Unpacking Our Spooky Season Bucket Lists

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Spooky season greetings and salutations and welcome to the first bonus episode elective course brought to you by the faculty and staff of Hackerslash University. My name is Chris. I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast and resident slasher in chief. And today I'm joined by our esteemed classic horror connoisseur, Dr. Frankenschon.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

It's alive! The spooky season is alive!

SPEAKER_01 0:28

As we continue through the spooky season, we at Hackerslash University want to equip you with all the tips, tricks, and skills you're gonna need to make the most out of this season. Now, this is one of the many bonus episodes we're offering for free all season long to our listeners. And today's lesson is one that will focus on what is really required to truly channel the spooky season spirit, along with what activities you might want to include in your spooky season bucket list. Now let's dive into everything we want to watch, do, and revisit before Halloween. We're gonna summarize these into a few different groups, starting with some activities. Sean, I don't know about you, but number one for me every single spooky season is a trip to none other than Spirit Halloween.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

I mean it you have to, right? You absolutely have to. It's like the one-stop shop for anything, like whether it's just like you need to get a new horror mug or you need to get some cool merch, shirts, whatever, or you need some decorations for your house because they got dope decorations, costumes, animatronics. I mean, anything you can think of, you're gonna find some cool shit.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

I need you to know that I am so close to buying the Art the Clown animatronic. It's all I need to really just like bring the clown cafe to life.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Oh my gosh. Listen, if I continue to buy like intense animatronics, I am sure that kids will just not come to my house anymore because I already like set my shit up last year with like Chucky and different things, and like kids would not come up to my door, literally would not come to my door. I had to go to them.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Honestly, though, the right kids will show up, and that's the spirit that we need to keep alive.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

That's right. If you want the candy, you gotta face your fears.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

You gotta earn that shit, man. You gotta earn it. Now, one thing that I love, especially about Spirit Halloween, is just the quality of stuff that's there. I know I went actually before September even started, it was like the last couple days of August when some of the stores started opening up. And I spent way too much money on my initial run. But my number one item on my list to get was the Art the Clown neon sign that has the sunflower glasses. And Sean, when I tell you that I was there, like when they opened the doors and I got the last one that was on the shelf. No, I felt like I was about to have to fight somebody.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Dang, the last one. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

I got the last one at this one particular spirit. I mean, there are other stores that have opened. I'm confident that they are readily available. But yeah, that was on the mission. That was the day that I went to go find the thriller pack for Friday the 13th. Struck out, but I struck gold with that neon sign.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Oh my gosh. And what's crazy is that specific neon sign, because they have a few of them. That specific neon sign you can't like get online. It's not available online. So like you have to find it in a store for whatever. At least when I looked online, I didn't see it available online. You can get the Scream Ghost Face, you can get the Michael Myers, but the art is not there. So you have to maybe be lucky, or maybe they're sold out. I don't know. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

That isn't a fascinating thing to know because I always saw pictures of it online, but I never once even attempted to go through the purchase flow online. So to know that it's not even available is crazy to me. Yeah. But folks, you need to get out to Spirit Halloween. Now, this isn't the only place you can go. One of the best things about this time of year is that a lot of our local stores are really sprucing it up a bit. I think I heard something about Target maybe starting in July if you are not boycotting Target, if that's an option for you. Personally, I thought Target selection was a little mid when I went in. But Sean, I also know that you have found some good things at like Home Goods, for example. Didn't I think you have a Bride of Frankenstein bust from there?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Oh, I found so much cool shit between Home Goods. I'll give you the tips, folks. Between Home Goods, Home Sense, if you can find one, that's just like a hidden gen. If you see the green sign, Home Sense, you go in there around any holiday, you're bound to find a treasure cove of just awesomeness. Like you go in there for Halloween, they have so much stuff from like props you can put in your yard to little decor that you can throw around your house. You can see this little bride right here that I have in the background. Home Goods has these. I actually am so mad, and I've gone like three times, but they have these Frankenstein monster and bride of Frankenstein like candle figurines, like full-on their entire like figurines as candles that you can put in a candle holder, but I can't find them. Like the one that I found was broken, and I can't have broken candles, it just doesn't make sense. So they haven't gotten a new pair in. And so, like, you can find so much cool stuff at these places pillows, blankets. We we got our ghost on, we got so much cool stuff, and we we get hauls every year from those types of places.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

