always, it's nice to be undistracted. So ah you you put it you you're very intentional. Your phone is put away. You're you're just watching the movie.
00:52:55
Speaker
That's how I would suggest seeing it. So Eddington, highly recommend. Cool. Yeah, this one was not, I remember seeing a preview for it before, ah you know, one of the various movies that I've seen, but it didn't get too much like, um I guess publicity is the right word, but like it didn't get too much like fanfare.
00:53:14
Speaker
And so, yeah, I'll definitely check this out on site yeah once once I can figure out how to find it. All right. So now we have two that we both have seen.
00:53:25
Speaker
Let's start with the documentary. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah it does. Yeah. all right so this is a documentary i'm sure many of you have already seen it at this point we're not going to spoil it um as far as we can if that makes any sense just to be fair like if you've gone on the internet the memes alone destroy it for you well i'll tell you <unk> i'll tell you something that spoiled it for me um without kind of spoiling it for everybody but
Film Analysis and Nostalgia Discussion
00:53:49
Speaker
this is unknown number the high school catfish um on Netflix. This is um this is like Netflix's new bread and butter is like doing these like 90 minute documentary style twist ending shows like that's like their their new thing that they I also watched another one about a cruise ship.
00:54:08
Speaker
There's like ah ah bunch of sure. Yeah, this one. This one is pretty fun. The only thing is like halfway through, i realized that I had watched a Lifetime movie starring Lisa Rinna about this. So I knew I knew the ending already, but it was OK. That's crazy.
00:54:28
Speaker
um But this is all about um some kids in Michigan, um in eastern Michigan. Hill City. Yeah, who ah start receiving very vicious ah text messages saying ah vicious things to a young girl in particular and her boyfriend.
00:54:46
Speaker
And it kind of just goes from there. I don't want to give too much away because if you haven't seen it, it's a pretty entertaining watch. um But it it plays out like an Unsolved Mysteries or like ah anything like that, where you you interview people and you're you're trying to get on their side and you're trying to figure it out.
00:55:01
Speaker
um But pretty cool twist, not going ah even Even if it wasn't... I think the thing for me, and I'll let you speak on this right after I do because we both watched it.
00:55:14
Speaker
ah The thing for me is that the perpetrator of the the the text messages and and what happened... was involved in the documentary and that's not giving anything away.
00:55:27
Speaker
Sure. But that, that was fascinating to me that they would, um, agree to be part of telling the story. And that's where I think is the, I agree.
00:55:39
Speaker
That's the interesting part of the documentary for me. It wasn't necessarily the, the quote unquote twist. It was that they decided to participate. And so like now what did you think of this one?
00:55:51
Speaker
Uh,
00:55:53
Speaker
um without trying not I'm trying not to give things away, right? Yeah, no. It's it's it's hard, but yeah. Without giving it away, I mean, i will say this. You learn who the person is, right?
00:56:05
Speaker
And the person that ah you learned did it Does not really take accountability. Yeah. and And in my opinion, is lying through their teeth.
00:56:17
Speaker
Once, once, that once it is clear in the documentary that they did it, right, because they have a they have a chance to come forward and talk about it and everything else. so And it is, um it's pretty disgusting to watch.
00:56:29
Speaker
I have to i say. Agreed. Because you're watching it and you're looking at this person you're just thinking, you might be one of the most pathetic human beings I've ever seen in my life. that that you could Because here's the thing.
00:56:41
Speaker
You know, like like you said that they were vicious text messages. And that is true. But these are, men I mean, these are, when these kids were getting them, they were 14 years old. 13, 14. And then, you know kept going on from there. And these were sexual messages. Like stuff that kids should not be reading. And years them. And it was years of them.
00:57:00
Speaker
And it was fucking insane. And this person, um you watch it, and... You know, like, i ah i just, I, as I've gotten older, I just, I really do believe that there are just some evil people in the world.
00:57:14
Speaker
There are just people who are fucking evil and i can call it this or I can call it that, but like, they're just fucking evil. The person that did this is evil and they are a sociopath and they should truly be locked up for the rest of their lives. I, um I honestly believe that, that they're going to do something that they're going to do more and it's going to be worse the next time.
00:57:34
Speaker
Um, beyond that, I, that's an interesting point that you make about like, boy, all these people like come forward to be a part of it. Um, you know, I almost wonder because like, because,
00:57:46
Speaker
ah Like Beale City is very small. I mean, I don't know if you've ever been there before, but it looks like it's a very tiny town. And i I think I even looked it up and like, there's only like, like 2000 people in that town or something. So like, it's, I mean, I come, I come from a town like this. so exactly So, you know, it's just like, you know, you've described before with your school, like every, you ah like there was like barely anyone in your class. So you all know each other, the whole town knows each other.
00:58:08
Speaker
So I kind of wonder that like every everyone that they know already knows about it. And they've been living it for so long to the point where they're like, honestly, everyone knows about it. I don't even care anymore. it also It also kind of seemed that way.
00:58:21
Speaker
And, um and like you know, for some of them, i i imagine that Netflix paid them. So, you know, if they if they got a little money out of it, whatever, fine, take it. I think that the person I feel, though there there's one person I feel the worst for in it. And I wish I could say it right now, but I wonder if you and I have the same idea on this.
00:58:39
Speaker
um I wish I could say it. I'll i'll talk to you about it after. um But there there is one person that I absolutely, does I feel terrible for after I watched it. Like I like i started crying. It but great broke my heart that much.
00:58:50
Speaker
And it's it's a god awful story. like if If you haven't seen this, you need to watch it right away because you're going to find out of some other way. So don't let yourself. It'll get spoiled some other way. Just just watch it as soon as you can. Get it in you. It's rotten and it's terrible. And it's a story worth hearing, I think.
00:59:09
Speaker
yeah It just shows... I can't say anything. It shows a lot, and it's it's crazy. Agreed. but Now, the next one, Andrew, is weapons.
00:59:20
Speaker
um I cannot wait to talk to you about this. so eyes saw this one in the cinema. Did you see it in the cinema? or i did, yeah. We haven't talked about this one. Okay, so I gotta tell you, I fucking loved this movie.
00:59:34
Speaker
Ditto. Oh, it was so... This movie is wacky and so fucked up. It's so fucked up. It is scary. It is fast paced.
00:59:46
Speaker
And the ending is one of the most fulfilling endings in a horror movie I've seen in a long time. I adored it. And oh, what's her name? Aunt Gladys, right?
00:59:57
Speaker
Whoever the woman is that plays Gladys. She is so good. Jesus Christ. And you know who she reminds me of, Andrew? I can't you an extra. She reminds me of our friend Jessica. I was like, oh my God. know yeah yeah Jessica could play this role in a minute.
01:00:11
Speaker
But listen, i I think this movie is so well done. And and from start to finish, i just I absolutely adored it. Josh Brolin fucking rocks in this movie. They all rock in this movie. What what did you think of it?
01:00:24
Speaker
Yeah, so I went in um very blind to this. Yeah, me too. i It was one of those movies that like, listen, you don't have to serve me like three to four trailers. Like I'm going to decide whether I want to see the movie within like probably 30 seconds of your trailer. Like i I've already decided, like sure I want to go see it.
01:00:43
Speaker
And so this is one of those ones that I like actively tried to stay away from the trailers because I wanted to go in yeah as surprised as possible. And like, I listen, I went, I think the third week it was out. So like, I really tried really hard to avoid like literally everybody's forum about this because thankfully not now that we're not on Twitter anymore, I can avoid a lot of it. Yeah. Very true.
01:01:06
Speaker
um But like, yeah, I went in and when I tell you I walked out of that movie theater, my whole body was like soaked in sweat. Like I was so it like it was one of those movies that had me on edge in a way that I can't really tell you. Like because it every time that it would get too intense, it would infuse humor.
