0
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I m David Farrier, a New Zealander accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country tick.
0
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Now this time last year, exactly this time last year, I investigated Halloween for Flightless Bird.
0
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I found out it had its origins in Celtic harvest rituals before Christians made Halloween their holiday, before eventually becoming scared of it themselves.
0
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In that episode, I also dispelled some Halloween urban legends.
0
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There was all this talk about the candies being poisoned and your mother would look through and then they d make the apples and make sure there was no razor blades in the apples.
0
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Finally, I got a witch to visit my very old apartment to try and find out more about the ghost that was waking me up at 3am every morning.
0
SPEAKER_01
There is certainly energy here, there s certainly spirits here.
0
SPEAKER_02
Okay.
0
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I get this upper tummy, like just below the sternum, I get this kind of like rumbly feeling.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s now a year later, the ghost still haunts my room at 3am, and here we are at Halloween again.
0
SPEAKER_02
This year, I decided it was time to get out of my haunted apartment and go and get scared at another house.
0
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At a haunted house.
0
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A haunted house with Monica Mouse.
0
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So, make sure to be incredibly brave and don t even think about screaming.
0
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Because this, is the Haunted House episode.
0
SPEAKER_02
Haunted House with Monica Mouse was good writing, wasn t it?
0
SPEAKER_03
Beautiful wordplay.
0
SPEAKER_02
That s why I get the big bucks.
0
SPEAKER_02
I wrote that and I had a little grin on my face.
0
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I was like, oh, I can t wait.
0
SPEAKER_03
Oh, it was great.
0
SPEAKER_03
That made me smile.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s Halloween.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s Halloween.
0
SPEAKER_03
Happy Halloween.
0
SPEAKER_02
Happy Halloween to you.
0
SPEAKER_03
I love the fall.
0
SPEAKER_03
I love this time of year.
0
SPEAKER_03
This is exciting.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s really good.
0
SPEAKER_02
And something I ve noticed from when we did the last episode for Halloween.
0
SPEAKER_02
So I remember last year being a bit like, oh man, Americans get really overboard.
0
SPEAKER_02
This is cool, but it s too much.
0
SPEAKER_02
This year I m feeling excited to see the decorations going up.
0
SPEAKER_02
My neighbor is investing in all those giant decorations from Home Depot.
0
SPEAKER_02
You know, there was a giant skeleton.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yes.
0
SPEAKER_02
But now they do all these other incredible monsters.
0
SPEAKER_03
Oh, you can go all out.
0
SPEAKER_02
I mean, each one is about $400 and they are, her husband is like assembling these creatures.
0
SPEAKER_03
Are they rich?
0
SPEAKER_02
They can afford the monsters.
0
SPEAKER_03
Good for them.
0
SPEAKER_02
And they re really, really cool monsters.
0
SPEAKER_02
And so going there, it s like you re in a little haunted house.
0
SPEAKER_02
But my point is I get it.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s exciting.
0
SPEAKER_02
I think it s the best of all the silly holidays that happen during the year.
0
SPEAKER_02
I m on board.
0
SPEAKER_03
Well, I like that.
0
SPEAKER_03
And that only took you... It was so fast.
0
SPEAKER_03
You became American so fast.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_02
And you know what?
0
SPEAKER_02
I bought my first Halloween costume.
0
SPEAKER_03
Oh, you sent me a pic.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s scary, right?
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SPEAKER_03
It s too scary.
0
SPEAKER_03
Tell people what it is.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s Pinhead from my favorite cosmic horror, Hellraiser.
0
SPEAKER_02
And it s just, it s all in the name.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s just a man with pins in his head.
0
SPEAKER_02
Pinhead.
0
SPEAKER_02
Great name, but so scary.
0
SPEAKER_03
Very unsettling.
0
SPEAKER_02
And I sort of, I put it on and I looked at myself in the mirror and I was like, I can t wait to scare some children.
0
SPEAKER_02
Like that was my first thought.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s going to be fun.
0
SPEAKER_03
Are you coming to the hayride?
0
SPEAKER_03
Oh, tell me about the hayride thing.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I ve never been.
0
SPEAKER_03
You should come.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s tonight.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, no, I ll go.
0
SPEAKER_02
Explain what happens.
0
SPEAKER_02
In the neighborhood, Dax is on a tractor.
0
SPEAKER_02
There s hay.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yep.
0
SPEAKER_02
And also just explain to me the whole hayride thing.
0
SPEAKER_02
Because you can go to hayrides all over America, right?
0
SPEAKER_02
You get on a tractor, they drag you around in hay.
0
SPEAKER_02
What is it?
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
0
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And they often make it scary.
0
SPEAKER_03
Like that s, well, I guess not always, but we have one in LA.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_03
Just like fun Halloween things.
0
SPEAKER_03
You drive through like a Halloween scene.
0
SPEAKER_02
And so what is Dex driving?
0
SPEAKER_03
He drives a Tesla because Teslas can pull a ton of weight.
0
SPEAKER_02
Okay.
0
SPEAKER_02
And we re all in a trailer?
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, an open trailer.
0
SPEAKER_02
All sitting in the trailer.
0
SPEAKER_03
All sitting, full of hay.
0
SPEAKER_02
Full of hay.
0
SPEAKER_03
In our costumes.
0
SPEAKER_03
Itchy.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s a little itchy, but it s worth it.
0
SPEAKER_02
Okay.
0
SPEAKER_03
And then he, from the front, blares Halloween music.
0
SPEAKER_03
He makes a cute little playlist and just drives through the neighborhood blasting the Halloween music.
0
SPEAKER_00
Okay, I like this.
0
SPEAKER_03
People from the neighborhood get in.
0
SPEAKER_03
They just pop in and ride around.
0
SPEAKER_03
They pop out.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s so fun.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s such a communal event.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, great.
0
SPEAKER_02
Brings the neighborhood together.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_02
And I think that s what I didn t understand when I first moved here is that it is a community event.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s how neighbors meet each other.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s not that scary.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s more fun, is my point.
0
SPEAKER_03
Well, it is scary if your neighbors poison you.
0
SPEAKER_03
and that s always an option.
0
SPEAKER_02
Have you heard about this Australian, this crime that s happened?
0
SPEAKER_02
No, what happened?
0
SPEAKER_02
Alleged crime.
0
SPEAKER_02
So look, I m probably going to get the facts a little bit wrong because it happened a few months ago now, but basically this woman served up dinner for her in-laws, mushrooms, and they all died because they were poisonous mushrooms.
0
SPEAKER_02
She, for some reason, was the only one that mysteriously didn t eat the mushrooms.
0
SPEAKER_03
And she s saying it was an accident?
0
SPEAKER_04
She s still in the hospital, though.
0
SPEAKER_03
Oh.
0
SPEAKER_04
What?
0
SPEAKER_03
That s a big fact to leave out.
0
SPEAKER_04
No, no, she didn t eat the mushrooms, though.
0
SPEAKER_02
She was all clear.
0
SPEAKER_04
She d used some dried mushrooms and they were poisonous.
0
SPEAKER_02
I think they re still investigating.
0
SPEAKER_02
Really?
0
SPEAKER_02
They found like, she disposed of a blender in the rubbish tip that she d used to blend the mushrooms, and so why was that at the tip?
0
SPEAKER_02
That s suspicious.
0
SPEAKER_02
You don t make dinner with a blender and then put that blender in the tip.
0
SPEAKER_04
Yeah, three people died and one person is in critical condition.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, it s actually horrific.
0
SPEAKER_02
It s not funny at all.
0
SPEAKER_02
What sort of incredible is this?
0
SPEAKER_02
This really, you should seek it out.
0
SPEAKER_02
There s an interview with her.
0
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The news door stops her soon after this has happened.
0
SPEAKER_02
And it s just clearly someone who s quite stressed out about the situation because it s a bad look.
0
SPEAKER_02
You know, you serve up poisonous mushrooms that kill three people and you just happen not to eat them.
0
SPEAKER_03
Holy shit.
0
SPEAKER_03
Okay, this is so intense because if she did it, so much fear.
0
SPEAKER_03
And also, what?
0
SPEAKER_03
What s going on with her?
0
SPEAKER_03
And wow.
0
SPEAKER_02
So intense.
0
SPEAKER_03
Whoa.
0
SPEAKER_03
But also, if she didn t do it on purpose, this is horrific.
0
SPEAKER_03
You ve killed people you love on accident.
0
SPEAKER_03
People think you did it on purpose.
0
SPEAKER_03
People are at your door.
0
SPEAKER_03
You re probably in mourning.
0
SPEAKER_02
All people will remember was the headline of when it happened.
0
SPEAKER_02
They won t remember the exoneration or anything.
0
SPEAKER_02
They ll always be suspicious.
0
SPEAKER_04
There s one more bit of information.