I can't wait to see what you get. I will say that the day that I went to Spirit Halloween, I also took some time to go to my local home goods, knowing that you have found so much great stuff. But when I went, at least the home goods by me did not have a selection that I was down for. It was very poppy, bright colors, a lot of like purples and pinks, and like almost like a very light lavender. So it wasn't really my bag, it wasn't my thing. But I want to see what else is there. Now, what did surprise me was Five Below, Sean. I haven't been in a five below in like a decade, it feels like. But when I tell you that I found a doormat that says killer vibes inside with a little knife, listen, I know that it's for spooky season, but also it feels like it's just me season all year long.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

It's so true. Five below has recently in the last couple years, I feel like become this also like little gem of a place to find like cool little things. I think last year they had these like really cool little figurines that you could get, but they sell out quick at a lot of these places, especially if you live in an area where people are into decorating and whatnot, because then it's like fend for yourself, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Yeah, it's good stuff, man. Now, another place that I'm really excited to spend money, and Sean, you and I are going soon. Fucking Halloween horror nights.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Dude, Halloween fucking horror nights is I think the best year in years this year.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

I still hold out, and I'm thinking back for the Halloween house because that was my favorite house. Just it felt like such a love letter to the franchise walking through that. And I wish that house was in the lineup this year because it feels complete in terms of what we're getting from Terrifier, what we're getting from Jason. I'm just so excited for it.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yeah, it would be cool. I mean, if you think about it, they have to usually they'll do like what, like four, maybe five of these like really special houses, and then the other half are usually kind of their own original houses that they put together. And hey, listen, some of their original houses sometimes are really good, but yeah, can you imagine if they threw a Halloween house in the mix with all of the stuff that we're getting? That would be absolutely insane. I would yeah, yeah, die and go to heaven. I mean, yeah, that I would just live there, I think. I would have to quit my job, I'd have to move over, you know, next door to Orlando, give me like an extended stay for like a couple of months, and I'll get the season pass. Uh the frequent fear, whatever it's called. I will literally be there every single night if that were to be the case. But yeah, listen, I can't complain. Yeah, I can't complain. The houses are great. We're getting a terrifier house. That is amazing. To get a terrifier house, crazy, they're amping it up to the next level for sure with Art the Clown this year.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

How long have we been begging for this? Years.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Years in the making. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

It is incredible. And one thing that is kind of hot off the press, and I'm really hoping that this is inaccurate, but Ali actually sent me a TikTok and someone was reacting to no ArthaClown roaming in the park. Now, the idea is that ArthurClown has been in the shops, like interacting with people, getting them to buy merch, going to restaurants, posing with people, but some people were touching him too much. Please, folks, stop touching the scare actors. They're not there just for you, they're there for an experience for everybody. So please go enjoy the festivities, enjoy the merriment, and let everyone else have a good time. Because I swear, if there's no roaming Arthur Clown by the time we go, Sean, I'm a riot.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Ah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

I'm a riot. And it's not gonna be Universal's fault. Like, good on them for protecting their employees. But my God, people, just let us have art. Let us be down to clown.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah. It would be a shame if we didn't get the roaming art for sure throughout the park because I think that's one of the highlights that we're looking for. I have heard some mixed things about that. I heard some stuff was going on where some of the customers or whatever are getting a little bit too touchy, right? Which is just a no-no at any haunt, right? Like we're here to have an experience, but you don't need to really get that involved. What I heard was that he they just had like somebody walking with him to kind of mitigate some of that stuff. So that takes a little bit away from the experience, but not as bad as not having art at all. You know what I mean? I'd rather have somebody watching in the background than having no art the clown at all.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah, I'd rather there be protection in the form of a real art the clown ready to fuck your shit up if you get too crazy out of here. I'd be down. Yeah. Like please protect these scare actors because what I've seen online of some of the videos of like the way these people are channeling art and really going all in, it's incredible. Like it's a great performance, and I'm so excited about it. Yeah, I'm really hoping that we still get them.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