01:01:27
Speaker
And every time I got too deep. And every time that it got too humorous, it would get too intense. And I was just like, I, my emotions almost were like at a spike during watching the movie.
01:01:39
Speaker
And it's just, it goes to show like how you can tell a story in a way. and And this is very much one of those movies that tells the same story from different perspectives, which i think is all is always fun.
01:01:51
Speaker
Um, and and so like, yeah, I thought this was a, this is a contender for best of the year so far for me. Um, it's, it's, it was very well done. i loved how it was told and I loved kind of the modern twist on, you know, what, what we're talking about in the movie.
01:02:07
Speaker
Um, and I just but listen and anybody, this is a minor, minor, minor spoiler, but anyone that can sit down in the afternoon and have seven hot dogs as their meal, Jesus Christ. Yeah.
01:02:22
Speaker
And i'll I'll also just say, like, cause we're, we're clearly fan boys of the movie, but the, the, the main kid, whatever, I can't even think of his character's name right now. Great. ah The main kid is a knockout.
01:02:34
Speaker
I mean, I, that kid cannot be older than fucking nine years old or maybe, maybe 10 years old. He is absolutely stunning in that role plays it so well.
01:02:45
Speaker
Everyone's so good. Like no everyone is yeah like, because obviously the focus is on him so much. Like, um i yeah, it's a fun movie. It's crazy. Whatever, whatever, whatever.
01:02:57
Speaker
I felt so bad for that kid and the shit that he has. It's it's not it's not a spoiler. I still Just like, I mean, can you imagine? Can you imagine that? And like, and and the way that they, that the writing is so fantastic.
01:03:13
Speaker
And the way that, and and Zach Krager, like what a director. He must have worked. he it it was just It was magic. Him and that kid working together had to have been magic. Because the way, I mean, look, kids are kids, man. it's They only understand so much because they're fucking kids.
01:03:28
Speaker
Like the way that that kid clearly understands that role and what's at stake and what he needs to do on screen to portray that story was stunning. It was stun stunning, and stunning, stunning. I can't wait to own the movie because I can't wait to watch it again, for sure. Yeah, there there is one scene, and this is like, it's not giving anything away about the movie, but I'll just describe the the scene that really like freaked me out a lot. is There's a scene where a woman is watching a house, and she falls asleep in her car, and all of a sudden, she's just walking out of the house, and comes and gets in her car, and i'm not going to go anything beyond that, but that scene...
01:04:07
Speaker
I was freaking out. it It's like terrifying. Fucking terrifying. Oh, great. movie Great, great, great, great, great movie. So excited. but I'm glad we both had that experience.
01:04:19
Speaker
Like, cause it's, it's just, I fucking love it. I love it. Yeah. it Like, honestly, like you guys, the theaters are going to go away if you don't go to them. I agree. So you have to go see things in the theater if you want that experience still. Listen, did I just buy a brand new TV with a great sound system and all that stuff? Yes, but I still want to go sit in a dark theater and watch a movie.
01:04:43
Speaker
However, i will say this about nothing ever beats that experience. And like, you know, like I was saying earlier with, with Eddington, it's like, you know, you don't have to see it there, but I know, especially for me, like it's, it's hard for me at home because I live by myself to not like think about looking at my laptop or think about looking at my phone and in the cinema, you can't really do that.
01:05:03
Speaker
You know? Yeah, here's here's my only thing. And this is strictly because I only have AMC and Regal Theaters where I live. You can't advertise a movie that's going to start at 310 not start the movie until 345 because of commercials and previews.
01:05:23
Speaker
That's ridiculous. And also, if I can say one more thing too, do not be late for the cinema. No. like Do not be late for the cinema. If it says 310, get in there at 310. Get your fucking seat.
01:05:34
Speaker
Sit down. Do not make me get up from my seat to let you in. You need to be in your seat at that time. it's like It's like being on a fucking airplane. We're going to take off at the same time, people. You understand? like When all of you out there listening, if you do that, you better be better cinema citizens. you understand?
01:05:50
Speaker
that that's That's the new thing that we're going to start. would Be a good cinema citizen. When I am governor of Lesbicay Falls, I will state that the movie needs to start at the posted time. And if you're not there on time, you're not allowed in.
01:06:05
Speaker
i completely, I'll tell you what, we we just love to jam her on, don't we I remember when I saw Nosferatu, the new Nosferatu in the cinema, right? It was, it was packed in the cinema, of course, as you might imagine, because everyone was you know so excited for it.
01:06:20
Speaker
And I got the seat that I always get because I like that seat and I'm a person of routine. And there, there was a seat open next to me, which was great because that's just nice to have. And like, of course, during the opening sequence, these fucking two like young dudes who just couldn't get there on fucking time, come in and want to sit right next to me.
01:06:39
Speaker
And they made me miss the opening sequence because i had to get up and let them in. And I missed the details. And you know what? You don't have the authority to do that. Do you know what i mean? Yeah, like I agree. don't Don't ruin people's experiences. That's all I'm trying to say.
01:06:53
Speaker
That's it. I think the doors should lock when the movie starts, but that's fine. but from From the outside, but like we can still get out though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your ticket lets you in.
01:07:04
Speaker
You know what, Andrew? That's a great idea. That's a good idea. All right, well, that does it for What You've Been Watching, bitch. Maddie brought us Downton Abbey, the grand finale, Eddington, unknown number of the high school catfish, and weapons.
01:07:20
Speaker
And Andrew brought us weapons and unknown number again, but he also brought us K-pop demon hunters on Netflix and I Don't Understand You on Hulu. So that does it for What You've Been Watching, bitch. We'll be right back with our first film of the episode, Campfire Campfire Tales.
01:07:35
Speaker
When the moons fall, they come out to heart. The wrong night. What the hell was that? The wrong road. A son bitch siphoned our tank. One wrong turn.
01:07:47
Speaker
Guys, maybe we should go back up to the road. That way if a car comes, then they can call for help. Yeah, right before they kill us. And four teenagers are about to learn that when you tell too many scary stories, you just might end up in one.
01:08:06
Speaker
I'll take you with me!
01:08:23
Speaker
my back! Get away from me! If they stop you, you lock your doors and wait for sunup.
01:08:35
Speaker
How bizarre was that? In the tradition of scream. And I know what you did last summer comes a red-hot horror tale that you'll be dying for. getting a little scared over there.
01:08:46
Speaker
Featuring Christine Taylor and Jacinda Barrett. Not bad, huh? Campfire Tales. Now, terror spreads by word of mouth.
01:09:03
Speaker
Gather round the campfire for I have news. Yes, that is two Waiting for Guffman references for those of you who have been paying attention. Andrew, this is not Waiting for Guffman. This is Campfire Tales.
01:09:14
Speaker
Tell us all about it. When the fire burns low, the stories come alive. After a late-night accident leaves four friends stranded on a lonely back road, they stumble upon the ruins of an old church and gather around a campfire to pass the time. To keep fear at bay, they trade chilling stories, each one darker than the last, about honeymoons hunted by a monstrous presence, a young girl stalked by an online predator, and a drifter who discovers a farmhouse haunted by secrets of the past.
01:09:46
Speaker
But as the night deepens, the line between storytelling and reality begins to blur, and the friends realize the terror surrounding them may not be make-believe after all.
01:09:57
Speaker
This was directed and written by Martin Kuhnert, David Semel, Matt Cooper, and Eric Maines. Production and distribution were handled by New Line Cinema and New... ah ah New Line Cinema, both...
01:10:11
Speaker
a Cliff is played by J.R. Ferguson. Lauren is played by Christine Taylor. Eddie is played by ah James Marsden. jenny is played by amy smart and rick is played by ron livingston that's only a sample of the people that were in this movie there's a lot of people in the movie yeah uh rated r this comes in at 87 minutes it came out on may 16th of 1997 with filming locations in and around los angeles california and the san bernardino national forest amongst many places in california uh the budget was two million dollars unfortunately This one was demoted to made for TV, so we don't have a gross on it.
