"The Nightmare Before Christmas" - Exploring a Magic Holiday Classic - Of Swords and Soulmates

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ashley (00:00):
Views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the
participants.
The hosts make no claim to beliterary experts and their
opinions are exactly thatopinions.
All creative works discussed orreviewed are the intellectual
property of the creators of saidstories and is being used under
the Fair Use Doctrine.

Mari (00:32):
Hello and welcome to Of Swords and Soulmates, a podcast
where we read, watch and discussromanticist stories.
I'm one of your hosts, mari,and with me I have a special
guest today Amy.
Hi, amy, and Ash and Jonathansay hi.

Jonathan (00:45):
Hi, hey, I'm here.
It's JP.
What's going on, amy?
It's been so excited.
This is going to be amazing Newfriends.
New friends, old friends, sameMany friends.

Mari (00:55):
Many friends, new and old friends, old and new friend, all
the friends.
So today we're going to bediscussing the Nightmare Before
Christmas movie, but first we'regoing to actually first we're
going to talk to Amy a littlebit about why she's on.
So Amy has a business calledMaple Grass Design.
Tell us a little bit about it.

Amy (01:16):
Maple Grass Design I make surprise bubbles.
It started out a friend of minewent on a trip and gave me this
little ball and so I'm kind ofa child at heart, so I'm
unraveling it and it has allthese little toys.
I'm like this is really great.
I feel like we should havethese for adults, and so I

(01:37):
started making those earlierthis year.
I just did my first market backin october.
Um, but make surprise bubblesfor children, teens and adults.

Ashley (01:50):
I like the name.

Mari (01:54):
And you did like witch and like D&D themed ones earlier,
right.

Amy (01:58):
The D&D ones are my most popular.
And then I've got witches forthe younger group.
I've got some for adult witchesand currently I'm working on
one for plant lovers and krampus, which I'm very excited to
launch that within the next fewdays nice.

Jonathan (02:18):
Are these sort of like ?
Are these like different layers, like wrapped up in different
layers?

Amy (02:22):
and as you unravel this, it it reveals a surprise yeah, so
inside there's like a corebubble and it has, like your
main prizes.
And then I hand cut all theselayers of crepe paper and as you
unravel each layer, you finddifferent prizes until you get
to the center and is this sealedwith like a wax stamp?

(02:42):
Yes, it is.

Jonathan (02:45):
That's such a classy touch.

Amy (02:48):
Thank you.
Well, you know, the surprisebubble is really fun and I just
I was like you know, adults needone, but they make so many of
them.
I wanted to have, you know,quality prizes.
I wanted it to be where adultscould enjoy it, and now I'm in
the process of trying to make myown jewelry.
It comes with, some of themcomes with scratch off, like

(03:09):
oracles, and some are funny andsome are serious.
So I hope that everybody has afun, interactive time when
they're playing with them.

Jonathan (03:18):
Absolutely yeah.
What are some of the thingsthat are inside of the bubble?
I'm looking at some of thepictures.
See, is that tea?

Amy (03:30):
Everybody likes tea, so it really depends.
So I've got one for bookworms.
Um, it has like a bookish pen,a bag of tea, a retro little
fuzzy worm gum stickers.
The dnd the one that's the mostpopular.
It's got like um dnd themed uhpen.
It's got like a it's mini dice.
It's got a D20 prize stickers,lucky amulets, oracles,
paperclips, all kinds of things.

(03:50):
It just depends on the type ofbubble.

Mari (03:53):
Like the theming yeah.

Jonathan (03:56):
This looks really cool .

Amy (03:57):
Thank you, I like it.
They're really fun to make.
I really enjoyed it.

Mari (04:01):
And they're fun little gifts to give if you're going to
visit someone or for stockingstuffers.
I went to visit some D&Dfriends friends who are all up
into D&D and I brought them oneand they enjoyed it.
They enjoyed unwrapping it andhaving little things they could
use in their game.

Jonathan (04:18):
Yeah, I feel like if you're doing a gift exchange or
if you have a book club, like agaming club, that you could
bring this into like that random.
Where are they?
Like?
I don't know what they'recalled.
They call it like drunk santagames or whatever they're called
oh yeah, like a white elephantdirty santa goes by very many
names.
Yeah, yeah there we go, therewe go.

Mari (04:37):
I wasn't too far off, bring a krampus a krampus
surprise ball to a dirty santagame yeah that's what i'm'm
saying.