I hope so too. And you know what? There's just a lot of hype with the whole terrifier sequence. Like, we got the wet and the dry path. You know, obviously, we're trying to get there with enough time to do both paths. That would be the most ideal scenario, right? And I have heard even from people that have gone that like some mixed things. Either like some people say you can try to like shimmy around and not get as wet. Some people are like, I don't know what you're talking about, because if that was the case, I wouldn't have got as wet as I did. But people are getting wet in the wet path. So I'm feeling like, listen, we're either gonna get wet, maybe we'll get those little ponchos that turn blood red when you or it looks like blood when they get wet. They're selling those. Those are kind of cool. Might have to snag one of those. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah. And anything, why not just have it? Even if I go in and fully embrace the carnage and get wet, you know what? Whatever. I still want one of those ponchos. The merchandise this year looks incredible. The food looks incredible. One of the other things I'm excited about, even with them bringing Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria to life for Five Nights at Freddy's, that is gonna be incredible. Even the merchandise for that in particular looks so good. And I try to think we're gonna be poor. I'm gonna be very, very poor.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

I'm literally I'm ready. I'm live literally, I know it's like we're still like maybe two or three weeks away from going right now, but like I am legitimately just immersed in everything about Halloween Horror Nights. Like, I'm obsessed with everything. I've literally looked at every single food item. I've read, I've read and watched so many reviews on the food and the drinks. I will not watch any reviews on like the houses because I don't want to know what's inside of them. But I have been just watching and trying to plan out like what's gonna go down, what food that I really just need to avoid because it just so many people are saying that it's not good. So, like, why even waste my time? Let me tell you, there's this sloppy joe that people when I first read it, I was like, there's no way I'm gonna eat that nasty thing. It's literally a sloppy Joe with like bacon and jalapenos on the chocolate almond bun. It just sounds weird. Can I tell you every single person that has reviewed this sloppy joe has says it slaps? Like it is so good, it shouldn't work, but it does. So now I feel like I'm gonna eat a sloppy joe, you know? So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Yeah, here's what I might do, Sean. Because I kind of want to just like try these things. So, what if we just made a pact where we buy something? We all take turns taking a little scoop or a little bite out of it. You can have the rest of it, and then you can decide if you want to buy your own full serving. Because I'm down to try, but I also don't want to be down to commit to the entire bite. You know what I mean? I just want to try a little bit of it.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

I feel you. I mean, it is safe. Yeah, if we just like kind of buy a bunch of different things and we can just take a bite of each thing, it might actually work out, and then we're not spending like $400 per person just on food while we're there. Because in the last few years, if you think about it, like we've had some booths here and there with some menu items, and maybe we're not we weren't paying attention enough, but this year feels like every booth has something that I want to try. And we have like the drink game is amped up between actual cocktails and mocktails. There's so many different things to try, and I just don't know what I'm gonna do. Like, I'm gonna have to be doing drive-bys on these booths and grabbing things while we're getting to the next line and chugging these drinks down. I feel like by the time we're out of there, we're gonna be crawling out of there.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Yeah, Sean, I am so ready for this. It's gonna be great. When I think about the time that I went with Paris, we had such a good time. The food was incredible that year. This was the year that had the weekend house and the Halloween house, etc. And oh my gosh, I think we even had Arippas at the front of the park. It was just, it was so good. Definitely consumed a lot of the drinks. We had time to really like take our time to explore the houses, look around for a while, get in line for food and drink without missing out on anything. It was just a great time, and I'm so excited to replicate that again this year. Man, yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready. I hope you're ready. I know that a lot of our listeners and even our patrons in our Discord server are also going to Halloween Horror Nights. Folks, if you're gonna be there and we happen to be there at the same time, come find us in the park and say hi. What's up?

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Heck yeah. It's gonna be a great time.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Mm-hmm. Now, obviously, Halloween horror nights is the epitome of I think production value, but it still doesn't fully scratch the itch of a pure local haunt. You know?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Very true.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

For me, at least it hits differently. So, first activity was do your shopping, second activity was also shop at Halloween Horror Nights and enjoy the horror. The third activity we can recommend on this bucket list is to really engage your local haunts and see what is out and around in the community around you.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Oh, for sure. I've actually been actively looking around. Obviously, like one of the closer big ones that we have is Fright Nights, for at least by me in Palm Beach. So maybe that'll happen this year. I always think that one's funny because they're like shitty little carnival that they try to throw at you before you get to the houses and you get on. You remember the last time we went to that and got on that stupid ride? There was like nothing even working. We just like ran through a two-second ride and half the shit was turned off.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

It was so bad, but the haunt itself was fun. It was. And you know what? The thing about these kind of local community haunts is that I've never seen one not try, you know? Like they really give it their all.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