01:10:54
Speaker
But Maddie, was this your first time with Campfire Tales? And what were your initial thoughts? You know, this is another one of those where, you know, you you've heard me say this before, where it's like, I don't really remember if I saw this. I'll be perfectly honest.
01:11:07
Speaker
um But I think that i probably did. And i just I just honestly don't remember it. um But yeah, I mean, look, this is um this is a it's a fun movie. And like, um it has... oh Yeah, I mean, let's talk about it. You know, all the way at the end, and I say this in in my main takeaway, but like, you know, it's a little bit of an after-school special kind of ending.
01:11:28
Speaker
But honestly, pretty good one. And like yeah the way that it coming. Exactly. The way that it all bleeds into it, it is it's pretty well done. And so I think what at first can seem, in fact, I already rated this too low. I shouldn't have done that.
01:11:43
Speaker
um I think what at first can seem a bit just kind of silly and stupid. And I mean, I don't mean all of it. I just feel like there are parts of it. Like, but what kind of I'm like twisting myself up here. No, the right the writing of the main characters is not great.
01:12:00
Speaker
That's it. yo like good when you have When you have the wraparound that's a little bit ah flimsy in the writing, the stories therefore take kind of like a backseat to like understanding that portion of the movie.
01:12:13
Speaker
That makes sense because the main characters, they they can get a little just like hyper masculine or hyper feminine. And it's just, you know, it's it's very 1997. Like it's very like gender roles and here they are.
01:12:25
Speaker
And, ah you know, that that part doesn't always work very well. But I think once you get to the end of it, it really does all tie together very well. and And I think especially for 97, like the way that the story is told, i think that works.
01:12:40
Speaker
I think it's pretty genius, to be honest. It's it's not it's not bad. So I was pretty surprised at the end of it um um with with with how I felt about it. I think that the stories were all pretty good.
01:12:51
Speaker
And the way that they were woven was really interesting. interesting um And as we have said before, On this very show, whenever I see James Marsden, I instantly want to masturbate.
01:13:02
Speaker
So I'm just going to point that out. That is also the case now because James Marsden is one of the most beautiful men in the world. I don't know why he hasn't talked about more. i just I just honestly don't get it, Andrew. I really don't get it.
01:13:15
Speaker
And this is 97 when he was like at some of his peak hotness. He is so. Oh my God. He is so beautiful in this movie. Also, can we talk about Christine Taylor being in this movie?
01:13:27
Speaker
Like her Chris, like, like for so many people like Christine Taylor, the first time that you really like took her in was in the craft when she plays whatever that character's name is. But when she's just a total racist fucking cunt, to be honest. yeah And, and she played that so well. And, and this is such a different role than that one.
01:13:48
Speaker
um so it's kind of fun because when did the craft come out 95 i think 96 it was somewhere in there so mean if you think about it these were you know sort of back-to-back films for her in in in a in in one way or another and um the the great difference in in in those characters and how she plays them is very evident and suddenly christine taylor becomes a much more well-rounded actor um I think that that the film is shot really well. I think that everyone does a really great job with just like the the the set and the art department stuff.
01:14:20
Speaker
I think Ron Livingston did a really great job in this too. And I think he's also really hot in this movie. I imagine that- Long Island accent. Yeah. And also, I just imagine if we were playing hot of the episode, he would probably be your choice. That's just my guess, but I could be Yeah. it's I mean, it's going to be a close tie between him and James Marsden, to be honest. but Of course.
01:14:38
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, I mean, that's how I felt. You know this is one where like at the end of it, I was like, you know what? I'm glad we chose this one. i think it worked really well, especially for this topic. How about you? Yeah, so this is one of those movies that I saw. It had to have been on either USA or TNT back in the day. That makes sense. Because the you know it for for people that you know are not as old as us, ah USA used to be like a ah kind of a pitch network. like It was like one of those ones that you would watch like a late night movie on. Yeah, sure. Yeah.
01:15:11
Speaker
They have movies of the week like type of thing. And i I think this was one of them. you know i didn't look it up. but um And it kind of stuck with me for a long time, mainly because of one story that we'll talk about. But um I just always remember this movie and remember being like, why aren't more people talking about this movie? And then like when streaming came around and Blu-ray and all these other various areas...
01:15:33
Speaker
it was never available. And I was like, why? it This is like, this is like blood games level for me. Like where I had a movie in my brain that like wouldn't go away. fucking love blood games. Oh my God. So good.
01:15:45
Speaker
and And finally, like within the last year and a half, because I pitched this movie a long time ago for I think Camping is Terrifying or something. That makes sense. sure and we couldn And we couldn't find it. It wasn't available.
01:15:57
Speaker
And now it's finally available on Amazon. You know, thank you to the the people that put it out there, because this is like ah time capsule of a movie like. The people that are in this, like, the I don't know if you knew this, but the the woman in the last ah the last story, the one that can't speak, that the the woman with the grin.
01:16:17
Speaker
Yeah, sure. that's That's Jacinda Barrett. She was on the real world. That was like how her- Was she really? Yeah. Oh my God, it's crazy. I think she was real world Paris, I remember correctly, but you know you know strike me if I'm wrong. but she she is well I'm looking right now, she's Australian.
01:16:34
Speaker
Yeah. um And she was on real world London. Wow. Okay. In 1995. Crazy. Yeah. And so this was kind of her like breakout role for like going in and she did a lot of other things after this, but like it's the, the people that you like pick out of this movie, there are so many stars in this. It's kind of crazy that it didn't go to theaters with the amount of people that were in it.
01:16:57
Speaker
Honestly. Yeah. Yeah. And like, so I, this is a little bit, I'm a little bit, um, I'm, I'm, I'm, you know, giving my hand a little bit here, but like, I really like this movie. I think it strikes a nice balance between like being a little bit cheesy, but then like we have a, we have a story like the, you know, humans can lick too, which talks about like online,
01:17:17
Speaker
like early, early online stuff, which is creepy as fuck. it It was, it was weird to see that stuff in there. It was. And how, how easy it was to manipulate people in the early days of the internet. ah It was like nothing. It was, it was easy as fucking pie.
01:17:34
Speaker
Yeah. And so like, I think that this is a ah fun little movie, like for people, for people that are looking for the nostalgia of things like scream or the original, I know what you did last summer urban legend, like those types of movies. I think this one fits in just right with those kinds of movies.
01:17:51
Speaker
And so I, I really liked this. I think the stories are a little bit uneven because I think, I think the last one um could be really good, but it kind of fumbles a little bit towards the end and how it like explains itself, but we can get into it.
01:18:06
Speaker
um But overall, I just I think it's I think it's a really fun movie. And I had a really fun time watching 87 minutes of it where you can get five stories in 87 minutes. Yeah, very true. I mean, and you know I'm looking back at some of the history of it right now. onto And this is just on Wikipedia.
01:18:21
Speaker
um And they say here, let me go back to it. Campfire Tales was intended to be released theatrically in America in 97 with the film attracting interest from Warner Brothers and Paramount, who nearly gave it a wide release to 2000 theaters following the success of Scream.
01:18:38
Speaker
the The theatrical distribution deals never eventuated with Warner's new line home entertainment, later acquiring the North American rights, releasing it on VHS in the US s and Canada in September of 98, which promotional material from 98 compared Campfire Tales to the Scream series. And I know what you did last summer, despite the fact that the film had been conceived prior to both of these.
01:19:00
Speaker
Oh, and in 98, it was also released on Laserdisc by New Line and Image Entertainment and in Hong Kong, also on Laserdisc. um So kind of crazy that like it almost had that almost had that. But it just like just faltered on probably one thing with the deal or something. And that's why That's why it hasn't had maybe that release that maybe it deserved.
