Episode 86: Community Partnerships

Episode 86-Community Partnerships Released 15 September 2024 Hosts: John Schelt, Keoni Hutton & Leslie Reed

With just days before the first haunts open in the United States, the team shares their progress, challenges, and a few unexpected twists along the way. Listen in as they discuss the importance of community partnerships and how they’ve successfully collaborated with local organizations, food banks, and schools to give back while creating thrilling haunted experiences. From practical tips on drafting proposals to the benefits of engaging with high school volunteers, this episode is packed with valuable insights for every haunter looking to make a positive impact.

Resources mentioned during this episode:

Anne Hathaway Pranking the Audience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g70XH9bwTvw

Haunting U can be found at www.hauntingu.com.

Sanguine Creek Estates: www.scehaunt.com

Chamber of Haunters Website: https://chamberofhaunters.com/

Sound Effects:

Music: Dance of Death http://www.purple-planet.com/

Thunder: Recorded by Mark DiAngelo Uploaded: 07.29.11 http://soundbible.com/1913-Thunder-... License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Modifications: Inserted over Dance of Death Music

Evil Laughter: Recorded by Himan Uploaded: 03.13.13 License: Public Domain  http://soundbible.com/2054-Evil-Lau...

We couldn't continue to bring you awesome content without the support of our sponsors, particularly our Premium sponsors, the Chamber of Haunters, Fear Expo and VFX.  Learn more here:

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Haunting U is a production of Rocky Mountain Home Haunters LLC published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Music.

(00:26):
Nope do not hit whoever you are do not hit rewind do not do it i'm not worth
it and she's lovely reed most of the time,
we're having too much fun today we're we're having too much fun see this is
what happens when john has been gone for a while and we get him back and we

(00:50):
have we have to like But that's why you tune in to the podcast, right?
Are you saying I'm the cause of the general mayhem and chaos?
No, I'm saying... How is that bad?
Yes, but I'm saying we missed you and we're glad you're back. Who was on the last one?
No, you weren't. Wait, was I? No, you weren't. Are you sure?

(01:12):
Yes. I'm going to look it up. What was the last one, John?
What was the last one, John? It was Ghostly How-To's.
It was Ghostly How-To's and you weren't on it. which I just downloaded.
Oh, wait a minute. You were on it. Wow.
He left early. You left early to freaking do your fantasy football lame stuff.
Very well. Then in late August and early September, I have commitments that have been made.

(01:37):
Yes. To spooky season.
It's for like an hour. How dare you? Which means it could wait until after we're
done with spooky season.
Exactly. Wait, there are like 11 other people on that particular one having
the draft at that moment. And there are three people here.
And we're part of you guys. We are more fun and less forgiving. That's also true.

(02:04):
Welcome, everybody, back to the Haunting You podcast. We are so very excited to have you here.
It is September 15th. We are days away from the first haunts opening up in the United States.
Getting ready for haunt season 2024 and of course we are what 46 days away from Halloween,

(02:27):
that's scary math oh that's very scary math you know why it's very scary math
because I haven't done a thing yet man the panic that sent into your voice that was 46 days holy,
oh we're in trouble guys holy moly actually How's your permitting going?
Oh my god I don't even remember where we left off because like I moved to depression.

(02:54):
Accurate So,
I don't remember where I left the story, but feel free to go check out our previous
two podcasts to hear all about the challenges we're having with renovating the
house, which is why we're not getting any of my Halloween stuff before Halloween,
which is very, very depressing to me.

(03:15):
But all of that aside, let me try to pick up kind of where we're at now.
Now, so we I think on the last episode, I talked about how we found a crack
in the lid of the tank. Right. Yes.
And did I talk about going back to the county and the county telling us that
we may have to replace the entire system? No.

(03:38):
Okay. So that's where we'll pick up.
So we found out that there's a crack in the lid of the tank,
but it's in the lid of the tank. So we thought we would not need to replace the entire tank.
We could just dig it up, take the lid off, put a new lid on,
bury it again, and everything would be good, right?
Sure. Well, we submitted the report that we got to the county and said,

(03:59):
look, here is what we discovered. Here is our plan to fix it.
Please issue us a permit so that we can do that work. And they said,
your tank appears, or your system at least, appears to be 47 years old.
We are not confident That your
system is Operating properly We need

(04:20):
to do a percolation test A percolation
Test involves digging A 13 foot deep hole Next to The drain field of the septic
system So that they can take a sample Of the soil and then Based on the results
of this Sample we will know What has to be done from there.

(04:43):
So, we had to...
So, one, we had to get the inspection done, which cost an extra $500.
Then we find out we need to get this percolation test done, which is going to cost us an extra $1,300.
Sure. So, we're two grand in just on septic work.
Like, this is not touching anything else that is happening on the house.

(05:06):
This is all just to get the freaking plumbing permit. it and because all of
this takes time and contractors are busy sure this test is not happening until
next wednesday so wednesday the i don't even know what day it is anymore.
18th sorry yeah so all so the freaking percolation test isn't even going to

(05:31):
happen until september 18th and best case scenario the percolation test goes
well and immediately Immediately afterwards,
they will say, oh, your septic system looks like it's in great shape.
Please, here is your permits. You may continue and do the rest of the work that you need to do.
Worst case scenario, we have to replace the whole septic system,

(05:52):
tank, drain field, OD box, piping from the house, whole shebang will have to get replaced.
And what does that run you? Just fall apart. I have no clue.
Because I feel like I have to do your show.
A lot is the short answer. But apparently, the county has grant programs that
can help pay for new septic systems.

(06:14):
So if we end up there, that is happening.
So have you considered along the lines where I would recommend theft?
I'm super curious what to steal here. No, no, no.
In the same, it's theft adjacent, more of shady business adjacent. Jason.

(06:34):
Have you considered just bribing them to give you a positive result?
Tried that. What I think I'm going to need to happen is, John,
I need you to send me a jar of dirt.
I got a jar of dirt. That's what popped into my head, too.
I'm glad because that's what I was going for. No, I need you to send me a jar of dirt.

(06:55):
I'm picturing a urine test where you have That's sort of what I'm hearing.
I need you to send me clean dirt. Won't they be able to detect Colorado minerals
roles or something compared to... Do I look like a geologist to you?
Oh, for good luck. You assume a great deal.
This is the health department of Calvert County.
I'm imagining they're not geologists. If it doesn't show up with shit,

(07:18):
I think they're going to be good.
Music.
Amount. How much should be in my groundwater? I'm going to feel really bad for Google someday.

(07:40):
Yeah, right. So that's where we are on the renovations. I...
Are you okay? No, I'm not okay. Short answer.
I'm at the point where I'm regretting starting the renovations.
Doesn't everyone have that when they start renovations? Probably.

(08:03):
I imagine everyone goes through this, and I'm hopeful that that's the case. But my God.
I can't wait to find out what goes wrong next.
Really? Only because it's going to be something new and absurd.
Only because it's going to be something new and absurd. Well,

(08:24):
I was going to say, at least it won't be deceptive stuff, but maybe we should jinx that.
One of my mentors at work once told me that in order to be as successful as
a naval engineer, you have to have an infinite capacity for bad news.
I like that. I also like that. It's brilliant.

(08:47):
And I have told it to every person I've supervised ever since.
But I'm reaching my capacity.
I think what we've discovered here is because of the path you have chosen in
life, you seem to be destined to have to deal with broken things. That is accurate.
But for the most part, I'm pretty good at fixing them.