It's true, it's true. And I'm I'm really like been looking around around where I live, if anyone's doing any smaller production ones. I've seen some little ones here and there, but they're more like kitty ones. So I haven't found the right one. I'm gonna be looking up in St. Augustine because I'm gonna be up there a couple times too over the next couple of months. So maybe there'll be something there. I'll tell you what though, if you want to get into the mood of the spooky season and you also want to have some laughs, any of the like little cities around you, if they're offering any like stupid little ghost tours, look, I'm not saying you're gonna see anything, but I am saying that half the time you are gonna get some guy or some random girl, whoever it is that's hosting it, they're usually characters and they're kind of funny to like listen to, and it gets you in the mood because you're like sitting there listening to ghost stories. If you like true crime, you're learning about murders that have happened in your town, you know, or whatever town you're staying in. I've done a couple of these. I did one in Asheville a couple years ago. I thought it was absolutely hilarious. I'm looking to do one in St. Augustine this year because my buddy did one in St. Augustine, and they bring you into like the old jail thing, and you spend some time in there, and he swears that he saw some kind of entity in there. He shows me pictures of these little shadows that you know, he's like, Look at this picture, it wasn't there. Look at this picture, it is there. And I'm like, Yeah, okay. But listen, I'm here for it, I'll check it out. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah. My big thing is that I don't necessarily believe, but gosh, I really wanna believe. I want to be proven wrong, you know. I wanna believe I'm down to fuck around and find out. I'm here for it. But I used to partake in just like going to creepy ass fucking places. If I were still in my early 20s, I think I'd be wanting to do that. Maybe I still will. I don't know. We had to find a good spot around here. Sean, I don't know, man. If you find a good spot in St. Augustine, I happen to be around, let me know if I can join you because I am fucking down. The other thing that I want to do at some point is actually go down to the keys and see Robert the doll. I mean, move over Annabelle. You got Robert, who actually my family has had a little bit of a kerfuffle with. So I'm excited to maybe partake in that as well.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Little family beef. Little family beef.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

A little family beef. Sean, this was like it's basically a blood feud. Oh my gosh. Between us and Robert. Yeah, it's a whole thing. I will do like maybe some like a bonus episode for our patrons or something, and I'll give you the lore on Robert the Doll and the Rojas and Rodriguez family. Gotta love it.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

It was a lot, you gotta love it.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

For sure. And one of the other options we had, and we did this last year, was House of Horror, which honestly put on such a great show last year. Great local haunts in Miami. I'm excited to go see them again. I went that year, last year with Binks. We did the interview with the owner and then with the lead designer. And after that, I went with Allie and her son, and just to like really explore and experience the park, it was actually made with a lot of passion. And I think that's the best thing that comes out this time of year. The Halloween spirit, I don't think, is as alive as it used to be, but the ones who are still carrying it, damn, we're carrying it strong.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

That's you listen, you gotta be here for that, you gotta respect that, you gotta show up for those types of places, right? The people that are still putting effort into Halloween and keeping the spirit alive and having these really cool haunts that your local, like whatever city can go to, the townsfolk, whatever you want to call it, I mean, we gotta give them credit and you gotta show them, you know, give them some business, support them, right? Because otherwise, like this stuff will die and we can't have that. You know what I mean? If if I ever get to a place where I can make enough money to actually support one of these places, I will definitely do it. If we could actually think about it, if we could actually do a yearly haunt in the Halloween season and we can fund it. I mean, once you get it up and running, you should be able to make some money off of it, you would think. But it's just getting it up and running, finding the right place, acquiring the right kind of props and things. That I don't know how much goes into that, but probably a lot, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

A ton, a lot of legalities, a lot of waivers, but I'm telling you, Sean, I would love nothing more. If I could just 100% of my time work year-round building up a haunt, even if it lasted just these two months, I'd be down for that. Move over Hellhouse LLC. It's gonna be Chris and Sean taking over.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Yeah, for sure. Listen, I've had a good time being in haunts as a kid. I, you know, I've shared that on the podcast. Like I've done the spooky house haunts back in California in my high school days, having a great old time, partying with some friends, we scaring some kids, partying afterwards in the haunted house. There's nothing better.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

I would really love, you know, Challenge and I were thinking about like what does another milestone episode of the podcast look like? We did a live show for 300, 400, we did a live stream, 500. What if we did a telethon? Man, if we had some huge milestone and I'm in a different place in my life financially, I would love to do a hackerslash haunt. That would be so great.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

