We’re still recovering from the late hour but without a doubt, it was so worth it.  Josh and Kenny really put together a first class tribute here worthy of being a pitch to a full length prequel for the original franchise.  At the very least, the tribute would be great as an extra on the next edition of the “Halloween” DVD.

Any body of work is always more than just a sum of the parts but in this case, many parts alone are well worth mentioning.  One of those parts was a major issue that had to be overcome with filming in rural North Carolina as opposed to California.  In the original “Halloween”, Haddonfield, Illinois is a suburban area with neat little rows of middle class houses, where everyone in the neighborhood knows one another.  In Judith, Kenny and Josh do an excellent job of transitioning the viewers mind to the fact that Haddonfield may very well be in a rural area.  In fact, that transition even lends more to the spooky factor.  The very first part of the film is a collection of imagery that really accomplishes the task without effort.  There’s a scarecrow in a field made of hay rolls, a blinking portable arrow sign with Halloween wishes for Haddonfield.  Further reinforcing the rural believability is D’arcy Mims bouncing down the backroads barefoot in an older pickup.  Coming from a rural area, I can personally attest to having seen this very scene many times.

The dialogue between D’arcy and Deborah Myers feels natural, much as you would expect a teen/friends Mom conversation to go.  The viewer introduction to Judith and her initial interaction with D’arcy was very inventive. From there, we are introduced to an angry Michael Myers as the story defines him as a troubled young man relegated to living in the attic. All of that simmers together and is served up in a dish of bloody horror goodness.

To say I loved Judith would be an understatement.  Judith forced me to reevaluate the way I have enjoyed other remakes.  I tend to be a purist with regards to the classic horror movies.  To touch something as beholden as a “Halloween” takes guts and to change something from the original takes something much stronger.  I have to admit, I enjoyed and appreciated the development of Judith as she was let to the gallows.  I would have to say, I enjoyed Judith’s passing more in this outing than I did in the John Carpenter original.

I had originally not been a huge fan of Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” but, I have to say, given my incredible enjoyment of “Judith”, I have committed to shedding my purist attitude and rewatching “Halloween” with a fresh perspective.  It’s next in my rental queue!

Our evening with Judith was a fun night to say the least.  In addition to finally having a chance to meet Kenny and Josh, we met Greg and his lovely wife from over at The Creepture Feature Horror Show Podcast.  They are super nice folks.  Greg does the show with a friend of his and they are just getting started so if you like horror (and who doesn’t), check them out.  Another of the high points of the night was the refreshments.  Swank Cake Designs created a cool cake for the event.  I have to say, it was the most amazing thing I have ever eaten in my 40+ years of eating on this planet.  I want to have an event good enough to need a cake like this one day.  ;)

If you have the good fortune to be near where “Judith: A Halloween Tribute Short Film“, I urge you to take advantage of it.  It’s really a great fan tribute to the greatest franchise in the history of Horror.  Great Job Kenny and Josh!  Also a great job goes out to the awesome cast.  Sarah Stephenson who brought Judith Myers to life, Ana Gilmore who played D’arcy Mims, Barbara Weetman playing Deborah Myers, Tara Nicole Azarian playing Jamie Perry and, of course, Michael Myers himself played by Alex Fisher.

Thanks again to Kenny and Josh for having us out and it was great chatting with you guys afterwards at the Myers House NC.  Cool House Kenny!

2010 Parawards

What could be said besides WOW?  The 2010 Spooktalkular Parawards were an incredible success.  The chatroom was packed with our regular listeners as well as a bunch of the GAC family to cheer along Zak and ‘Ghost Adventures’ to an incredible win.  Both captured over 78% of the fan vote in their categories.

Here’s the press release going out shortly:

FIRST ANNUAL SPOOKTALKULAR PARAWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Ashland, Kentucky, USA – March 5, 2010 – After a brisk two month vote, fans have selected the winners of the 2010 First Annual Spooktalkular Parawards.  Listed below are the winners.