Jonathan (04:44):
That's why, yeah, that could be cool, that could be
cool, and then you bring it in.
I think this would be one ofthose gifts that, like people
would fight over.
That's the one I want.
Don't take that from me.
Dibs on that.

Mari (04:55):
So if people want to order one, and while we're talking
about it, if people want toorder one, it would be Maple
Grass Design on Etsy.
Yes, on Etsy, that's the bestplace to do it.
Yes, so Maple Grass Design onEtsy.
We'll have a link in our shownotes too.
All right, so we're going to betalking about the Nine Before
Christmas movie, but before wedo, as usual, we're going to go

(05:15):
over a little bit of news.
The first news I have isthere's a vampire paranormal
romance series called the BlackDagger Brotherhood, which is
fairly popular.
It's by JR Ward.
I've not read it, but I've hadit recommended by several people
.
Ash or Jonathan, have either ofyou guys read it or heard of it
?

Ashley (05:35):
I don't think I've read it, but I think she might have
been at Romanticicon, was she?
The name sounds really familiar.

Mari (05:41):
Ooh, I don't know.
There were a lot of peoplethere.
It was very overwhelming somany people.
I feel like we should have hadlike a map, yeah, yeah, a little
like check off.

Jonathan (05:54):
We should have had an author map.
Yeah, like a coloring book or alittle scratch off yeah that'd
be cool.

Mari (05:59):
but jr ward wrote the black dagger brotherer
Brotherhood, which is a seriesof popular vampire romance books
written in 2014.
They were optioned, or whatever, for a TV show and so they've
actually gotten to the stagewhere they're doing casting for
the TV show.
So a bunch of the main cast,the main actors, were cast

(06:20):
recently.
I think it's going to be onPrime and I think it's set to
actually air in 2025.

Ashley (06:26):
Well, that's exciting.

Mari (06:28):
Yeah, that could be fun.
I'd have to read the books.
I have no opinion on the booksbecause I literally haven't read
them, but a lot of peoplerecommend them, so they're
probably decent.
The other thing I had was CardsAgainst Prithian a Court of
Thorns and.
Roses Cards Against Humanitygame edition.
Has anyone played Cards AgainstHumanity or do you know what it
is?

Jonathan (06:47):
I have yes, I've made many people feel uncomfortable.
Yeah yeah, that's kind of thepoint of the game for sure.

Mari (06:52):
Yeah, so basically add stuff from ACOTAR to that.
So, and not just ACOTAR, it'sthe whole series.
There's stuff from the wholeseries because it's from
multiple books and some of theexample cards that they had it
was stuff from several of thebooks, not just the first book.
It's limited edition.
It's $39.95 on sale now.
It looks like really fun toplay with people who know a
little bit about the genre orhave read it.

(07:13):
But it's the same game, sametype of game.
If any listener has not playedor heard of Cards Against
Humanity, go look it up.
It's a fun game.
I get to know you kind of gamewith people.
So once you're playing with theright people, everyone is, uh,
in the right mindset.
It's a fun game yeah, yeah, ohyeah.

Jonathan (07:30):
It's a totally good party game to play as well and
really it'll make you think so.
Cards against prithee, and it'swhat's that about?
What's prithee?
And?

Mari (07:39):
oh, you don't, okay, I'm just playing.
I'm just going around yeah, Iwas like how fast are you
reading?
You didn't catch that, butanyone who hasn't read
Akataraprithian is the Akatarland, because Amy's sitting here
with the little question markover her head.

Jonathan (07:58):
Oh, she didn't know either no.

Mari (08:01):
And the box looks like the revamped covers of the first
Akatar book, so it's like redwith the yellow wolf figure on
it.
Yeah, it's pretty.
It's pretty, it's interesting.

Jonathan (08:10):
I like that depiction of the wolf.

Mari (08:12):
Yeah, yeah.
The last thing I had in thenews is that Fey Crate is doing
another opus thing that they doand it's the last four books in
the Dustwalker Bride series byOpal Rain.
So they had done the first fourbooks a while back and then
they did.
For the first time ever,they've never re-released their
Opus series.
They re-released it recently,the first four books.

(08:34):
I was very excited because Igot in and I got them, and so
now the last four books becausethe series is complete are going
to be coming out.
Walkers is they described it asa monster romance series with a
possessive cinnamon rolls,which I think is accurate.

Jonathan (08:50):
Okay, right, yeah yeah I learned about cinnamon rolls
earlier yeah, we did.