It'd be amazing, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

It would be. But you know, obviously, we have the spirit of Halloween that we've been talking about this whole time, right? Going to haunts, shopping, showing your spirit, going to spirit Halloween. But we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge one of the other things that really embodies the spirit of Halloween, at least according to Sam and Trick or Treat, which is your jack-o'-lanterns. You gotta your pumpkin carving.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

You gotta do it. How could you go through the entire season and not carve a fucking pumpkin? Like it's if you're not doing that, your spirit is dead.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Yeah, I'm gonna be honest with you. I didn't carve my first pumpkin until 2012.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

And I carved Jack the Pumpkin King. Um, listen, I'm a fucking Miami kid, bro. Like, I realize now that we have Pumpkin patches, apparently, but I didn't fucking carve a pumpkin until I was in Virginia and started dating a white girl. Like it just didn't happen. She was from Ohio, right? So it's like she was like super in to that whole fucking festivity, which was great. Thank God. I'm so glad that I was shown the way. Probably one of the best things I took out of that relationship. But then my tradition became carving the pumpkin and the jack-o'-lantern from the original Halloween.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

I want to do that again this year. I missed doing it the last couple years, but I really, really want to get back into that this year.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

There is nothing better. Like I've done a lot of intricate pumpkin carving. I try to do some crazy stuff. Ari likes to do my wife, she likes to do a lot of crazy stuff, and she's really good at that stuff. It may not be the exact Halloween jack-o'-lantern face, but there's something to be said about just a very basic classic jack-o'-lantern face that you can put up there. It just looks good. It's got a good vibe. It illuminates perfectly. You start to do like this crazy picture, and then it kind of like one, it dies really quickly, they kind of shrivel up quickly. We're also in Florida. It's humid. These things get moldy in like five minutes. You know what I mean? So you gotta carve, you gotta carve late in the season out here, and you gotta make sure it's not like thin little wispy lines that are that are in there, like you're trying to do this crazy intricate spider web or whatever it is. So you gotta do something cool. But I love a classic jack-o'-lantern. I do one every single year.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Dude, incredible. Man, this is a great option and a great opportunity for you all to look up your local pumpkin patch. And if you don't have a local pumpkin patch, look up your local grocery store, see if they have things available for you to carve. I think there's something just wholesome about it. If you have never carved a pumpkin, I urge you to try. It's gonna be fucking great. I think you're gonna love it. I mean, you're gonna be grossed out by like the innards and the smell of it, probably. And then if you fuck up and let it die and let it rot without disposing of it, god, one of the most disgusting things I've ever smelled in my life. So however, it's worth it. The juice, completely worth the squeeze in this instance.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

For sure. For sure. You know what's kind of interesting though, like pumpkin carving obviously a staple. Something that is generally a staple for like the Christmas season that I've just now started noticing getting more popular, is now we've got like spooky, like gingerbread type houses that you're making. Like I went to the store the other day and I saw a fucking Stranger Things one that you can put together for the season, which I was like, holy shit, this is kind of fun.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Yeah, and did you see that at Publix specifically? I think it was because that's where I saw it and took a picture of it and sent it to Binks.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Yeah, I think I did see it at Publix.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Yeah, I think we probably started out really early with like the nightmare before Christmas, and then over time we've gotten Halloween Christmas trees. Now we're getting Halloween gingerbread situations. Big fucking fan. Honestly, even last year I think about hanging out with Allie and you know, like those simple sugar cookie things that you like just pop in the oven. Yep, it has like a colored design on it. Yep, she got some Halloween ones, and I hadn't really partaken in like those sugar cookies before, and I'm like, oh, this is fantastic. Oh my god, the spooky nuggets. Oh dinno nuggets, sure, but they're spooky nuggets, spooky nuggets shaped like ghosts and bats. Yeah, Sean, have you not partaken?

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Uh no, I've seen them. I have not eaten those, but I have seen them. Definitely the sugar cookies, though. Little ghost sugar cookies or the pumpkin sugar cookies. Yeah, those are good.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

So cute, but the spooky nuggets, I don't know if they're available elsewhere now, but last year I could only find them at Walmart specifically. Okay. Tyson spooky nuggets. I will go stock up on bags. I will go stock up on bags. Those things are fucking great. Love it. There's something special about an object-shaped nugget.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Tastes different.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