Spooktalkular Parawards Winners (2010)

• Paranormal Reality Series Best Male – Zak Bagans (Ghost Adventures – Travel Channel)
• Paranormal Reality Series Best Female – Kris Williams (Ghost Hunters – SyFy)
• Best Paranormal Reality Series – Ghost Adventures (Travel Channel)
• Best New Paranormal Reality Series – Psychic Kids/Children of the Paranormal (A&E)
• Paranormal Drama Series Best Male – Jensen Ackles (Supernatural – CW)
• Paranormal Drama Series Best Female – Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer – CBS)
• Best Paranormal Drama Series – Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
• Best Horror or Thriller Movie – Paranormal Activity (Blumhouse Productions)

The Parawards were conceived by Spooktalkular hosts, Frank and Laura Chambers in 2008 to compliment the Spooktalkular podcast.  Nominees for the eight categories were selected in early January with Internet voting by the fans running through the end of February.

Spooktalkular is an Internet podcast hosted by husband and wife team Frank and Laura.  The show first aired in July of 2008 to discuss paranormal topics ranging from ghost hunting television shows to UFOs and just about everything in between.  The show is netcast live on Sunday nights at 6:00PM Eastern at www.spooktalkular.com.  Immediately after the live netcast, archives are available on iTunes, by RSS feed or directly from the website at www.spooktalkular.com.

For more information about Spooktalkular or the 2010 Parawards, contact Frank at frank@spooktalkular.com.

Again, incredible night.  Thanks to everyone, especially MissBree29 for everything.  As promised during the show, the link for the Nick Groff interview is http://www.spooktalkular.com/2009/07/20/spooktalkular-episode-026/.  Be gentle, keep in mind, that was 27 episodes ago.  I’d like to think we’ve gotten a little better.  ;)

Our good friend Mark Hayden won “My Bloody Valentine” in the February “I Heart My Bloody Valentine” contest.  Thanks to all that entered!  Look for an awesome new contest to be announced soon!

Tonights Independent Music Break featured the music “We Are One” by Dash the Assassin!

Join us Sunday March 14th at 6:00PM Eastern when we’ll be talking with Ken Livingston himself along with some of the gang from the awesome web series ParaAbnormal.

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Episode 52 was probably one of the most anticipated Spooktalkular episodes since we started and I really feel like we didn’t disappoint.  Kenny Caperton and Josh Hasty join us for a full hour warm up for the premiere of “Judith” A Halloween Tribute Short Film next weekend.  In addition to “Judith”, we talked about Josh’s incredible project “A Mannequin In Static” which we loved.  Films like AMIS really underscore what we love about independent films.  You can feel the passion for the project from everyone involved.

A special thanks goes out to Mark Hayden  and Jake Wheat for all their hard work.  With Mark’s graphics and Jake’s theme design, the site has never looked better.

Our independent music breaks tonight featured “We Are One” by Dash the Assassin and “Disconnect Me” by Hydrovibe.  Always support independent music!

Be sure to join us Friday March 5th at 8:00PM Eastern when we will be doing a live show for the Spooktalkular Parawards!

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With all the changes lately, it got me thinking of how our good friend Pottsie the Ghost has changed over the years.  Just like you and I look much different than we did a few short years ago, Pottsie has change styles some also as he has struggled to find his identity.

Pottsie on day one!

Pottsie looked a little plain when we started.  Much like a newborn baby.  As Pottsie grew into his youth, he entered a video game phase.

Pac-Man Pottsie

Pottsie resembled a Pac-Man ghost during this phase of his life.  He could have been rebelling since at this point, he still didn’t have a permanent name.  Once Pottsie was named, he sort of matured and became the mascot we always wanted.

Pottsie Grown Up

At this point, he’s all grown up.  It’s been great watching our little mascot Pottsie grow into what he is today.  Much as Laura and I have grown, the entire show has just matured and has become something that we can be proud of.  Thank you all for being a part of it.