0
SPEAKER_04
So her children weren t there.
0
SPEAKER_04
She gave them leftover beef wellington the next day, but scraped off the mushrooms.
0
SPEAKER_03
but the people who were poisoned would probably have been in the hospital by the time she served it to the kids.
0
SPEAKER_02
I reckon that would hit quick.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I don t know why she would not throw it out immediately.
0
SPEAKER_02
And look, I might, again, it s dangerous to be throwing sort of half-remembered facts about a news story that you read, but I also believe she possibly tried to poison someone else in the past.
0
SPEAKER_02
That was the last line of one of the news articles.
0
SPEAKER_02
So yeah, it s really juicy and has Australia and New Zealand kind of enthralled.
0
SPEAKER_02
I mean, have you ever served dinner to someone but not eaten the thing that you re serving?
0
SPEAKER_02
It s a bad look.
0
SPEAKER_03
No, of course not.
0
SPEAKER_03
Of course not.
0
SPEAKER_03
But also, and I do these girls  dinners at least once a month and I have everyone over.
0
SPEAKER_03
They re so fun.
0
SPEAKER_03
But I always, every single time they leave, while I m cleaning up, I think,
0
SPEAKER_03
Please, just nobody get sick tonight.
0
SPEAKER_02
Nobody get food poisoning from this.
0
SPEAKER_03
Yes, I have a fear every time.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_03
What a disaster, how embarrassing would that be?
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, imagine wiping everyone out.
0
SPEAKER_02
I had a friend that served octopus and it came with, I don t know how you meant it, because it comes with ink.
0
SPEAKER_02
And basically, she was meant to remove the ink maybe, or cook it in a different way, and she absolutely wiped out the entire dinner party with this inky octopus.
0
SPEAKER_03
You were there?
0
SPEAKER_02
No, no, just heard it was this infamous thing, but it s exactly as you re saying.
0
SPEAKER_03
Even the chicken I get panicky about.
0
SPEAKER_03
And yeah, the risk is much lower.
0
SPEAKER_02
I ve been thinking, because there was that documentary that won the Oscar about the octopus, My Octopus Teacher, about this man who sort of befriended an octopus and hung out with it underwater.
0
SPEAKER_02
But it is one of those things where that did make me apprehensive about eating octopus.
0
SPEAKER_03
I mean, they are really smart and apparently have really sentient feelings.
0
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_02
And then it put me on the path of like, but I m eating McDonald s all the time and go anyway, Halloween, we went to a haunted night together.
0
SPEAKER_03
We sure did.
0
SPEAKER_02
And I had my microphone.
0
SPEAKER_02
I documented the night.
0
SPEAKER_02
In hindsight, did you have a good time or a bad time?
0
SPEAKER_03
I had a very good time.
0
SPEAKER_02
It was fun, right?
0
SPEAKER_03
I m really glad we went.
0
SPEAKER_03
I m glad you dragged me there.
1
SPEAKER_02
because I was on the fence.
1
SPEAKER_01
You were.
1
SPEAKER_02
Because I m a bonafide Frady cat.
1
SPEAKER_02
I m scared of stuff.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_02
I m scared of anything, all things, let alone things that are actively trying to be scary.
1
SPEAKER_02
Although I will say, I think I m less scared of those things than the unseen, like the lady who kills her in-laws, allegedly.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Where do you sit on ghosts?
1
SPEAKER_02
I never believed in ghosts.
1
SPEAKER_02
I still don t.
1
SPEAKER_02
I think you have affected me a little bit.
1
SPEAKER_02
You re a ghost, Derek.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_02
We named him Derek.
1
SPEAKER_01
Still waking me up.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s a real thing.
1
SPEAKER_02
He makes me a little anxious that he s real.
1
SPEAKER_02
I m still 96% sure he s not real.
1
SPEAKER_01
Swear to God, I m still waking up at 3 a.m.
1
SPEAKER_01
every night except when I m not in my house.
1
SPEAKER_01
Back in New Zealand, wasn t waking up at three in the morning.
1
SPEAKER_02
I know, but I just think brains, ding, ding, ding, octopus, they re smart and they do things without our knowledge.
1
SPEAKER_01
You ll say my brain has learned this behavior almost.
1
SPEAKER_01
Exactly.
1
SPEAKER_01
You can like learn when to wake up in the morning too.
1
SPEAKER_01
No, your brain doesn t have a clock in there.
1
SPEAKER_02
as it does.
1
SPEAKER_01
No, it s not an alarm system.
1
SPEAKER_02
It s literally called your, I think it s called your internal clock.
1
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, but if you like have to be up at a certain time in the morning and you re anxious about sleeping in, you can wake up at that time.
1
SPEAKER_02
Oh, for sure.
1
SPEAKER_02
I think your brain and body are now programmed to do it in that environment.
1
SPEAKER_01
To do this thing.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I m not waking up at 3 a.m.
1
SPEAKER_01
every morning going, just, hi Derek, move on, for nothing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Did you name him Derek?
1
SPEAKER_01
Or he told you his name was Derek?
1
SPEAKER_01
No, he hasn t talked to me.
1
SPEAKER_01
He s just, I feel him.
1
SPEAKER_02
David s never seen him or talked to him.
1
SPEAKER_01
I felt him.
1
SPEAKER_02
You ve only felt him.
1
SPEAKER_01
He hovers over my body every night.
1
SPEAKER_01
He comes in the window, he floats in, he hovers over me.
1
SPEAKER_01
I wake up, I say, hello, I don t mean you any harm.
1
SPEAKER_01
He floats back out.
1
SPEAKER_01
Same thing next night and every fucking night.
1
SPEAKER_02
To answer your question, David made up his name.
1
SPEAKER_02
But I like it, I think it suits him.
1
SPEAKER_01
Do we have any updates on the pool?
1
SPEAKER_01
Oh, the pool?
1
SPEAKER_01
Thankfully, the times of the day that I go that are quite obscure, I haven t noticed a major change.
1
SPEAKER_02
Okay.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, which means either I m swimming at the right time, or our listeners aren t swimmers.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I can tell that s a good or bad thing for us.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s hard to tell.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, the optics is confusing.
1
SPEAKER_02
You guys, comment if you re a swimmer in the comments.
1
SPEAKER_02
I m curious.
1
SPEAKER_02
Curious to know how many people are swimmers David style or non-swimmers Monica style.
1
SPEAKER_02
Okay, Halloween.
1
SPEAKER_01
Okay, Halloween.
1
SPEAKER_01
Come along with us as we experience terror.
1
SPEAKER_01
Do you want to set the scene of where we are?
1
SPEAKER_01
And this is so full on.
1
SPEAKER_01
I thought we were just coming in for a Halloween night, but we re sort of at a red carpet, sort of.
1
SPEAKER_02
There s a whole carpet here with people walking on it that I don t know.
1
SPEAKER_02
My guess is they are probably Universal stars.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s just about 7pm, and I ve invited Monica to Universal Studios, where during September and October, they have Halloween Horror Nights.
1
SPEAKER_01
This theme park is meant to have some of the best haunted houses in Los Angeles, and so it seemed like a good place to come to experience the American Haunted House.
1
SPEAKER_01
Turns out we d arrived on opening night, so there s a red carpet and various celebrities we don t know are buzzing around in front of us.
1
SPEAKER_01
It feels very LA.
1
SPEAKER_01
We re at the premiere of a haunted house, pretty much.
1
SPEAKER_02
Multiple.
1
SPEAKER_02
And it s going to be so scary and I m trying not to be scared.
1
SPEAKER_01
You were saying in the car quite confidently that you didn t think you were going to be scared.
1
SPEAKER_01
How are you feeling now that we re sort of on the grounds about to go in?
1
SPEAKER_02
I m feeling scared.
1
SPEAKER_01
What s your main scare?
1
SPEAKER_01
For me, it s I get really scared by humans with animal heads.
1
SPEAKER_02
Wow, okay.
1
SPEAKER_02
In real life, I m scared of murderers and kidnappers.
1
SPEAKER_02
That s why that was in my prayer.
1
SPEAKER_02
No kidnappers, no robbers.
1
SPEAKER_01
But I guess in the world of things that you know aren t real, what gets you in the world of movies or?
1
SPEAKER_02
There s gonna be a Chucky thing in here and demented kids scares me.
1
SPEAKER_01
Is it because they re little and creeping along or is it because they re children?
1
SPEAKER_02
Yeah it s because they re kids and like kids are wily already and so if they re demented... I m with Monica.
1
SPEAKER_01
One of my greatest fears is having a child who turns out to be wily and demented.
1
SPEAKER_01
Anyone who s read the book or watched the movie We Need to Talk About Kevin knows what I mean.
1
SPEAKER_01
And then of course there s Chucky.
