**Please note: this transcript was automatically generated. We're working on going back over this to add speakers' names and clear up misspellings as we have time ... but as we all know, there is precious little of that** Travis: So first question I have is Mike still talking to you? Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: He didn't, like, break up with you afterward? Other Chris: No, it was fine. Other Chris: It was totally fine. Chris: Sounds like some drama. Travis: Okay, good. Travis: I was worried. Travis: I didn't want to have to ruin Tuesday movies forever. Other Chris: No, it was totally fine. Travis: Great. Travis: Yeah, I did think Back probably Has Vendetta because, like, those times we bought him all those Goosebumps movies for his birthday. Travis: It was like, I hate you guys so much. Travis: Hello and welcome to Rtfb, our book movie Club podcast. Travis: This is Travis. Travis: And today Chris Travis: Other Chris and I are presenting our First Oneshot episode, discussing the recent book to movie adaptation scary stories to tell in the Dark. Travis: We intend to use these Oneshot episodes to cover movie adaptations of properties that are more difficult to walk through the way we do in our regular seasons. Travis: So compilations or book series or comic books or maybe just older books and movies that we really liked and we want to force our fellow podcasters to watch. Travis: We'll be discussing the Scary Stories book series in general and then diving into the movie, which we won't exactly try to spoil, but we also won't try to not spoil. Travis: So if you're bothered by that and had already planned to see the movie, go ahead and do that now, then come back to us and listen in once you're ready. Travis: We'll get into it straight away. Travis: So, anyway. Other Chris: All the kids are talking about it. Other Chris: All the kids at school. Travis: I was actually surprised how many people were in the theater last Thursday night. Travis: And their age demographic. Travis: Like, you weren't around. Travis: You didn't know. Other Chris: But their books but their parents know. Travis: I mean, maybe you didn't know. Travis: Yes, the books is what I want to start with. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: So my experience with the books was that some of the teachers in, like, elementary school had them, and they'd be like, look at this. Travis: Look at this scary a** picture. Travis: And that's basically why people knew about yes. Travis: So did you guys ever read the book in elementary school or no. Chris: No, I was a goosebumps only kid. Chris: Although the one book I did read that I liked that was different was The Dark 30 Scary Stories of the south or something. Other Chris: Oh, yeah. Other Chris: I know Dark. Chris: Yeah, I had that one. Chris: I read it a whole bunch. Chris: It was one of my favorites, actually. Other Chris: Doesn'T it is that the one that has the really cool chalk drawings? Other Chris: They look like chalk or, like I can't remember. Chris: I think they're mostly, like, just line drawings. Chris: Yeah, but they had good stories. Chris: My favorite story out of it was The Bigfoot, because they have a whole society and culture. Chris: This mom loses her kid, and they find him and raise him, but they give him a blood transfusion, so he slowly becomes a bigfoot. Chris: She has to take him back to go live back to live with them, too. Chris: I think it was called like Boom Mama or something because this kid was like two when he got lost in the woods. Chris: And he came back and he was like four, but he called his bigfoot mama Boo Mama because Boo was the name of his teddy bear. Chris: I guess they sounded like teddy black bears to him or something when he was super little. Chris: It was a really good story. Other Chris: Really dark teddy bear picnic, I guess. Chris: Kind of the only heavy part is that his mom knew that he was going to be taken care of. Chris: And the bigfoot mom knew that his original mom still loved him type of deal, that he wasn't just abandoned, that he got lost in crap like that. Chris: So it was interesting just hinting out there, big feet live kind of like the dwarves that live in the mountains now because it's not safe. Chris: So they don't have much contact with humans and stuff. Chris: They have a whole society and stuff that's ancient and all that. Chris: That's a neat take on it. Other Chris: Yeah. Chris: I wish they'd make that into a movie. Travis: Yeah, I don't think I ever read that book. Travis: But looking at, like, the covers does seem familiar. Travis: I don't think I read it. Chris: It was definitely around in that same time with Goosebumps and scary Stories, telling dark and all that kind of stuff. Chris: Very much of that era. Other Chris: We owned scary stories to tell in the dark. Other Chris: And I remember my brother in particular at one point reading some of these stories to me, I don't remember finding them particularly scary at the time. Other Chris: Like it was more just like the atmosphere and the fun of doing the stories, I guess, right. Other Chris: But yeah, those images were creepy. Other Chris: Definitely. Chris: Yeah, definitely. Chris: It's probably why I never got any, because I remember seeing the covers and seeing how the kids are reading them. Chris: I'm like, no, I'm going to stick with my Goosebumps, thank you very much. Chris: That's the level. Chris: Scary I want. Other Chris: Goosebumps had more like existential dread, I suppose. Chris: Exactly. Chris: Goosebumps. Travis: It was 90% of the time just aliens or actual they had like three money. Chris: One. Other Chris: It'S aliens. Travis: Yeah. Travis: So I definitely read them, like in teachers from teachers bookshelves because it seems like everyone had them at some point. Travis: And I bought one of them from Scholastic book fair or something. Chris: Were they like the Scholastic catalog? Other Chris: They totally were. Other Chris: I think I got the sequels from there. Travis: Yeah. Travis: But I don't really remember much of them except for not liking and reading them. Travis: I did not like it, but I did it anyway because, you know, approved your eight year old manliness or whatever. Other Chris: Take one for the team. Chris: Right. Travis: In preparation for this, I did buy the box set and reread all of them, though. Chris: Nice. Travis: So if you've never read them, like they are really short. Travis: I mean, they're, I guess, aimed at children, but none of them are really scary except for the fact that they reckon or they acknowledge that death might happen. Travis: And if you're a kid, that's pretty scary. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: The stories themselves, you just read them, though. Travis: It was like, there was a dude and he saw a ghost. Travis: That was cool. Travis: But the structure, at least of the first one, is kind of like if you've ever listened to the Lore podcast where at least seemed like he was trying to collect up not necessarily folklore, but like, ghost stories that, like, pioneers might have told. Travis: They all kind of have that flavor. Travis: People like living on a homestead by themselves and something scary popping out from the chimney when you're alone on a dark night or whatever, and he does this thing where he has the collection of stories, and at the very end he comes back and kind of gives you the background detail. Travis: So this was this type of story, and we collected it from here or reported back or found instances of it, these different historical records. Travis: So there's like, okay, if you just have the text, it'd be boring, but maybe kind of interesting. Travis: But the thing that, of course, I think makes it memorable are the illustrations. Travis: Like, Stephen Gammel is the illustrator, and something about the way he chose to illustrate them just is really, really f****** unsettling to me. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: His style is, like, kind of smudgy and wispy and foggy and nothing's really welldefined. Travis: So it's kind of like a suggestion of whatever he's trying to show. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: And when I was reading through them, what stuck with me is like, the illustrations are to me, what I would say makes good horror. Travis: It's always a little bit unexpected for first of all, but it's not like, you know, Freddy Krueger scary. Travis: It's like Hans labyrinth. Travis: Scary. Travis: Like, it's just a little bit perverted and exaggerated, not quite as you expect. Travis: It's not very well defined, and it's more a suggestion. Travis: Like, there's enough room for you to fill in details you don't really see or what that thing is about. Travis: So, yeah, it was really unsettling. Travis: Still almost 36 year old man, like, no, I don't enjoy having this particular page open. Travis: So, like, reading through it, there's like big well, big for paper back book, but kind of like centerpiece pictures. Travis: They're like a whole page. Travis: So you're trying to read and you're just kind of like I'm going to just sort of look only at the text over here. Chris: Yeah. Travis: I found I was reading you could see them coming up because they bleed through the pages. Other Chris: Oh, man. Travis: Jesus Christ. Travis: Okay. Travis: It's like the scary movie where they're like, oh, all the music went away, so I'm getting ready to be startled by some. Other Chris: Right? Travis: Yeah. Travis: So again, reading through it, I was still kind of like, I'll make sure I'm reading this when the sun is up. Chris: Yeah. Travis: I don't want this to be the last image I have in my head before I try to get sleep or anything or walk around my house at night. Travis: It was just like with the Lord podcast. Travis: It's scariest the next day when I'm going for a run at four in the morning, right? Travis: So I was listening to that podcast at my desk. Travis: I'm like, that's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Travis: Jersey Devil. Travis: That's stupid. Travis: But when it's really dark and you're kind of running by the woods, you're like, but maybe probably not real, right? Travis: Definitely not real. Travis: Monsters usually don't jump out and eat me when I run down here, but just go a little faster just to be sure. Other Chris: Did I ever tell you about the time that I watched The Ring too? Chris: Oh, God. Other Chris: Yeah. Other Chris: The funny thing about it is I did not find it like that scary. Other Chris: Same thing with the ring, actually. Other Chris: But after I watched the movie, I went over to my girlfriend's house, my wife now, and hung out with her for a while. Other Chris: And then after I left, it was middle of the night, basically walking out to her driveway. Other Chris: And in the yard is like a family of deer. Other Chris: And I mean, if you've seen the movie, there's a whole scene where like a deranged deer just like attacks their f****** car, right? Other Chris: And it's like, oh, I have this image in my head now of like f****** evil deer. Other Chris: And here's a whole f****** family of them just hanging out like, cool. Other Chris: I'm going to walk like very gingerly so as not to scare the herbivore. Other Chris: Like gentle creatures hanging out in the yard here. Travis: To be sure. Travis: You don't want to risk it. Other Chris: That was like seriously one of the most terrifying things ever. Travis: Yup, yup. Travis: Well, I mean, it's something that the author guy Alvin Schwartz talks about, at least in the first one. Travis: It's like, why scary Stories are still kind of scary. Travis: The whole purpose of stories is we tell each other stuff that we learn, right? Travis: And so they're at their core trying to well, maybe not everyone's trying to warn you about something, but stories in general trying to teach you about what you should. Travis: Do you ever run into this situation? Travis: So having things filled with like, okay, if you ever have a wendigo come after you, like, make sure you don't follow its siren song into the wilderness and have it pluck you in the sky and dropped you somewhere. Other Chris: Oh, man, I would totally do that though, right? Travis: That would be a great story to tell your children. Other Chris: I would be so screwed. Other Chris: Like, oh, a siren song? Other Chris: Yes, please. Other Chris: I'll be right there. Chris: Remember your mythology, man. Chris: Tie yourself with a master part of your ears. Travis: No. Other Chris: Who would do that? Chris: People who want to not die by magical creature means. Other Chris: There are worse ways to die. Travis: Seriously. Chris: Also tempting to know what the effort is. Chris: What does it sound like? Chris: How amazing is it that that's what the end result is? Other Chris: Yeah, I want to hear that right before I die. Other Chris: That seems like a cool thing by you. Chris: To the mast so you're safe and robot right on by. Travis: Did you see that one episode of Disenchantment? Travis: No. Travis: So go watch Disenchantment episode two. Other Chris: All right, we'll pause this and we'll come back. Travis: They have a similar siren type situation. Chris: I'm going to write this down. Travis: The show is worth watching. Travis: Like, if only for Matt Berry's character who was tempted by the siren from the guy from the it crown and Darth Maringes. Travis: Dark place. Other Chris: Richard Ayahuade. Travis: No, the other guy. Other Chris: The boss. Other Chris: The other guy. Other Chris: Yeah, you're right. Other Chris: I know who you're talking about. Travis: I must have sex with the origin. Other Chris: That guy is really, really funny. Travis: He makes anything better. Other Chris: Yes, indeed. Travis: Anyway, look up the illustrations, at least, and especially if you can do the comparison of the version they released without the original illustrations in it and remark about how s***** the new versions are, they're all fine, but they're just very generic and watered down. Travis: And that would be a super boring book to read without the scary pictures. Travis: So the movie, right? Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: What did you all think of the movie? Chris: Oh, man, I enjoyed it. Chris: Yeah, I thought it was an interesting little take clue kind of in the kind of like a ya audience with everyone because the adults who read the books brought their kids could appreciate it as much, especially how they end up tying in a whole story of a neglected daughter who's trying to blow the whistle on their family, poisoning the town, like, into it. Chris: I still feel like maybe I missed it, but they kind of left out how that translated into vengeful ghost stories. Chris: Exact. Other Chris: Yeah, don't worry about it. Chris: I feel like they were going with the angle of the family, but then like, oh, no, we didn't teach her. Chris: How the f*** did she get all the people? Chris: It just is maybe just the pain of revenge. Chris: I don't know. Travis: I don't know at all. Other Chris: Yeah, don't worry about it. Travis: Maybe it was all the lead in the water or whatever. Travis: It gave her the magic powers, magical abilities. Chris: Maybe it's just that's the angle and they tell us about stories and how stories can hurt and do this. Chris: It's still a story that we're viewing, even though it's supposed to be reviewing that it's happening. Chris: They still bother to tell us, hey, this is back in time. Chris: This has already happened. Travis: Maybe it's a carrier situation. Travis: They were mean to her enough that they woken her latent psycho telekinetic powers. Chris: These are pretty creepy. Chris: You looked up these illustrations. Travis: Yeah. Travis: Pretty creepy, right? Other Chris: Yeah, I like that. Other Chris: It was kind of aimed at a young adult audience, I suppose. Other Chris: I really appreciate that they had like, I don't know, mischief and kids doing inadvisable things and cursing. Other Chris: The bully guy was genuinely threatening. Other Chris: Like, that guy was absolutely scary. Chris: He was very dangerous. Other Chris: Yeah, he was, like, legitimately dangerous. Other Chris: And one of the things that happens almost right off the bat is like, he's drunk driving. Other Chris: This kid is drunk driving, like, awesome. Other Chris: We need more of that in movies, I think. Other Chris: Let's have more kids doing inadvisable things. Other Chris: The only thing that I really would have liked to see in the movie that I didn't see on that front is nobody was smoking, right? Other Chris: Yeah, everyone would have been smoking. Other Chris: Every adult would have been smoking anyway. Chris: I encountered that with the decision. Chris: I caught some s*** on Reddit last week. Chris: A week before, like, Stranger Things has decided not to have people smoking a crap anymore in it, even though it set in a time when all of our parents practically smoked. Chris: It seemed