What more can be said besides Wow!!!?  Our good friend Jake Wheat sat down and made the PERFECT theme to work with the graphics that Mark Hayden has been doing lately.  My graphics and design talent in general is even less than my vocal talent so up until today, we would surf themes until we found something that kinda fit but never really did.  We always just settled for something close.

The Spooktalkular or Franken-Laura theme as Jake affectionatly called it is spot-on for the mood and feel that I always wanted to convey.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!

Again, a special thanks to Jake Wheat for his incredible new theme!  It makes us so happy that we have so many friends who want to help us out!

In the famous words of Heather O’Rourke, “They’re Here” and by they, I’m sure she meant Spooktalkular.  We are back and moved to Sunday nights.  For our first Sunday night show, we were joined by the incredibly talented Poet and Author, Lanaia Lee.  We started off with a reading of one of her poems “Residual” as read by Victor Aurelius.  From there, we went on to talk about the Crystal Skulls, Atlantis, Edgar Cayce and so much more.  Thirty minutes wasn’t nearly long enough with this incredibly interesting lady.  Be sure to check out her book series “Of Atlantis“.  She says she won’t quit until she’s on a best sellers list.  Let’s help her get there and then not let her quit.  ;)

To find out more about Lanaia, go to her website http://www.lanaiaslair.com/

She and Victor do a show on blogtalk which you can find at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/viktoraurelius or on his NING site at http://whispersinthedark.ning.com/

Our independent music break featured the music “The Forgotten” by Josef Karl Gunnersson from his 2008 album “Retrograde!”.

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I know that we haven’t finished tonights show but I wanted to go ahead and tell about what we have planned for next week.  We have Josh Hastey and Kenny Caperton from the new film “Judith”, a Halloween Tribute Short Film.  This film will be premiering on March 6th and it looks incredible.  Be sure to join us Sunday February 28th at 6:00PM for an evening of Halloween.

As you know, we didn’t do an episode on Monday night.  It was our last Monday and I was running behind with the 30th blizzard of 2010 so we decided to do it next Sunday on our new night and time.  Our good friend Mark Hayden created us a couple of banners to use.  First off, to remind everyone of Sunday, check this one out!

In prep for our episode, Mark also did us an incredibly cool Saw themed banner.  Man, I wish I had an ounce of the talent that he has.  ;)

Thanks again Mark!  We really appreciate your hard work!  Be sure to join us on Sunday the 21st at 6:00PM for our first Spooktalkular Live on Sunday.

It’s not often that I commit ink to paper, or in this case, bits to bytes in an effort to comment on something I see on the net.  ’ParaAbnormal’ is one of those projects that just is so good, it makes you want to tell everyone.  Typically, I don’t watch a lot of web series.  Now, there are some exceptions like ‘Chad Vader’ and my sometimes getaway ‘Red State Update’ but for the most part, they really can’t hold my interest.

In the first episode of ‘ParaAbnormal’, they investigate a Ghostly Sex Tape and it only gets better from there.  Each “Case” is a series of three to six minute webisodes which leave you wanting more.  But, in a good way.  Think “Reno 911″.

‘ParaAbnormal’ has a certain chemistry between the cast.  Ken Livingston, the lead runs a Ghost Hunting group out of his Mother’s house.  A fact he is quick to qualify with the belief that there’s nothing wrong with it.  The cute as hell psychic Wendy is the obvious object of Ken’s obsession.  Joe the gruff guy, Tony the Exorcist and Bunky the Skeptic all round out the cast and each add something magical that makes the series work.

The performance by the incredible cast is matched only by the awesome production value of the video.  This series could EASILY be a hit series on a major network with zero rework.

Give it a try and be sure to let them know if you like it.  You can catch episodes linked on their website at www.paraabnormal.tv.  Be sure to check them out on Facebook and twitter as well.

A very, very special thanks goes out to one of our incredible listeners Mr. Mark Hayden.  Mark created a very nice new banner which if you look up, you’ll see it at the top of the page.

Spooktalkular Banner by Mark Hayden

Thanks Mark!  We appreciate the hard work!