1
SPEAKER_01
I know Monica hates the demented doll and I m excited that one of the new haunted houses this year is nothing but Chucky.
1
SPEAKER_01
Haunted Houses first appeared during the Great Depression.
1
SPEAKER_01
Halloween pranks had gotten out of hand, and so they were kind of invented by adults to distract kids.
1
SPEAKER_01
Now it s 2023, and therefore adults as much as kids.
1
SPEAKER_01
The production value is here in Hollywood as high as they get.
1
SPEAKER_01
Before we go inside, we meet up with John Murdy, the creative director behind the Haunted Houses we ll be screaming in tonight.
1
SPEAKER_00
I ve been a horror fan since I was four, because that s when I saw Frankenstein for the first time.
1
SPEAKER_00
And something about those films just drew me in from a really, really young age.
1
SPEAKER_00
And horror s been a huge part of my life ever since.
1
SPEAKER_01
Halloween is a giant part of America that I m still figuring out.
1
SPEAKER_01
When did it get into your blood?
1
SPEAKER_00
I was born and raised in Southern California.
1
SPEAKER_00
My trick-or-treating career was very, very short because when I was 10 years old, I started building haunted houses in my parents  garage.
1
SPEAKER_00
77 Star Wars themed.
1
SPEAKER_00
That was my first haunted house.
1
SPEAKER_00
I didn t ask permission from George Lucas, so hopefully he ll forgive me that.
1
SPEAKER_00
I was 10.
1
SPEAKER_01
By the time he was 14, John had 200-odd people lining up outside his haunted house.
1
SPEAKER_01
His dad had to step in at some point to rein things in a little.
1
SPEAKER_01
But tonight, the reins are off.
1
SPEAKER_01
Since 2016, he s been refining the haunted houses here to make them as scary as possible.
1
SPEAKER_00
What makes a good haunted house?
1
SPEAKER_00
In my opinion, you need three things.
1
SPEAKER_00
You need characters, whether it s from a film, a TV show, a myth like Monstros, the monsters of Latin America, one of our houses this year, it s all drawn from Latin American myths and legends.
1
SPEAKER_00
But you need
1
SPEAKER_00
Characters that can translate to performers, and our performers in Horror Nights are called scarectors or scare actors.
1
SPEAKER_00
The second thing you need is great environments, iconic environments that are recognizable from whatever the property is.
1
SPEAKER_00
And the last thing, you know, it really comes down to the fans.
1
SPEAKER_00
Do they want to see it?
1
SPEAKER_00
Is it something they ve told us through social media because our fans are very, very vocal?
1
SPEAKER_00
They are engaged with us year round and they tell us what they want to see.
1
SPEAKER_00
So those are kind of the three, you know, magic ingredients into creating a memorable haunted house.
1
SPEAKER_01
Why do you think Americans love being scared this much?
1
SPEAKER_01
There s a fandom around just being scared.
1
SPEAKER_00
Well, we study that and then we use it against you.
1
SPEAKER_00
That s what we do.
1
SPEAKER_00
All your phobias, all your fears, that s stuff we study and then we turn it on you and make you deal with it.
1
SPEAKER_00
That s really what it is.
1
SPEAKER_00
It s very similar to riding a roller coaster.
1
SPEAKER_00
If you think about when you were a kid and the first time that you were going to try to ride a roller coaster that you were afraid to ride, you re waiting in line, there s all that nervous energy and anticipation.
1
SPEAKER_00
It s the same thing with kids, and meaning, you know, older kids that come to Halloween Horror Nights.
1
SPEAKER_00
Once they ve done it, it s like a badge of honor, a rite of passage.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I think that s really what it s all about.
1
SPEAKER_01
Before we head inside, I had one final question for John, a man who s been getting off on scaring people since he was 10 years old.
1
SPEAKER_01
He s probably a psychopath.
1
SPEAKER_01
We should lock him up and throw away the key.
1
SPEAKER_01
Monica hates tiny scary children like Chucky.
1
SPEAKER_01
How is she going to cope with things tonight?
1
SPEAKER_00
You re probably not going to fare well because I m having a little spat with Chucky at the moment.
1
SPEAKER_00
He s really mad at me because I ve never given him his own haunted house.
1
SPEAKER_00
We finally did it, but then he hijacked
1
SPEAKER_00
the whole thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
He raised an army of killer good guy dolls and his goal is to create the ultimate kill count so that he could be top dog in the world of serial killer, not just serial killer dolls, but all horror movie characters.
1
SPEAKER_00
So that s his goal and he s got the perfect setup for it because everybody s just waiting in line and that s what he said he s going to do.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I feel compelled to warn you.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is the best news imaginable.
1
SPEAKER_01
As we walk towards the main gates of Universal, Monica genuinely looks unsure of things.
1
SPEAKER_01
She usually seems quite put together, at the top of her game.
1
SPEAKER_01
But I think the cracks are showing.
1
SPEAKER_02
There s now going to be a whole army of these tiny doll kids.
1
SPEAKER_01
What a face you have here, Monica.
1
SPEAKER_02
Also, while we were talking to him, I bit my lip.
1
SPEAKER_02
And I think it s bleeding.
1
SPEAKER_02
So I m already, it s already horror.
1
SPEAKER_02
It s already on brand.
1
SPEAKER_01
I d warned her to wear sneakers on her tiny feet as we might need to do some running.
1
SPEAKER_01
As someone checks our tickets, I look around me and notice the swarms of horror fans here tonight.
1
SPEAKER_01
A lot of them are in black, head to toe, wearing hoodies and t-shirts of their favorite horror films.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s kind of overwhelming.
2
SPEAKER_04
Monica we re gonna meet back here at the front okay this is if we get lost this is where we meet.
2
SPEAKER_01
But don t you have your phone?
2
SPEAKER_01
Can t you just text me?
2
SPEAKER_04
Oh yeah it s true.
2
SPEAKER_01
Okay but if our phones die we meet right here by this fountain.
2
SPEAKER_04
But these Horror Nights have become fairly iconic here in Los Angeles.
2
SPEAKER_04
I mean, they have Universal Studios behind them, they help cement monsters like Dracula and the Mummy in pop culture.
2
SPEAKER_04
They know special effects.
2
SPEAKER_04
They know how to make you feel scared.
2
SPEAKER_04
Monika and I push into the crowd, and realize that some of those in the mix are actually actors, ready to scare us.
2
SPEAKER_01
How much on alert do I need to be?
2
SPEAKER_04
I think there are people lurking in just the general crowd who will jump out at you occasionally.
2
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
2
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh God.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh God.
2
SPEAKER_01
I hate this.
2
SPEAKER_01
I hate this.
2
SPEAKER_01
I hate this.
2
SPEAKER_04
We re not even near any of the haunted houses here tonight, but suddenly a man bursts from the crowd.
2
SPEAKER_04
He s carrying a chainsaw and zeros in directly on Monica.
2
SPEAKER_04
And by zeros in, I mean he charges at her, chainsaw revving.
2
SPEAKER_03
Monica s just run away from a man with a chainsaw.
2
SPEAKER_03
This is the best.
2
SPEAKER_01
What are we doing?
2
SPEAKER_01
I hate this.
2
SPEAKER_01
I hate this.
2
SPEAKER_03
You ran straight away.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then he followed me.
2
SPEAKER_04
Having Monica here is kind of great because I m scared too, but she s more scared, which makes me seem like the brave one.
2
SPEAKER_04
This will be a good bonding experience for us.
2
SPEAKER_04
Like, fear bonds people together.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s really special.
2
SPEAKER_01
I know, but I think you re just going to leave me in the lurch.
2
SPEAKER_04
You know, you re safe with me.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s okay.
2
SPEAKER_01
Are you sure?
2
SPEAKER_04
It continues like this for the next 15 minutes.
2
SPEAKER_04
I keep trying to talk to Monica about the experience, then something scares her and she screams and runs away.
2
SPEAKER_01
It s really hard.
2
SPEAKER_01
They get super close.
2
SPEAKER_01
I can feel the heat of the chainsaw.
2
SPEAKER_04
I think things have calmed down when a fan approaches Monica.
2
SPEAKER_04
But turns out in this setting, that was scary too.
2
SPEAKER_01
I thought that lady was... I thought she was a scary lady because she was beelining towards us.
2
SPEAKER_03
Just a fan of yours.
2
SPEAKER_01
Regular.
2
SPEAKER_01
She s armchair-y.
2
SPEAKER_01
Stay away.
2
SPEAKER_03
She had wild eyes.
2
SPEAKER_04
As we walk further in, metal music is blaring, heightening the already unhinged atmosphere.
2
SPEAKER_04
Eventually we make it through the chainsaw attacks and things seem calmer.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s very visceral because we all know what chainsaws do.
2
SPEAKER_04
Yes.