like it was when I was a little kid. Chris: The only people in my family didn't smoke was my mom. Chris: My grandparents did, my uncle did, my aunt did. Chris: They all kind of stop because my grandma got lung cancer when I was little. Chris: But when I was super little, like five, six, s*** like that, I can remember in the holidays and travel, like, everybody smoked except for my mom, right? Chris: Their friends smoked, all that kind of stuff. Other Chris: My family actually nobody smoked except for some distant family members, like my parents, my grandparents, all my aunts and uncles, everybody. Other Chris: I don't remember a single person smoking except for my great aunt and her kids. Chris: I'm glad my family stopped. Chris: But anyways, where was I? Chris: Yeah, so this guy was like, no, they should take that. Chris: We shouldn't go by that stuff. Chris: Blah, blah, blah. Chris: I'm like, yeah, but it was, like, back in time. Chris: They're being accurate. Chris: No, we need to display that now. Chris: Blah, blah, blah. Chris: It's still stupid. Chris: I'm like, yeah, they have new accounts this year or not. Chris: It's like, no, we don't need to have any endorsements whatsoever. Chris: I'm like, okay, so I think that's kind of what's going on with modern movie production from this time of day. Chris: They want to be the accurate line. Other Chris: I suppose it is. Chris: Yeah, it's a very weird line. Travis: We're okay with kids being possessed by other dimensional beings, or one of them. Chris: Who would have been smoking. Chris: Most likely one of that friend group would have been a smoker, if not more. Travis: Yeah. Chris: Probably the kid who ate the toe. Chris: He seems stressed. Travis: Yeah, no, he was too woke to smoke. Chris: Oh, he was too woke? Chris: Okay. Travis: Too woke. Other Chris: Yeah, he was concerned with all the food additives. Other Chris: It would have been ironic if he smoked, though. Other Chris: That would be great. Other Chris: Just take a big drag. Other Chris: You know, what kind of s*** they put in there. Travis: Yeah. Chris: Well, that's healthy. Chris: My doctor says so. Other Chris: I wonder if that was in the first draft of the script, now that. Travis: You guys are saying. Other Chris: It. Chris: Probably was like, oh, wait, we can't do this. Travis: I did not break down and bring a notepad to the movie theater. Travis: So I was dictating notes on the way home. Travis: But my first note, I want to address everyone. Travis: Finally, a movie that takes a stand against Nixon. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: Thank you. Travis: Scary stories. Chris: Yeah. Other Chris: Nixon was such a bad guy. Travis: I didn't think it was funny that they chose that time period because there's really no time period. Travis: They have to choose for these stories to still work. Travis: I mean, except probably not anytime with a cell phone. Travis: So why they chose 1968, I don't know. Other Chris: Because I haven't done anything. Chris: I guess I could think of is there might be a sequel which will feature the adult version of the kid, maybe like still hunting down the evils or something. Other Chris: Yeah, but they did it already. Other Chris: The trailer. Travis: Late. Chris: Eighty s. Chris: The eighty s, I think for the kids. Chris: Yeah. Travis: They age them up to from the. Chris: But they're still supposed to be like 45 or something. Travis: Yeah. Chris: Anyway, but now not the 80s. Chris: Back when it originally happened. Travis: Yes. Travis: So that comic relief guy, like the other Chris's point at first, this guy is painfully unfunny, but then again, friend groups have that one guy who's always trying to crack a joke and does not succeed. Travis: He's a new cinematic exploration, I think. Travis: Like that guy. Travis: Although he did have my favorite line when his banana got smashed in the door. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: Grace notes like this really make a movie. Other Chris: You know that's, right? Other Chris: These details. Travis: Yeah, right. Other Chris: They really pull you in. Travis: Right. Travis: So, I mean, the framing story for me again, there's not a framing story. Travis: There's no connecting thread to the book. Travis: So you kind of have to make that out of the clock. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: Although, I don't know, I didn't feel like it jived too well with this style of the books. Travis: Like having this, like you were saying, this weird grudge, like or bring, like, vengeful spirit because she was locked in a basement and so she could, like, write books or stories and then kill people with it. Travis: That was kind of we seem like. Chris: She really only went after the people who just refused to believe or something. Chris: Like, oh, I have to prove my point to you that I'm real. Chris: And this is this all in the purpose of what? Chris: Getting her story actually told? Chris: How it's killing the kids who might deliver it, like, achieve that goal. Other Chris: Right. Other Chris: Yeah. Other Chris: Don't worry about it. Other Chris: Again. Travis: Yeah. Other Chris: The horror movie logic of it didn't really one of the people that I saw the movie with pointed out for a little while, it seemed like they were going to continue with sort of horror movie logic. Other Chris: Like, oh, she kills one person and it has to happen at night, and it's one of the people in the house. Other Chris: And then all of that s*** goes out the window pretty quickly. Other Chris: So there's no rhyme or reason. Other Chris: There's no rules, and there's no, like yeah, there's no horror movie logic