(09:12):
Bureaucracy is not something I can fix. No, no, no, no.
And that's frustrating. failed so fucking frustrating
i recommend that see i think what
you here's the thing what you're recommending is cheating
by using better dirt well the
less contaminated dirt what i'm proposing contaminated

(09:35):
dirt fair enough what
i'm proposing is skip all that and just hand
them some you know some some money and
maybe this is for your positive results and just move forward yeah
hey fill out the form i tried talking to
the guy at the county and telling him look we're at
a point where you are now deeply involved because they have to like come out

(10:00):
and witness the the percolation test they are they're like the guy from the
county is actually going to be on site to take soil samples right and so i'm
like look you are deeply involved at this point you know that this is going
to get fixed to your content because you're the one who is supervising it can
you prove my permits so i can you approve my permits so that i can have both

(10:24):
of these repair paths moving forward at the same time instead of having to wait
for one to finish before the other can even begin.
He has not given me an answer yet. Yeah. I need something.
So my family is not living in, you know, 60 square feet. Yeah.
I think we have like 200, but four people in 200 square feet is not a lot of space. Yeah.

(10:51):
So that's where we are. If any of you find listeners have similar stories of
chaos in renovation, we would love to hear them. I would like to know how many
of you resorted to bribery.
I also would like to know how many of you resorted to bribery.
You can't call it a bribe. You have to call it a convenient surcharge or an administrative bribe.

(11:13):
Exactly. So please send us a message at Haunting University on Instagram,
Facebook.com slash HauntingU or at HauntingU on YouTube.
Leave us a comment. Send us a message.
Tell us your stories of construction chaos, because I need something to get
me through this, because I'm not sure how much more I can take.

(11:33):
Cocaine? No cocaine, please.
Still in the military.
So that's where we are on that. And because of that, we have drastically scaled
down what we are going to be doing for this year.
But I'm excited to get started on what we're going to be doing this year.

(11:55):
So last night, in fact, I was shopping on Amazon.
I found a wiper motor. I found couplings.
I found string. I think I have everything that I need on its way now to build the Axeworthy Ghost.
So I'm very excited to get started on that and optimistic that that one is going to happen.
That's what I'm planning to do this weekend if all the parts show up on time.

(12:18):
I think they will. The wiper motor showed up today. I'm very excited.
So progress there. I've got chicken wire already and the tools to cut it.
So the chicken wire ghost is going to happen. This weekend,
I need to get under the deck and pull the crypt out because I have not yet looked
at it and don't know how much damage it has sustained while sitting for the

(12:42):
last two years while we were gone.
So that's probably going to need some work. So I'm hopeful to assess and start
that repairs this weekend because today is, well, we'll release this September 15th.
But I intend to start setting up September 28th.
So we've got basically two weeks to get everything ready so that we can set

(13:08):
it up on the 28th, 29th, 30th.
And then we are up and running October 1st.
Leslie sounds skeptical. Oh, No, I am not because I know exactly what we'll end up doing.

(13:28):
And like always, we'll make it work because that's what we do.
One way or another, we will make it work. And it may not end up being quite
what we planned, quite what we intended.
But it'll be Halloween-y and spooky time. But it will be spooky,
and I hope people will come see it and enjoy it.
That actually segues us very nicely into what we want to talk about tonight.

(13:52):
So we have been going through the Hunting You Method, talking about how we are
using it to help us plan for this year.
And we've really just kind of hit the wavetops on our planning process and then
started to do some deep dives.
But today, we want to talk about partnerships and kind of go through what we

(14:17):
do to, one, build up funding for The Haunt, two,
support our local community, and, well, that's really it.
That's what we're trying to do. That's the goals of our partnership.
We need to, one, fund The Haunt, and two, we want to give back to the community in some way.
So we want to talk a little bit about how we have done that in the past,

(14:38):
how we're doing that this year, and hopefully give you some ideas of ways that
you can get back to your own community through your haunting efforts.
Because haunting is fun, but haunting for a good cause is, I don't know,
rewarding, fulfilling, good for the soul, might keep me out of hell. I don't know.
We'll see. That's a stretch.

(15:03):
Speaking of hell. how do we feel about recommending theft to give back to the
community so Robin Hooding basically,
I think it wasn't a hard no the hunting you podcast does not advocate Robin
Hooding didn't you just say you were going to cheat on your government sanctions,

(15:28):
that's not stealing I,
that doesn't hurt anyone but
me and the animals who drink my groundwater i'll be up now you have toads,
that we i mean we have toads and turtles and snakes oh my but they seem to be
doing okay so like surely there's nothing wrong with my septic tank you ain't

(15:50):
a turtle doctor what did you call me you ain't a turtle doctor you don't know,
how do you know i'm not a turtle doctor oh i know.
No but i am a turtle owner so like i have some ideas on what to look for.
Right so less why don't you kick it off and and talk a little bit about some of our partnership,

(16:14):
some of the partnerships that have worked for us in the past yeah so i mean
we've done a number of partnerships i'd say pretty much almost most of the haunts
that we've done especially you know of late,
they've all been really geared towards setting up a haunt, but also providing
something for the community,
whether it's providing something for the community on base or on a ship with

(16:37):
morale and stuff of the families, or whether it's collecting food for the Southern Maryland Food Bank,
or whether it's working with the candle lighters and working with them to put their haunts together.
So that way they're giving back and put through all of their programs that they utilize.
We've really kind of built what we do around the idea of giving back.

(17:04):
And there's a lot of benefit that we found to that because it is bringing things
back to the community, bringing all of these pieces to together and being helpful.
Well said. I like that. i enjoy watching leslie try to multitask like talking
and what is that a crochet pattern like what is what are you working on well

(17:29):
there's knitting yeah it's all that but i can't figure out what you're doing
with the tablet while knitting oh playing a stupid ipad game.
I thought that was related to the knitting fair enough no well it i mean technically the,
it is waiting for the knitting to dry
while you well adhd is problematic adhd is problematic that is a true statement

(17:57):
so so yeah i think you said that well less so you know we started when we started
haunting you know way back when it was just me and john and jumping out of bushes,
we we didn't even think about partnerships or giving back to the community it
was all about having fun.
But as we got older, we,

(18:19):
I was not going to say matured. I have a confession to make.
The biggest reason that we started partnering with a food bank here in Maryland
was because I was trying to find a way to keep track of how many people were

(18:40):
coming to visit the haunt.
You're a self-serving monster. I know. I know. I'm such a terrible person.
Let's go back a few years to 2020. 2020 everyone remembers
what 2020 was like it was the height of
the pandemic there was a lot of unknowns there was
a lot of fear there was a lot of questions nobody
knew if it was going to be safe to trick-or-treat that was the year that people

(19:01):
started building like the crazy delivery the candy delivery shoots and things
that they wouldn't have to get close to the trick-or-treaters to give them candy
like that was halloween in 2020 and we did not feel like we had the.
Funding or ability to put on a safe haunt
in the midst of all of those unknowns and so we

(19:24):
shifted to doing a drive-by haunted
house and what made
that difficult was the way that in the past we had
tracked the number of people who were coming to visit was by using one
of those little hand and clicky things and the person who was at the
front door would literally click the clicky thing
the counter every time someone walked

(19:46):
in and we would have a very accurate count of how many people came at
the end of the night with the drive-by
though there was no good way to find out how many people when you're trying
to do that with cars it's much harder to do that with cars exactly and i had
the idea of getting one of those machines that they used to count traffic where

(20:06):
you roll over the tube and it counts the cars that are going through.
I still want to do that because I think it's a brilliant freaking idea.
But it was too late to try to get it that year. They had like a six-week lead
time and we were three weeks out. So it was too late.
But Leslie had this brilliant idea. Well, why don't we collect something?