2
SPEAKER_04
The main thing you re warned as a kid is to stay away from the chainsaws.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh, I m sweating.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m sweating.
2
SPEAKER_04
We head towards some very long escalators to descend towards some of the haunted houses.
2
SPEAKER_04
The sun s setting, and it s a moment of tranquility before the real horror starts.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s that sunset.
2
SPEAKER_01
a dream to live here.
2
SPEAKER_01
There s a picture of me.
2
SPEAKER_01
I must be 10 or 11 or something.
2
SPEAKER_01
My family came and there s a picture of me at the Hollywood sign.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m going to live here one day.
2
SPEAKER_01
And I do.
2
SPEAKER_04
As we travel down the final escalator, the sun finally sets and we descend into darkness and more importantly, into terror.
2
SPEAKER_04
How are you doing reliving that night, Monica?
2
SPEAKER_04
I forgot how much you screamed, actually.
2
SPEAKER_04
It was so good.
2
SPEAKER_04
I kept trying to talk to you and you d just scream and run away, scream and run away, scream and run away.
2
SPEAKER_01
You had bad timing.
2
SPEAKER_01
You would always try to talk when a chainsaw guy would come out.
2
SPEAKER_04
The great thing about the actors there that we both noticed is that once they know that you re scared, they remember you.
2
SPEAKER_04
Cause you were getting quite fucked off.
2
SPEAKER_01
I was.
2
SPEAKER_01
By the end.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_04
Right?
2
SPEAKER_04
You re like, just stop, stop.
2
SPEAKER_04
And then you d see another one and you d be angry and then they d just prey on you even more.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
I mean, I guess, spoiler, but at the end we were walking out and we had to walk back through the chainsaw guys.
2
SPEAKER_02
You look so fit up.
2
SPEAKER_02
I was so angry.
2
SPEAKER_02
You re just tired.
2
SPEAKER_02
You re exhausted.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then we get to the front and we were like, are there bathrooms?
2
SPEAKER_01
I was like, I ll just hold it until we get home.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you re like, no, we re here.
2
SPEAKER_01
We should just go now.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then we had to go.
2
SPEAKER_01
back through those guys in order to get to the bathroom.
2
SPEAKER_01
And that s when I was mad.
2
SPEAKER_01
What are we doing?
2
SPEAKER_01
Why are we doing this?
2
SPEAKER_01
I hate these people.
2
SPEAKER_04
I don t often see your mad face.
2
SPEAKER_04
And it was really fun to see like you just fed up expression because it s not something I see very often.
2
SPEAKER_04
And I really do enjoy it.
2
SPEAKER_01
I wanted to yell at these guys.
2
SPEAKER_01
It s a strike.
2
SPEAKER_01
You shouldn t even be here.
2
SPEAKER_04
I don t think they re SAG.
2
SPEAKER_04
Yeah, off Union.
2
SPEAKER_04
They are acting.
2
SPEAKER_04
And you do wonder, the people that are attracted to those roles, because when you re in The Haunted House being an actor, you re just in the one place, just continuously scaring for hours.
2
SPEAKER_04
It must do something to your psyche.
2
SPEAKER_01
I think you must get so bored of it.
2
SPEAKER_04
Yeah, the same reactions every time.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then that s where my real neuroses and real fear starts to creep in, because I feel like it might make you go mad, like it might make you go actually crazy.
2
SPEAKER_04
Actually go demented.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then you have access to all these people, you re dressed up, you have the weapon, and if you go crazy at any moment, everyone s dead.
2
SPEAKER_04
And also everyone just thinks it s part of the act.
2
SPEAKER_01
Exactly.
2
SPEAKER_04
So you could be murdering someone in one of those rooms, more people would be filing through and they d just be like, oh, this room s quite bloody and scary.
2
SPEAKER_01
This is part of it.
2
SPEAKER_04
Very realistic.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yes.
2
SPEAKER_04
And you could probably just kill all night.
2
SPEAKER_04
Exactly.
2
SPEAKER_04
There s a movie part in that.
2
SPEAKER_01
I bet there is a movie.
2
SPEAKER_04
There s a haunted house that s closed down now, but it used to be set at an old psychiatric hospital.
2
SPEAKER_04
Out of the city, maybe 40 minutes, you d go.
2
SPEAKER_04
And so the actual settings were terrifying because it s an old, closed down psychiatric hospital.
2
SPEAKER_04
And there were always rumors that old patients who had been let out when it closed would walk the grounds.
2
SPEAKER_04
And so whenever you went through that haunted house, there was always this idea that some of them were previous patients who had wandered back to this place.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then you can t tell who s an actor and who s the patient.
2
SPEAKER_04
That s the scary thought.
2
SPEAKER_04
There s a documentary about it called Spookers.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s actually really good.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s about the actors there and what they re about and who they are.
2
SPEAKER_04
And it s actually kind of special because some of them like find themselves in those moments of acting, you know, it s like this whole other community of actors.
2
SPEAKER_01
I mean, I do love that they re called, at Universal, that they re called Scaracters.
2
SPEAKER_01
They have this very specific name.
2
SPEAKER_01
And I bet they do feel like it s a community.
2
SPEAKER_04
I also love that there s this guy, and his job is just to design haunted houses.
2
SPEAKER_04
He started doing it when he was 12, and now he s doing it at one of the biggest theme parks.
2
SPEAKER_04
And that s a job for an adult man, is building haunted houses.
2
SPEAKER_04
There s a job for everything.
2
SPEAKER_01
There is.
2
SPEAKER_01
Dream big.
2
SPEAKER_00
Dream big.
2
SPEAKER_00
In Dark Tours, you did a semi haunted house, right?
2
SPEAKER_04
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_04
McCamey Manor.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
Around the Midwest, they ll do, you sign a waiver and they re allowed to touch you and fuck with you.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that s fucked up.
2
SPEAKER_04
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_04
I mean, McCamey Manor is this, and full disclosure, I didn t get very far.
2
SPEAKER_04
I opted out pretty quickly because the idea is no one makes it through and no one does.
2
SPEAKER_04
But that s more just because he s kind of torturing you.
2
SPEAKER_04
The thing with the haunted house that we knew, no one is going to touch us.
2
SPEAKER_04
At McKamey Manor, you do actually get assaulted.
2
SPEAKER_04
You sign up for that.
2
SPEAKER_04
And so that s a whole other haunt.
2
SPEAKER_01
Also, I feel like we touched on this for a second on the fact check right after me and you went, but how can they be so sure they re not going to touch you?
2
SPEAKER_01
They get so close.
2
SPEAKER_01
There are a couple times where I thought, you re breaking the rules.
2
SPEAKER_01
If I just jolt a little bit, you ll touch me.
2
SPEAKER_04
You re going to be in contact.
2
SPEAKER_04
We re in a Sue-hungry country.
2
SPEAKER_04
I was also thinking, isn t it the worry that you will give someone a heart attack?
2
SPEAKER_04
I don t think you sign a waiver when you buy your ticket for these things.
2
SPEAKER_03
We didn t sign anything.
2
SPEAKER_03
No, no, no, no.
2
SPEAKER_04
It is a thing, but to their credit, no one did touch you.
2
SPEAKER_01
That I know of.
2
SPEAKER_01
I mean, I had so much adrenaline, I just don t, I can t be sure.
2
SPEAKER_04
With that hold up in court, no one touched me that I knew of.
2
SPEAKER_04
But you re right, it s like a thin line.
2
SPEAKER_04
They get very, very close.
2
SPEAKER_01
Because they re kind of like hopped up on their role.
2
SPEAKER_04
They are, they re hopped up on the adrenaline of fear.
2
SPEAKER_04
Stay tuned for more Flightless Bird.
2
SPEAKER_04
We ll be right back after a word from our sponsors.
2
SPEAKER_04
Flightless Bird is sponsored by BetterHelp.
2
SPEAKER_01
How s therapy going for you, David?
2
SPEAKER_04
Therapy s going good.
2
SPEAKER_04
I have been in regular therapy now for about four months.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s great.
2
SPEAKER_04
And it s working out for me because my brain often gets in the way of things, even when I know what I m sort of meant to be doing.
2
SPEAKER_04
And you can talk to friends and stuff, and that s great.
2
SPEAKER_04
But having a therapist that can go to swoop in and sort of break things down.
2
SPEAKER_04
It s like an outlet because you walk around with all these things sort of building up in your brain and just knowing you ve got the space.
2
SPEAKER_04
Yeah, it s really good.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_04
I m becoming more American and embracing therapy.
2
SPEAKER_01
I love that.
2
SPEAKER_04
And yeah, it helps you figure out what s holding you back as well, because sometimes you just walk along and you don t really understand what the thing is that isn t working.
3
SPEAKER_03
and having a therapist kind of take you through that and break it down, super helpful.