Mari (08:55):
We learned about cinnamon rolls last episode.
Yeah, these, this new like forthe last four of the series are
gonna be.
They're gonna match the firstones.
If you have the first ones,it's gonna be embossed
hardcovers, digitally sprayededges, signed tip-in pages.
Early access is going to happendecember 11th, 5 pm eastern for
people who bought the firstfour and then on december 12th

(09:17):
it's going to be any leftoversfor anybody else who wants them.
December 12th at 5 pm easterntime.
It's going to be $120 set andit will ship in May or June of
2025.

Jonathan (09:30):
So far, I think a lot of times the model is a
pre-order, which I'm not againstbecause you want to know what
you're getting.
I think it's good to have Ifyou're going to do a limited
edition sell them out.
Sell them out.
That's what I say.
And the only way to sell themout and to drive up the
uniqueness of it is to dolimited runs.

(09:51):
That's good, good, yes, Iapprove ew, what do you think,
ash?

Ashley (09:59):
I don't like limited runs.
I want to access all of thethings all of the time, because
sometimes we're late to theparty.
She doesn't like going tolimited runs.

Jonathan (10:07):
I want to access all of the things all of the time,
because sometimes we're late tothe party.
She doesn't like going to TJMaxx and not seeing the Stitch
gingerbread jar.

Ashley (10:13):
I'm so mad.

Jonathan (10:14):
She's so mad.
That's the kind of stuff she'safraid of missing out on.
I'm like, hey, you know, if youget in in time, it's cool, it
works.

Mari (10:22):
I think I'm with Ash honestly, because I think I'm
with Ash honestly, because Ithink I would love it for these
to be available for people who,like, maybe discover the series
like two years from now, youknow, or something.
It would be nice to be able tohave access to buying that
special series, like I know whythey can't, because they're
limited edition and I'm surethat you know the artists and
the way they print them andactually signing them, all that

(10:44):
stuff it's.
It's gotta be limited editionjust by the, the definition of
everything that's that'sinvolved in it.
But it would be nice to stillbe able to buy a pretty edition
If you happen to be like, like Isaid, late to the game.

Jonathan (10:57):
You know Okay.

Mari (11:00):
That's.
That's just my opinion.
But you're right, it does driveup the cost when they're
limited edition.
But I don't know.
I wonder about the wholedriving up the cost because it's
not like the artists aregetting the benefit of that.
The person who wrote the bookisn't getting the benefit of it
going on eBay for $300.
The people, the artists, whodesigned the covers aren't

(11:21):
getting the benefit of that.

Jonathan (11:25):
So I don't know that I care so much about it being
worth more I was talking aboutthis with a friend earlier today
and the like.
I'm looking around this roomhere and I know that I've got
some books that I have thataren't coming out until the new
year.
I have five, six copies of themon order from different places
and there's not even anythingdifferent about them.
So we're talking like, uh,there's, there's a few that I

(11:47):
have.
I have hardcovers, autographedspecial editions, the paperbacks
, you know.
So it's like in my mind I'mthinking and the audiobooks.
So I have these things indifferent formats.
I said to them is there any, arethere any other things that you
like, pop culture, elementsthat you buy the same thing over

(12:08):
and over and over again indifferent formats?
And he said video games.
He said I buy one for eachconsole that I use.
Sometimes I buy it for whateverNintendo system, or then over
to PC etc.
He says sometimes just like tohave them for different devices.
And he brought up Lord of theRings and he says you know, I
have it on Blu-ray, on Blu-ray4K, have it on DVD, I'm going to

(12:33):
get it on this next format.
He's like I'm not going towatch them, I just have them.

Mari (12:36):
Yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with that
, but I think the artists andthe people who did it get money
in each of those formats.
The problem is, when you have aformat that's already out let's
say there's I don't know, Ihave no idea, a frame of
reference, but let's say there's5,000 of these sets that are
sold.
If that's all that's ever sold,and, like I said, three years
from now they're going for $300a set instead of $120 a set on

(13:02):
eBay or on some other used bookkind of thing, who is that
benefiting?

Jonathan (13:09):
The original buyer or the current owner?

Mari (13:11):
Right, not so I guess it's a boon.
It's like, I guess, uh, peoplewho collect coins or or hoard
gold or whatever, like if it's away of of maybe the other
person being a bookseller, bookcollector, um aspect, but not so
much the original creator, soyeah, I mean it benefits
somebody.
I guess I'm just not thatinterested in that, not anything

(13:34):
against it.
It's just I guess not somethingthat I'm Not your jam.
Yeah, it's not my jam, Like I'mall about supporting the artists
, the writers and theillustrators and all that kind
of stuff.