(20:27):
I was like, oh, if everyone brings a can of food. Their souls were already taken. What was that?
Their souls were already taken. Whose souls? Well, we can't collect souls.
They were already occupied. But I'm...
Hi, carry on. You threw me off again.

(20:49):
Yeah, it happens. The idea there was if we collect a can of food from everyone
who comes, we'll at least have a rough number of the number of people who came.
Okay, but then what do we do with all this food?
So I started doing a little bit of Googling. Huh, I wonder if there's a food bank here in Maryland.
There is a food bank here in Maryland. Look, the Southern Maryland Food Bank.
I'm in Southern Maryland. How perfect.

(21:11):
Perfect. So we ended up reaching out to them and started asking questions,
kind of telling them what we were doing.
And they loved the idea of using a haunted house to collect food.
They were able to send us a bunch of their media. So they gave us like posters,
just PDFs so that we could print them out ourselves.
But posters of the type of things that they want to collect and flyers that

(21:35):
we could hand out and post all over social media.
And they supplied everything that we needed to market this as a food drive.
And then we just put our own haunted spin on it. And it ended up working out really well.
Over the two years that we were here, we ended up collecting 1,500 pounds of food.
And we're able to provide all of that to the Southern Maryland Food Bank,

(21:58):
giving back to our community. How many pounds of souls did we collect?
Souls are hard to measure. I have not found a good way to measure souls.
If any of you out there know how to measure them, actually back to us.
Isn't there some statistic that comment below?
Isn't there some legitimate, like scientific fact that once you,
if you're weighed before you die and then you're weighed after it's like 21

(22:21):
point something grams lighter.
Okay. First of all, that was a Dan Brown novel. Was it?
I heard it somewhere. Oh, it was. No, that is the start of Angels and Demons, I think. Is it really?
Angels and Demons is jumping out of a plane. Yeah, I don't think it is.
It is one of the Dan Brown novels.

(22:44):
I'm pretty sure it's Angels and Demons because the reason he jumped out of the
plane was the antimatter.
Right, but it was about surface area on slowing your descent when you don't
have a parachute. I mean, that too.
Anyway. What if we just took the soul we had? It was the God particle thing. Anyway.
You don't have a soul. John, you're a redhead. You don't have a soul.

(23:10):
But that is definitely something out of one of the Da Vinci novels.
I don't think there's any basis in fact. I don't think anyone has truly measured it.
Maybe I will give my body to science and they can measure me and maybe we can
find an answer to this at the end of my life.
All of that aside, wow, that was a hell of a tangent. You guys are throwing
me at left and right. Sorry! Yay!

(23:34):
Also, really quick, sorry, just to throw you off again completely purposely.
How is it that I get lectured for recommending theft and haunting you just not endorse theft?
However, Leslie's endorsing the collection of souls. Not a word.
Well, I mean, if they're not using them, I don't think there's any law against collecting souls.

(23:54):
God, that's just a really good point. She has,
that's a good argument. Yeah, I know. Never mind.
Withdrawal. Thank you. Thank you. So that was really how we started our partnership
with the Southern Maryland Food Bank.
And wherever you are, there is probably a food bank or a community pantry or

(24:16):
something along those lines near you that is looking for donations.
So if you are looking for an opportunity to give back to your community,
jump on Google, type in your area, type in food bank, type in community pantry.
And I almost guarantee that you will find something relatively close to you
that you could help support and they would, and more likely than not,

(24:41):
well, they will be willing to work with you in some way or another.
Especially, again, from a practical perspective, we're moving into the holiday season.
We're getting ready to kind of kick that off here, coming up real fast.
And that is, especially in speaking with food pantries, that's when they need

(25:01):
the most help. That's a good point.
As getting everything ready around the holidays.
And, you know, again, if you run a year round haunt or if you do something more
regularly, also a really, really great way to do that, because most people only
think about giving during the holidays.

(25:22):
So it's kind of a twofold benefit.
Yeah. The other half of that is you as a haunt have a workforce of some amount, probably.
Our workforce is me in Maryland and Leslie and John in Colorado,
but hey, we still have a workforce. force.
But if you have people, another way you can give back to the community is by

(25:44):
actually volunteering at these food pantries at the food banks.
But in the past, I volunteered at the Rocky Mountain Food Bank and actually
sorted the donations that were coming in.
They need people who can go through, make sure food is not expired,
make sure the package is intact and it hasn't exploded all over everything and

(26:05):
just go through all of the donations they're going through or they're getting
for useful versus things they cannot use.
And they just need a workforce to help do that.
So if you've got people from your haunt, if maybe something at the end of the
season, hey, we were able to donate all these food. We're going to spend a day
at the food bank and help them sort.
And it's great publicity for your haunt. And you're doing something really cool

(26:27):
for the community as well.
There's another piece of it too. For those of you who have high schoolers,
more and more high schools around the country are requiring.
A number, a set number of community service hours in order to graduate.
So again, as you're, you know, working with your staff, you know,

(26:50):
however large or small, this is another way that you can get those community
service hours while still doing something that you enjoy.
Yes. And in fact, that is a, an excellent segue to my next suggestion for partnering
with your community, you need actors to fill your haunt, probably, right?

(27:11):
A great source of those actors is potentially the high schools around your area.
For that very reason, that many of them have this requirement for community
service hours in order for their people to graduate, you can help them do that
by having them come and volunteer in your haunt.

(27:31):
This is something that I did on my two ships ago.
Now, when I was doing the, the haunted ship on Coast Guard Cutter alert up in
Oregon, we reached out to the schools there and we had like,
I think four or five students come out and, and haunt with us on for the ship.
But the candle lighters do this the best out of anyone that I have seen.

(27:55):
They have, so the candle lighters spend four weekends building their haunts before opening.
And on the third build weekend,
they actually have sign up day where they advertise to all the schools and say,
if you want to sign up to volunteer at the haunt and get your community service
hours, show up on this day,
sign up, get your name on the calendar and we will, and you can do it.

(28:21):
And I was absolutely freaking blown away when I saw how many people came out
to sign up on that first weekend.
There were over 200 high schoolers standing in line hoping to get a spot to
work for the ghost house. It was incredible.
It came with a few challenges, though. That's a lot of people to try to manage.

(28:48):
The candlelighters actually had two people who were dedicated to nothing but,
dealing with volunteers they had a volunteer coordinator and
then an assistant volunteer coordinator and then
on top of that they had a costumer a makeuper who were
responsible for getting them into character every night and then the coordinators
would show them where they go give them some brief training on how to how to

(29:10):
act in the location they're going to be any props that they need to know where
the emergency exits are what to do in an emergency how to communicate all of
that stuff that the actors have to know to be effective and to be safe,
someone had to train them so the candlelighters actually dedicated to people
to doing nothing but that the entire season that's not necessarily practical

(29:30):
for every haunt because most of us don't have the the kind of workforce that
the candlelighters do but if you only have a couple full of volunteers or you're
going to open a couple of nights,
it's much more, I'm going to say doable to accomplish. Yeah.
So we talked about partnering with the food banks. We talked about partnering

(29:51):
with your local schools.
The third partnership that we have taken advantage of in the past are,
I'm going to say, established community service organizations.
In our case, that just happened to be the United States Coast Guard.
And granted, probably not... Did you say take advantage of?
Say what now? I thought you said

(30:13):
you took advantage of the charitable organization. Maybe I misheard that.
Run that by me again. I said partnered with, not took advantage of.
Did we defraud these people? I don't know. I don't keep the books. Short answer is...
Don't answer that question. Don't answer that question.