to it. Other Chris: So it doesn't really make any sense. Travis: For a minute, I thought they were doing just the grudge thing, like, just don't go in that house, and you'll be okay. Travis: But they all went in that house and they're all terrorized. Travis: Yeah. Travis: I was like, if it was up to me to do it, like, that framing story would have been someone, like, collecting it because, like, the main girl, whose name I forget, was, like, a scary story writer, I could see her collecting them and maybe her being the one. Travis: These kids are being shitheads to me or something and doing more, like, scary type of thing where she's unleashing them. Other Chris: Right. Chris: Or the classic you do that initially and you end up wandering up some power you don't understand that gets out of control. Travis: But the mystery part was fine. Travis: It wasn't excellent, but it was fine. Chris: Yeah. Travis: I liked that they at least seem to be true to the original artwork as much as they could with some of the CGI monsters. Travis: But it bugs me that's a mixed and matched, like, ghost thing from the Big toe story was actually from a different story in that book called Haunted House. Other Chris: Oh, man. Travis: The illustration for the Big Toe was stupid. Travis: So I'm taking this one and shoving it in there. Other Chris: Write the most sternly worded letter, right? Chris: You should do that. Travis: And the Jangly Man, or whatever they call him from Thai doty Walker. Travis: Like, that story, that monster in that story was just a head. Travis: And there was a completely different story in that book about a body that fell down and put itself together and then ran around the room. Travis: But I was willing to forgive that because it's pretty similar. Travis: Anyway, back to the frame story. Travis: There was no reason in this story for those kids to know which story there was being told. Travis: Like, one kind. Travis: They told me all the time. Travis: Who the f*** knows that story? Travis: I've never heard that before. Travis: I'm not on the prairie in the 1800s or whatever. Other Chris: It's like ghostbusters. Other Chris: Like, choose the form of your destroyer or whatever. Other Chris: Right. Other Chris: I don't remember that. Travis: More people know states. Travis: Pup marshmallow man, I guess that guy. Travis: So that would have made more sense. Travis: But, yeah, talking about the illustrations like that Red Room scene was, I thought, a really great interpretation of the experience of just looking at the illustrations. Travis: Like the kids, like, running away and then turns still there. Travis: Turns back. Travis: Still there. Travis: Yeah. Travis: That lady is weird looking. Other Chris: Yes. Travis: But going back to that story in the book, the whole story there, they kind of preserved it where they're talking. Travis: The story is about an artist who has a vision of the future where that weird, moon faced ladies like, hey, this isn't a safe place. Travis: That's probably just nothing. Travis: But then start seeing more signs that, oh, I'm in that place from the dream. Travis: And then when she sees the moon face lady, she runs away. Travis: So in the movie, when they got to the climax, like, well, there isn't one in that story, so just absorb it. Chris: Just have this weird marshmallow lady hug him to death and absorb him. Travis: The setup, I thought was great, and then the well, okay, it could have just cut away, had been gone. Travis: It would have been fine, but. Other Chris: Just turn the regular lights back on and people just start walking by and like. Travis: Nothing happened or something. Travis: Anything. Chris: So I'm looking up Metai Dodi Walker. Chris: Yeah, because apparently it's loosely based on an old American folktale. Travis: Yeah. Chris: I'm reading the plastynopsis from one of the fandom wikis talking about it, and this is scarier than what we saw. Chris: The dog is like, the dog f****** talks, says Lynchy kimchi kalimali. Chris: Dingo dingo, f****** talks back to the head. Chris: I'm like, My God, that's more frightening than that creeptastic pile. Travis: They sort of preserve that in the movie. Travis: Like, the dog didn't actually sing, but it's kind of like growling, trying to do that or whatever. Other Chris: He had, like, words under his breath or something. Travis: Yeah. Travis: Reading that story in particular, that's just kind of silly. Travis: Especially the way they tell it in the book, is just like, well, then the head fell down and some legs, and they put himself together and ran around. Travis: Okay, that's stupid. Chris: He doesn't want to do that's. Travis: Like a Shell Silverstein poem, that's not scary. Travis: But seeing that in a movie, I guess, that would be f****** terrifying. Travis: Like some weird reanimated corpse that just pieces itself together and runs after you. Travis: The girl with the spiders in her face is probably the reason we're even doing this particular recording, these books that somewhere in my subconscious summer and even when I saw things, I learned, like, oh, young Lord Torah is going to get involved with making that I'm that'd oh, like, be weird. Travis: But I didn't really think about it until I saw the poster with the one Spiderleg sticking out of the face. Travis: Oh, s***, I remember all this now. Other Chris: You blocked it out, or she said, Blocked it out. Chris: It was like, I would block that out. Chris: That's terrifying. Travis: Like a recovered memory. Chris: That's a s*** people really worry about. Travis: Yes. Travis: That girl was s***. Travis: Like, her whole face came off. Chris: Yeah. Travis: And, like, at the time, I'm like, oh, she's dead. Travis: She's just gone. Travis: But no, she made it. Travis: But again, after her face scarred up. Other Chris: From that kind of crazy from spiders coming out of it. Travis: Yeah, lots of spiders. Travis: Lots of spiders, though. Travis: So another recommendation I've taken from this podcast is I've been watching chilling tales of Sabrina. Travis: Okay, at least some of them. Travis: And something that I've enjoyed in that series so far, and also in this movie, is the references to other horror movies in the background, either explicitly or in the background. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: So I like seeing all that kind of stuff, like the drive in Night. Other Chris: Of the Living Dead and posters on the wall and that kind of stuff. Travis: I thought that was cool. Travis: Yeah. Travis: But the whole big toe story in general, I don't know. Travis: I don't know, man. Other Chris: It's hard to walk without your big toe. Other Chris: Right? Travis: Right. Other Chris: I mean, you'd have some trouble. Other Chris: You'd want that back. Travis: You definitely would. Chris: Yeah, but not if you're dad. Other Chris: No, especially you don't know yourself, man. Travis: You need Jesus. Chris: No, your body parts just come back. Travis: The resurrection will happen, or whatever. Other Chris: You'll just get spiritual replacement ghost toe. Travis: Yeah. Travis: I mentioned this to you guys on the other recording, but in the book, they talk about the big toe being a new version of older story called the Golden Arm. Travis: Like, a guy who's working in a Morgan has one of his corpses, comes through with a golden arm, but he's like, I'll just take this, and then the ghost comes back for it. Travis: So that makes a little more sense than something like, hey, here's a toe I found. Travis: I'll put in this stew, and then someone else being like, toast stew. Travis: Well, okay, I'm eating it. Other Chris: I mean, how much poverty are we talking about? Other Chris: How hungry do you have to be before I found this toe on the ground? Travis: Right. Other Chris: It was kind of hard to pull it up, but it was worth it. Other Chris: We got a little bit of extra meat. Travis: Yeah. Other Chris: We got some protein, some collagen and gelatin, whatever you're going to make some. Travis: Jello out of that for sure. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: So especially for a kid in the late 60s that have been like, no, I don't think he probably was like, I'll just have a Hot Pocket or something. Travis: Just ate the two. Travis: So yeah, they could have done other stories instead of that one, especially since they stole the ghost from a different story. Travis: They could have just something else. Chris: I mean, it's a mystery. Chris: Stew in your fridge. Chris: He's talking to his mom, and he's like, oh, stew. Chris: She's basically like, what stew? Chris: What are you talking mom, I'm going to eat it. Chris: Like, why are you eating a stew that nobody made for you that just appeared in the fridge? Other Chris: Better. Other Chris: Mom is just trying to give herself some plausible deniability because she definitely stole that toe and put it in. Chris: She got it on the front porch and said, okay. Travis: Yeah. Travis: So I was totally disappointed. Travis: There was no disappearing hitchhiker story because there was one of those in every one of the books of, like, Sarah's been dead for 30 years. Other Chris: Oh, no. Travis: I just asked her to the square dance or whatever. Travis: So I wanted there to be one of those. Travis: I wanted the boy, the guy was the draft dodger to turn out to be a ghostly hitchhiker instead. Travis: But then it went past Halloween, so I'm like, that's not going to work anymore. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: Even here several days, I appreciate an appearance of wax cylinders. Travis: As a recording playback device. Other Chris: I love the reference there to like, this is what we used to record sound on before LPs. Other Chris: All of the kids are going to get that reference. Travis: Such different technology, too. Travis: This one's a cylinder and this one's a disk. Other Chris: Right? Chris: I had some of those cylinders at one point. Travis: Yeah. Chris: Got them in the thrift shop. Travis: I also like the idea of them being like, listen, we're going to definitely suppress this story about this lady. Travis: Let's make sure to record all of our interviews with her. Other Chris: Right? Chris: Well, because they weren't ever going to find those rich people. Chris: Never come out. Other Chris: By the way, to record on a wax cylinder, you have to yell. Other Chris: The sound has to be really loud. Other Chris: So the level of clarity that they were getting out of that, pretty surprisingly. Travis: Yelling out the water is tainted. Other Chris: Right. Other Chris: And that's literally the only thing they got, right? Chris: Yup. Travis: Yeah. Travis: So back to the police station and the copy. Travis: I'm like, hey, kids, you're arrested or something? Travis: Then a chimney appears in his police station. Travis: Then his dog is singing, and he's just like, I'm going to let this play out. Travis: What's happening? Travis: Yeah, that's good horror movie logic. Other Chris: I'm just going to watch. Travis: I'm going to let this happen. Chris: Totally. Chris: It just makes perfect sense. Travis: The other note I had. Travis: So back to our a******, like, letterman jacket guy. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: So he comes home drunk, and then his mom is like, we're supposed to deliver eggs in the middle of the night on Halloween? Travis: She's like, you better f****** get them. Chris: No, go do it now. Travis: Right now. Chris: They would have gotten the belt otherwise. Chris: Probably. Chris: It's the 60s. Chris: People still did that. Travis: If you wanted eggs today and it's the middle of the night on Halloween, are you going to be that p***** if you get it the next morning? Chris: It's not about them receiving it. Chris: It's about him following his parents instructions, I guess. Chris: And they're going to make him listen. Chris: But God d*** it, because I doubt he listens very often. Chris: But this one time, this one but. Travis: He'S already really drunk and then had run ins with the cops and beat a boy to death. Travis: I assumed the drive in with his bath. Other Chris: By the way, like his mom, are you drunk? Other Chris: Get back in your car and deliver these eggs quick. Travis: Have a couple of shots first, though. Travis: Your buzz is probably wearing off. Chris: You'll drive better with a couple of shots. Travis: Have some cigarettes to calm your nerves. Other Chris: No, that's terrible. Other Chris: We can't have that. Travis: No, absolutely. Other Chris: We can stab that kid with a pitchfork. Travis: It was okay because he didn't bleed. Travis: He just had hay coming out. Chris: Yeah, he turned into straw. Chris: He suffocated with straw inside of him and became a nasty that was even more terrifying. Chris: Yeah. Travis: So I liked that scene, although I thought the book version of the Herald story was way better because it's kind of like a Frankenstein's monster situation where two kids that work on a farm and they're bored and make a scarecrow. Travis: I treat them like s***. Travis: I was, like, beating him and hit him in the face. Travis: Which they did a little in the movie. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: Like, Come on, Harry. Travis: I'll hit him with his bat in the face. Travis: But then there's to keep talking to him and bring him around like a real person. Travis: Eventually he becomes animated and then they just kind of cut to later, someone else coming back to the farm and Harold's on the roof drying out their skins. Travis: That's way more hardcore than being stabbed and turned into a scarecrow. Travis: They're still dead. Travis: But him being like, Listen, m************, now your skins are being tried to help. Other Chris: Yeah, that's kind of awesome. Travis: I was a little disappointed. Other Chris: If they didn't skin a teenager in this movie. Travis: I'm just saying, let's go for a hard art. Other Chris: Yeah, okay. Travis: I wanted him to make suits out of the kid's skin and then masquerade around town as if he were them. Travis: Still. Chris: That'd be fantastic. Travis: Yeah. Chris: You know, that'd be scary. Travis: Yeah. Travis: I'm just saying let's go all the way with this. Travis: So anyway, I liked that at the end they didn't really resurrect anyone because I felt like they were doing pretty cheap. Travis: Although it was I mean, back to the framing story. Travis: I don't understand why that's okay. Travis: That's what she wanted. Travis: We'll tell your story. Travis: She's like, okay, that's cool. Travis: I'll leave you be. Chris: That's all about being heard. Travis: Finally hidden away her anger. Travis: Go. Travis: But I expected them to be, like, waiting in the foyer after they happened, but they left them gone. Travis: Although they heavily implied, we can get them back in the sequel. Other Chris: Right? Travis: Will there be a sequel? Chris: Hopefully. Chris: I don't know. Chris: It does well enough to probably be. Other Chris: One if everyone goes and sees it. Other Chris: What is it up against this week? Other Chris: I don't know. Travis: I looked this up earlier, so I should know. Travis: What else did I see this weekend? Chris: I saw The Lion King remake. Chris: Yeah, that was not really worth it. Travis: Because I looked at the box office so far and it looks like they are estimating the budget to have been $28 million. Other Chris: Wow, that's pretty. Travis: I have no idea what's an expensive movie from the most successful horror movies is. Travis: Always like, oh, they filmed this for, like, $20 using a webcam in their bedroom for Paranormal Activity. Travis: When I looked up earlier today, as of this recording, it was just about to hit 26 million. Travis: So that's pretty good. Travis: I still probably end up making a profit on it, so I would expect there's probably a sequel that we need. Other Chris: Yeah, I mean, it really depends on, like, their marketing and everything. Other Chris: Like, what did they spend on marketing? Other Chris: And I don't I don't remember hearing much about this movie before. Other Chris: Like, maybe a few weeks ago or something. Travis: Right. Other Chris: I think a sequel would I'd call it questionable at this point, but it's only been out for like a week. Travis: Yeah, it looks like Hobbs and Shaw was number one this weekend. Travis: But scary stories telling the darker is number two. Travis: So it's pretty good for like A-Y-A horror movie, I would think. Chris: Yeah, definitely. Travis: I mean, they made a sequel to Goosebumps. Chris: That they did. Travis: That was like the thing I felt like I should try to compare it to. Travis: So I went back and watched these bumps as well. Travis: The framing story works better there, although it was not even approaching scary at all. Travis: So kind of a different thing. Other Chris: But. Travis: It made sense in that movie for the kids to know which monster was coming up. Travis: Because in that movie, Goosebumps folks existed and they're