Strange Matter - Driven to Death

Let's venture into new territory--that of an anthology series to rival Goosebumps: Strange Matter! This one is about phantom greasers who drive through walls, up buildings, and over oceans in a bid to recruit fresh victims for--what, exactly? Well, telling you would spoil the twist, wouldn't it?

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
7th Cheural

(00:30):
Ahoy and welcome aboard ye scurvy dogs to the black magic treehouse the podcast
where we discuss the children's horror literature that should have been rated
are my name of course is Peg leg Eric and with me is me cabin boy Jose but not

(01:03):
in an inappropriate way how are you doing today Jose I don't know I find it
I don't know if I should be offended that my name stayed the exact same even
though we're in this pirate email you now it's like well I'm just Jose no
matter where I go because I don't know anyhow I'm doing all right a little

(01:28):
seasick but I am ready to be driven to death by the death yes by this episode
yeah well when we first over a year ago or maybe just about a year ago started
recording episodes for this podcast my I had in my head this idea that we were

(01:52):
gonna focus pretty much exclusively on like post goose bumps spooky chapter
books of like the mid to late 90s and I guess we've done that a little bit like
fright time both of those episodes are but those are sort of anthologies and
they feel like their own thing because of the artwork feeling so like you know

(02:13):
at the time like 70s you know EC Comics updates are like creepy and eerie
magazine and stuff like that so I really wanted to get back to the heart of what
I considered to be the interesting thing about this show and talk about some of
the books that maybe I don't explicitly remember or didn't read but they seem of

(02:33):
a piece with what I would have remembered or read and so today we
tackled one of the series that is in that sort of milieu which incidentally I
had not heard of until I started researching for this podcast what were
those 90s horror chapter book series and it's one called strange matter by Engel

(02:57):
and Barnes which has for a series I never heard of it has a surprising
number of entries it has like 37 entries were you at all familiar with strange
matter prior to today's read I don't believe I ever was did you do any kind
of digging into the series as a whole or the authors like for one thing I'm

(03:21):
confused as to what the authorial partnership is between Engel and Barnes
because some things you see it lists both of them other things you see it just
lists Engel and the other thing I was gonna say is for some reason this thing
is registering as being British to me but I have absolutely nothing to back

(03:43):
that up interesting I did not get the British vibe at all I thought they
captured the quintessence of the American preteen in the the Clinton years
no I did not do any research on the authors except to look up on open
library because I have a physical copy of this book but I wanted to make sure

(04:05):
that you could access it to read it and it is I don't know I didn't check the
actual covers to see when you're saying some of them are listed as one or the
other do you mean like within this series or yeah I mean at least them hey
I mean it's it's late I fell asleep in my daughter's room earlier so I'm kind
of like half delirious right now but I feel like even an open library driven to

(04:31):
death I feel like the page listing has it as being Engel and Barnes or I know
for a fact I just looked on Goodreads that other entries list both of their
names on the cover but I feel like the title page of driven to death which is
what the open library document opens with it's just less angles name so I was

(04:57):
kind of confused yeah you're right I'm looking at it right now a montage
publication a frontline company San Diego California Marty M Engel yeah I
did notice when I was looking at open library that they had been cataloged
some of them were cataloged through Engel and Barnes some of them were
cataloged through the author name of one or the other and some of them I just had

(05:21):
to look up like title by title because it wouldn't even say so I just thought
that was a fluke within their cataloging and not necessarily but maybe they
actually were checking that typeface it's funny because I kind of I didn't
notice that I thought that like reading the book in the stylistic way that the
book is written I was like there were times when I was like it does kind of

(05:45):
feel like the book is just going back and forth between two people because
sometimes the writing style gets a little more extreme there's a lot of
all caps sentences and things indicate that somebody is shouting and just

(06:05):
various things that feel like sometimes it feels like a regular book and
sometimes it feels like a histrionic you know well you use the word delirious
already just like run on sentences and stuff stuff that we kind of talked about
in fright time is like which makes it feel legitimately like it could have

(06:25):
been written by a preteen but driven to death all right driven to death so you
mentioned before that the purview that you imagine the show is going to have
was kind of centering on what would be for lack of a more generous term

(06:49):
goosebumps knockoffs and I have to say with this particular case this
particular series um it's it's really funny just looking at as as an artifact
the outside cover you know it leaves something to be desired it's got kind of
like that warped anamorphic thing going on with some of the covers where it

(07:15):
almost looks like it could be a blending of science fiction as well as horror at
times but the the inner contents I had to laugh because it has these goopy
chapter headings that look almost identical to the ones from goosebumps
and even the typeface and the font size is pretty much the exact same I it's

(07:44):
it's kind of dumb and dorky but it pleased me greatly to see how much they
they were wanting to mimic the literal look and in some cases in some
instances the tone of the goosebumps books yeah and based on the cover and
the the font of the title which is strange has like a lightning bolt

(08:09):
running through it and then matter has like I guess like green slime that's
kind of bubbling out of the are in matter at the end and then the cover of
this one is a young boy being run down by a big truck is there a better word
than just truck truck meet a lot of things but I mean like the big big rig

(08:29):
type truck a semi yeah and but it's done in this like almost monochromatic
palette palette where it's all like dark purples and dark like dark magentas dark
magenta and and you said it's has kind of a sci-fi feel and so I was wondering

(08:52):
like another 90s cultural artifact were they trying to kind of sell this to an
audience as like X-Files jr. or something because it doesn't evoke horror really
looking at it does feel more like sci-fi or like the intersection of sci-fi and
horror which was really not anything that goosebumps did too often at least

(09:13):
right yeah it was definitely more you know blood chilling in its approach yeah
and just the name of the series itself strange matter it almost this just
reoccurred to me now I had forgotten that I did this in my brain but at some
point before when I think you told me that we were going to focus on this

(09:37):
series just that kind of science fiction II feel that I got from it along with a
name made me say the name of the series to the tune of like the weird science
song strange matter I got that you know kind of bubbling chemistry set vibe from
it and yeah strange matter just the just that conjures images and feelings of

(10:03):
like the Twilight Zone kind of like you're saying that intersection of you
know the supernatural and science fiction and fantasy and horror just that
whole bubbling stew yeah I was looking for this on open library because my
copy has a big old annoying price sticker over the teaser on the back
which I wanted to read but I can get through and get through most of it

(10:26):
except for like the very lessons you already named the title this one is
driven to death strange matter number three buckle up for the ride of your
life or you could read that in a scarier matter I guess manner Darren

(10:47):
Donaldson is staring out his bedroom window at 2 o'clock in the morning
panicked looking down the street for any sign of his brother his older brother
David snuck out of the house at midnight taking the car as usual making Darren
promise he wouldn't tell italics he's been gone for three hours the longest

(11:07):
he's ever been gone something must have happened something dreadful wait there's
David now the car is coming down the street he's killed the engine coasting
toward the driveway he's scrambling out of the car pushing it from behind he
looks frantic terrified what's going on he's signaling for help looking over his

(11:31):
shoulder as if headlights snap on and then this is the part I can't read
because there's a big orange arc thrift store sticker over it something
something something engine roars to life David is screaming something is chasing
him and it isn't stopping warning brave readers only that's their little um