(30:33):
We have books. Quote unquote books. I honestly thought you would say we have book.
We have book. Yeah, exactly. We have book.
The weenie book. But anyway.
Listeners you can't see it but john literally just turned on his camera for

(30:54):
the first time this podcast just so we could see him facepalm i did yep i did.
And for all of you who are wondering what we're talking about with the winnie
book no i promise it's not rated x i am actually talking about one little spark
mickey's ten commandments on the road to imagineering by marty sklar this is

(31:15):
a phenomenal book that describes disney's,
imagineering process and one of the things that it talks about is creating a
weenie if you want to learn more about weenies or visual magnets please go check
out episode 10 because it's a phenomenal hour-long discussion about weenies
by a bunch of podcast rating,

(31:37):
by a bunch of we haven't had to change it yet we're doing we have not had to
change it yet but it's a conversation about weenies by a bunch of adults who
have the sense of humor of 12 year olds so leslie when we started this did you
think k would be the potty mouth on the podcast,
yeah is that gonna be k or me fact yeah

(31:59):
i thought i was gonna swear more than either of you that is not
the case not the case swear that much
john unless hockey's involved or football or should start only if you want to
color up your child's vocabulary i don't know how colorful it is yet my children's
vocabulary is far more colorful than i thought it would be oh i have no doubt.

(32:24):
I'm talking about Wheaton every month. Indeed. Indeed. So back to community organizations.
There are a ton of community organizations out there that are focused on helping your local community.
I'm talking of like the Elks or Veterans Associations or the Candlelighters

(32:44):
in Fremont, California, for instance.
But organizations like this are often volunteer fire departments are another good one.
But organizations like this are always looking for ways to raise money for their
charitable purposes or to really help them function.

(33:06):
There's a volunteer fire department here in Southern Maryland that puts on a
haunt every year, and it is the primary fundraiser that they use for buying
things like equipment that the fire department needs to put out fires.
Like, can you think of a better freaking organization to support with haunting
than your local fire department? Like, what?

(33:28):
And you know the fire marshal is not going to give you crap because you're working
with the fire department, right?
That's why you do it. Okay. And they have fun tools. And they have fun tools. Oh, my God.
I just pictured Leslie with the dolls of life.
Yeah, seriously. I told you guys about this on Weishi,

(33:52):
how we set up an entire scene around one of our damage control lockers where
we had firefighting suits hanging from the ceiling that people had to like claw
their way through like a forest.
And then we had a fire on one side with skeletons putting water out and like
we made a whole thing out of it. It was great.
That was one of my favorite seats. And it worked awesome.

(34:15):
Anyway like what a great opportunity to
partner with a local organization to help
them raise money and the cool thing about these organizations is
they are already established in the community so they have an outreach they
have an audience they know the people to get the word out about your haunt about

(34:37):
the haunt you're doing with them and in many cases they will take on all of the
advertising for you because it's benefiting them.
Yeah. Basically your marketing is 85% done at that point.
Exactly. And, and more, they may have a location for you to use.

(34:59):
Hey, the Elks want to put on a haunt. Well, they're offering the Elks lodge
to, as a location, you bring your stuff in, set up the haunted house,
execute, and then pack it up and go home.
Like, So much easier than having to find your own location, buy your own location, rent a location.
If you can partner with someone, partner with an organization that has a location,

(35:23):
you are three steps ahead of where you will be otherwise.
In our case, I work for the U.S. Coast Guard, and so I already have an in.
So it's very easy for me to you know go
to the morale the morale director
and say hey we i know we've got this this festival

(35:43):
coming up for for the fall for halloween how
would you like to do 100 house for it i'll take care of all everything just
tell me where i can do it and they have
never told me no anytime that i have come up and and said
that two for two right now why
don't they let me do it at headquarters it's a much more secure
space like secure facility than anywhere else i have been they may

(36:05):
not let me do it at headquarters but you might
be able to see if there's something that again you know community-based we can't
do it here but we could do it over here indeed indeed the cool thing about where
coast guard headquarters is though it's built on the saint elizabeth's campus
and saint elizabeth's is a civil war era mental institution,

(36:28):
and the history on this campus is super freaking cool that's almost too easy i need.
I i need i need the basic information for this so that way because that'll be
my next that'll be one of my ghosts yes i love it yes i love it so,

(36:50):
One, look into who you have on your staff. If they are members of any community
organization or whatever, there may be an in there for you to create a partnership.
If not, reach out to your local community organizations.
Hey, I build haunted houses. I'm looking for a venue for this year.
It could be a great way to help bring money in for your organization.

(37:14):
And I would love to talk about the possibilities more.
Send that out as an email to every community organization you know and see what
comes you're you're fishing at that point not the bad fishing this is the good
fishing ffi and not ph fi not ph exactly your ph should be neutral yes.

(37:37):
Chemistry joke one of many of the draws here are hunting you,
you get whale sharks you get avocados you get chemistry who
knows you'll never know there's no downside there is no
downside so make sure you subscribe on whatever app that you listen to your
podcasts on so you can be notified every time we release a new episode you should

(38:00):
also go on and rate the podcast you should absolutely rate the podcast we love
reading your comments and hearing what you think about the podcast,
it warms our hearts, even when it's bad.
It still warms our hearts because someone felt strongly enough to tear us a
new one on the rating. I'm okay with that. They care.
They care. They cared enough. Exactly. So please, go leave us a rating because

(38:24):
that helps other people find the podcast as well.
I bet we do have one coming from that person from Oklahoma. Don't.
Don't say it. That's probably it. I'm just saying it's a possibility.
Coming. The possibility.
So let's take a quick break so that we can hear from our sponsors,
and then we'll jump back into partnerships.

(38:46):
Music.

(39:06):
Wonderful works from our sponsors. If you would like to become a sponsor of
Haunting You and allow us to continue the absurdity that you get two times a month,
assuming that we're not moving across country, go ahead and reach out to any
of our social media and we are happy to put something together for you.
And absolutely. We have a whole page set up on our website, Haunting You,

(39:27):
just the letter U dot com and click on sponsorships and you will see all the
different ways that you can help support the Haunting You podcast.
And if you are a haunted house, or if you are a vendor, you make costumes,
whatever, and you want to bring your products to an audience of dedicated Halloween
lovers, our audience is exactly the audience that you want to be talking to.

(39:50):
So check out the sponsorship page because they can show you all the different
ways that we can help you get your word out to our listeners.
And I guarantee you will not find cheaper advertising anywhere in the industry
than on the Haunted U podcast.
I guarantee it. I guarantee it.

(40:11):
I think you're listening to us so much of that, and then they're like, hold on, cheap?
Honestly, it's my number one selling point at conferences. Well,
it gets the job done. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
So we have talked about all the different ways that we have partnered with nonprofit organizations.

(40:31):
We have partnered with organizations that give back to our community in the past.
And we hope that that has inspired you to reach out to some organizations in
your community so that you can also give back to your community through your love of haunting.
Les, I totally forgot the last thing you mentioned that we should talk about.
Having a plan and a proposal. Yes! Thank you. Took me a second.