It's wholesome, is what it is. It tastes like Halloween, it tastes like spirit. I also have like a pack of Oreos in my pantry right now that are the Halloween orange stuffed colored Oreos. Snacks. Snacks are just so fucking good. Right? And it actually puts me on to even some of the recipes that are coming out. Like I think we've seen a big, big rise on like short form video where people are just taking their spooky recipes, like taking black food coloring and making like a grilled cheese that looks really spooky. Uh last year I also saw a bunch and finally tried it, but the Halloween pizza skulls.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Where you just like completely bake in like pepperoni and cheese and a little bit of sauce. Fantastic stuff. Sean, this is another one of those things where I feel like I just need to go up there, spend a day with you and Ari making spooky shit, carving pumpkins, and watching movies.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Listen, that's part of it too. We gotta find time. And listen, yeah, you gotta come up here. We gotta make some spooky recipes, we gotta watch some horror movies, we gotta just have a chill night or two where we're just kind of vibing with the spooky season. We gotta crack open some of this thriller pack, you know what I mean? These angry orchard thriller packs. We gotta vibe out.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Yeah, I can't wait to crack open a cold one with my boy. Now, Sean, I don't know about you, but one more tradition that I have before we completely transition into what I think it makes the most sense for us to talk about on this show, is I have a spooky playlist. And it is a mix of horror movies. I well, A, I have my creepy work playlist, which is whenever I'm just working on the podcast, what I'm listening to in the background is a bunch of horror movie scores. Everything from like the Exorcist to Jordan Peel stuff, right? Like and in addition to that, I take those songs and I lump them into my spooky playlist, which is that plus Halloween or horror adjacent music. So think about like Ice Nine Kills, think about some of these classic Halloween songs, like the spooky scary skeletons, a good few hocus pocus songs, all that stuff. Oh, yeah. And I am just like every single time I get into my car, spooky playlist.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

It's going. Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'm already playing my curated playlist that I've been adding to. I actually have been meaning to like go through it and remove some songs because it's gotten out of hand. I think we're in the hundreds, maybe more, of just like spooky songs. And I'm at a point now where I've got like some really great like Halloween vibe songs where I can kind of remove a couple of like maybe more metal ones that just have like spooky themes to them. So I'm at a point now where I can actually remove some of that because I've got so many songs, and yeah, we're vibing with that stuff. We're vibing with like even just like stuff like Lana Del Rey's cover of Season of the Witch, because that's such a such a good vibe of a cover. There's some really, really good songs, and I think we've shared some of that, or I've shared that playlist with the Discord last year. I'll probably post mine. You should post yours. Like we should just be out there just sharing our stuff, man, because yeah, it's a great time to just be listening to this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Yeah, absolutely. Folks, we're gonna actually resurface any like past links. We'll try to put into the description of this episode. But stay tuned to AR website and also our Discord server because the entire takeover of people just getting into the Halloween spirit, getting into the spooky season spirit is just honestly outrageous. The I the community has really come to life, and I promise you, you will not find a better group of humans anywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Definitely. We have a good group for sure.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

And actually, let's throw it right back to them because one of the big things, obviously, it's huge for our show at least, is people start watching horror movies this time of year. Now, if you're like the diehard horror fan, you've been doing this the whole time. Nothing new, nothing different, you just get more excited about it. But your normie friends who only partake now, they're gonna come out of the woodwork asking for recommendations. Well, we have a community recommendation. Several of our listeners and several of our patrons all unanimously agreed that a staple and a must for their spooky season watch list is none other than the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which we are finally reviewing this year.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

I'm actually super excited that we're reviewing this one finally. And, you know, listen, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna give too much away because you gotta listen to that episode, but Rocky Horror Picture Show has such a special place in my upbringing just because of going to like the actual performances that are playing in front of the movies, like that whole tradition with some friends growing up. It's just a it's an experience like no other.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Meanwhile, I never experienced it. I've only seen it in like small pieces and also through the lens of like glee doing it on a glee episode. So I'm excited to fully get the Rocky Horror Picture Show experience. We're actually doing a watch party for this. So I know that like there are Rocky Horror Virgins, and I apparently am one. Well, if you want to be a part of that watch party, it's gonna happen on September 11th. There we go. Now, Sean, in addition to Rocky Horror, and I know that being a staple, something that you love and care about, you have in the past shared an extensive Halloween watch list that I know that you carefully curate and try to siphon through to be able to fit everything in all together.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Yes, I've made variations of this list of movies that I try to watch every spooky season. It used to be like really long because I would try to start in September. I've also tried playing around with it and making it just 31 days, like 31 movies, but it's just so hard to stick to 31 movies. But yes, I have a list of movies that my wife and I watch every spooky season. We've already started chipping away at some of these. We kicked off our season with practical magic just because it really gets you in the mood. You know what I mean? It's like a perfect balance.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