(11:58):
reader but where you're in for a scare tag at the end there Wow so first of all
shots fired at the arc thrift bookstore for placing their stickers so so
shamefully over the first stores I don't know if it's gonna make me low class is
just know so much about thrift store stickers but they always have the most

(12:20):
annoying gunk residue leaving behind stickers and they'll put it in the most
conspicuous place so like I bought furniture from them before when I move
or whatever like a little end table or something and there's just like a gunky
residue sticky part on top of my table like the entire time that I'll have a
piece of furniture because it just won't come off strange matter yeah oh boy I

(12:48):
saw a store thrills yeah and chills oh boy and there's of course I was gonna
mention this earlier and maybe we can still do it just looking at some of the
other titles in this series but it touting well not touting itself not
implicitly anyway but you know pretty explicitly touting itself as a

(13:09):
goosebumps knockoff I would be surprised and a little ashamed if this series did
not have an entry with the good old reliable play on little shop of horrors
so if it was little thrift shop of horrors even better in keeping with a
strange matter theme yes indeed yeah that was something I always responded to

(13:36):
when I was a kid in these types of books was not necessarily thrift stores but
just going into a store I mean I guess in Monster Blood it was a toy store but
some kind of like old abandoned looking store and finding a strange item and
then an adventure unfolds so speaking of the cover so this book opens up with the

(13:57):
family going to their local video store and I spent about a hundred pages of
this book thinking that the justification for this big rig you know
tanker truck or whatever it is on the cover was just because they reference
duel like the main character Darren really wants to get or no I think his
older brother wants to get dual and then Darren is like we've seen that already

(14:22):
let's get something new or maybe it's reversed I don't remember but then he
talks about like no they're really scared like yeah duel is he talks about
that duel is like about a guy being chased through the desert by a truck and
the scary thing is you never see the driver etc etc and then for a pretty big
portion of their book this book there is no big truck so I was like is that like

(14:44):
the sequence where they added a dream to what was the goosebumps oh say cheese and
die where the publisher was like we need to justify having this cover by Tim
Jacobus where the there's a family of skeletons barbecuing so RL Stein was
like I'll do something really clever all right in a dream sequence so I was like

(15:07):
they put in the reference to do duel because the cover was already done so
they were just like movie reference anyway moving on with the story yeah
exactly one thing I will say especially during that portion of the story that I
was pretty surprised I can't remember goosebumps ever being so straightforward

(15:29):
in the same sense but the the the franchise name dropping you know we like
we have several references to the McDonald's it's like oh you could do
that which you know seems silly now but it was just it seemed uncommon at least
my memory says it was uncommon in Goosebones books it would usually be some

(15:53):
kind of like fictional variant I'm surprised that they didn't just call the
video store blockbuster because I think at some point they make reference to oh
the blue covers on all the videotapes yeah but yeah that that took me a little
bit by surprise and there was something else that they were referencing that I
guess maybe it was the movie I'm like oh wow they're just coming right out and

(16:14):
saying this actual movie that exists good for them I guess I was just good for
them good for you Marty Emigl maybe that's why Barnes didn't want any part
of this particular manuscript yeah it was like you're just gonna call it
McDonald's you capitalist pig you're playing with fire right into the pocket

(16:36):
of Big Ronald I did like that though because it feels very like I have kind
of a split personality where I'm like I don't like giant corporations but I also
love you know old commercials and stuff like that so the the verisimilitude of
like because in this book it's like there it's a small town I don't remember

(16:59):
if they say where it is well they say it's like eight hours to the nearest
beach so yeah so they do and I just caught this via Goodreads I think I was
so you know take it how you will but I mean it seems like an accurate enough
statement I have no reason not to believe it but apparently the strange

(17:21):
matter series is all based in this town of Fairfield and it says each book is
about a different student from like Fairfield middle school or junior high
whatever it is oh that's exciting yeah we almost get like a fear street thing
going on I had no idea that was a thing with this series at all so it's just

(17:43):
like oh okay neat bonus yeah there's certainly no indication of that in this
book in particular like I don't remember them running into any other like
conspicuously name-dropped high school students who have no role in the plot
but they're just like oh look it's those you know kids from the volleyball team
Terry and Mike or whatever and then they just like walk off screen but that would

(18:09):
be really cool that's what I remember that's what I really wanted with creep
show was I wanted them all to take place in oh shoot what was the name of that
town in not I say creep show creep over sorry yeah so this is not autumn bluff

(18:31):
bluffington yeah this is not that small of a town but it did feel very I don't
just like that kind of again that very corporate idea of like the cool place to
go in town is just you know the local McDonald's franchise and everybody hangs
out in the parking lot all night long and that's usually where David the older

(18:56):
brother goes when he's sneaking out the car anyway so I thought that's cool it
reminded me very much of where I grew up not that I was popular enough to be
hanging out in parking lots with people or anything but but that does feel very
like just the thing the the era of you know going to the mall to hang out or go

(19:17):
into you know just running like walk into the local Target or Walmart to pick
something up and that becomes like the event that you do with your friends that
was very evocative to me so I like that part of it yeah one thing that was
reminiscent of one of the fright time stories well that we read that I read

(19:40):
scary Harry the the brother dynamic was kind of similar there where you have the
older brother who you know to our eyes is clearly going through puberty it
talks about how grumpy is and moody he only comes out to eat and then he you
know he doesn't make a model he doesn't build models with his younger brother

(20:01):
Darren anymore he's too cool for that you know they're like fight always
fighting and punching each other just on this side of kidding but pretty close to
like actually wailing on each other and then again you know going back to the
goosebumps well I feel like brothers weren't something that we saw all that

(20:22):
often in goosebumps it was if there was a boy like a main our main character or
protagonist was a boy he usually either had a group of friends or he was an only
child or you know and or he was an only child and anytime it was siblings and it
was almost always siblings of the opposite sex you know like oh a bratty

(20:43):
younger brother or bratty younger sister and I don't know why this is like
notable to me it just seems interesting that the particular brotherly dynamic
especially in this context of you know one being older and going through some
changes than the other was something that was never really tackled and I guess
you could say the same for girls you know just who were getting older and

(21:08):
and going through the changes that wasn't something that our L Stein series
ever really broached I think that's true yeah the only one that I remember where
there was a male protagonist with an older brother was you can't scare me
and that was kind of more of a I don't remember him having a large role in the
book or anything but I think that was just kind of a plot device because he

(21:30):
was the guy who like did special effects makeup so that was where the plan came
from to scare what's-her-name the one who declared you can't scare me but yeah
but apart from that yeah I can't think of any any siblings that weren't
antagonistic annoying younger siblings I would have maybe preferred a few more

(21:50):
you know semi-pleasant but this book is very much about the the brotherly love
relationship of you know we used to be close and then he grew up and now he's
surly and the he gets called the grump king by both the dad and the younger
brother and I thought that was a good detail because yeah later in the book I

(22:12):
mean like the inciting incident starts with him the older brother David's
sneaking out the car and I both liked and was confused by the detail that he
when he sneaks the car out like he has to push it out because he doesn't want
to start the engine in the garage because then he thinks that'll wake up
his parents so he has to like push it down the driveway and then like three