(40:58):
But in order to do that, if you are talking to someone who you have never spoken
to before, you probably need a plan that you can pitch to them.
Now, we did a whole episode on creating a pitch, but that was a pitch for a
haunted house. But it's still applicable here as well.
You need to have a clear idea of what it is that you are trying to accomplish,

(41:22):
what it is you can bring to their organization, what you need from their organization.
And you need to have that laid out in a clear, coherent manner that you can
hand to anyone and say, this is what I'm trying to accomplish.
Please read it over, and let's talk next week and answer your questions.
If you don't have that at the ready when you are going out to talk to these

(41:46):
or when you're going out to seek potential partners, no one is going to take you seriously. Yep.
Les, what are some of the things that you would include in this type of proposal?
So in this type of proposal, you really want to make sure that it's tailored.
If you're talking to a food bank and you're saying, this is what we'd like to

(42:06):
do, can you put this advertising into your newsletter?
You're really just wanting to present what your hunt is, letting them know that
we're going to be collecting, this is the information. Can we get what you guys need?
And that's going to be a different type of partnership than going to,

(42:27):
say, your local fire department and saying, hey, can we partner to put on a haunt together?
So one of the first things, again, is know your audience and tailor your discussion to that directly.
The other thing that you're going to want to be able to show and provide is
some evidence of success and knowledge that you've had in the past.

(42:51):
So again, this is also going to depend on what you're proposing.
A food bank, they're more likely to just put your information in and say,
hey, these guys might be collecting.
But if you're going to another organization that you want a little bit more
input and work from them, you really want to have that lined out.
So it's not necessarily about putting together a full business plan,

(43:14):
but you do want to have a solid proposal that states your objectives,
that states your plan, that states what you're going to provide,
and that states what you're asking for the partnership to provide.
Exactly. Just recently, I drafted a proposal for a local arcade that I wanted

(43:35):
to partner with. Now, a little bit different.
I just started a jellyball business. If you're in Southern Maryland and you're
looking for jellyball, please reach out.
I'm more than happy to talk with you more about what Southern Maryland jelly
ball can do for your next event.
But anyway, I created a proposal to work with the local arcade and,
and supply jelly ball for them.
And in that proposal, I just kind of broke it down like this.

(43:57):
I did an overview of what jelly ball is and what, uh.
We can offer. I talked about where we would set up an arena,
what equipment that I would be able to provide,
as well as some of the rules that are required for the participants to play.

(44:19):
I talked about insurance that I am offering, or rather that we are covered by
and would be extended to the arcade that we're working with.
I talked about how tickets would be purchased and how we would,
in this case, we'd be using the arcade's point of sale system.
And then I would just invoice them based on the tickets that come out for Jelly Bowl.

(44:43):
And then I talked about schedule, when we would be doing it,
how long it would take for us to set up, how long it would take for us to shut
down at the end of the day, what we would need from the arcade.
Do we need power? Do we need water? Do we need whatever?
And then at the very end, And I put together a section I called summary of actions.

(45:03):
Southern Maryland Jelly Ball will provide all of these things.
The arcade will provide all of these things. And then summarize it with a conclusion.
And in the conclusion, a couple of key things that I wanted to make sure were in there.
My contact information, who they should reach out to. Here's my email. Here's my phone number.

(45:24):
So they can follow up with me after they've had a chance to arrange it.
And then I finished it with, we will be in touch with you next week to arrange
a follow-up conversation on our proposal to make sure that, you know,
to set a clear timeline on when we're going to talk again.
That way it's not just, oh, whenever you get to it and it may be a few weeks

(45:46):
and if it goes on too long, people are going to forget about it.
You want to keep those timelines short so that...
That it doesn't get forgotten about well and it also gives you
more of an ability to control part
of the conversation so if you're going and saying hey
this is my proposal i'd like to set up a

(46:06):
call in five business days to discuss this you're already giving them a deadline
and you really are putting it front and center and it makes you sound more serious and I mean,
really just put together of like,
Hey, I'm, this is really what I want to do. And I want to make sure that I'm doing it right.

(46:30):
And be open to feedback. You know, you have lots of ideas, but it may not necessarily.
Fit in what they're already doing.
Like, like for example, when it came to the ticketing,
the arcade has a bunch of bundle packages so you can
you know because they've got the arcade they have a virtual reality
video game that's a separate potential cost

(46:52):
they have a mini golf that's a separate potential
cost and then jelly ball was going to be a potential separate
cost and so i proposed well you already have
these bundle packages where you could pay one price and get all of
those so let's throw jelly ball in it
would cost this much here's how much would go to the the arcade here's how
much would come to me and and you could

(47:13):
do for like a double you have a double play where
you can pick any two a triple play any three a quadruple play where you pick
any four and they came back and like and they came back and made some changes
to that pricing structure and we negotiated a little bit and found something
that would work out for both of us if i was not open to that it could have it

(47:33):
would have fallen through completely and we
wouldn't be able to, we both would have missed out on an opportunity.
So be open to feedback, ask for feedback, and then find the middle ground that works for everyone.
Yeah, it really is. It's a dialogue and it's building a relationship.
It has to be a dialogue. And it's a give and take.

(47:55):
You're both trying to put something together that benefits everybody.
But also does not you know you don't want to be the person that takes up somebody's time.
With no value brought to it exactly yeah yeah yeah otherwise you're just a burden
and no one's going to want to work with you if you're just a burden on them

(48:15):
without providing any value i mean i feel like you're not saying it but that
describes me you could just say the name it's fine we love you john john without
you this would be a very very boring show,
as we have seen in the past because she and i get way too detailed and technical indeed,

(48:37):
so that's kind of what we wanted to talk about today with talking about how
to find partners who you could partner with and the advantages of creating these
partnerships but i think we need to have a little fun before we all sign off.

(48:57):
Sorry over to you john sorry so
this is just sort of random but we we
got into september and i had a conversation with some
some folks at work just going back and forth about what their favorite ball
like treat is so for example i apple cider you're not far off so i I saw them

(49:24):
in the store the other day. They brought back just apple cider donuts.
Those things are ridiculous.
That's probably my favorite thing all year round. I was going to say,
we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts the other day, and they had the apple cider donuts.
That's Ashley's favorite. We had to get some.
Yeah. Even bad apple cider donuts are still amazing. Absolutely.

(49:47):
So you're going with apple cider? For me, it's not fall until I have apple cider.
Because apple cider is delicious.
I love apple cider. And if you put a little bit of apple schnapps in the apple cider, oh, it's solid.
It's solid. Bourbon.
Bourbon's good, too. I prefer bourbon and hot chocolate, though.

(50:10):
Bourbon and coffee, though. That's a good go.
A depressant and a... Stimulant.
Stimulant in the same... I mean, I guess that's what Red Bull and vodka is,
but that just has never worked for me.
I've never actually had Red Bull. I don't like it.
The only energy drink I actually like the taste of is NOS.

(50:35):
I'm not allowed to have energy drinks. Rightly so. For good reason, no. Absolutely not.
Les, what's your favorite fall treat? Have energy drinks.
No, no, I don't like them. I thought you were giving your answer when you said bourbon.
It's not a bad answer. Not really restricted to fall in my life.

(50:58):
That was my only thought. Concur.
Fall beverage? bridge no i think i think for me it's it's gotta be,
pumpkin bread okay pumpkin bread nice yeah along those same lines like octoberfest beer.

(51:20):
That's a good one yeah i'm a fan although i saw a pumpkin beer in the in the
liquor store the other day that i'm like oh i want to try that there was some
beer you and i had in old chicago ago when you were here.
It tasted exactly like a Reese's. That was only for Halloween.
I don't have taken a picture of the bottle because I have no idea what it's
called. I don't normally like... So good.