Unique Horror Narratives and Honeymoon Horror
01:19:23
Speaker
Yeah. um Let's talk a little bit about the individual stories and how you kind of feel about them. So we open with Willie, the hook, Peters stalking James Marsden, Amy smart and kind of a traditional.
01:19:35
Speaker
um We also saw this story kind of play out in hell bent. We've seen this movie yeah play out in many other where, you know, a young couple is at, you know, lover's lane and, know, But what I really appreciate about them telling it the traditional way, because this is like the traditional story, is that neither of those characters get killed.
01:19:53
Speaker
It's that they go to the drive-in and they like get their burger whatever. And he like sees the hook and like that's like the. Yeah. And honestly, I kind of even liked it in the movie. They did that little like glint, that little ding like on the hook. Like I thought that was a nice little added touch. But.
01:20:09
Speaker
Yeah, i I appreciate that they didn't go like the traditional horror movie gore. We're going to kill these characters. And it's just kind of like a funny tale that someone tells.
01:20:21
Speaker
What did you think about this first? Well, I mean, it's I mean, yeah, was sure. there's There's a little bit of funniness to it, but also like there is a little bit of like more fear to it. You know, like I mean, yeah, you you didn't get killed, which means he's still out there.
01:20:33
Speaker
and And yeah, and now you have his hook. Maybe he'll come back for it. Maybe you're in even more danger now. Um, and, and also I like the way that they played out the very like real nature of it. Like, It was like, oh, can I get a handjob or, you know, this or whatever. It was just like it was our laugh, actually. Yeah. which Which was really funny. But it was also like really true, you know, for like teenagers. And like there there I thought it was it was played so well. I enjoyed the black and white nature of it.
01:20:59
Speaker
and And and look, it's got fucking James Marsden. How can you hate that story? Like, come on, please. And listen, i i love Amy Smart, too. I think she should have done more. But. um And then we get to the ah honeymoon, um which would be my honeymoon of horror because don't. Seriously. I don't want to camp on my honeymoon. I want people to take care of me on of my honeymoon. But listen, if Ron Livingston in 1996, as you said, ah was my, ah you know, my accompanying pastor, then maybe I would like it better because listen, I thought, you know, I only knew Ron Livingston from um office space.
01:21:39
Speaker
Yeah. Sure. Like a down and out kind of schlub. And in this movie, he's, Very sexy, which is very weird. but Yeah, he is. I mean, he he honestly is really good looking in this movie. And and I know him really well from Band of Brothers because I love that that yeah show so much.
01:21:57
Speaker
But man, he is not looking bad. in this. So, um, yeah. And, and also I think he's a really good actor. Like he, he did a great job in this movie. And I, I just really appreciate the way that he like takes care of Valerie. Like is she, yeah I mean, she's, she's ultimately the one that lives in the end of the story, but, yeah um, you know, she's no schlub.
01:22:16
Speaker
Like she does get injured early on in the, in the story, but she's the one that fights off, you know, the, I couldn't tell. Did you think this was more of a werewolf or more of like a Wendigo type of situation? Yeah. That's a good question. but i didn't really think about it. mean, now that you pose the answer to me, now look the question to me, part pardon me, I would say probably more werewolf, most likely. yeah they They do talk about like when the moon is full, you know, so like that leads me to believe, but like you never really understand like who the quote unquote creature is. Yeah, that makes sense. kind of interesting that also, is it a person or is it ah like a woods presence? I don't know.
01:22:54
Speaker
Did you know Ron Levinston went to Yale? I didn't. No. You sure did. In the same class as Anderson Cooper. Sexy and educated. All right. I'm in. That's crazy. It's wild.
01:23:06
Speaker
And then we move on to Humans Can Lick 2, which is the one story that really freaked me out when I first saw this movie. And still to this day, really freaks me out because of the online manipulation that continues to this day that we talk about. But 1996, was This was...
01:23:24
Speaker
this chat rooms this was You went into a chat room. You didn't know who was there. you People were just randomly talking about things. like i don't know I don't think kids know what that was like, to be honest. don't think they like they there were just rap Whether you were on AOL or whether you were on ICQ or like, I don't know. like that That's how we thought about chat then. It wasn't even texting people yet. It wasn't even like,
01:23:54
Speaker
Like we barely had like, like direct messaging back then. It was, you go into a room and people are just fucking saying weird shit and you join in that. That was it. Very, very fucked up.
01:24:06
Speaker
And, and you could pretend to be whoever you wanted to be. Exactly. And a lot and let's not, and let's not lie. I did. Sure. Yeah. I think, I think we was it that was like when I would go into the LGBTQ chat and pretend I was 21. You know what I mean? Like things so I sure do. Yeah.
01:24:24
Speaker
Um, so that, and, and listen, I'm going to be totally honest.
Creepy Stories and Narrative Twists
01:24:28
Speaker
That dog is so cute and so well behaved. I hated that he had to die at the end. I know it's awful.
01:24:35
Speaker
And honestly, like kudos to that child actor because she's actually pretty good. Like the the the older sister is a little over the top, but like the young girl, she did a really good job of being like, um I don't know. What would you say that age is like 13, 12, 13, 13, maybe 14.
01:24:51
Speaker
twelve say like like thirteen but like ah thirteen may be fourteen Yeah, where where she's like in that weird, awkward stage of her life. But I think she did a great job. She was awesome.
01:25:02
Speaker
I think that story is really well done for especially 1996. And just the name of it, People Can Lick Too. It's so gross. um And then we have our last story, which has, like I said, the the girl from Real World. And that guy is from something too. I can't think of who he is, but he definitely looked familiar to me. ah That is Glenn Quinn, ah who was on Angel.
01:25:25
Speaker
yeah um yes he plays uh he's the half demon alan francis doyle on angel yeah he he tragically died and he was he was also on roseanne right he was yeah yeah he played uh what's her faces uh mark healy and he died in 2002 you're right yeah yeah oh and He was born in Dublin. i'm looking at that right now. That's crazy.
01:25:47
Speaker
um i I like this story. it's so it's It's from a children's book called from in ah In a Dark, Dark Wood. i don't know if you remember this book Kind of. But it was kind of like the G-rated version of Scary Stories of Tell in the Dark, which we'll talk about in a little bit here.
01:26:04
Speaker
um But this there's a story in there about a guy who falls in love with a woman who always wears a green ribbon and she says, don't you you can never take off my green ribbon, yeah but she never tells why. and one day when she's on her deathbed, he ends up taking off the green ribbon and her head falls off.
01:26:19
Speaker
So it's it's a very like children's story. At this one, they take it a little bit more serious with the an abusive father. So I wanted to get your take on this.
01:26:30
Speaker
Do you think that they were both ghosts in this story? Or do you think that she was a ghost ah reliving a trauma and he just stumbled into the story?
01:26:41
Speaker
I think the latter. And it's what I thought right away. Okay. All right. Because there's there's some indication that um like she had a boyfriend that was killed yeah alongside her. So I wasn't sure if like he was that guy or if he was just kind of um substitute in the role because he was there.
01:26:59
Speaker
You know what i mean? Yeah. it's It's an interesting take. you know And then we have our wraparound story, which is you know kind of kind of crazy for the time, a drunk driving story. Let's just be honest here. Yeah, sure. um and Because like in 1996, I think everyone was drunk driving. Honestly, yeah. It was a was a fucking different time back then, dude. It just was. Yeah.
01:27:24
Speaker
um And so it's kind of an interesting wraparound because we know we're hearing from these characters the entire time. And you know it it is kind of a blow when it happens because it happens so fast. He kind of like stumbles away from the fire to go check out what's going on on this on the street.
01:27:42
Speaker
And he comes back and they're all gone. yeah And you're like, wait, what just happened? And then you kind of see like the body bags and everything. But like it is... It is really sad.
01:27:53
Speaker
Like it is. It is very sad. And and i i but I was thinking as we often do because we watch a lot of movies that aren't like from today. Yeah. I was thinking back on like, God, how would I have felt back then?