(22:35):
houses down and then he gets in and starts it I was like that's a nice
detail but also I feel like the garage door opening and closing would be way
louder than just the engine starting in the garage certainly in my house it
would have been like yeah but then yeah oh and I should say the setup for the
sort of mid plot twist is that dare Darren right I don't know why it's Darren

(22:59):
and Dave what is it yeah Aaron and David Donaldson it's terrible that's annoying
they're not even twins you can't yeah stop it but Darren the younger brother
likes building ships and bottles which is presented like the lament is like oh
David used to like doing that with me before he got too old and mature for all

(23:23):
that stuff something like five topics ago that I missed out on commenting was I
guess just reading those goosebumps back cover blurbs plot summaries whatever you
want to call them just ingrained in my mind that there's a certain way that

(23:45):
those are supposed to read and I just wanted to comment like I said five
topics later that I did not care for the like stream of conscious feel of the
blurb you read earlier where it's like wait no it's something it's someone else
coming down the street like stop no just you know it's basically like what do you

(24:08):
what do you call it like those cold opens from like a TV show like when you
see a scene that happens later in the episode proper but they use it as like
the intro of the episode it's like oh no stop it just tell me tell me what
happens in this story and you know leave me leave me hanging at the end don't you
know rehash something that I'm gonna read later on well I guess I don't know

(24:33):
just me being cranky and weird you know the usual yeah I hope you're listening
to this Engel and Barnes in the back it says they are the creators writers
designers and illustrators of the strange matter series so my takeaway from
that is maybe they also wrote this stream of consciousness teaser on the
back too well to hell with that yeah hope you guys have learned your lesson

(24:58):
yeah so then so the Darren I don't remember what or sorry David I don't
remember what David is upset about but he sneaks the car out for whatever reason
and he's upset and then like the teaser says in the back David is look Darren
Darren the younger is looking at his window all night because he's like

(25:23):
usually he's gone for like an hour tops he just either just drives around to
blow off steam or goes and hangs out with other people at the McDonald's and
then they all filter out at like midnight or whatever and he comes back
home but so he's looking out the window and he his brother's gone and then he
comes back down the street and he's clearly scared and then that's when so

(25:48):
day Darren goes out to help him push the car back in the garage and then that's
when another car a really junky old car comes down the street and we realized
that that's who David is running from I don't remember the exact sequence of

(26:08):
events but it comes out that David hit somebody else's car and then they were
chasing him or something so now he's he's come back home he doesn't know how
to lose a tail I guess because he immediately just comes right back to his
home and they'll never find me here yeah I'll lead him back to where my family
lives so initially they're just worried because the I actually marked this page

(26:32):
out because I wanted to read a couple paragraphs here just I think to give
people the an idea of how this book is written this is where they're bringing
back in the car and they're looking at in the garage there was like a whole
sequence I didn't understand what was going on where there was like metal
scraping against metal because of the garage door hitting the car or something
but it didn't make any geographical sense to me at all so I think this is

(26:56):
after they've gotten the car into the garage and they've closed the door oh no
oh no David knelt beside the car his finger
tracing an enormous gash in the passenger door about a foot long and
three miles deep even in the dim light I could see the jagged raw edges if a car
could bleed this one wouldn't have needed a hundred and eighty stitches it

(27:17):
might as well have had a blowtorch taken to it I felt my jaw quivering
uncontrollably tears welled up in my eyes a gurgle escaped my throat oh no
David jumping to his feet smacked his head with his palm we are so dead he
croaked where do you get that we stuff partner I stammered my life over in the

(27:41):
eighth grade I wouldn't see daylight until I was 30 the rack the Iron Maiden
the plank the guillotine mere child's play compared to what surely awaited us
it must have scraped the side of the garage door on the way in what are we
gonna do we can't hide this dad is gonna see this in hemorrhage hemorrhage

(28:03):
hemorrhage yeah David grew panicky now I as usual hatched a perfect plan so
logical so brilliant let's run away I said envisioning a lifetime on the road
weak old hot dogs rock soup and friends named Bubba or red-eye that's the end of
the part I wanted to read because I thought that was pretty fun that was fun

(28:26):
so I will say this that little passage about the tortures that would await him
I can't quote it word-for-word but I'm almost positive that there is a passage
just like that in the narration to a Christmas story which I feel like I
mentioned every two episodes for some reason but it I heard that I'm like wait

(28:51):
a minute that sounds like Gene Shepard so there's that and echoing a comment
you made I really liked this scene conceptually the idea of this like
thrilling I love I love moments like this and stories or you know drama where

(29:11):
you know somebody or something is coming and we have to get away or we have to
hide but things keep going wrong somebody's falling behind we're losing
you know a precious item and we're scrambling to get it back scrambling to
get our crap together and you know the threat is looming ever closer I love

(29:32):
moments like that and so conceptually that whole scene of Darren the younger
trying to help David the elder which is how they will be known henceforth trying
to push the car back into the garage before this terrifying automobile can

(29:52):
run them down essentially I love I love all that but like you said the blocking
is just all over the place so you don't have that sense of mounting tension at
all you're just kind of trying to parse out okay who's where they're doing what
wait now it's scraping the garage scraping the garage door like the

(30:16):
question I kept asking myself through all of this is like isn't the other car
like right on top of them at this point you know because they're taking a long
time to get in and last time I checked a moving car goes a little bit faster than
struggling children trying to push an automobile into their garage so yeah it

(30:38):
was just a little bit wonky but conceptually it's like well be for
effort and D for execution yeah that kind of sums up the book honestly which
I enjoyed I mean I said but every time we do an episode I'm like I feel really
bad because I do this podcast about how much we love these books and then I just

(30:59):
crap on them the whole time this one I would say I generally enjoyed although
there is that midpoint plot twist that I still am NOT entirely sure how I feel
about and I don't even know if you got to it because you told me before we
started recording that you had only made it halfway through the books I was like
did he did he cut off just before or just after that I guess reveal I think

(31:22):
it was just after because so so I don't want to get too far ahead and you know I
know we're not doing like a plot by plot summer area a point-by-point summary
here but maybe just if you want to talk a little bit about what the threat is as

(31:43):
it's initially revealed in the story before we maybe discuss the the
turnaround halfway through yeah there's so the yeah I don't want to do a beat
by beat either because there is a lot of repetitive action in here and a lot of
like kind of I guess I wouldn't say false obstacles but like things that are just
kind of put in there to be like okay now we need to have a little tense moment

(32:06):
here to make this feel like a scary book or whatever that doesn't actually really
add up to anything but yeah so the car shows up I think it again I as I was
reading this I was like I should be taking notes because I'm always so bad
at remembering the details but I think the car just like comes right through
the house or the garage door or something because it's like a ghost car

(32:31):
and then there's three teenagers inside whose names are revealed to be Silas
Jake a cub with two C's and squee but which definitely had me picturing them
as like extras in smells like teen spirit music video or something just

(32:53):
like these total burnout roadhead you know idiots yes and Silas by the way is
spelled with a you instead of an a I feel like it's worth mentioning so yeah
it is so they show up and then there's just kind of this whole thing where
they're like trying to get their dad to wake up because this ghost car just came