(51:43):
Peanut butter beers are not. I know, but this one was.
This one was. I don't normally like a stout.
I don't normally like a stout, but this one literally tasted like a peanut butter cup.
It was chocolatey. It was peanut buttery. it was
fantastic we should have

(52:04):
taken a picture of the bottle we should have that still bothers me to this day
it was like eight years ago or something it was i think it was longer dude do
you realize that we're almost 40 like i don't like to talk about it yeah yeah i was looking at that and,

(52:25):
and I don't feel like it.
Well, I'll take that back. My back's killing me. John, our 20th high school reunion is next year.
Can I crash that? Sure. I'm probably not going to go. You can go for me. Sweet.
Oh, I can have so much fun with that.
John, I'm not going to. Well, go ahead. No, you. I'm not going to lie.

(52:47):
I remember getting an invitation to my 10th high school reunion and being like,
well, I don't know if it's really my thing. I was humming and hawing.
Then realized they wanted to charge me $280 for the privilege of going.
So that was the end of that. Made that easy. Made that easy.
I didn't know. I don't know if I liked you enough to go for free.

(53:08):
Yeah, exactly. i don't know about paying for it yep okay what other shenanigans you got really quick,
how are you on pumpkin spice i know we had this discussion a
while it depends i'm fine with it in coffee i'm fine with it in one to two baked
goods i don't like coffee so i mean there's that but i mean that's another thing

(53:28):
but there's a big difference between pumpkin spice and the spices you use in
things that are pumpkin.
That is very true. That is good. And the pumpkin spice everything?
The pumpkin spiced spam. It happened. I know it happened, and it's an atrocious.

(53:53):
Yeah, I've seen a couple of those, and I'm just like... Did you really think,
spam, did you really think you were making your money back on that one?
People are weird. Anyway, people are weird. Anyway. But I like that you put
you pole vaulted across the line. It's too much.
So that was that was the sort of Halloween fall adjacent related question.

(54:16):
The next one is just more of a topic of conversation I thought was was weird and interesting.
Did you see they have Coca-Cola flavored Oreos now? I did not see that.
Really a big fan of trying all the like you know thousand flavors of Oreos I
think there's like if they came in like eight or something two three four Oreo

(54:38):
packs sure yes yeah but I don't want to buy,
five six dollars worth of Oreos,
and then.
Realize that they're disgusting can I I need your guys opinion on something,
what do you think about buying like the giant pack of Coca-Cola flavored oreos

(55:01):
and then breaking them off into little baggies and giving them out as halloween
treats huh well so actually here before we get before we answer that question let me,
i'll explain why i went with this so leslie you're you're on the right track
i didn't find a you know three to four pack i i don't even actually know how
many is in here but it's it's a like mini one like the star wars ones they have

(55:22):
it's a very small pack just a couple of rows uh and it was
two dollars all right for two dollars i can
say i don't feel bad about throwing away two dollars
if i don't like them honestly this one
i'm curious but like my question is if i don't like them am i a bad person if
i give them out as halloween treats oh just 90 of it 90 likelihood all the parents

(55:46):
are just gonna throw them away yeah i was just gonna say if you see candy or
treats that That have been moved into a. Yeah.
That's a good point. That's a good point. I mean, for me, I.
I'd eat them, but I'm an idiot.
Well, I mean, some parents would do like the popcorn balls. Yeah.

(56:06):
Yeah, sure. I think anymore. It's just.
It's too risky. Unless you're doing it with a group of people and families that, you know. Sure.
And it's just going to end up in the trash. Yeah. So, I mean...
There's also almost... There's a homemade distinction.
Even the popcorn balls, I can almost wrap my head around.
But I would ask, like, why did you take pre-made Oreos? Because...

(56:30):
And put them in a bag and give them out. What did you do? That would be my first
thought. I didn't like them. That's what I did.
I mean, I almost think you should give out like a stapler.
You would be better off just taking it into work and putting it in a bag.
Yeah, that's a much better way to get rid of it.
That would be much more effective than, because I guarantee somebody's going

(56:55):
to eat it, even if it's just on a day. like what i'm assuming k will do with
the candy corn when it comes his way this year fuck candy corn.
Every time every time every time the
reason the reason i i brought this up was so i
tried so i bought a pack two dollars i tried it it
really does taste like coke it really does is that good or bad i don't know

(57:18):
i'm not i don't dislike them but at the same time i'm not sure i would buy them
again yeah but yeah here's not only do they taste like coke they put something in it that's like.
Pop rocks adjacent to simulate the
carbonation because after you take a bite you

(57:39):
get the pop rock sensation in your mouth i mean
thank you i love that
i just i don't know i just i was
curious to see what anyone else thought of that oh yeah have either of
you been to any of the universal studios harry
potter unfortunately no so at the
the candy shop honey dukes

(58:02):
in hogsmeade they have
fizzing whizbees and for those
of you who are less potter heady than uh less than
us fizzy fizzing whizbees are chocolate
covered bees that you put in your mouth and they buzz around and the
way that they do that at universal is exactly that john they put pop rocks they

(58:24):
cover pop rocks and chocolate and then so you pop it in your mouth and as it
melts it starts popping and buzzing right and like legitimately they are ashley
is a nice favorite candy from harry.
That's awesome they are so freaking good is it just because i can't trust the
jelly beans I do not trust the jelly beans 100% I do not trust the jelly beans,

(58:50):
I'm not terrible at parsing out the colors on notes yeah,
you'll have to remember just how many pounds of jelly beans I've eaten over
the course of my life I didn't think of that, that's a fair point indeed they've
got all kinds of really cool candy but those Fizzing Whizbees are the best.

(59:12):
I'll put it this way. I thought they went the extra mile, I thought,
to make the sort of at least faux carbonation. Totally.
I appreciate that attention to detail.
I'm not saying I don't dislike them. They're decent. I'm not sure I would go
out of my way to buy them again.
Fair. But I respect the effort, I guess, is kind of where I'm at.
That's legit. A lot of the special flavors don't really work for you.

(59:37):
Because I eat my Oreos in pieces.
I'm sorry, what? I take my Oreos apart. Oh, okay. I eat the top,
then I eat the cream, and then I eat the bottom.
Wait, are there people who don't do that? Apparently.
If you want the pro move, you take the pops off two Oreos and then combine it into one giant Oreo.

(01:00:01):
There's that too. That's pretty good. The only time I don't do that is when
I'm dipping them in milk. That's fair.
I'll do it. I approve of that. totally unrelated but Leslie masticating Oreos made me think of this,
so that's going to end well I saw that's a thought trade if I've ever heard

(01:00:22):
one I saw an interview with,
shit what's her name give me a movie,
Les Mis Anne Hathaway yes.
I saw an interview we had narrowed it down to women all right how many women
can there be we all they had to say was play miss and i knew i knew les would

(01:00:46):
pick that up immediately i appreciate that,
so i saw this interview with with ann hathaway and i
think it was on ellen and ellen made a comment like i hear that you have an
interesting way of eating cupcakes and ann hathaway explained how she had a

(01:01:06):
cupcake there and she demonstrated how she rips the bottom off the cupcakes,
sticks it on top of the frosting, and makes a cupcake sandwich.
So you don't get frosting all over. And I'm like, that's genius!
Actually. And ever since I've seen that, that is how I eat cupcakes and it's so much easier!