01:28:05
Speaker
And in 97, especially as a kid, I would have been like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. I can't believe it. So, like, I mean, I think that there there would have been, um i guess what I'm trying to say, there's a lot more emotion back then because it yeah would have felt so much so much more prescient.
01:28:21
Speaker
But even still, all these years later and like as old as this movie is now because it is it's an old movie now. um it was still sad man like you know they're just fucking kids and i did appreciate i did appreciate that um all the people from the stories were part of like yes ending like however either like a you know we have our couple that almost hit the ramps it around yeah we have like the that the people that are working on them are from the stories like i i appreciated that they kind of did that little twist which was kind of fun um
01:28:52
Speaker
um A couple of things I just have in my notes really quick about this particular movie. um I said the main guy has a really unfortunate nipple tattoo.
01:29:03
Speaker
Yes. Agreed on that. I thought i I actually thought the same thing. Like, why would you get that tattoo? What a dumb idea. um In the last story, I have, oh, my God, I forgot about calling cards because he says, i have a calling card. i don't you don't have to pay for my long distance call.
01:29:17
Speaker
Which is hilarious. um And then in the People Can Lick 2, they reference that they're going to parent-teacher
Final Thoughts and Ratings on Films Discussed
01:29:24
Speaker
conferences. But how long do parent-teacher conferences go? Because she's in bed before they come.
01:29:30
Speaker
Like, Jesus Christ, what what were you talking about with the fucking teacher, dude? And I did like um in the honeymoon episode or story, forgive me, um where he's singing to her and it's kind of like what we would call now cringe.
01:29:45
Speaker
ah And um he goes, oh, this is where we turn off. And she goes, I'm already turned off. Which is great. I love it. And then they have sex twice. so I don't know what she's talking about. so I mean, look, and he looked like he was pretty good at what he was doing.
01:30:00
Speaker
I'm not going to lie. Andrew, tell me this. What did you rate campfire tales? You know what? After talking about it, you know, apart from some of the writing, I'm i'm going to come up on this a little bit. i'm going to give it a five.
01:30:14
Speaker
I'm going to say this is kind of a time capsule for me. actually think the stories are pretty well told. And for the time, the twist, I think totally works. Nice. um For me, I gave it a 4.5. It came from a four. Four was four was too low for this.
01:30:27
Speaker
And I said, look, I think it's maybe a bit too long in some of the stories, but for the most part it works. And it is kind of an after-school special ending, like I said earlier. But honestly, it really does work and it wraps it around. And it's also very 1997. Yeah, so that will do it for Campfire Tales. We'll be right back to talk about scary stories to tell in the dark.
01:30:49
Speaker
Some people believe if we repeat stories often enough, they become real.
01:31:00
Speaker
They make us who we are. That can be scary. Eat it, Harold.
01:31:13
Speaker
Do you want to see Honored House? Some kids went missing, so they boarded it up.
01:31:24
Speaker
Okay, we saw it. Should we go now? Who ordered the chicken?
01:31:36
Speaker
What's that? It's a book of scary stories. Tell me a story.
01:31:43
Speaker
tell me a story
01:31:52
Speaker
history Hey, what's going on? Tommy's missing. Tommy's name was in the book. There's no way it's actually connected, right? Okay, what if what happens in the book is exactly what's happened for real?
01:32:03
Speaker
Oh my god. Argy! Stella! Listen, you're in the next story. We're reading it right here. It's a corpse looking for her missing toe. who
01:32:23
Speaker
I'm afraid that we woke something up. You shouldn't have taken the book. We've got to stop it.
01:32:40
Speaker
Sarah Bellows' book, where stories write themselves and it all comes alive.
01:32:56
Speaker
The Jangling Man is coming. um um
01:33:06
Speaker
I've got a story and I want to tell it to you in the dark, but don't get horny because this is scary stories to tell in the Maddie, tell us about it. Scary stories to tell in the dark on Halloween night. The deadliest stories are the ones we don't tell in the town of Mill Valley, 1968, four teenagers, Stella, Augie, Chuck, and Ramone decide to prank the school bully by entering the abandoned mansion. Once belonging to the Bellows family,
01:33:34
Speaker
Inside, they uncover a mysterious book of horror stories written by Sarah Bellows, a girl cast out and accused of witchcraft generations ago. When Stella steals the book, the stories begin to write themselves in blood, bringing the nightmares to life.
01:33:51
Speaker
One by one, the teens are tormented by horrifying creatures and events that mirror tales like Harold, The Big Toe, and The Red Spot. To stop the carnage, Stella must confront the truth behind Sarah's tortured past.
01:34:04
Speaker
and promised to tell her story so that her vengeance can finally rest. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was directed by Andre Overdahl. Screenplay was written by Dan dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman.
01:34:17
Speaker
The story was written by Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan, of course, based on the ever-popular book, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Produced and distributed, it was produced by Guillermo del Toro, Sean Daniel, Jason Brown, J. Miles Dale, and Elizabeth Grave.
01:34:34
Speaker
Distributed by Lionsgate USA and Entertainment One in other places. Stella was played by Zoe Coletti. Ramon was played by Michael Garza. ah Chuck Steinberg, played by Austin Zazer.
01:34:47
Speaker
ah Ruth Ruthie Steinberg, played by Natalie Ganshorn. And Augie Hildebrandt, played by Gabriel Rush. What a bunch of character names. Um, film was rated PG 13. It's 108 minutes long, uh, products of the U S and Canada released March 8th, 2024 filmed in, uh, it's filmed in, in, in Ontario, basically around, around Hamilton and Toronto.
01:35:09
Speaker
The budget on this one was 28 million and it grossed 104 and a half million. So Andrew, tell me, I, this is not your first watch and it isn't for me either. Um, what'd you think?
01:35:21
Speaker
Tell me about it.
Critique of 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'
01:35:22
Speaker
Yeah, so Scary Stories Tell in the Dark. um Obviously, this is a very famous book series by Alvin Schwartz that we grew up with. These were the not not only the the writings, but also the illustrations that haunted us as as children. Completely.
01:35:39
Speaker
And um I was I was super excited about this movie when it came out. um Listen, I think that this one on on rewatch, I appreciated it more, but I still think it's like a little bit.
01:35:52
Speaker
um How do I put this? It's just a little bit meandering. Like it it could tell this. It could tell the story very concisely. And I think that they maybe got in their own heads a little bit about like.
01:36:05
Speaker
what they wanted to say with these stories and everything. But overall, I mean, I got to be honest, I still really liked it. And I still think a lot of the, um, a lot of the, um, scares and a lot of the creature work that is done in here is really good.
01:36:20
Speaker
sure Um, and I still had a lot of fun with it. i just kept telling myself like, get on with it. Like, that's like honestly right That's just some honest opinion about it. I still think that the story of Sarah Bellows is pretty like it's pretty fun and the way that they wrap all these stories up and into how they how they do it. I love the self-writing book and like how they're weaved into like the classic stories of scary stories that tell in the dark.
01:36:44
Speaker
I just think that they could have... I think that if this was an hour and... 35 minutes it probably would be more popular bueller if I'm being honest yeah um but overall still had fun with it I'm still gonna talk pretty highly of a lot of the stories and you know when we get into it um but that's just kind of my my overall thought on it what about you I completely agree with you. um This was the second time that I've seen it. And i will like i i it my my cousins were here. and So hi, Leanne. Hi, Jeff. I watched it with them.
01:37:16
Speaker
and we had And we had a lot of fun watching it. um And when we were about to watch it i was like, you know what? I'm just going to buy it because I know I'm going to watch it again. And so I bought it. And i i don't know, it was maybe like 14 bucks or something like that. And so now now I have it.
01:37:28
Speaker
And I remembered really liking it when I first saw it. This time, I definitely liked it still. It just was too long. That's it. it's It's just too long. i don't i don't There's no other way to say it. It's just it's too long.