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That s BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash bird.
3
SPEAKER_03
All right, let s get back in here.
3
SPEAKER_03
As we spend the night getting scared, we started to think about real life scares.
3
SPEAKER_03
When I was living in New Zealand on my own in my apartment, I woke up at about one in the morning and I just saw a man standing like at the end of my bed.
3
SPEAKER_03
And okay, so spoiler alert, it was just a hat on like the edge of a shelf.
3
SPEAKER_03
But to me, it was a man and I lay there being like, okay, what do I do?
3
SPEAKER_06
I m alone in my apartment.
3
SPEAKER_03
because I was like just planning what to do.
3
SPEAKER_03
So what I did was I started yelling and screaming like a maniac and ran outside of the apartment onto the street.
3
SPEAKER_06
Yeah I get that.
3
SPEAKER_03
And that was my solution.
3
SPEAKER_06
And then you peeked back in and it was a hat.
3
SPEAKER_03
My technique was not to attack but just to yell and scream and run.
3
SPEAKER_03
Everyone has their own real-life scare stories.
3
SPEAKER_03
Everyone around us here tonight.
3
SPEAKER_03
Many of them much scarier than an outline of a hat in the dark.
3
SPEAKER_03
Scariest thing that s happened to you in your real life?
3
SPEAKER_03
A real-life scary thing?
3
SPEAKER_01
Monica tells me it s rude to question Americans about their health ailments, which, frankly, is fair enough.
3
SPEAKER_01
What is the worst way of dying, do you think?
3
SPEAKER_06
Um, underwater suffocation, I think.
3
SPEAKER_06
Like a car that gets underwater and you re stuck in that car.
3
SPEAKER_06
Oh my god.
3
SPEAKER_06
Also because I can t swim, you know, it s like this added element.
3
SPEAKER_03
I think mine is buried alive.
3
SPEAKER_03
The whole claustrophobia thing gets me every time.
3
SPEAKER_03
I don t mind having my head chopped off or something like that.
3
SPEAKER_03
That s okay.
3
SPEAKER_03
Quick and easy.
3
SPEAKER_05
It wouldn t be quick.
3
SPEAKER_05
They have to slowly chop it off.
3
SPEAKER_05
It would take a long time.
3
SPEAKER_03
It s not like a quick decapitation.
3
SPEAKER_03
Dying in general is a big fear of mine.
3
SPEAKER_03
I like to think that a night like this is some sort of catharsis around death.
3
SPEAKER_03
If you re going to get deep and meaningful, isn t that what it s about?
3
SPEAKER_03
Confronting death and surviving?
3
SPEAKER_06
I think so.
3
SPEAKER_06
I think it has to do with controlled fear.
3
SPEAKER_06
Most of our fears are uncontrollable, we don t know, but this is like, you know you re gonna be okay, really.
3
SPEAKER_03
We see signs to two haunted houses in front of us.
3
SPEAKER_03
We ve made it.
3
SPEAKER_03
The Last of Us is in front of us.
3
SPEAKER_03
And The Exorcist, because there s a new Exorcist film and that s very scary.
3
SPEAKER_03
What s scarier for you, possessions by a demon or zombies?
3
SPEAKER_06
Uh, possessions.
3
SPEAKER_06
I m not scared as I should never say that because I m obviously going to be so scared.
3
SPEAKER_06
It s scary if they make it scary where they get in your face and they re all bloody like that.
3
SPEAKER_03
I ve discovered that when Monica gets scared, she sounds a bit bossy.
3
SPEAKER_03
It s time to navigate the huge lines that have built up to the exorcist house.
3
SPEAKER_03
There s so many people here in line.
3
SPEAKER_03
Have you ever seen a line that thick?
3
SPEAKER_03
It s not just a line, it s a thick line of like 10 people wide.
3
SPEAKER_03
There s a buzz in the line.
3
SPEAKER_03
People are excited.
3
SPEAKER_03
Fizzing.
3
SPEAKER_03
Yasmin and Frankie look to be in their early 20s and they re pumped.
3
SPEAKER_03
What s your favorite thing about Halloween in America?
3
SPEAKER_04
Honestly, the thrill of it.
3
SPEAKER_04
It s just awesome.
3
SPEAKER_04
I feel like it s soul awakening, I guess.
3
SPEAKER_00
Honestly, I m an actor, so I studied film, so just looking into monsters and stuff like that, just growing up with it, I don t know, it just feels like home sometimes.
3
SPEAKER_00
You can watch Christmas movies or Thanksgiving movies, anything like that, but when it comes to Halloween movies, it s just...
3
SPEAKER_00
So amazing, you know, especially every year there s coming with original ideas, new ideas, remakes, reboots, requels, everything you got right there.
3
SPEAKER_00
It just makes it even better.
3
SPEAKER_03
I think it s something about it being dark, and the anticipation.
3
SPEAKER_03
I was worried about the strobes inside, about Monica s seizures, but she reckoned she ll be okay.
3
SPEAKER_03
I imagine if she did start seizing, people would just think it was part of the show.
3
SPEAKER_03
We can hear screams coming from inside, and eventually, it s our time to go into the exorcist house.
3
SPEAKER_03
Something scary is gripping my arm.
3
SPEAKER_03
Monica is gripping on tight.
3
SPEAKER_03
The house is full of gross stuff.
3
SPEAKER_03
Blood, dead animals.
3
SPEAKER_03
Monica says eww a lot.
3
SPEAKER_05
Eww!
3
SPEAKER_05
Oh God!
3
SPEAKER_03
Then the scares start coming thick and fast.
3
SPEAKER_03
Actors pounce from behind doors dressed as possessed victims.
3
SPEAKER_03
Monica s coming undone.
3
SPEAKER_03
Gripping my sound gear, I can dissociate a little.
3
SPEAKER_03
I m here to document.
3
SPEAKER_03
It makes me feel safe.
3
SPEAKER_03
But Monica s lost it.
3
SPEAKER_03
She s a hot mess.
3
SPEAKER_03
It s hot in these horror houses, and this year, they ve added some bad smells.
3
SPEAKER_03
We pass through a barn of some kind and it smells like a barn.
3
SPEAKER_03
It s visceral and it s hard not to lose yourself in it completely.
3
SPEAKER_03
But eventually, we emerge into the cool night air, both of us very much on edge.
3
SPEAKER_03
And that s our night, going in and out of haunted houses.
3
SPEAKER_03
Something called Holidays in Hell, and one based entirely around The Last of Us video game and TV show.
3
SPEAKER_03
And while each of these houses had its own unique, harrowing ways, when I reviewed the audio, it was all the same.
3
SPEAKER_03
In each house, it was just Monica screaming and yelling.
3
SPEAKER_01
You re being very brave, Monica.
3
SPEAKER_03
I yelled too.
3
SPEAKER_03
I wasn t immune.
3
SPEAKER_03
No!
3
SPEAKER_03
I hate leprechauns!
3
SPEAKER_03
From each house, we emerge hot and sweaty, but relieved.
3
SPEAKER_03
Relieved to be free.
3
SPEAKER_03
I m so sweaty, like my face is dripping.
3
SPEAKER_06
Oh my god, we did not dress appropriately.
3
SPEAKER_03
I d noticed another thing about Monica.
3
SPEAKER_03
She was getting annoyed at me for not protecting her.
3
SPEAKER_03
But what was I meant to do?
3
SPEAKER_03
Attack the monsters?
3
SPEAKER_03
Attack the actors?
3
SPEAKER_05
They need to stay back because if they on accident touch me I m suing.
3
SPEAKER_06
I m suing.
3
SPEAKER_06
This is your fault.
3
SPEAKER_06
You ll have to live with that.
3
SPEAKER_06
What will you do if I m dead tomorrow because of this?
3
SPEAKER_03
As we re talking about dying, a car with flashing lights passes by.
3
SPEAKER_03
There s another car following slowly.
3
SPEAKER_03
I wonder if someone s fainted or something.
3
SPEAKER_03
I mean, we re getting a little delirious.
3
SPEAKER_03
We re sweating so much from fear and running, and we haven t had any water or snacks.
3
SPEAKER_06
I know, I m exhausted.
3
SPEAKER_06
And I m hungry.
3
SPEAKER_03
As we stumble around trying to find some bad food and some water, one of the staff members starts talking to us, curious about the microphone.
3
SPEAKER_03
He s a young guy, gripping a brush and shovel.
3
SPEAKER_03
He s here to keep things clean.
3
SPEAKER_03
How s your night going?
3
SPEAKER_03
It s good, it s good.
3
SPEAKER_03
How s y all night going?
3
SPEAKER_03
It s going really well.
3
SPEAKER_03
What s the scariest thing you ve seen tonight, would you say, in your job?
3
SPEAKER_03
A fight with the scare actors right now.