(01:01:29):
Like, genius! That's actually a pretty good life hack. Right?
Wow I have to say I didn't like I enjoyed Anne Hathaway in I knew you were going to get there eventually.
But like in general she kind of annoys me right,

(01:01:50):
but I have seen a number of clips of her on talk shows that have just made my
appreciation for her increase so much more than I expected yeah she's she's
delightful She is surprisingly delightful.
And she did this whole thing where...
God i can't remember what it was oh it

(01:02:13):
was an orange so she was she did
this thing with the audience where they put oranges on everybody's seats and
then she was walking through how she uses this orange to improve her health
and she had them tear little piece like basically peel the orange and then you
know how you end up with like the hole down the center if you don't break

(01:02:35):
apart the pieces yeah she had people breathing through the
orange to and she's like you know nice and deep in and out through the orange
and you see how that's making you feel better no because i made it up it's complete
and utter bullshit and that's why you shouldn't take advice from celebrities
for no reason i was like my god i love you that's you are fantastic.

(01:03:03):
If you know what i'm going to link to that clip it's it's in the show notes
go check it out because it was wonderful yeah,
she's yeah she's i love her she's great surprisingly delightful i'm much more
impressed than i was before for my money she's the best cat woman we've had,

(01:03:23):
legit she was an excellent cat woman i mean i like we marry with her too but Eartha Kitt.
Different times. Different times. Okay.
Since you brought that up, John. Lee Wariwak? No.
I am getting ready to introduce my kids to Batman movies.

(01:03:43):
And I am struggling a little bit. Where to start? Michael Keaton.
I love Michael Keaton. Michael Keaton, Batman, Jack Nicholson. I...
That's one option. that is very high on my list. Or I would start with a cartoon.
So that was my thought. I have two thoughts.

(01:04:04):
What you should do is you go out, you buy Batman Forever, you buy Batman and
Robin, and then you throw them in the fireplace. I mean, you do it.
Oh my God, Joe. You can put the ashes in your septic tank if you want because
that is where they belong.
That's actually how this whole thing started because we saw a
clip of Jim Carrey as the Riddler in Batman
Forever and we got talking about

(01:04:27):
it kids would absolutely be so
amused my kids love jim carrey ace ventura the mask i have not shown them liar
liar yet i want to we need to wait a little there you need to be a little bit
older before i bring that one in because adult themes but like they They crack up at Jim Carrey.

(01:04:50):
So Batman Forever seems like an easy way to kind of...
Them into it because they already know him. Yeah. But Dark Knight is my favorite
Batman movie. I wouldn't.
Dark Knight, that's a bit much. I love that movie so much.

(01:05:13):
They're 9 and 10. Not yet. Even Batman Begins.
I'm sorry. I meant Batman Begins. I would honestly.
Start with michael kate
and jack nicholson yeah or batman forever just because
of their love of jim carrey yeah i if it

(01:05:34):
was me i start with start them with batman
the animated series you will it's a cartoon k i don't know how i know leslie
has seen it a lot was there k how much have you seen them i mean i haven't watched
it since i was a kid but that was the batman i grew up on you will be you watch
it again you will be amazed how mature it is and how yeah i remember that from

(01:05:56):
when I was a kid. There were times that made me uncomfortable.
Yeah. I will also say, my introduction to Batman outside of animation was Jack Nicholson.
Jack Nicholson. And I was about your kid's age, if not a little bit younger.
Yeah, and I think I was the same.

(01:06:17):
You can dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.
I would not necessarily move them onto Batman.
Return or return don't do the the second
one with penguin and cat woman don't do
that that one just danny devito is amazing it's oh
but he's so creepy in that he absolutely creepy

(01:06:38):
so i would i i didn't watch that one until much
later yeah but is it
is it batman and robin that has mr
freeze yes rubber nipples man don't
do it don't do it so funny
that's the thing that's the thing you it is
it is objectively entertaining it was

(01:07:00):
awful and i hate it so much but here's the thing those two thoughts can coexist
peacefully if you objectively yeah they're terrible movies but they are so and
i adore them and when i can't to figure out what to watch and I just need something
completely ridiculous.

(01:07:20):
Those are on my list every time. Do you know what I associate that movie with
though? Rubber nipples?
No. My grandmother dying. Aww. I know.
Because when my dad's mom passed away, mom and dad went back to Hawaii to deal
with the estate and left my brother and I with our aunt in California and she

(01:07:44):
took us to see that movie when it was in theaters.
Gotcha i mean and i remember i was probably eight or nine at the time and even
then i remember thinking that movie was terrible even then eight or nine years i was angry.

(01:08:07):
To be completely honest i remember seeing like previews and stuff and being
so excited for a a new Batman movie to come out. Yeah, oh, I'm sure. And then I watched it.
Bearing in mind for the audience, like I've been watching Batman since I was like four.
That movie so much i'm sorry

(01:08:29):
john it depends do you want them to have a good time or do you
want them to have a decent introduction to the character so it depends
i want them to i want
them to walk away wanting to see more i will say so that's the thing batman
the animated series is not funny it's not no but it's also like the epitome
of it's not supposed to be oh mark hamill Mark Hamill Mark Hamill is Mark Hamill is the best,

(01:08:58):
Listeners you can't tell but Leslie just chef kissed Talking about Mark Hamill
as the Joker Mark Hamill does I mean Luke Skywalker is fine He does a much better
job as the Joker The voice of the 100%.
In my mind When I think of the Joker It is that Joker that comes to mind,
Here's the best way I can say it I read a lot of Batman comics Anytime I do

(01:09:22):
it and the Joker is involved, when I'm reading it and the voice is being played
in my head, I hear Mark Hamill. You hear Mark Hamill's voice. Absolutely.
Like, nothing against Heath Ledger. It's perfection. Heath Ledger's Joker was phenomenal.
It was. But Mark Hamill's Joker is the Joker. It is. That's... And...
The animated series, not the comic books, which is rare. First ever introduction

(01:09:45):
to Harley Quinn. Not in the comics. She's in that cartoon.
Yep. Really? Arlene Sorkin. Yeah. One of the very same characters that did not
originate in the comics, but on there.
Harley Quinn is... Thank you, Paul Dini. Paul Dini.
Speaking of which, have you seen... I assume you've seen the trailer for the
new Joker movie coming, La Follie a Deux or something like that.
Yeah. Yeah, La Follie a Deux. That one.

(01:10:07):
John, what do you think? I'm interested. I'll watch it.
It's... So, I'll put it this way. From what I'm told, keep...
For anyone who hasn't seen the first one, it is not so much a supervillain movie
as an examination almost of mental health.
That's sort of just told through those characters. Accurate.

(01:10:31):
That is an intense movie. It is an intense movie.
And I think it does a phenomenal job of explaining why he is as he is.
Right. If you're looking for a classic Joker,
that is not you're not going to get you're not finding it there and i i read
an article on the second one from someone who had seen it early saying if you

(01:10:53):
were kind of looking for more of what the first one was then the second one
is not like that at all supposedly the second one is a little bit more.
Uplifting even that which you know i say it from the low bar yeah but a little
bit more cheery than you would think it is with the with the musical editions
yeah yeah yeah yeah so i i I don't think it's meant to be a duplicate of the, of the first one.