01:37:42
Speaker
um And I think, you know, like you, maybe an hour and a half, maybe even shorter, would have been just fine for this. Because you're right, it meanders too much. And I think, um you know, the god we love Guillermo del Toro. Of course we do.
01:37:54
Speaker
I think that maybe we're, I think the lens of this movie is maybe a little too... enamored of Guillermo del Toro. and yeah And what I mean by that is we spend a little too much time on the creatures in this, a little too much time on the gore.
01:38:09
Speaker
And i I do kind of wonder, like, couldn't this been a little bit more psychologically scary, just a little bit? um But I mean, look, though that that's that's also the books. I just think there there were parts of it where I found myself maybe just a little bored watching it for the second time. And look, I'm so glad that I bought it. I'm going to watch it again. I can guarantee you.
01:38:28
Speaker
I just wish it were shorter. That's it. Like you said, the stories are still great. you know it It takes you back to reading that book when you were a kid. i mean, you know you made a good point there but like about like the artwork you know as a kid. like When you thought about scary stories as a kid, your brain went to that book.
01:38:47
Speaker
That was that that black and those black and white photos that not photos the black and white like drawings. Those are the ones that you thought of right away when you thought of spooky stuff. You thought of that. still have them. Right. And you thought of that and you thought of goosebumps. So like you know it's incredible to see that brought brought to life.
01:39:03
Speaker
And pardon of me, I have to cough. ah I love having a cold. I think that they do a pretty good job of that. Yeah, no, I think that where this movie succeeds is its weaving in of the stories. I think where it gets a little bit um troubled is trying to wrap it up in a collective of like ah an overall like story about bringing it together.
01:39:30
Speaker
Yeah, about Stella and about how her she lost her mom and about how Ramon is, you know, he's he's he's fleeing from the Vietnam War. Yeah. And like, I think I think they just try to pack too much into it.
01:39:41
Speaker
I think that they could have gotten away with a much simpler story. Agreed. Where we get the Sarah Bellows. To be honest, I didn't need the Stella, Ramon, are they going to get together? No. I didn't need all of those characters have so much depth to them.
01:40:02
Speaker
And that's not weird for like a movie podcast. but like it it It doesn't because also it really doesn't work. like you know so when when they first So the the synopsis that I didn't even realize when i when I copy and pasted it here, the synopsis had it a little bit wrong, right?
01:40:15
Speaker
So what what the way that they prank like the mean kids in town... is Augie. What are their names again? Augie, Chuck and Stella. Yeah. Take a bag of shit and light it on fire and throw it into like, like, like the, the bullies in town, they throw it into their car.
01:40:32
Speaker
What they don't realize is that Chuck's sister is dating one of them and is also in the front seat. And so that's, that's where the, the prank comes into play here. It's not actually in, in, in the house.
01:40:43
Speaker
Um, They go to the house as part of this, but like things start to happen, you know, pretty quickly that they're they're after. um when When they are chased by the bullies and they are chased into the drive-in and in order to get away from them, they get into Ramon's car.
01:41:00
Speaker
Yeah. Like the the dialogue that starts to happen in there is is odd. It's odd. Yeah. I agree. Like almost immediately, like Ramona is like, oh, I like your smile or whatever. And I'm like, this is this is like the worst dialogue I've heard in a long time. It just it just doesn't work.
01:41:17
Speaker
And so because they're trying to pack so much in, it's like there's not enough time to do it. So it's almost like everything feels a little bit too cheesy, if I'm being honest. yeah and and And that's where this that's where the movie does not do well. It just doesn't.
01:41:32
Speaker
But like on on the contrary to that, though, what I will say they do really well is tell the actual scary stories. like Agree. you know Completely agree. The whole Sarah Bellows part of it and the whole Harold and um the big toe woman and the red room woman and all that stuff, I think, is really successful. Yeah.
01:41:54
Speaker
Completely. it's I think it's the wraparound that they tried to fit a square peg into a round hole, a little bit of a situation. agree with you on this. um And so I just think it's one of those situations where they maybe didn't need so much. And like I'm looking at this right now, and I have it in my my final thoughts, but like it only cost $28 million to to ah make, and it made $104 million. Where's the fucking sequel, man? like This is...
01:42:22
Speaker
Like it because it packs so much into the story, you're invested now in these characters and you want to see like what's going to happen next because it ends on a cliffhanger.
01:42:35
Speaker
And I don't know if there's even, i mean, at this point, when was this released? um but I had the date wrong. other I must have been looking at like a like a DVD release date or something. It was 2019 is when it come out when it came out, August 9th of 2019. So at this point, it's six years old. we're not We're probably not going to get a sequel. And so like, I don't know. feel like it's, this is going to sound weird, but I feel like it's very irresponsible of filmmakers to set up something like this if they don't have a plan.
01:43:07
Speaker
You know, i I don't think that you're wrong because I think especially with something that is so beloved, like this is a beloved thing for yeah so many people. Like if if you're if you're not going to be willing to tell the whole story because there is more of the stories, right?
01:43:21
Speaker
Then maybe maybe you shouldn't, you know? maybe maybe you know don't Don't do it until you have the deal with the right studio to do all of the books and then go forward with it.
01:43:32
Speaker
And honestly, i think that this could lend itself to a um American horror story type of anthology series much better where you have more time to kind of ah like well-roundedly get your you know main characters, but also tell these scary stories. So I'm i'm hoping that this isn't the end for scary stories of Tall Dark because it is such a beloved franchise to me.
01:43:56
Speaker
I'm not dogging on the movie. I just like that. the parts that work really work and the parts that don't really don't. and don't know if that's the yeah best way to put it.
01:44:08
Speaker
um i do like, there are a couple of funny things, um but there's like, i don't know. I'm struggling a little bit because I think like the stories are good.
01:44:20
Speaker
i just think the outside characters, while we try to give them so much backstory don't really work. Like we have this part where Augie is kind of like lusting after the sister, but also lusting, but also lusting after Stella a little bit because there's like a, there's a part but well there's a part where Chuck is like teasing him and he's like, Ooh, Ramon is so much more dreamier than you. oh yeah Yeah, sure.
01:44:46
Speaker
And so like you're meant to believe that he's kind of like the, i don't know, the, the, the four long lover or like, yeah you know, and that the unrealized lover or whatever, but it never really comes to be because he's like one of the first friends that quote unquote like disappears. Yeah. Sure. um Because that's an important thing to say about this movie is that,
01:45:04
Speaker
we don't really know if these people die or if they just go somewhere else. Yes, sure. Because they're like, ah particularly the one where the red room where Chuck ah disappears into the, the, the, the lady, don whatever it is. My God.
01:45:23
Speaker
Um, where he like kind of just gets absorbed into her. It's not like he gets stabbed or gets, uh, you know, decapitated or something like he, he just is kind of like absorbed into her. So we don't really know like what was, um, Sarah Bellows, uh, plan or what was her spell or what was like her thing that she did.
01:45:44
Speaker
Um, it's not necessarily to punish or kill, It's almost like she was trying. Oh, maybe this is something. It's almost like she's trying to gather friends because she was so lonely in real That's interesting. Yeah, that makes sense.
01:45:58
Speaker
um So um I just literally came to that. I'm i'm looking atm looking at the wiki for this right now um about a sequel. In April 2020, it was officially announced that a sequel to the film was in development with Overdahl returning to direct and Paramount ah distributing.
01:46:14
Speaker
um And the kids were set to reprise their roles. So they must have they must have come back. um and And GDT returning as as the producer. As of August 23, according to Overdahl, work continued on the project. The story had been completed and the script was being revised. But that's all the information that is there.
01:46:34
Speaker
All right. So we're two years out from that. So hu who knows? Maybe soon. Who knows? Could be. um i want The one thing I did appreciate about this is that it being set in 1968 and them not being afraid to tackle all of the fucking racism that was happening in that time. Agreed.