(33:14):
in and these teenagers are telling them like David hit our car so now we get to
take your car and also we're kidnapping you or something and so I don't remember
all the details but I think they force David or Darren or both to like sign
some kind of contract basically saying like sorry wait your car you could have

(33:38):
ours and then their old junkie ghost car transforms into their brand-new is it a
Celica yeah there's a shiny new yeah so they're like oh no dad's gonna kill us
and then I think dad finally wakes up and comes downstairs like right as Darren
and David are getting forced into the ghost car and then it drives off through

(34:00):
the wall leaving dad you know like I saw him pass out in the rear view yeah as we
sped off or something like that I love that moment so much because it's like
yeah like Darren the younger at some point comments like doesn't dad or doesn't
mom or dad hear any of this commotion downstairs because yeah there's like an

(34:22):
idling ghost car in the middle their frickin living room you know spewing blue
mist so he says I'd like two different points oh the you know the the trio you
know the ghostly trio they must have done something to you know cast like a
sleeping spell over my parents but then their dad ends up waking up and he
clambers down the stairs just as like they're being shanghaied as Darren is

(34:47):
so helpful to point out because he's done a lot of research into pirate lore
you know being a model shipbuilder and all dad clambers down the steps just as
the ghost car tears right out of the living room and dad is just like left
dazed in a cloud of blue spectral mist like I just imagined him like falling

(35:11):
back into a lazy boy like huh yeah it's the car tears right out of the house
definitely wearing one of those hats with yeah Ebenezer Scrooge hat yes and
like a dorky robe or something yeah nightcap carrying a candle whoa Jiminy

(35:33):
cricket but speaking of pirate lore one of the things I like the way that
Darren was written because he's you know one of my big complaints about the
Goosebumps books was that even though I was younger than the protagonists when I
was reading Goosebumps I always felt like I am both braver and smarter than

(35:56):
all these stupid 12 year olds intellectually older yeah but in this
book as they're driving away Darren is like thinking to himself about all of
the pirate stuff that he researched and he's talking about how like pirates
would invade a town and like burn everything down and you know they would

(36:16):
shanghai people but they would also just like pillage and like abduct people and
there's like a cute little as cute as a passage about you know the threat of
slavery can be I guess he's talking about how like they were just like
pirates would just like sneak into somebody's house and just like steal the
kids out of their bed even if the children were sitting there quietly

(36:40):
reading a book and that's a cute little like it's almost like Alvin Schwartz
level like and then the pirate was right behind you yeah exactly but he but Derek
is talking about how like yeah there were a lot of people who would you know
some people would given the option they find themselves on ships and they're

(37:03):
like they would just jump into the water even though they knew it was like feudal
to swim back to land like they wouldn't be able to make it on time but they
would rather do that than be slaves on this pirate ship and so then Darren
thinks to himself like yeah I think I would rather just go ahead and risk
death than be driven wherever you know don't never go to the second location as

(37:25):
we know now so he opens the door and just jumps out of the car while it's
moving I thought that was a pretty good moment how did you feel about it Jose I
actually forgot about that moment but yeah it happens when they're like doing
doughnuts at the McDonald's all right I think yeah I guess that does undermine
the thrill of it a little bit as well I forgot that that was the setting I'm

(37:49):
coming happy meal yeah I was kind of surprised by that that it was an act of
bravery that also entailed possible death or mutilation just to be yeah so
Frank I think is what you're driving at haha about what his what chances he

(38:15):
stands at this current moment you know is he gonna be shanghaied by these ghosts
or should he just kind of beat him to the punch and and jump right out so yeah
I had a similar reaction and then McDonald's that okay so that bring up
like three different thoughts I want to get to first of all speak of frankness
when the teenagers show up in the house they keep saying like we're gonna kill
you which again I've talked before about how that feels really punchy in the

(38:38):
90s book because that was the era of like standard and practices where
cartoon villains you know they could be like shooting a laser or something but
they'd always have to say like I will destroy you like they couldn't actually
use the word kill yeah like the fact that these teenagers kept being like do
we say we're gonna kill you who might just kill you anyway it was like wow
that seems mature for a book this age level oh the other thing was the

(39:03):
McDonald's thing I also thought that was funny there's a lot of I thought this
book was pretty funny actually the way it was written there was a lot of funny
moments yeah and one of those was like after Darren jumps out and then the
teenagers just like grab him and pull him back in through the window and then
the manager of the McDonald's is like leaning out the window you know shaking
his fist like you darn kids get out of here and like screaming at them through

(39:26):
the drive-thru speaker what was the last thing oh something oh I was just gonna
say that the teenagers because Darren is talking about all this stuff about
getting Shanghai and I was thinking like why does he think that is it just
because he's obsessed with pirate like it seems like kind of a leap that he
makes independently of anything the teenagers say and I was just gonna

(39:47):
mention that the teenagers keep mentioning like their dad like our dad
would never believe us if we they they're saying that the reason they're
abducting them is like we're gonna take you back to our dad and you can explain
to him that the accident wasn't our fault even though you know it was and
then Darren is like that sounds pretty sus I think that they're actually not
just taking us to come explain things to their dad in a kind and civil way okay

(40:14):
yeah which is weird because um like I said I didn't finish the book so I don't
know how things pan out but it's like you're already abducted you're already
abducting them so I'm speaking as somebody who doesn't know if things
shake out differently than what evidence I I have to go on but it's like yeah
you're your supernatural captors you already abducted them why come up with

(40:38):
this pretense of like oh you you know well this is our first accident so could
you talk to my dad and explain that you were the one to hit our car like you've
already captured them and you're like undead so yes it's kind of a strange a
strange detail oh yeah the other thing I was gonna comment on was when you were

(41:04):
talking about so this pact I guess you could say that Darren the younger and
David the elder make with the ghost boys is they basically sign their car away
like the teens actually produce like this moldy contract for David to sign
they force him into signing it and they hand over the keys and the title and

(41:28):
like it's a very it's a very straightforward and realistic transaction
automobile transaction and so the idea is yep we own everything now thank you
for the new car and when they first broached this idea and things start
happening you're thinking oh okay so is like the car they were in the last car

(41:53):
that they like obtained from somebody decades ago presumably the 50s because
we have a very sometimes they come back feel going on here with these greaser
type punks you know driving down poor hapless kids so is that like the last
car that they got from some unwitting victim you know back in the 50s or 60s

(42:16):
or whatever and now just over the years through them driving it on their you
know supernatural midnight sprees it's just deteriorate deteriorated over time
okay I could go with that that makes sense but then they sign the Celica over
to the teens they the Celica like magically appears in the living room or

(42:41):
like their car morphs into the Celica but then like not even I don't know
relatively what the time span would be here but you know within the next few
hours or really the next 30 minutes based on the trip that they take the
Celica morphs back into the ratty old car that they had before so it's and

(43:04):
they say something like oh well it may look like this but we really do have the
Celica so it's like did you just buy that car's soul is what what is happening
I don't understand what the point of that whole transaction was like it would
have been so much more clean cut and understandable you know in a in a dorky