I've never seen it.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

No way, Chris.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

I've never seen it.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Get out of here. This is a I feel like if you want like this really it's it's Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches. Like, what do you mean? Like, it's so good. It's got a little bit of romance, a little bit of family drama, a little bit of witchiness, you know, a little spookiness, just the right balance just to kick off the season. It's a gem. The sequel's coming out next September. Like, we definitely, you gotta watch that this year, I think. Definitely watch that one, put that on your list. But yeah, it goes through any of the movies like that that also go to the nice family ones like Hocus Pocus, things like that, maybe some Sleepy Hollow, and then we get into like the trick-or-treat, the Halloween, you know what I mean? We get really in there with some of those, so I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

Yeah, honestly, you have a great list. I don't remember seeing too many that I had never seen before. I mean, obviously practical magic being among them, but also uh I'm probably gonna throw in like Halloween Town. You know what I mean? Like that was my or like the the okay, you remember like so obviously you have Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, but there's also Sleepy Hollow like the story of Ichabod Crane, like the animated film.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

True.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Classic Halloween animated films, I'm a sucker for this time of year, and that's also an absolute must for me.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Oh, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

And now aside from that, the only other big must that I have in terms of movies, nobody's surprised about this. The only surprise I have is that you're wearing the shirt and I'm not, it's the Halloween franchise. Sean, I watched this franchise multiple times throughout the month. And then I choose which variation I watch on the day of. I try to go through as many as I can because I want to get every single film in, but I've done everything with like the original timeline. There was a there was a year that I only did one and two, and that was it. I did another one where I did the sequel timeline, I did another one where I just did Halloween three, I did another one where if you squint just right, Halloween four and five still exist, but then you can jump over to Halloween H2O. It's a mess. It's an absolute mess with all the timelines and the ways that these can connect, but I'm a huge fan for this, and this is like the the absolute like I cannot miss this.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Listen, it's always impressive how you can get through that whole franchise. I feel like I will like start it and then I'll either feel like I need to skip a couple to get to the ones I really want to see, you know what I mean? Or I just don't end up finishing it because it's hard with everything else I have on my list. And on Halloween night, it's also kind of tough unless I stay up really, really late to be able to squeeze in a ton, a ton of movies. I get like maybe four or five movies in, but also, you know, lately with my neighborhood, we've got a lot of trick-or-treaters. We got a lot of kids coming around. We got a lot of parents. I'm like this year, I'm literally posting up in the driveway. I'm I'm staging my entire entryway as like a literally a piece of art. So it's gonna be like this whole horrific scene. So the kids can look at it, but they're not gonna come down the hallway. I'm actually gonna be in the driveway with a table. I'm gonna be bumping my Halloween playlist, I'm gonna have the fog machine out, I'm gonna have lights everywhere, I'm gonna have some drinks for the parents, I'm gonna have candy for the kids. I usually throw in some Pokemon packs for the kids too. Like it's a whole thing, man. We go all out.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

You're living the a millennial homeowner dream, and I love that. I was actually thinking because I went trick-or-treating for the first time in uh since I was a fucking child, really. Last year uh with like Ali's son and uh you know a group of friends. I was just looking at like how people our age are like doing Halloween as homeowners. I'm like, fuck, I need to buy a house so bad. I but I want to do so in a community that embraces the spirit. Yeah, you gotta find the right place because some places threw up a sheet and were projecting horror movies on a sheet in their driveway, and I was like, this is what I need to do.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

It's so good. And get the right neighborhood. Like, we've got people that have starting to do like little quick little haunted house runs through their garage and stuff, which is always fun if you're able to do that. That stuff reminds me of when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Yeah, I did that last year. We walked through like this whole neighborhood. This one neighborhood had a haunted house, and one thing, one prompt just like fell down and it hit me on the head. I'm like, nah, y'all tried. It's cute, and the kids literally loved it, so it's great.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Yeah, it's uh now it's good.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

