Episode 39: Halloween

Ahhh, Halloween...means we're trekking along through 1996's episodes at a good clip.

For Halloween that year there's not a whole lot that just blew me away, causing the episode to be filed under "It's alright".

There's six smaller acts this time around, covering people who work in haunted houses and look to scare people, and why. There's the talk of how fear is related to sexual desires and those stinkin' screams that popped up on an earlier episode (and, frankly, just freaked me out).

There are two acts that are noteworthy, atleast. The first act is about folks who watched the old show, "Dark Shadows" for entertainment in the mess ups. The interviewed people are die hard "Dark Shadows" viewers, watching 4-5 hours a week of the show (sounds like someone doing a radio podcast listening project...) and trying to find the small nuances in the show, such as flies flying around.

When Ira and Nancy (Updike) go to the apartment of one of the viewers to watch the show with them, the feel of a party is almost palpable. The group sits around and points out flub ups and has a genuinely fun conversation about the show. It may be somewhat geeky, but I totally get it and wish I could be in there.

(It should also be noted that there is a report from one of these "Dark Shadows" guys at a convention on the episode "Conventions" in the 1997 season, so there will for sure be more talk of the cult classic tv show!)

The second of the acts that stood out is number five, speaking with a female mentor to girls involved in gang activity. The story that she tells is somewhat chilling, but not in a "jump out from behind the corner and yell 'boo!'" kind of way. I'll just share with you what the show archive has the description as:

Act Five. Gang Girl.

                      Gang Girl, on a body they thought was fake that turned out to be real. (10 minutes) 

So there you go, Halloween 1996. I do really suggest the two stories highlighted here...so just skip around some.