(43:26):
you know ghost story for kids way if they just got the car and then the
Celica deteriorated but it but it was still the Celica but the way it's
described it's like no it just changes back into the first car that they had
did you get that too yes you are making an excellent point thank you yeah but

(43:51):
anyway yeah you talk about how they gave over like the you know whatever
insurance policy the keys the title you know they give over all the documents
but then after Darren jumps out and then they pull him back in through the window
they're like freaking out they're like how did you do that and it was like do
what open the door and they were like yeah is there something you didn't give

(44:15):
us because like the guard the car should be like a hundred percent ghosts now and
it's not because he was able to open the door and jump out so then Darren
realizes like oh there's still an extra a spare set of car keys at dad's office
but I'm not gonna tell them that because you know that's basically our only hope

(44:37):
for getting out of this situation is if they don't fully you know possess the car
yet because we still have one item of it in our possession that hasn't been
given over and then so he's like I hope David is as smart as I am and then David
immediately is just like it's at dad's office this spare keys and I was like I
know I was like I hate you did you're not worth saving so then there's just a

(45:01):
sequence where they drive over to Darren and David Donaldson's father whose name
presumably is I don't know Donald Dotson Dobby Dobby Donaldson Dobby Donaldson
they go over to his office building and then again talking about not knowing
where things are geographically but it may have just been because I was skimming

(45:22):
there's like a weird part where they're like the teenagers are like they tell
them it's up on the I don't know 13th floor or whatever and they're like all
right we're just gonna drive in and then they like drive up a staircase but then
suddenly they're driving up the wall of the outside of the building I didn't
really know I guess maybe they just drove up the staircase like I don't

(45:46):
know diehard staircase where the I don't recall them saying anything about a
staircase the way it read to me was that Silas the driver is speeding up as
they're getting nearer to the building the office building and Darren the
younger comments that oh we drove through the hedges you know at the edge

(46:10):
of the parking lot or whatever but you know we we drove through them and by
that I mean we didn't do it in a ghostly way we didn't just pass right through
them like the car did back at the house you know we like left a mark and left a
huge gaping hole in the hedges so yeah it's like the car is shifting between

(46:30):
ghost car and real car ghost car and real car you know like a flickering
lightbulb and then yeah Silas speeds up and there's that great moment where like
the other teens in the car are like Silas no you know don't do it like I think one
of them is maybe Jacob is like oh no don't and Squeeb is like yeah go for it

(46:55):
and Silas speeds up and the car just straight yeah the car just straight-ass
goes from driving parallel along the road to driving up the side of the
building and that was one of those moments dear listener I've had this

(47:16):
occur before in like movies I can't remember it happening in a book but for
comparison there are times there are moments that happen in like movies where
things just kind of come together in a cool but also dumb way that you kind of
hope that they do and when it does happen it's like this is cool but it's

(47:40):
also really dumb but I'm loving it anyway like I think I had a very similar
reaction and I can't remember if I mentioned this on the show it's kind of
inconsequential but just for comparison sake in the movie demons 1985 the
Italian movie demons just the moment that the hero puts his in the in the

(48:02):
words of friends puts his two hands together when he comes riding down the
movie theater aisle on the motorcycle swinging the samurai sword that you saw
earlier in the movie is like a Chekhov's gun kind of thing it's like that moment
where it's like yes that is the thing that I was dreaming of that was the

(48:25):
thing I was kind of hoping for and you did it so thank you movie or thank you
story that was kind of what this moment was for me like yes they are driving up
the side of the building all is right with the world and by that I mean this
is dumb but I'm loving it anyway much like the meal I purchased at McDonald's

(48:48):
but I'm loving it I was flipping through the book to try and find that part and
you're right there was no there's a mention of a staircase but I guess they
don't in my head they like we're driving up the staircase and like an 80s action
movie or something and that didn't happen that's what happens when you skim
yeah I found another segment that I wanted to read because I thought it was

(49:10):
really funny this is jumping back to when the evil teenagers are in the house
looking over the Celica and the it's about to refer to the red-haired kid
the red-haired kid is Silas the red-haired kid went over to the car oh
sorry the red-haired kid went over the car from top to bottom from side to side

(49:31):
and inside out at last he returned to his comrades well what do you guys think
Jacob I like it Silas it gets good mileage and as the trim aerodynamics of
today's well-made Japanese import Jacob said thoughtfully how about you
squeeb yes the skull face kid though it's a family car it still retains the
tight control and road hugging action of its sports model counterparts squeebs

(49:54):
said tightening his grip his breast felt like rotted fish the luxury of a family
sports car are sorry the luxury of a family car with the precision of the
leading sports model I like it too congratulations Dave you are one heck of
a salesman I thought that was fun that little the phony car commercial lingo

(50:17):
coming out of these ghost kids that we're about to find out are not of this
era yes exactly oh speaking of sure just to return to the office building moment
briefly I feel like this was one of the moments you were referring to when you
alluded to oh these kind of quote-unquote thrilling things that

(50:38):
happen that are just uses filler because hey this is a scary book for kids we
should have something exciting happen I feel like you were probably referring to
this moment where so they drive up the side of the office building to the 13th
floor and stop just outside the windows to the 13th floor there I actually

(51:00):
thought it was cool I mean yeah it probably is just straight filler there's
especially based on what happens later in the book which I'm not too privy to
there was probably really no reason for any of this episode to occur but I did
really enjoy it because again it was like that classically suspenseful

(51:21):
scenario where oh we're just hanging on by a thread here and you know the cars
going from ghost car to real car so the fact that we just have a little bit of
supernatural juice left in the tank is the only thing that's keeping us up here
on the 13th floor and then like the car realizes oh maybe I'm a real car and it

(51:41):
starts to drop down the side of the office building and everybody's
screaming and losing their shit hi I really like that as unnecessary and
pointless as it might have been I thought it was a lot of fun this that
moment in particular seemed like something kind of like what I said

(52:01):
before it's like yes that's kind of what I was hoping for as dumb as it is like
we said about some of the moments from the fry time stories it's like well if
I was a 12 year old boy writing a story about a ghost car I would probably
include a scene very much like this it drove up the side of the building and
especially the detail where hey how are we supposed to get into the office

(52:26):
building and one of the ghost kids just reaches over and presses down on the
horn and all of the windows on the 13th floor just blow out in a shower of glass
it's like yep totally would have written that in a story that I created at that
time yeah that's something you have to do that anytime you have a story about

(52:46):
ghosts or a story about a girl a tormented young girl with psychic
powers there always has to be a moment where all the windows just like blow
outward yeah especially like when they scream when they reach their emotional
and psychic peak you probably said this already but like David jumps back into

(53:07):
the car with the spare keys thus restoring it to its ghostly supernatural
powers and then they drive to the ocean and this is where it says that like the
nearest ocean is eight hours away but somehow we were there already or
whatever had you stopped reading by this point no I got to the point where again

(53:31):
and true I'm a 12 year old boy writing a story about a ghost car that's now gonna
be a story about pirates I stopped right at the end of like chapter 16 I think it
was where the car is driving out into the middle of the damn ocean and they
see what they see on the horizon would you like to reveal to us what it is