01:46:51
Speaker
Yeah. um Especially with, you know, the Ramon character and like how he gets slurs painted on his car. And and even even as he is the victim of this, the sheriff of the town still is like not on his side.
01:47:06
Speaker
it's pretty That's pretty gross. And like, the you know, they they the um ah like they use some slurs in this movie, you know, and like, it's it's kind of, it's weird to hear almost. It really is.
01:47:20
Speaker
Yeah, I'm trying to remember. I did like the one villain quite a bit. I can't, the Tai, what was his name? i have it in my notes. Oh, Me Tai Doughty Walker, which is one of the stories in Krasnop.
01:47:38
Speaker
yeah scary stories tell in the dark. I did like, I did like how they did kind of a reference to the Vietnam war and about draft dodging because he tells us the story about like how he didn't, he didn't want to go to war because his brother went to war and came back in pieces. And then yeah that, that creature is a manifestation of his brother coming back in pieces because that character can fall apart and come back together.
01:48:06
Speaker
you know, as, ah as, ah as it will. And I thought that that was kind of an interesting, I think that's the most interesting of like the stories because it really ties into that character. However, I don't really like that Ramon still has to go to war at the end of the movie. was like, it sucks.
01:48:25
Speaker
um I can't even imagine what it must've been like in, you know, the sixties and seventies with the Vietnam war and on, on wanting to go to war.
01:48:35
Speaker
and having to go to war for a country that you maybe don't even believe in. That's crazy to me. I know. it's ah it's yeah and You can understand why that generation got so screwed up by it. like It's just terrible things that that happened. and And they and they knew they they knew that it was happening. like They knew they were going to go over there and they were gonna be killed.
01:48:52
Speaker
How terrible that? I mean, I even remember being like, um I remember being in like a teenage years in high school and when the army or the Navy or the National Guard would come to the school and sit in the cafeteria.
01:49:06
Speaker
And I don't know if you had similar experiences with this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And they would try to recruit people. And there was always at least one or two out of every class that would choose. um And this is no, no fault of their own, but mostly like, uh, mostly like under like very low income families, their kids would go and, and go to the national guard or go to the army or whatever, because that was like the next best thing for them. And I think that that's like such a blemish on our society that,
01:49:37
Speaker
I don't really know how to get over is like recruiting kids that young to do that. i I think it's fair. I think it's really young. And look, you know, why it's and all politics aside. There's nothing wrong with being in the military, obviously. No, that's not what I'm saying. i well Oh, no, I know. But just to make it very clear to weirdos that might be listening.
01:49:58
Speaker
Like, obviously, there's nothing wrong with that at all. But I do agree that, like, recruiting very young for that is is a little bizarre. um Yeah, it's just, I don't know. It's weird.
01:50:08
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, I just think, like, not even letting kids get through high school before you're trying to send them to war is a little crazy to me. Well, as I said, especially during wartime. Like, come on. That is just, yeah that that's that that's not good.
01:50:25
Speaker
um A couple of the stories. So we have Harold, which I thought was very creepy this time around. I don't know anyone that had a scarecrow that looked quite like Harold. but Jesus. Very scary.
01:50:36
Speaker
um and And honestly, like he's the only one that gets like a violent death. ah sure like I shouldn't even say death, but like a violent story, I guess, because he does get stabbed by the pitchfork, but then literally turns into Harold when he was choking on that. Hey, could feel it like I made it made my throat so dry. yes Oh, my God.
01:50:58
Speaker
ah um The big toe, i think, is the only miss for me because it's so it's so gross, Andrew. It's so gross. Well, in in the story, the only reason that the woman comes after the person is because he swallowed the big toe.
01:51:15
Speaker
And in the story, in the movie, he doesn't swallow it. So I don't really understand. and you know and she's she's coming. She's like she's saying, you know um who has my big toe? And he could literally just be like, here it is.
01:51:27
Speaker
And give it back to her. but that That's a good point. Yeah. So that's the only one that's a little bit of a miss for me. And I also think that Augie kind of gets a weird storyline that I just, I don't quite understand that character or what we're supposed to do with it. Same, to be honest. And then we get... I think...
01:51:46
Speaker
The three of them as friends, right, is a little odd. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Yeah, I agree. It just doesn't. like I mean, like there if if there had been more backstory behind them, um i think it could have worked.
01:51:59
Speaker
But there just there wasn't enough of that. So like it just it feels so forced the whole time. I don't know. Well, I mean, at the very beginning movie, they're um there basically begging her to come out and go trick-or-treating with her because it could be the quote-unquote last time they go trick-or-treating. And I was like, what wait wait wait wait wait, wait, wait, what?
01:52:19
Speaker
Why? like this a lot of that just didn't make any sense to me. It just didn't. And you're also distracted because at the same time, Chuck is fishing his own shit out of the toilet. And you're just like, what is going on? Which even that, I think, was a little, that was that was too much.
01:52:33
Speaker
Like, if there was a dog or there was a cat. Yeah, get some dog shit like everybody else. jesus But, like, human, that I think that that was maybe a step too far. And like, and that's the thing. Like, I think that where the movie tends to fail is that it goes too far into the gross.
01:52:51
Speaker
And like, yeah, it's, it's, it's a bunch of gross stuff. I get it. that That's why it was, that's why it was so scary for kids. Cause like it grossed us out as kids, but like this goes maybe a little bit too far with it in my opinion. Yeah. um And then we have human shit is always too far.
01:53:04
Speaker
and that I'm just going to say that. There we go. Two girls, one cup. No, ah don't ever say it. No. um um And then, you know, we have the red room, which I like that sequence, but I do think it goes on a little bit too long. too long. Yeah. um I did. i did like it in my notes, though, I did put it actually is pretty easy to just walk into a hospital.
01:53:25
Speaker
Yeah. You can't just kind of walk through. with With enough confidence, you can kind of walk into a hospital and just get away with a lot of shit. Or enough acting chops, you know? Yeah. um And then, um the you know, the wraparound with Sarah Bellows, I think is kind of successful, but like...
01:53:43
Speaker
So let me, let me ah say what I thought. And then maybe if you kind of got the same idea. So the idea is, is that Sarah Bellows was kind of the black sheep of the family, and but she also stumbled upon that they were accidentally poisoning the town with iron from the paper mill factory and she was going to mercury and she was going to expose them.
01:54:07
Speaker
And that's why they committed her and put her in the room. And yeah, sure. Is that, is that, but is that is what you got. Okay. I just wanted to make sure because the wraparound is actually not that clear because it's told through like a flashback.
01:54:22
Speaker
like Well, and it's told through like a recording. And so right if if you're not listening super carefully, you might not pick it up. And the way that it's told...
01:54:35
Speaker
It's it the the the recording is cheesy. I'm going to honest. Like it's not, it's not well done in the way that I'm like, ah, that, that really freaked me out. It was more done in the way that I'm like, oh, um okay. I mean, I i know, what I know what they're going for here, but it just felt a little, it felt a little forced.
01:54:52
Speaker
I'll tell you where they could at least get about 10 minutes back in the movie is we don't need the, we don't need the character of Lulu but Baptiste. We don't need that character. We really don't. it doesn't It doesn't play into the overall story. It doesn't really even matter because Sarah kind of taught herself and then taught that character the magic and not the other way around.
01:55:15
Speaker
So and this time around, I was just like, what is this character even for? Yeah. You know, like they they try to make it like the... you know, mystical, the mystical black lady or whatever, but it doesn't really ever play out that way. So I was like, what is this character even for? so I could give you eight, I could give you eight minutes back of the movie, just getting rid of that character in and of them. I agree with you on this. I agree with you completely.
01:55:39
Speaker
All right. Well, I think that does it ah for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Matty, what do you give on our seven stripe scale of the seven gay stripes of the rainbow, which we grade all of our stories on?
