Hauntcast's Rad Redo

There are plenty of Halloween-related podcasts on the Internet, but most are geared to the professional haunted house industry or they're lacking in professionalism. It's the rare podcast that's able to combine a home haunt flavor with a level of skill and polish. In fact, I've found only one.

I'm a big fan of Hauntcast, the premier Halloween and haunt related podcast. That's why when they broadcast their 16th show yesterday, I was also stoked about their new kick-ass graphics and a completely redesigned website.

Moreover, each of the personalities that participate on the show -- Revenant, Johnny Thunder, Shelley, and Dr. Morbius -- all have their own logos as well. Way cool!

Finally, there's Hauntcast's G/Host, Chris Baker who in addition to overseeing the show's minions, also runs Discount Voice Overs, a site for getting audio into your haunt (amongst other things. Need a DJ? Chris Baker's your man!). He's also started a new Hauntcast blog, which I plan on following.

Aside from the extreme entertainment value the once-a-month show brings, it's surprisingly chock full of useful information too. For example, Revenant's "Theater of the Mind" segment gives haunters some intelligent things to think about when it comes to setting up their Halloween display, whether it's a static show like I put out or something more interactive with animatronics and actors. For example, his suggestion to have a Plan A, B, and C for what you'd like to achieve each year has givne me the hope that I can exceed my ambitions, but if not, all is not lost. Also, his discussions of haunt atmosphere -- an how he arrived at his insights -  you get a lot to think about. It's pretty inspiring. Look to Rev for haunt and Halloween news as well.

Johnny Thunder and his infectious laughter provides a unique insight into horror movies in his "Fright Flicks" segment, even if he and I don't always agree (Johnny, what were you thinking about with your Wolfman love?!). Most of the time he's spot on and I've come to rely a lot upon his reviews in deciding upon what movies to go and see.

Shelley, the Mistress of Mayhem, of ShellHawk's Nest, gives an eclectic view of all things Halloween in "The Charmed Pot," and her entertainment tips are, well, entertaining. She is like a center of gravity for the show, give it some grounding and preventing it from completely running away to become an excess of fratboy antics (not that that's a bad thing). It's like a voice of reason amongst the madness.

Last is Dr. Morbius, who has taken over from the Garage of Evil guys who originally were part of the show answering questions about props and prop building (Dr. Morbius has a page over on the GoE website). The "Ask the Doc" segment takes questions sent in or found on the various Halloween discussion boards like Halloween Forum and Haunt Forum. Dr. Morbius gives you the technical know-how to solve your haunt's problems and challenges.

Combine these elements over the course of more than an hour's running time, and Hauntcast covers a lot of ground but still leaves you wanting more. It's a great soundtrack to work on your Halloween props to and has me laughing all the way through.

The one problem I do have with the show is that it's turning me into an alcoholic. For some reason, when I hear the show I seem to want to crack open a cold one (or two or three or four) and drink heavily. By the time the show's over I've got a hell of a buzz going (remember, the show runs for an hour or so and I'm drinking almost a six-pack of beer, so you do the math on my level of intoxication). Fortunately, I love beer as much as I love this show, so it's all good.

Anyway, I highly recommend you check out the podcasts -- all the past shows are archived on the website. Maybe just put the beer out of reach before imbibing the show's humor.

Rich