(53:57):
yeah well David keeps the the visuals like there are so many visuals that make
me think of like videos of like glitches in or cheat codes in Grand Theft Auto or
something like cars driving up buildings cars driving over water cars flying you
know but David keeps getting these little snatches of like old-timey not

(54:21):
poetry but just weird little like and he doesn't seem to know where they're
coming from but they see it seems like they're maybe coming from like the mind
or aura of these teenagers the first weird thought that he had that David has
sorry Darren has is a grimmer to there has never been nor shall be again he is

(54:43):
the ever-living portrait of a doomed man ten heads tall as thin and gaunt as a
hickory candle to look upon his face is to look upon a living skull with eyes so
pitch dark as to mirror the murkiest Nantucket night and then it comes out
the store that I think the kids like start the teenagers start transforming

(55:04):
in old-timey clothing maybe again I have such a bad memory for details and then
these things that David is thinking it's revealed that like Silas is I guess just
starts monologuing them or whatever basically telling him like hey we were
cursed there was this captain who was really you know maniacal about reaching

(55:27):
his goal and living his dream and all the crew was like we don't like this guy
he doesn't seem to care about our lives much so they cursed him to wander the
waters forever but then you know we kind of got stuck there too because we were
still on the ship and it's revealed that the ship that they're going out to meet
Silas Jacob and Squeebs father is the captain of is the flying Dutchman

(55:56):
didn't see that coming yeah how do you feel about this reveal because when I
got to this point I was like I don't know how I feel about it is you know a
mid-story total reveal like that is like when you're promised a car that's about
I mean when you promised a book that's about like a Phantom car and then it

(56:19):
turns into a pirate story it's a little bit like this isn't what I signed up for
but also I thought that pirate stuff was kind of fun so I guess I'm middle of the
road on this choice what did you think haha middle the road I would say same

(56:40):
like I said I stopped right at the end of the chapter where and I for whatever
you think of the reveal the idea of like oh we're going from like ghostly
greaser punks you know tearing down the highway story to crusty sailors and you

(57:01):
know pirate lore it's like what whatever you think about the reveal I do think
Anglin Barnes and or just angle you know he sold the moment pretty well despite
the fact that yeah we have like a GT-HE code car driving across the water that's
kind of soften the impact maybe I did think it was really cool and effective

(57:23):
how you know they look out to the horizon and there's you know the black
mass of the flying Dutchman sit against the scarlet sky and they see the
skeletal captain at the mast and when they're Darren the younger turns to
Silas and he's looking gaunter and more pirate II he just looks back at Darren

(57:48):
and he says dad I thought that was good I'm like alright I'll buy that I'll buy
that I will tell you though we've said this before on the show as a kid
probably would have absolutely hated that although here's the thing I feel
like hmm maybe maybe I'm wrong maybe I wouldn't have hated that it would have

(58:10):
definitely jarred me a lot more than it does as an adult so that I might not have
continued but comparatively speaking I would say true now as it would have been
back then in the past had I ever read this as a kid overall I probably would

(58:31):
have preferred the pirate II stuff to like greaser ghost punks anyway so it
might have been a nice reveal like well I kind of like this stuff better anyway
so yay yeah so you're a pirate guy then because I'm not I've never really been
huge on on that kind of stuff I won't say that I'm a pirate guy it wasn't like

(58:58):
a phase that I went through you know I never dressed up as one as a kid I don't
think we ever really played it I always found it you know fairly interesting you
know the whole sunken treasure the hidden buried treasure bit and all of
that but I I feel like I always not necessarily gravitated but I always there

(59:25):
was a part of me that did always enjoy piratey illusions and like ghost stories
or you know scary stories just because I don't know maybe that added element of
danger like these were already like not nice people to begin with and now they're
roaming around as ghosts you know covered in kelp there's a story from a

(59:50):
book we've mentioned I've mentioned before on the show ask the bones
collection of you know scary folklore from around the world and I reread one
of the stories not too long ago and it was like a buried treasure ghost pirate
story and it has this really great image both in illustration and then within the

(01:00:11):
text of the ghost captain has these two turtles that are clamped to his earlobes
just hanging off the side of his face so it's like yeah I've always liked stuff
like that and you know the you know the dripping cutlass and and things like
that I've I've always my heart's always kindled at those kinds of images all

(01:00:36):
right well it's too bad you had to check out of this book right at the only yeah
would have been interesting terrible so yes please Eric fill me in you're my only
hope what happens to our heroes after this point in the story well I'll tell
you they I mean I I don't feel the need to get too detailed about it but perfect

(01:00:58):
Darren freaks out because he sees that they're leaving shore so he impulsively
jumps and tries to grab the wheel from the captain and then it you know comic
comic beat cuts to them in the brig Darren and David and then they're
arguing and somehow they make some weird connection about how this ship is

(01:01:23):
identical to the one that Dave that Darren was building at the beginning of
the book and it's like the first ship that Darren built without David because
you know the aforementioned David is mature and you know likes girls now or
whatever and he's like you know if you had built the ship with me David then we

(01:01:45):
probably would know how to sneak out of this brig or something because there
was this whole thing never would have happened if you had just built the ship
with me essentially yeah and then David has been a jerk the whole book finally
is like I'm sorry that I've been the grump king I'll build the next ship with
you we got to work together and then some old guy comes in and is like

(01:02:07):
basically oh it's it's slop time some old guy comes in and is giving them food
and then David grabs him and bangs his head against the bars thinking that like
maybe he's got a key and we can free ourselves and then like after faking
dead for a couple of minutes the old man is like oh he he he you can't kill you

(01:02:28):
can't hurt a dead man and does a little jig or whatever but then for some reason
they say something about like okay well how do we get out of there then and the
old man is like he tells them like make a wager against those three teenagers
and stick together let's what does he say I can't find it but he says something

(01:02:55):
along the lines of like they won't play fair but if you stick together you maybe
could win and I don't know why the old man is telling them this because he
doesn't particularly seem to care about them but they're like you'll play oh he
says a contest of courage is what they'll be looking for dare a game of
chicken you'll play by their own special rules unfair and even bear in mind
you'll always turn the odds to your favor when you count on each other the

(01:03:18):
home field advantage be yours the old man laughed until he vanished completely
so yeah so then they that was like my motivational posters strung together
okay so I think it cuts to like days later whatever they're doing the momy
dick like scrubbing the bridge or whatever and then they Darren calls for a

(01:03:45):
pee break and then the guy with the whip is basically just like yeah okay so
Darren goes and finds the three teenagers they're playing with dice so
there's like oh you guys like betting do ya what if we challenge you to a game
and if we win you know if you win you can let's see what does he offer them

(01:04:12):
like if we win we get our freedom if you guys win there's another funny moment
where okay so David is the one sorry I'm looking at the book as I as I say this
because I'm so bad with remembering details David is the one challenging
them to the game and Darren is just standing there whole time being like

(01:04:32):
don't say anything stupid David so they're like okay if you win you get
your freedom what about if we win these are the three teenagers David began to
speak if we lose we will remain aboard this ship forever slaves worse than
slaves sapped of our will and forced to serve our masters bidding the chains on