Obviously, we shared a lot in terms of like movies that we're gonna be talking through. We have an incredible lineup for September and October. I'm so excited for you all to see it. But one of the things that I'm most excited for, Sean, is the official implementation and rollout of our 31 Days of Horror Challenge that really Chell has been spearheading for the last few years and really like digging into how we can like connect this to some of our past content and make it even better and like give it a bigger platform. The calendar that she put together, incredible, Sean. Absolutely fucking incredible.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Absolutely. Uh don't know this year, this season, where we'd be without Chell. She's been doing such a great job in this 31 days of horror, even the snippets that I've seen looks fucking incredible.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

Yeah, it's gonna be fantastic, folks. Now, a couple things. One, you can look forward to a bonus episode where we give you a kind of like a starter guide on your 31 days of horror and how to really plan effectively. You can already look at a blog post where Chell give a bunch of great tips as well. The calendar is public, it's posted on our Instagram, it's also in our Discord, it's also on our Patreon. So there's no secret into what our themes are. Start now. Start your prep now, and then you can check out some of Chell's material in terms of like getting some pro tips on how you can really make it and sustain it the entire October long. Yeah. Now, another part of that, another element of that, is gonna be the watch parties that we're doing in October, and we're also doing them in September. So I mentioned earlier we have the Rocky Horror Picture Show. We have a lot more in the pipeline. Some of these are gonna overlap with episodes that we're doing on the show, but also some of them may be special guest appearances from Sean's Halloween playlist. Who fucking knows? We also have Meat, who's doing a double feature. He does like a mystery meet theater. I keep calling it that. No one else calls it that. But he does a surprise double feature and he announces at the beginning of the month. And I believe this time it is House of the Devil and Fright Knight. A great pair to go together.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

I like that pairing.

SPEAKER_01 38:35

If you have ideas on what you would like to see in a watch party, again, join the Discord server because there's actually a nomination form that you can use and you can tell us what you want to see so we can just vibe out all October long. It's gonna be a blast.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Always fun.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

And Sean, obviously, where would we be if we weren't also having fun with our patrons doing some live recordings in the spooky season?

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Oh, come on. The live recordings are where it's at. The bigger the turnout, the better it is, right? We get some really great conversation. You net, you listen, you might not be able to like be on the recording, right? But we are very interactive on these live recordings, right? We are very interactive and like in the chat in the Discord as we're streaming live. So if you're like into really kind of seeing a more behind-the-scenes view or whatever of how we're making these episodes and how fun it is, and how much fun we just generally have pre-editing a bunch of the bullshit out, right? Like you get to really have a lot of fun, and we're we have some great conversations, and the people that join us really add to those conversations in a really great way. So the live recordings, I can't stress enough, are just so fun.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

They really are, and we're actually starting it off with a bang. Our first live recording of the season takes place tomorrow. Well, it's Wednesday, September 10th, the day before the Rocky Horror Picture Show watch party. And the movie that we were reviewing is the most highly requested movie of us this year, and that is Sinners. This dialogue is going to be incredible. I have not stopped thinking about this movie.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

So good. It's a sin, actually, that we haven't actually done Sinners yet.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Yeah, but you know what? We also wanted to give it time. You know what I mean? We wanted to really give it time to really chew on it and to do the episode justice. Not to say that we don't do that when we do other new releases, but like there's just so much to appreciate in this. And I think also waiting and timing it to where we're doing this while the movie's actually available to watch at home, so streaming through Max, I think it's even better. I think a lot of people are gonna be looking forward to this. It's a free side this spooky season, so you get the full extended episode for free.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

I cannot wait for everything else that we have in store. This is gonna be a blast. If you're curious to know about what movies we're recording live, what movies we're watching in our Discord server, a few ways that you can check us out. One, our website, two, social media, so you can find us on Instagram, TikTok, etc. But you can also join that Discord server. There's gonna be links in the episode description for this episode, so you'll find your one-stop shop for everything there. But folks, we want you to join the party with us because the spooky season is alive and well. We just wrapped up sharing our personal spooky season bucket list. We've given you traditions, we've given you new ideas, we've given you plenty of activities to keep you busy all September and October long, including fucking around and finding out with one haunted doll in Key West. Now, the conversation doesn't stop here because we still want to hear what's on your list.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

We do, definitely. And if you want to find out how you can go further than this episode that you're listening to right now, you can join our new blood drive by visiting patreon.com/slash hackerslash. This is where you can enjoy even more of the show, including bonus content with early access, extended episodes with our B-sides, which remember, they're free, all spooky season long. We got movie nominations you can be a part of, and of course, what we were just talking about live shows.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

We'll see you next time, folks.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

Class is dismissed,