01:55:51
Speaker
I gave this another four and a half. And I said, it's just a bit long, isn't it? And even though I love Guillermo del Toro, I do wish this would have leaned slightly more towards psychological horror and less towards creatures. But hey, that's my own thing.
01:56:05
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going also, going agree with you. I'm going to give it 4.5. I said it suffers from a little bit of pacing, but overall, I do think it's a great starter horror for people because it's not too gross or anything.
01:56:17
Speaker
And ultimately, where's the sequel? You know what? i've One more point. I do wonder, Andrew, like, because obviously you and I grew with the book. I wonder if people that didn't or that never cared about the book, I do wonder what they think about it.
01:56:31
Speaker
Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Be interesting to hear more on blue sky or Instagram. Yeah, exactly. Cause I'd love to hear more about that. Well, look folks that does it for our second film of the episode. We'll be right back to close out the show and play a little game.
01:56:47
Speaker
Andy Lassner here, Ariana Grande. We're about to go in. We're going go in. All right. So it's important that you listen to me.
01:56:59
Speaker
It's fine. Yeah, it's more, I think, just. It's just noise. It's more about. um OK, we got this. We got this.
01:57:11
Speaker
It's hard to say. Just the bed. Oh. Oh, it's bad. It's bad. It's bad. It's just the bed. No, no, no, no. No, no, no.
01:57:21
Speaker
Go in. Go in. Folks, that was episode 150 of the 13th Horror Podcast. Hope you enjoyed it. But before we leave you in spooky season, we have a little game that we're going to play.
01:57:35
Speaker
And this is a game that, look, the title of this game you've never played before. It is called Creepypasta or Pasta Shape. So Andrew is going to take us through this. Andrew, take it away.
01:57:47
Speaker
So, yes, I'm going to read to you some words and you're going to tell me whether you think that they are a creepypasta villain. Jesus Christ. Or a pasta shape.
01:57:59
Speaker
What's funny is that I know this is actually going to be a very hard quiz. I just I actually know that. um So, Andrew, go ahead. Ask me the first one. So do you want me to do these as just like straight words or should I try to read them in a bad Italian accent? No, no, no. Give me straight words. Give me straight words.
01:58:17
Speaker
The first one is persolas.
01:58:22
Speaker
Creepypasta. It is a creepypasta. It is one of the antagonists of the horror web series Tribe 12. Not much is known about Persolas, but he appears to be a member of a mysterious group called The Collective.
01:58:35
Speaker
Interesting. Okay. All right. Your next one is... How do I say this? R-W-E-T-G-I-I. R-W? R-W-E-T-G-I-I. can you spell it for me r w e t g i i r w That's got to be creepypasta.
01:58:53
Speaker
It is. It is. He is the most famous deep weds deep web serial killer who hires people to kill people. Creepypasta is so fucked up. Jesus. All right. Your next one is Malfadine.
01:59:06
Speaker
Malfadine. Can you spell it? M-A-L-F-A-D-I-N-E. That is pasta. It is a ribbon shaped pasta with ruffled edges about a half an inch wide.
01:59:19
Speaker
all right. Your next one. Your next one fileha. Spell that one again, please. I'm sorry. F I L E J A. Hmm.
01:59:32
Speaker
That's interesting. I'm going to say creepypasta. That is a pasta. It is ah and is a long-shaped pasta from southern Italy. Damn. Okay.
01:59:43
Speaker
Your next one sinislaschen. That's got to be creepypasta. It is. It's one of the main antagonists from, but imagine if I said, Sin in a slush.
01:59:54
Speaker
it's Right, exactly. hey we're having this with with ah with Alfredo tonight, everybody. yeah It is one of the main antagonists from the fabin urban famous urban legend Polybius, a mysterious organization that allegedly creates a titular arcade game.
02:00:08
Speaker
Interesting. All right, two more. Your next one is Iowaki. Iowaki. Spell it again. is I'm sorry I keep asking you to spell them. A-Y-U-W-O-K-I.
02:00:22
Speaker
Creepypasta. It is. It's one of the titular main antagonists from the Escape the Ayuwaki franchise. And it is my map it is modeled after um Michael Jackson.
02:00:33
Speaker
Are you okay? Are you okay, Addie? Oh, my God. That's absolutely ridiculous. Jesus. Okay. All right. And your last one is Stel or Stele. Okay. That is going to be a pasta.
02:00:45
Speaker
It is. It is shaped like a small star with a hole in the center. So you're small stars. So I got all but one. that That's pretty good for me on these games. good. I mean, honestly, the fact that the fact that I could find all these words that kind of sounded like it could be either, I think is pretty cool.
02:01:02
Speaker
It's good. You know what? Look, Andrew, you are good at making up these games. I'll tell you what. So folks, listen, that was episode 115. Andrew, thank you for that game. So look, before we let you go to a couple of housekeeping things, look, as always, if you want to support us, you can. There's a lot of ways that you can do it. The first thing you can do is if you want and if you're financially able, you can become a patron on Patreon. I've said this a couple times in the episode already, but really it's the best way to do it is just to give us a dollar a month.
02:01:29
Speaker
That's it. there's There's other levels, but you don't even need to do those. um A dollar a month really helps us out. It's what we prefer. We like to have a lot of people supporting us instead of just a few. $12 a year, people. Exactly. Because it means that you're part of a community that really believes in the show, but also believes in like all the stuff that we believe in. like All the stuff that we talked about at the beginning of this episode, and that's generally what you're going to find our listeners all believe in.
02:01:55
Speaker
So like, you know, you've got a ah really great community of people here that are into horror. They're into, you know, good, sane politics and just like being good human beings. And if you like being a part of that, if that's the way that you live your life, too, you can join us.
02:02:10
Speaker
You can be a part of that. And if you listen, if you don't have to pay to do that, if you don't pay, you're still part of that community. But if you want to help keep it going, that's a great way to do it. So for a dollar a month, you can do that.
02:02:21
Speaker
In order to do it, just go to fregay13.com support. slash support Yeah. You, and ah also like just as an added bonus, you get added to our episode chat, which is always pretty fun. I'm i'm actively, I'm, I'm actively in there and answer everybody and everything. So like if if you want unfiltered access to us, you can join, you know, the Patreon and kind of join the the community and kind of the chat, which is pretty fun. Yeah. i And we send news. Well, if that's what gets you to join, sure. And it's, uh,
02:02:55
Speaker
um but We do have two new patrons this episode. Awesome. Two new patrons. ah We mentioned Griffin Hawk earlier on in the episode. Thank you so much for your story. that was that That was featured and told to us through Patreon. That's the only way that we would have gotten that content. So if that's the way you want to get to us, you've got to pay a dollar.
02:03:16
Speaker
And then also Jess Ray also joined um actually at the $5 level, which is very generous. Awesome, Jess. Thank you. Jess, you have a personalized message from me in your inbox asking for a movie watch for what you've been watching, bitch. So get on it, girl or boy. I don't know, Jess. Exactly right.
02:03:34
Speaker
Jess and Griffin, thank you both for being patrons. That really means a lot to us. And of course, too, another way that you can support us, folks, is just by leaving a review. and you can leave review on spotify you can leave it on apple leave it wherever you want apple is always a good one to do though um and yeah like just do that and if and also you can always tell your friends about us too yeah and every once in a while we see a little comment on um ah what's spotify thank you yeah um which is really nice too i do notice those i i'm logged into my personal account so when you see that like it's from me personally it's not from the podcast but yeah thank you so much for anybody that
02:04:09
Speaker
Literally anybody that interacts with us, whether it's social media, whether it's Patreon, whether it's ah Spotify, whether it's anything, we honestly truly do appreciate you. And it's the only reason we've been going for eight years. So exactly. That's that's that's it. And, you know, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, we really only have one thing for you to do.
02:04:28
Speaker
And that's for you to get slayed.