(01:11:18):
I took my kids. I took my kids to see Beetlejuice this weekend.
Oh, thank God. I thought you would say the first one.
No, I took him to see Beetlejuice, which was phenomenal.
By the way, Ashley says I was cackling the whole time and I probably was,
I will not dispute that, but there was a trailer for the new Joker movie ahead

(01:11:38):
of it, which is what brought it to mind.
And the key, we, we watched the trailer, the kids looked at me expectantly and I'm like no,
not taking you to see that no absolutely musical or not yeah even if you tone
it down from the first one that's still too much yeah absolutely not.

(01:12:04):
But you know what other trailer we saw though? And at the end of it,
the kids were like, I want to see that.
And Walker's like, I want to see that. With the new transformers. No.
Wicked. Oh, I'm so excited for that. The trailer was so freaking good.

(01:12:25):
Oh my gosh.
I cannot wait. I'm so excited for that. And I need to explain them for a moment.
Like wicked is my favorite Broadway show.
I have seen it six times, I think now live twice on Broadway,
four times on the touring shows.
I adore it. I firmly believe that if I had seen that show earlier in my life,

(01:12:50):
it would have changed the course of my life.
Like I would not be in the court in the Coast Guard right now.
I would be doing something in musical theater.
Yep. Unfortunately, I didn't discover it until I was at the Academy.
And well, it was too late.
What did you see when we were in New York? I wouldn't saw the Lion King.
Oh, I regret that moment. Like I had, I was like, I had the option.

(01:13:13):
I could go see wicked with Shelly or I could go see Lion King. I think with Meg.
So, so what, and let's just talking about in my junior year of high school,
her sophomore year, the,
our, the, the band that we played in, you know, the school band did a trip to
New York where we played a concert
in New York and did a whole bunch of sightseeing. It was your sophomore.

(01:13:35):
Was it your freshman year? Yeah. Okay. I took Mel's spot and she was a senior.
Got it. Okay. So yeah, my sophomore year, her freshman year.
Anyway, we did this trip to New York City and it was a freaking blast because
you're going to New York City without your parents, with all your best friends and...

(01:13:56):
Minor supervision, like minimal supervision. Anyway, it was a freaking blast.
But one of the things that we had the option of doing was they gave us like a choice of three shows.
If I remember right, it was Wicked, The Lion King, and Fiddler on the Roof,
maybe. I think it was Fiddler. I think it was Fiddler.
And at the time, I had no experience with musical theater whatsoever.

(01:14:19):
I'm like, well, I know the Lion King story. I think it'd be interesting to see.
And so that's the one I chose. Hearing that Wicked is about the Wizard of Oz.
I never didn't really care for that movie. I don't want to see that.
And Fiddler on the Roof. The hell is that?
So I ended up seeing Lion King. Oh, this sounds so different from the you that we know. I know. Right.
But I like I look back on that as that is a moment that defined my life.

(01:14:45):
Right. And could have changed the direction of my life very drastically if I
had made a different choice.
I as soon as that
as soon as the intro music started and
they started filing down to the stage i
was in tears it was so beautiful and
i know if i'd gone to see wicked with shell it would

(01:15:08):
have been the exact same thing yeah yeah
because when shell and i saw a couple years ago in denver
the bule that's exactly what happened i remember the first time i saw it in
on broadway i had seats off of stage right on the floor like i don't know 10

(01:15:29):
or 15 rows back i went with crackers in fact and.
When she takes off during defying gravity and the lighting and the smoke and
the projections like Like, that moment just literally takes my breath away.

(01:15:50):
Six times later, seeing the show, it still takes my breath away.
Like, it evokes all of the same emotions as the very first time that I saw it.
And so, like, that's how I know it's so good.
So that is the expectation that is set when I'm coming into the Wicked movie.

(01:16:13):
Movie and i know that it cannot live up to that yeah but i'm still so excited yeah,
no i luckily because shell watched it i got the i got the cd basically as soon
as we got back yeah yeah i had no interest in musical theater when i was in high school

(01:16:39):
and at least until my senior year and I I truly believe that if I had seen Wicked,
there my freshman year that would have changed the entire course of my life.
Involved in musical theater since i was a kid yeah yeah which
is why one of the reasons i love it because i grew up watching you know classic
rogers and hammerstein sure i honestly do

(01:17:00):
not appreciate rogers and hammerstein as much as i do some i'm going to say
more contemporary works like there was one that i saw that they did that's coming
to the buol next year what was it i didn't realize that they turned it into
a musical oh back to the future i saw that on broadway like i didn't see it,
but we went up to New York for Labor Day weekend. That's when I took the kids to see Wicked.

(01:17:25):
I saw it up there. I know nothing about it, but I'm intrigued.
It's touring in Denver. I'll have to watch and see if it's going to come to
DC or Maryland and try to grab tickets if we can. Yeah.
It's weird to say to you that doesn't like musical theater. I know, right? Right.

(01:17:48):
We have taken, we've gone pretty thoroughly off course now, but thankfully we
were into the shenanigans segment. So I think it's going to be okay.
All right. Well, and again, it's more information that you guys get to learn
about us and how we ended up where we are and doing what we're doing.
Exactly. Exactly.

(01:18:09):
So I think it's, I think it's a good time to wrap up. John, John,
will you do a quick overview of our social media and all the places where people can find us?
Facebook.com slash HauntingU. You can find us on Instagram at Haunting University.
You can find us on YouTube. I actually don't know YouTube. YouTube is at HauntingU.
Indeed, easy enough. And like I mentioned earlier, for the podcast,

(01:18:32):
you can find us on any of the podcasting apps, Apple, Spotify, Audible.
You can find us anywhere where podcasts are available.
Exactly. And definitely go check out our website, HauntingYou.com.
There you'll find our calendar, our events calendar, which talks about every
single convention or trade show that we are aware of.
When it's happening, it gives you links to their websites so you can stay up

(01:18:53):
to date on all the happenings.
There's links to the Haunting You method, the method that we use to create all the haunts every year.
And it's what keeps us grounded as we are creating.
As well as the sponsors page, which, or excuse me, our partners
page which has cool discounts from all the various vendors who have supported
us over the years and created discount codes so that you can get some of their

(01:19:16):
cool products for a little bit less definitely go check out all that stuff on
our webpage at hauntingu.com.
It is september 15th 46 days to
go until halloween it is time to get building we
will see you again on october 1st and then
well we don't know what we're going to talk about on
october 1st but it should be interesting so like

(01:19:39):
and subscribe make sure you are able to
yeah make sure you're subscribed wherever you're listening to your podcast so
that it will automatically download the day that we release it make it easy
on yourself leave comments we love to read them and to all of the listeners
new repeat and people who keep stumbling on us welcome thank you and,

(01:20:00):
happy listening exactly so from
all of us here at haunting you good luck with the upcoming season we hope your
haunts just go absolutely spectacularly best of luck break a leg preferably
your patron's leg not your own exactly that time you twisted your ankle i did
in fact I twist my ankle three days before opening.

(01:20:21):
If you want to hear about that, you'll have to go back and listen to some of
our older episodes. Because for now, happy haunting, everyone.
Hi, everybody. We are incredibly grateful to all the sponsors who make this
show possible, especially our premium sponsors, the Chamber of Haunters, Fear Expo, and VFX.
Music.
You can learn more about our premium sponsors by checking out their websites,

(01:20:43):
chamberofhaunters.com, fearexpolive.com, and vfxcreates.com.
Check out our website, Haunting You, for more information on everything that we do.
Music.

(01:21:19):
Haunting You is a production of the Rocky Mountain Home Haunters, LLC.
All audio clips and sound effects are used under a Creative Commons attribution
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Sound Bible at soundbible.com.
Please see the show notes for more information on all the clips used in this episode.