(01:04:52):
our broken hearts will be as big as those on the anchor and will rattle in
our souls and the souls of those we leave behind those unfortunate sailors
who witness our passing on the bow of this phantom ship will be forever
haunted by our grim staring figures they will recall our faces each night in their
restless sleep our eyes will stare at them through a cloudy haze limp in their

(01:05:17):
dark sockets sadness without equal regret without end anguish as deep as
the ocean they will remember our faces forever and never without a shutter
that's what I bet for my brother and me whoa whoa cried the crew thanks a lot

(01:05:41):
Dave good job I said nah no no you're gonna do that anyway what will you bet
squee best again yeah that was pretty funny so I have to ask our our three
friends squeeb Jack Jacob and Silas like pirate eight teenagers at this point or

(01:06:05):
have they like morphed into gnarled old men sailors oh you know I don't remember
I think teenagers okay all right let's see how teenagers I don't know if
they're dressed in like frilly pirate shirts or what so what is it that they
that they perform to carry out this wager the old man said it was a game of

(01:06:26):
chicken yeah so anyway what they bet is Silas suggests like you have to gut all
the fish if you lose from now until the end of time and then there's a big
paragraph about like how terrible it would be to be gutting fish all day and
then yeah they say a game of chicken which the old man already said but then

(01:06:52):
it's already acted it's like Darren or David or whoever comes up with it is
like I've got it chicken and that they're like whoa great idea even though
we already heard about that and then David says something about like or no
Darren says I stink at chicken fighting and David says I don't think he meant

(01:07:12):
chicken fighting like we know it Darren it's really weird because I don't know
what they mean when they say we challenge you to chicken as chicken as I
understand it is two cars driving at each other and then whoever pulls off
first is a loser right then I can't chicken fight them their dance moves are

(01:07:34):
just too good well there was also the game where I think you would play like
in a pool where somebody would be on your shoulders I can't remember if we
called that chicken or not I felt like it was something else some other
colloquialism chicken just chicken no I don't know I don't remember something

(01:07:54):
totally non chicken it might have been though and I'm just not remembering but
yeah I feel like that that game had some other name we called it by but anyway
um yeah so this is like what what we eventually find out is like chicken in
the typical sense of we're gonna come at each other really fast and whoever
flinches at the last second loses is that the idea that's what I thought but

(01:08:18):
they don't really explain it oh they just say we challenge you to chicken
the teenagers are like all right let's go tell dad then they go tell dad and
then we want to play chicken with the new slaves the captain nods in an eerie
fashion so then they drive back out on the land and then basically there's a

(01:08:41):
really long and confusing sequence where the rules are never explained but
basically like they hold on to Darren the younger for insurance in the car and
they're out in like oh it's Potter's Field I was like why does that sound
familiar because there's a million Potter's Fields probably yeah so the

(01:09:04):
idea is that there again I don't remember if the rules are set at all
like basically just the three teenagers and Darren are in the car and then
David's running around in the field and they're trying to run him down and
Darren is trying to figure out how do I save my brother and then he jumped David
jumps into like a rusted out old Volkswagen that's like half embedded in

(01:09:28):
the ground and then they hit it and it completely disintegrates because it's so
old and rusted but and they're like oh no Dave it's dead but then you know like
David like comes up out of the ground like he I'm still alive because I guess
he jumped out the window at the last second or something like that and then

(01:09:49):
again it's it's not really explained but Darren is like okay if David can get to
the end of this bridge without the teenagers hitting him then we win is
that set up at all not really they just kind of decide that in the moment so
David is running across the bridge Darren is trying to figure out like how
do I save my brother and then he's like wait a second if I you know bringing it

(01:10:16):
back to what we learned earlier about they need everything for the car to work
for them he's like I see the what is it the insurance he just refers to it as
the document again I don't even remember what it is but he's rolling around in
the backseat oh and then the car turns into a big truck like you see on the

(01:10:37):
cover here so they're chasing down David in this giant truck and Darren is like
rolling around in the back with all these like garbage and paper underneath
them and then he finds the document that they signed over to the guys and he's
like okay if I can get this document to David David Donaldson Darren Donaldson's

(01:11:05):
brother if I can get this document to him then they won't be able to run him
over anymore or something so anyway the the big truck is barreling down on David
and then Darren makes a paper airplane out of the document and like leaves out

(01:11:26):
the window and throws it out and then David like jumps up and he caught it
yeah and then somehow that causes the teenagers to like spin out of control and
they go over the side of the bridge and then Darren basically just like because

(01:11:47):
the car is like no longer solid I guess again the rules are sort of like it
wasn't I thought it was not solid whatever anyway Darren just kind of get
like gets squirted out the end of it as the car disappears into the ground and
then he's like all right we're safe and we won and then there's like two pages

(01:12:13):
left I wanted to there's like a kind of a funny punchline at the end let me see
if I can find it well you're looking for that I just had this image in my mind
when you said he was rooting around for that document I thought like that would
have been funny if like the big like aha moment was I need to get this to a

(01:12:35):
notary stat that's how we're going to defeat these ghosts like we need to go
ahead with some legal proceedings we need a wax stamp yeah yeah so basically
anyway they win the teenagers come by and I think the truck is transformed
back into the car and they're all like surly teenagers they're just like you

(01:12:59):
know you won whatever take your stuff they like give them all the the keys and
the insurance and the title back and oh wait maybe they're not trying me they're
walking whatever it doesn't really matter David lean okay oh they give the car
back okay sorry the car transforms back into the Celica so then David and Darren

(01:13:24):
get back in it anyway David lean passed me asking you
guys need a drop-off somewhere Silas replied nah we got a ride I noticed a
black Cadillac pulling up beside us the windows tinted black a license plate
with the letters FL Y D T C H M that's about as close as you can get to flying

(01:13:45):
Dutchman on a license plate I guess David I'm sorry him David David I'm not
sure how to there's no I don't know how do I read this line David I think he's
alarmed he shrugged Silas Jacob and squee marched over to the Cadillac and
climbed inside not saying a word Silas sat up front sulking in his seat

(01:14:08):
pouting like a grump king the power window rolled down with a pneumatic sigh
and we saw the old man from the boat behind the wheel he still had one eye in
that patch in the ugly striped shirt he looked to the three sulking bullies in
his car wave goodbye boys he said to his grumpy passengers they didn't look up the
old man put pulled on a familiar captain's hat and smiled don't mind them

(01:14:32):
they hate to be seen in public with their old man know what I mean I'll wave
for them he waved and laughed as he drove off his laughter remained as we
watched the car move down the bridge advantage with the red glow oh man
Darren look at that David explained pointing at Potter's
field we both had to get out of the car to watch we watched together though it

(01:14:52):
only lasted an instant italics it's been said that on the night of November 7th
1995 a phantom ship the Flying Dutchman herself sailed the grassy seas of
Potter's field anyway that ending would have been more impactful if I'd remember
to say that at the beginning when they're driving past the McDonald's to

(01:15:13):
get to the video store Darren and David both are like oh no people in that
McDonald's every like duck and they both duck down and dad's like oh you don't
want to be seen having your dad drive you around and they're like no of course
not you're embarrassing dad so I thought that was a funny little book end with
the these three evil ghosts at the end that is good I and again not to like