3
SPEAKER_03
He just said, a fight with the scare actors right now.
3
SPEAKER_03
A sentence I didn t quite clock at first.
3
SPEAKER_03
He s saying that somehow a member of the public got into a fight with some of the actors tonight.
3
SPEAKER_03
What Monika and I had been thinking about earlier.
3
SPEAKER_03
I guess this is why we saw those flashing lights.
3
SPEAKER_02
Fight?
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
What happened?
3
SPEAKER_02
This scary actor, he was fighting with another person because he got scared too much in the maze.
3
SPEAKER_02
And he didn t expect it, but yeah, it was another fight, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
Like a fight or a fright?
3
SPEAKER_02
A fight, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
Like fists?
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, punchy, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
We had to break it up, and yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
It was a whole big thing, bro.
3
SPEAKER_02
A whole big thing.
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah you broke up a fight tonight.
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah I did yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
Who came out on top the actor or the scared tourist?
3
SPEAKER_02
I think the actor because like security jumped on him so yeah they just drove off dude yeah.
3
SPEAKER_06
because people can t control themselves when they re scared.
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, it does.
3
SPEAKER_02
It does happen a lot, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
It s like, it just happens regularly.
3
SPEAKER_02
I m surprised, but working here, yeah, it happens often.
3
SPEAKER_02
Especially this time, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
Well, you, sir, are a hero.
3
SPEAKER_02
You broke up that fight.
3
SPEAKER_02
You re a good man.
3
SPEAKER_02
You re keeping everything clean.
3
SPEAKER_02
It s so nice to meet you.
3
SPEAKER_02
Nice to meet you guys.
3
SPEAKER_02
I ll definitely follow your podcast, guys.
3
SPEAKER_02
You guys are cool, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
Have a good night, man.
3
SPEAKER_02
You too.
3
SPEAKER_03
And with that fight in mind, fights that happen often apparently, we head into Monica s version of hell, the Chucky haunted house, the ultimate wily, demented child.
3
SPEAKER_03
Maybe I ll have to fight him off.
3
SPEAKER_06
I m actually, I m pretty nervous about whatever nightmares I m going to have tonight.
3
SPEAKER_06
After all of this, what are my dreams going to be?
3
SPEAKER_06
Ugh.
3
SPEAKER_03
Chucky was birthed in America in 1988, thanks to a horror film called Child s Play.
4
SPEAKER_02
In the movie, a widow buys a doll for her son.
4
SPEAKER_02
Little does she know the doll is possessed by a dead serial killer.
4
SPEAKER_02
Bad luck for the kid and nearly everyone else in the film besides Chucky.
4
SPEAKER_02
And so with that in mind, we walk into Monica s worst nightmare.
4
SPEAKER_01
Just because their eyes are weird.
4
SPEAKER_01
They re like glass marbly eyes.
4
SPEAKER_02
In the line, she s not alone in her fears.
4
SPEAKER_01
I don t know, just I don t like the idea of like a small little person like chasing me.
4
SPEAKER_02
Suddenly, Monica has a revelation about horror, and about haunted houses, and about why fear can be sort of special.
4
SPEAKER_01
Were everyone sharing the exact same emotion?
4
SPEAKER_01
It feels good, it feels very unifying.
4
SPEAKER_02
I think that s part of it, because if you re afraid on your own, it s horrific, but being afraid with a group,
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, there s something that s like, oh, we re all in this together.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it s kind of beautiful.
4
SPEAKER_01
Chucky.
4
SPEAKER_01
First time and last time I ll ever say that.
4
SPEAKER_01
And with that... I have to take a deep breath.
4
SPEAKER_02
We do the final haunted house.
4
SPEAKER_02
Stop it!
4
SPEAKER_02
And yes, there is violence in there.
4
SPEAKER_02
Violence against me.
4
SPEAKER_02
This haunted house has turned Monica full feral.
4
SPEAKER_02
She s in survival mode.
4
SPEAKER_02
And you know what?
4
SPEAKER_02
She survives.
4
SPEAKER_02
We emerge alive.
4
SPEAKER_02
Monica, you did really, really, really well.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thanks.
4
SPEAKER_01
I feel depleted.
4
SPEAKER_02
I feel like you faced one of your greatest fears and you came out the other side a bigger person.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thank you.
4
SPEAKER_01
I ll take it.
4
SPEAKER_01
I ll take it.
4
SPEAKER_01
Not any help by you.
4
SPEAKER_02
I tapped your shoulder one time to make sure you re okay and you lashed out at me.
4
SPEAKER_01
You tapped my shoulder to scare me.
4
SPEAKER_02
Chicken tap.
4
SPEAKER_02
And you hit me with violence.
4
SPEAKER_02
You used violence.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah I did.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I will.
4
SPEAKER_01
I ll continue to.
4
SPEAKER_02
That was fun.
4
SPEAKER_01
I m glad you brought us here.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thank you.
4
SPEAKER_02
Happy Halloween!
4
SPEAKER_01
Happy Halloween!
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, you instigated that.
4
SPEAKER_01
At the most extreme time of fear, you poked me literally and figuratively, and then you tried to claim it was a protective nudge.
4
SPEAKER_00
It was a protective nudge.
4
SPEAKER_01
There s no such thing.
4
SPEAKER_01
What is that?
4
SPEAKER_01
What s a protective nudge?
4
SPEAKER_00
That s not a thing.
4
SPEAKER_00
While you re afraid of someone accidentally grabbing you, he grabs you.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yes.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thank you, Rob.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, it was an amazing reaction.
4
SPEAKER_02
And I got to see a new side of you.
4
SPEAKER_01
The truth is, I will stick up for myself.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, absolutely.
4
SPEAKER_01
If someone attacks, I ll punch.
4
SPEAKER_02
I m still blown away by the revelation we had in there from someone who wrote at Universal who says fights are not uncommon.
4
SPEAKER_02
They happen.
4
SPEAKER_02
And it s exactly what you were talking about.
4
SPEAKER_02
The idea of people getting too scared and maybe lashing out or something happening that goes down.
4
SPEAKER_01
When we have psychologists on who say that you re in your reptile brain, your amygdala, that is what s happening when your fear level is so high.
4
SPEAKER_02
Totally.
4
SPEAKER_02
And you just lash out.
4
SPEAKER_01
Your frontal lobe is offline.
4
SPEAKER_01
So you almost, you can t even get in trouble or be responsible for having that sort of reaction.
4
SPEAKER_02
I always remember when I worked in the newsroom, I witnessed the most incredible thing, and I ll often debate the merits of both sides with friends, but my buddy was sitting, really concentrating at his computer, he s typing away, and a colleague came up behind him, wet her finger, and gave him what s called a wet willy.
4
SPEAKER_02
Have we talked about wet willies in regards to the- We haven t.
4
SPEAKER_00
Oh, we haven t?
4
SPEAKER_00
We haven t.
4
SPEAKER_02
I thought maybe we got into this when I cracked the egg on Rosabelle s head about the idea of what constitutes a soul and what s friendship in a joke.
4
SPEAKER_02
But anyway, the wet willy was a thing.
4
SPEAKER_02
Did you have wet willies?
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, we have them in America.
4
SPEAKER_02
So I watched this happen and she gave Dan a wet willy and
4
SPEAKER_02
And his lizard brain kicked in.
4
SPEAKER_02
He just got a fright.
4
SPEAKER_02
He was full of rage.
4
SPEAKER_02
I just remember him getting up and she saw what she d activated in him and just fucking ran.
4
SPEAKER_02
And this person let out a roar and just chased her.
4
SPEAKER_02
And this chase, fortunately, the chase deflated the lizard brain.
4
SPEAKER_02
It s not like he got up and lashed out, but it was a really amazing chase.
4
SPEAKER_02
I think it s so interesting because obviously the wet willy was a bad move.
4
SPEAKER_02
You can t do that.
4
SPEAKER_02
Nope.
4
SPEAKER_02
Certainly not in today s world, but also you can t chase someone aggressively screaming.
4
SPEAKER_01
But this is where we get into self-defense and I get conflicted, I guess.
4
SPEAKER_02
You can t shove your finger in someone s ear.
4
SPEAKER_01
You definitely can t.
4
SPEAKER_01
And then you can t be a victim when the person has a reaction to that.
4
SPEAKER_02
I agree.
4
SPEAKER_02
I agree.
4
SPEAKER_02
Cause it is this lizard brain.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_01
They re not thinking, they re acting out of fight or flight.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, completely.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s immediate reaction though.
4
SPEAKER_00
If he s going to chase her, I feel like lizard brain is gone at that point.
4
SPEAKER_00
If it was like a quick turn and elbow or something, then I feel like lizard brain.
4
SPEAKER_02
I think to be fair, the chase as he was running, it lessened the lizard brain.