like an oral sign. Travis: Whereas this one I'm like, I've never heard of any of these before. Travis: Especially like the weird moon faced lady. Travis: No, that's not something that pop culture kids would know about. Other Chris: No. Travis: So there was no real reason for them to be afraid of that stuff. Travis: And the urban legend about the spiders in the face, like, it probably was around, but maybe not as well now. Travis: Yeah, I've heard versions of that where it's in the beehive hair. Travis: Dude grows in the hair instead. Travis: It reminded me a lot of what was that movie with Commander Riker? Travis: Not the TV show, Commander Riker. Travis: Factor fiction beyond belief. Chris: Yes. Travis: That show wasn't out there. Travis: And that's where I heard that story from, but put me in a mind of that. Other Chris: Yeah. Travis: So next up, reviewing every episode of Beyond Belief. Travis: Factor Fiction. Chris: Wonderful. Other Chris: I cannot wait. Chris: I have to find out how to find that and watch it again. Other Chris: Somebody find a torrent. Travis: Yes. Other Chris: There's got to be a subreddit for this show, right? Chris: Right. Travis: What I always loved about it was the trabekian way that made a record would always be like, so is this real? Chris: Believe it. Travis: No. Travis: He made it up. Travis: Made it up. Chris: Sorry. Chris: Fool Joe. Chris: Actually, another one that was totally real. Travis: Actually, the store is real. Travis: You're still an a******. Travis: Anyway, any final thoughts? Travis: Would you recommend it? Chris: I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. Chris: So I would recommend it. Chris: I think it's especially a nice kind of Familyish Halloween time of the year movie. Travis: Right? Travis: Yeah. Travis: It did feel kind of weird that it's out in August instead of October. Chris: This stuff all kind of starts around now anyway, so they can get everything in by then. Chris: And it'll probably be out on for rental by Halloween. Other Chris: Yes, I was going to say they're going to have it on the shelf at Target. Chris: Yeah. Chris: Instead of taking your kids trick or treating like you should do, nobody does anymore. Chris: You can sit down and watch this movie instead and pretend that you went trick or treating. Travis: I'm going to take my kids trick or treating only so their candy can be stolen, and then they can throw dog s*** at whoever does it. Chris: Yes. Other Chris: Not human s***. Chris: Don't fish out of the bus. Travis: I stand corrected. Other Chris: Unless they have a very talented dog. Travis: It's a very elaborate prank. Travis: And the exit strategy wasn't planned out very well. Travis: No, he got the idea for the thing to do, but not how to get away. Other Chris: Teenagers, they're not fully formed humans yet. Other Chris: Expect them to think of everything. Travis: Brains are still developed to sign up. Chris: Yeah, they are till you're 25. Travis: So in closing f*** teenagers. Chris: You're talking about teenagers scaring the shadow people. Travis: Yeah. Travis: It's a good one. Travis: Yeah. Travis: All right. Travis: Thanks, guys. Chris: Thank you. Other Chris: Yeah. Other Chris: Thank you. Chris: It was a good many suggestion. Travis: Okay, that was our session for today. Travis: I hope you like the format of these shorter, one off episodes. Travis: It was kind of fun for me to be able to record this, then. Travis: Turn around around and kick it out. Travis: To all of you. Travis: We're looking to do a few more of these here and there in between full seasons of the show. Travis: So if you have, say, a children's book or comic series or any other IP you'd like to see us cover in one of these ones shots, leave us a comment on our Facebook page or send an email to contact at RTF bpod.com. Travis: As always, when I listen back to these recordings while I'm editing them, I have a chance to think things over a little more. Travis: So with that in mind, here are a few onsecond thoughts to the guy. Travis: Who did the, quote. Travis: S***** new version of the illustrations, Brett Hellquist. Travis: Listen, I assume that you didn't ask for the assignment of redoing the artwork that terrified a bunch of school age children so many years ago. Travis: And I completely understand if some book editor had decided they were tired of getting letters from angry parents upset that their schoolaged child was completely terrified by some creepy pictures. Travis: So I get it. Travis: It's not your fault. Travis: I'll tell your story to the world so you can finally let go of your anger and stop tormenting the children of this world. Travis: Well, maybe tormenting is too strong a word. Travis: Today's episode was whispered to curious neighborhood children through a basement wall by Chris chris Ham, chris other, Chris Jacobson was edited by me, Travis Rowe, and sponsored by no one in particular. Travis: Until next time, keep f****** reading. Travis: Music video. Travis: Yeah. Travis: Ironically, I bought that book and set it on top of my stack of books and have not read it, nor have I cleaned it up. Other Chris: Is there another book on top of it yet, though? Travis: Yes. Other Chris: Okay. Other Chris: Yeah, it's already failed. Other Chris: I feel like you did exactly what she meant for you to do. Travis: Everything in my house marks joy. Travis: Leave it alone. Other Chris: Yeah, everything. Chris: And I refuse her book logic. Chris: She's like, don't have more than 20 books. Chris: I'm like, no, that's not the life path. Chris: I have chosen. Chris: I've never choose that path. Chris: I will continue to buy more books as my life goes on.