(01:15:38):
beat a dead horse or you know at the risk of repeating ourselves I can't
recall if you know for as silly as this book was I can't recall if a Goosebones
book ever had that that same kind of tying of the bow at the end especially

(01:16:02):
with the detail that was so minor because you had goofy parents galore and
goosebumps books but yeah I feel like I feel like nothing like that ever happened
unless it was something lame like oh somebody play you know pulled a prank or
joke kind of like at the end of curse of the mummies to him that's like oh boy
I hope we never go through that again haha but for it to like be something

(01:16:25):
else so for it to be two separate parties two separate incidents where one
is commenting on the other and calling back to it and kind of a clever way I
feel like they never happen in those books so I feel like we can put a tally
on the side of the chalkboard mark strange matter in that regard yeah and I

(01:16:47):
think that speaks to what I enjoyed about this book I thought it was it had
it felt pretty authentic in in that sense like in the sense that it was like
this really does feel like that's how teenagers relate to each other that's
how they relate to their parents and then the the little thematic tie at the

(01:17:08):
end is like and it has been ever thus whether your dad's just a dorky Ebenezer
Scrooge hat guy or the captain of the Flying Dutchman ever the same yeah that's
the book that's cool that's cool yeah like you said I seems like for the most

(01:17:29):
part I as you said I didn't really miss anything really noteworthy at all
except for that cute stinger and the the fulfillment of the promise offered by
the cover of the book where we actually get however brief I'll be I'll be a
brief some semi high octane action yeah and they probably would have won if they

(01:17:55):
just stayed in the original car because I can't imagine they must have dropped
like yeah 20 miles an hour when they switched to the big dual rig but I would
say preserve this one in the time capsule hey remember how we used to do
that yeah hey we're bringing it back just like the Flying Dutchman is

(01:18:18):
bringing us back to that incident earlier in the story so would you say
that you'd be interested in further investigations into strange manner in
the future even if I wasn't interested I would still probably want to come back
to it just on account of how there's you know 37 books and then there whatever

(01:18:40):
yeah but yeah so I know we usually do this kind of yeah go ahead it makes me
happy that I like this one enough that when we inevitably do get back to it at
some point in the future I'll probably enjoy it I feel like yeah we won't
totally dread it which I know we usually do this kind of thing at the top of the

(01:19:01):
show and I think I mentioned oh yeah we should take a quick preview of some of
those titles but just as like a little teaser would you want to read rattle off
some of the names some of the more interesting entries in the series that
hop out at you that maybe will act as a teaser of just what we might cover in
the future I sure would let me look at my goodreads where I'm one book ahead of

(01:19:28):
schedule on my 2024 reading challenge not to brag it doesn't really count
because you know half the books I've read are these like children's books it
counts there are still books it feels like that should really just be like one
like a half of a point okay I'm pulling up the matter titles let's see what are

(01:19:54):
some interesting titles fly book 7 fly the unfriendly skies book 10 night mayor
but it's not the kind of now you're thinking unless you're thinking it's the
night mayor book 13 toy trouble who book 16 the weird weird West that could

(01:20:17):
potentially be fun 17 tune into terror the book 18 the Fairfield
triangle lots of boring ones book 30 escape from planet earth speaking of
Twilight Zone yeah that's all I got be excited for those half half audible

(01:20:38):
titles everybody I did see I did come across one when I was poking around
goodreads earlier I'm sure you know you just cast it off as like oh boring title
but I don't know maybe paired with a cover image I'm like hey that's pretty
good I don't know what number it was but it was called splitting image and it has

(01:20:58):
like two faces kind of like one's like a reptilian face and the other is a human
face with the anamorphic ripples in between them like we're changing and
dividing I'm like that's a that's a good pun that I don't think I've yet heard

(01:21:19):
and the annals of spooky kid books so good on you
missus angle and Barnes is that not what the tales from the crypt one story is
called with Joe Pesci split personality oh well and I know that I guess you know

(01:21:39):
originally I heard that that expression was supposed to be spit and image not
spinning image and etymology an image I don't remember why look hmm you can
pursue their own research sort of like also the original phrase was to you

(01:22:01):
can't eat your cake and have it too meaning like you can't eat your cake and
then still have cake because you ate it already which is a dumb expression but
it's better than you can't have your cake and eat it too it's like what else
would you do with the cake tell me yeah I don't like either version of it well
look I think we can actually wrap this episode up before the hour and a half

(01:22:24):
we were really tight we were called to action point yeah well in any case yeah
we're gonna wrap this puppy up if you have read any of these other books from
the strange matter series that Eric barely told us just before let us know

(01:22:49):
or is there one in particular we should seek out over the others you can reach
out to us via our email address blackmagic treehouse pod at gmail.com or
if you know you're a member of this current century you can just talk to us
on Instagram which we're trying to do a little bit more of these days where
we're slowly getting the hang of it I just figured out how notifications work

(01:23:11):
so I'm coming along and I just want to say as far as Instagram is concerned if
we followed you or if you followed us I'm just so pleased with what I've been
seeing because Instagram seems to be the one place thus far social media wise
that I've seen a fair amount of people congregating you know via their profiles

(01:23:37):
who actually post about this stuff you know kids books from the 80s and 90s in
general and like the spooky stuff in particular I feel like it's
traditionally it's been so hard to find people talking about this stuff outside
of like the big popular name-brand ones like point horror and goosebumps and all

(01:23:58):
of that but I've been so pleased looking through some of these folks on Instagram
who we followed or who followed us who like post about the exact same kind of
books that we talked about in these episodes I can't as a big dork for this
stuff I can't tell you how happy that makes me because for the longest time and
the reason why I wanted to do this show is because it seemed like there are all

(01:24:23):
these books out there I can't be the only one who has these memories so it's
just very gratifying to see that there are other weirdos out there like us so
thanks for what you do if you've come across us we hope you like the show and
yeah reach out to us if you got any requests or ideas we love to hear from
you and honestly we have definitely entertained the idea of having guests on

(01:24:47):
the show Eric and I have alluded to how sometimes our schedules don't always
work out where we can record together so if you're interested in letting us know
your thoughts about any of these books see if we can schedule a time to record
an episode with you yeah are you throwing to me that's all I got great

(01:25:11):
well we've got a full 39 seconds before we hit the 90-minute mark so oh man do
you have anything you want to talk about real quick any micro topics any micro
any micro do you have any pain so do you have any painful jokes to end our
episode with any pirate jokes again in your back pocket there that you've been

(01:25:33):
whipp out yeah I feel like you gave us all of them at the top of the show you
you depleted your resources yeah oh man now you've given me an assignment and I
was trying to wrap this up no boy good pirate joke oh gosh I don't know if I
could think of any outside of it was rated our right exactly oh okay well I

(01:26:00):
got a I got a quick dumb one go ahead you know you having said that you'll
probably see the punchline coming a mile away just like the semi what is a
pirate's favorite chain restaurant I have a guess but why don't you tell me

(01:26:21):
what does he guess is it what's our bees no it's long John Silver's idiot just
kidding it's our bees but they also like long John Silver's yeah that was almost
an anti-joke what do I look like a radio anybody get that one email us if you get

(01:26:44):
that one by