4
SPEAKER_02
It s not like he caught her and got into a huge fight.
4
SPEAKER_01
His reaction was to get up and get her.
4
SPEAKER_02
Just attack.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_02
It s funny.
4
SPEAKER_02
You re reminded you re something you are this like back in caveman days and you re just like, ah.
4
SPEAKER_01
We are animals.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, no, we are.
4
SPEAKER_02
We think we re all ahead of that, but we re really not.
4
SPEAKER_02
God, and not to take it here, because this is- It s a good sign.
4
SPEAKER_01
This is bad.
4
SPEAKER_02
You know what?
4
SPEAKER_01
This is why we have to train our law enforcement so specifically, because they are in fearful situations all the time, and they cannot act out of their lizard brain.
4
SPEAKER_02
Well, no, I think that s why it s so crazy to me because I always find the police here so scary because they carry weapons.
4
SPEAKER_02
In New Zealand, some carry guns now, but mostly it s tasers.
4
SPEAKER_02
But New Zealand is always stories of like that lizard brain kicking in and you suddenly fire a taser off and like people screw things up.
4
SPEAKER_01
Obviously, America has so many issues in our law enforcement in this way where people are shooting people.
4
SPEAKER_02
Oh, you re suddenly in these situations where, yeah, it s all on.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, you are, I guess, having to deal with your lizard brain activating.
4
SPEAKER_02
It s not like you can intellectually go in there and sort everything out.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_01
And a lot of people, I think, think it s just a hundred percent racism.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I, race is a huge factor here and it s underlying even when people don t know it.
4
SPEAKER_01
But part of it is, I don t think they re necessarily trained to turn that amygdala off.
4
SPEAKER_01
There must be a way to, maybe it s just what they, no one should have guns.
4
SPEAKER_01
I mean, that really could be the answer.
4
SPEAKER_01
It seems to be the answer in all these other countries.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I think it would be a big help.
4
SPEAKER_02
I guess that s why they have those crazy courses where you re meant to run through reacting to targets.
4
SPEAKER_02
You see like the good guy pop up and then you see the bad guy pop up and you ve got to choose.
4
SPEAKER_02
And that seems like something you have to like really train for.
4
SPEAKER_02
Just desensitization.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, basically.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_01
I mean, another bad place to take it.
4
SPEAKER_01
This is sad, but I had the thought.
4
SPEAKER_01
I want to ask you if you had the thought when we were there, there could be a shooting here.
4
SPEAKER_02
Always.
4
SPEAKER_02
That s the unfortunate thing about- Crowds, anytime we re in a crowd now.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, it is.
4
SPEAKER_02
That s the world we live in that I guess when I was a kid, I d never think about in America or back in New Zealand.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, crowds feel scary.
4
SPEAKER_02
I just came back from a film festival and I was sitting in a theater a lot of the day.
4
SPEAKER_02
You look for exits, right?
4
SPEAKER_02
It s that really sad universe we live in.
4
SPEAKER_02
And at Universal, you are, I think that s probably part of the fear is like in those houses, you are closed in and the only exit is into another scary room.
4
SPEAKER_02
And that feels
4
SPEAKER_01
If you let your brain go there, you can feel very trapped.
4
SPEAKER_01
And if something bad were to happen, there s no chance for me.
4
SPEAKER_01
And also because it s all scary sounds and it s loud and it could go down.
4
SPEAKER_02
One of the most surreal things, there was a band called the Eagles of Death Metal, and they played at the venue of Sabata Clan.
4
SPEAKER_02
There was basically a shooting at that gig, and the band hid, and traumatic, people died, horrific.
4
SPEAKER_02
Knew the drummer at that show, poor Eagles of Death Metal.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, right.
4
SPEAKER_02
The singer ended up in New Zealand, Jesse Hughes.
4
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I mean, that really messed with him.
4
SPEAKER_02
And I ran into him in New Zealand through mutual friends and he was, this was months after, and he was just a complete wreck.
4
SPEAKER_02
And I think just every show now for anyone in that band, that s never going to leave you, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
Never.
4
SPEAKER_02
That s like the most extreme version of it all.
4
SPEAKER_01
Of trauma.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_02
And yeah, and he just wanted some weed just to calm down.
4
SPEAKER_02
Like that s what he needed.
4
SPEAKER_02
And he was just in a fucking state.
4
SPEAKER_01
Well, that s the real scary stuff for you.
4
SPEAKER_00
I m glad we went there.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it s Halloween.
4
SPEAKER_00
Is your fear of Chucky gone?
4
SPEAKER_01
Great question.
4
SPEAKER_01
No.
4
SPEAKER_00
I was considering having Vincent dress as Chucky for Halloween, but Natalie vetoed it.
5
SPEAKER_00
Very adamantly.
5
SPEAKER_03
No, absolutely not.
5
SPEAKER_03
Because what if someone punches him?
5
SPEAKER_00
Well, not the scary version.
5
SPEAKER_00
There s no not scary version.
5
SPEAKER_00
Overalls and a rainbow sweater with orange hair.
5
SPEAKER_00
That s still scary.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s triggering.
5
SPEAKER_03
It is.
5
SPEAKER_03
And then if someone punches your kid, that s on you.
5
SPEAKER_00
He s going to be running around.
5
SPEAKER_03
Oh, God.
5
SPEAKER_03
OK, I m really glad she said no to that.
5
SPEAKER_01
It was really fun doing A Haunted House with you.
5
SPEAKER_01
I loved listening to the audio back.
5
SPEAKER_01
And I was, originally it was this episode, I was like, we re gonna like take the audience through each haunted house.
5
SPEAKER_01
But listening to all of them, literally, it all sounds the same.
5
SPEAKER_01
It s the same.
5
SPEAKER_01
Just a load of screaming.
5
SPEAKER_03
Just a lot of me being really, really scared.
5
SPEAKER_03
I wanna know, how scared were you really?
5
SPEAKER_03
Because you put on a brave face and I think you did channel your,
5
SPEAKER_03
fear into amusement over my fear.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, you were a big help for me.
5
SPEAKER_01
But no, I definitely, I was scared.
5
SPEAKER_01
Like my heart rate was up.
5
SPEAKER_01
I was super sweaty.
5
SPEAKER_01
There were actors that would, when you d go through a door into a new room, they would often come out from behind you as you went in.
5
SPEAKER_01
And I found that horrific.
5
SPEAKER_01
And I was hunching down and you didn t see any of it.
5
SPEAKER_01
I was yelling as well.
5
SPEAKER_01
I just had the mic on you.
5
SPEAKER_01
So I came out really, for the audience, very brave, but I was yelling, but I just didn t have the mic close to my face.
5
SPEAKER_03
Right.
5
SPEAKER_03
In the first Haunted House, we were a pair.
5
SPEAKER_03
You know, we went in together and we felt like a team.
5
SPEAKER_03
By the end, you were many steps behind me, just trying to gather my audio.
5
SPEAKER_00
Using you as a shield.
5
SPEAKER_03
Exactly.
5
SPEAKER_03
As I predicted, leaving me in the lurch.
5
SPEAKER_03
So I was correct in my fear.
5
SPEAKER_01
And actually, that s really important.
5
SPEAKER_01
You went in first into most of those rooms, and that is true bravery.
5
SPEAKER_01
I was behind.
5
SPEAKER_01
And so that is where the coward typically goes.
5
SPEAKER_03
It was for the sake of the show.
5
SPEAKER_03
Otherwise, I never, I would have said, you definitely have to go first.
5
SPEAKER_03
I m not going.
5
SPEAKER_03
I can t be peer pressured either.
5
SPEAKER_03
So I m surprised I even did this.
5
SPEAKER_03
I m proud of myself.
5
SPEAKER_01
Just finally, we all have to watch some scary movies together.
5
SPEAKER_01
Australian movie, which I keep lecturing you about.
5
SPEAKER_01
Talk to me.
5
SPEAKER_01
I think we all finally need to watch that together.
5
SPEAKER_01
Super scary.
5
SPEAKER_01
And I also really want you to watch this horror called The Descent about these female cavers that go underground and some shit happens.
5
SPEAKER_01
Female empowerment, really fun scares.
5
SPEAKER_01
And I think if you want to get into horror beyond The Nun and those franchise ones, I reckon it s going to be one for you.
5
SPEAKER_03
I texted you because my friend and I once watched Scream together, the newest Scream.
5
SPEAKER_03
We had planned to have like a scary movie night.
5
SPEAKER_03
We watched that.
5
SPEAKER_03
We re both really scared.
5
SPEAKER_03
So it went horribly and we had to stop it multiple times.
5
SPEAKER_03
We took her dog out and when we were taking the dog out, we opened the door and there was a person there coming in and we just screamed in their face.
5
SPEAKER_01
Gave them a massive fright.
5
SPEAKER_03
We did, we did.
5
SPEAKER_03
And then we had to say, sorry, we were watching a scary movie.
5
SPEAKER_03
And anyway, so we decided we re going to do it again this season and watch something scary.
5
SPEAKER_03
And I asked for your advice.
5
SPEAKER_01
You know, the descent is what I would recommend.
5
SPEAKER_01
There s another thing, just that lift thing reminds me, at that film festival I was talking about, I was staying in a motel, and every day I d be in the lift.
5
SPEAKER_01
Ice machines everywhere, by the way.
5
SPEAKER_01
But I have a thing, and I think it s because I m... I don t know what it is.
5
SPEAKER_01
I think I m tall, and maybe I m a bit quiet, but often when the lift door would open, and someone would be waiting outside, they d look up.
5
SPEAKER_01
I d always give them a fright.
5
SPEAKER_01
Really?
5
SPEAKER_01
And it really, like, got to my ego a bit, because I m like, when you, like, the door opens,
5
SPEAKER_01
And another human looks at you and they jump.
5
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, they re scared of you.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that happened to me quite a bit this week.
5
SPEAKER_01
And it was really starting to get to me.
5
SPEAKER_01
And it s actually affected me now because every morning I go for like a walk, an early morning walk to get a coffee.
5
SPEAKER_01
And it s because I walk so fast, I ll sometimes overtake people.
5
SPEAKER_01
And that can scare people sometimes when there s suddenly a big guy walking up.
5
SPEAKER_01
So I m now crossing the road in advance if I m having to walk past people.
5
SPEAKER_01
It s made me really scared of me being scary.
5
SPEAKER_03
Wait, that s very conscientious of you.
5
SPEAKER_03
And it s a ding, ding, ding to an episode of Synced.
5
SPEAKER_03
I really appreciate you because I was just saying I want men to be a little more aware of
5
SPEAKER_03
their presence when they re around women, or especially like one woman walking by themselves.
5
SPEAKER_03
Don t come up behind a small woman or any woman walking by herself and just come up behind and walk around.
5
SPEAKER_03
That s scary.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, 100%.
5
SPEAKER_01
And the other thing that factors in in today s world is we ve all got ear pods in.
5
SPEAKER_01
Exactly.
5
SPEAKER_01
So usually I ll whistle or like walk away.
5
SPEAKER_01
So they sort of look and see that I m approaching.
5
SPEAKER_03
Or like make a big stomping noise.
5
SPEAKER_03
Make a big stomping noise.
5
SPEAKER_03
I ve done that too.
5
SPEAKER_01
But that doesn t happen now because people are in the world.
5
SPEAKER_01
So you re the only option, because I have long legs and I just tend to like, you ve seen me walk around the neighborhood.
5
SPEAKER_01
I look like, I m just walking so fast.
5
SPEAKER_03
You re on a mission.
5
SPEAKER_01
Footpaths here are quite narrow.
5
SPEAKER_01
So yeah, I will just cross the street because there s nothing, again, there s nothing worse.
5
SPEAKER_01
It s like that lift thing.
5
SPEAKER_01
There s nothing worse than walking past a woman and she like jumps because you re like, fuck,
5
SPEAKER_01
Cause you clock the mentality that you re walking around with a lot of the time, which is I might get attacked, which is a mindset I don t have because I m big and tall and probably stupid.
5
SPEAKER_01
So I m just not thinking about it.
5
SPEAKER_01
So yeah, I crossed the road.
5
SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_03
Well, maybe at this film festival, people had been in, maybe they d been watching scary stuff.
5
SPEAKER_01
But that doesn t make me feel better.
5
SPEAKER_01
I don t want people to look at me and jump.
5
SPEAKER_03
I know, I know.
5
SPEAKER_01
I want people to look at me and smile or laugh.
5
SPEAKER_01
Laughter s not great either.
5
SPEAKER_01
I d rather have a jump than a laugh.
5
SPEAKER_03
Yeah, see?
5
SPEAKER_03
No, people are just on edge because they ve been watching scary stuff.
5
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
5
SPEAKER_03
So don t take it personally.
5
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
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SPEAKER_03
Also, two things.
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SPEAKER_03
One, you just talked about walking fast and on this trip to Universal, you noticed that I also walk fast.
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SPEAKER_03
You gave me a compliment.
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SPEAKER_01
It was great to walk with you.
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SPEAKER_01
I m so used to walking with people and I m like, Oh God, hurry up.
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SPEAKER_01
Great walker.
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SPEAKER_01
Great speed.
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SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_03
You commented on that.
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SPEAKER_03
And let s take a moment since we re talking about scary stuff to talk about your movie.
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SPEAKER_03
The reason you went to the film festival.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah, Mr. Organ.
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SPEAKER_01
It s been out for a little bit now.
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SPEAKER_01
It might still be at some theaters, still playing.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah, and it s funny because it s a documentary, but it s played over the last couple of months in quite a few horror festivals, which is very funny.
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SPEAKER_02
because he s scary.
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SPEAKER_01
He is scary.
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SPEAKER_02
He s a real life scary.
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SPEAKER_01
But yeah, Mr. Organ, it s out in the world.
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SPEAKER_01
So if you re in a city that has an Alamo or like an indie theater, check it might be playing.
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SPEAKER_01
Check it out.
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SPEAKER_01
Thanks, Monica.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_01
We watched that like a long time ago.
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SPEAKER_01
We did.
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SPEAKER_02
It s great.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_01
Scary.
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SPEAKER_01
It is a bit scary.
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SPEAKER_01
People are
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SPEAKER_01
Real life, I always say this, real life is always scarier than anything you could make up.
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SPEAKER_02
Except Calvin as Chucky, that s the scariest.
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SPEAKER_01
Vincent as Chucky.
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SPEAKER_03
Oh!
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SPEAKER_03
Imagine Vincent.
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SPEAKER_03
Oh, okay.
5
SPEAKER_03
Vincent as Chucky is a little better than Calvin as Chucky.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, it was gonna be Vincent as Chucky.
5
SPEAKER_00
Okay.
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SPEAKER_00
Because he is that age.
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SPEAKER_01
You re like, Calvin could be with a knife, could be an evil kid, right?
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SPEAKER_03
He could get demented.
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SPEAKER_03
I think Vincent s a little too young to get demented.
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SPEAKER_00
That was my opinion.
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SPEAKER_03
Okay.
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SPEAKER_00
We need to talk about Calvin.
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SPEAKER_03
I think you still need to air on with caution.
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SPEAKER_03
Have you ever been worried that Calvin, because this is real, like if you have kids, do you ever think what if they re- What if he goes bad?
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SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_00
Not with Calvin.
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SPEAKER_01
He s like too sweet.
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SPEAKER_01
Because he s so sweet.
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SPEAKER_00
He is freaking sweet.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_01
He really is.
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SPEAKER_01
There s no, if all the kids, your kids are the ones that aren t going to go nuts.
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SPEAKER_00
Maybe Vincent.
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SPEAKER_03
I don t know.
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SPEAKER_01
We don t know yet.
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SPEAKER_03
Well, if you put him in Chucky, maybe he ll, he ll love it.
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SPEAKER_01
Excited.
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SPEAKER_01
There s a little shimmies.
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SPEAKER_01
Oh yeah.
5
SPEAKER_01
Feeling this.
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SPEAKER_03
Oh man.
5
SPEAKER_03
All right.
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SPEAKER_03
Well, this was super fun.
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SPEAKER_03
Happy Halloween.
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SPEAKER_03
We did it.
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SPEAKER_03
Field trips are really fun.
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SPEAKER_03
And also holidays cause they re markers.
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SPEAKER_03
We ve done this show.
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SPEAKER_03
We know for over a year, cause we had a Halloween episode last year.
5
SPEAKER_01
Halloween part three next year, I m really keen to go along to one of the hell houses, where the super intense Christians put on these haunted houses through what they fear, and that s a whole cultural thing that I really want to get into.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s like gay people.
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SPEAKER_01
Instead of Chucky, it s a room full of gays.
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SPEAKER_01
It s so ridiculous, and I really want to go there and just figure out what is going on in their heads.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yes, oh wow.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that s my goal.
5
SPEAKER_03
All right.
5
SPEAKER_03
Well, I hope everyone has a happy Halloween.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_01
Happy Halloween.
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SPEAKER_01
Don t have any razor blades in the apples.
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SPEAKER_01
Don t.
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SPEAKER_01
Eat all the candy.
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SPEAKER_01
Eat all the candy.
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SPEAKER_01
And don t lash out if a friend tries to, like, touch your shoulder to offer you help.
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SPEAKER_02
Stick up for yourself.
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SPEAKER_01
Bye.
5
SPEAKER_02
Bye.