Jonathan (13:45):
How often are you selling off pieces of your book
collection?

Mari (13:49):
Never.
That's why I'm not interestedin that aspect of it.
I guess If I have multiplecopies of a book, I search out
and find in all the people Iknow someone who I think might
enjoy it and usually end upgiving it away.

Jonathan (14:05):
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying.
The secondary market.
If there were five, how many ofthese were going to be there?
Like 50, 500?
.

Mari (14:11):
I don't know.
That's why I said an arbitrarynumber.
I have no idea.

Jonathan (14:14):
But if there was a limited run so let's say there
was a thousand books, 500 books,a hundred books, doesn't matter
and they make that sale, thatinitial sale what percentage of
these would ultimately make itto the secondary market?
My guess, like off the top ofmy head, is going to be like
single digit percentage.

Mari (14:30):
yeah, I think I read something that what ends up
happening with these superspecialized books like this is
they generally don't like it's.
Another company that doessomething like this is
subterranean press.
Subterranean press does somegorgeous, very limited edition,
highly stylized, beautiful books, often signed like they did a
nettle and bone one, and we'retalking like 300 books for a

(14:51):
book.
And they're gorgeous andthey're limited run.
You never see those for sale onthe like in the market anywhere
, unless it's like an estatesale where literally someone
died.
So it's not like you're goingto see a turnover anytime in the
next few years, like if you seethese, it'll be years on down
the road, I think, because Imean, if you've gotten invested

(15:11):
on that, you're not just goingto turn around and sell it.
For the most part, Exactly,it's a trophy.

Jonathan (15:16):
I can live with these limited runs being limited so
that I can own a limited piece.
Like I'm actively looking for atitle, an autographed title, I
don't need to have thisautographed title.
I have the author's assignededition of the author's book,
but I want a matching set.

Mari (15:34):
We're all collectors in our own way.
We have different things.
It's all good.
Any other news anybody wantedto bring up?

Jonathan (15:42):
I don't have any news myself.

Ashley (15:50):
Do you actually have any news?
No, no, I don't know what dayit is anymore.
You guys like tell me about it,the days.
I don't understand.
I don't understand howthanksgiving's in a week I don't
like our next three weekendsare booked up.
There's not enough minutes.
Yeah, no, I have.
I have no news.
Like as soon as it hits,something else hits and I don't

(16:10):
remember it.
Yeah, I got nothing all good,all good.

Mari (16:16):
Okay, so going into the movie.
This was a jonathan suggestion,right?

Jonathan (16:20):
I, if I'm remembering I definitely corrupted you I
mean I love this movie.

Mari (16:25):
I definitely have always loved this movie.
But yeah, I'm pretty sure itwas your suggestion to do it and
I know Amy jumped to thatbecause Amy is a fellow
Halloween lover.
Yeah, definitely.

Jonathan (16:37):
I don't know what would make her excited.

Mari (16:38):
This is a Christmas movie yes, it is both, it is all the
things.

Jonathan (16:45):
I should let me just put this preface out here for
amy uh, uh, I'm going.
My intention is to be objectiveinitially, but I'll follow it
up with a subjective debate.

Mari (16:57):
So buckle up.
All good, all good, um, okay.
So this movie was originallyreleased october 29th of 1993.
I'm going to read a littlesynopsis and then we can get
into talking about it.
Jack Skellington, the pumpkinking of Halloween Town, is bored
with doing the same thing everyyear for Halloween and is so

(17:22):
taken with the idea of Christmasthat he tries to get the
resident bats, ghouls andgoblins of Halloween Town to
help him put on a Christmasinstead of Halloween.
But alas, they can't get itquite right.

Jonathan (17:36):
It sucks when you have subpar labor.

Mari (17:39):
Is that what it is?
Not the kidnapping et cetera.
It was the labor issue.

Jonathan (17:46):
Yeah, you know what it is.
It's the.
The, the keeper of the vision,did not share it appropriately
or take enough time.
It was a hurried project.
The deadlines were ramped up.
You only have you.
Really, realistically, you onlyhave what?
54 days to pull this off that.
I need project timelines of atleast minimum 90 days.

Mari (18:07):
You know I was reading up how the movie came to be.
Tim Burton got the idea when hewas looking at a window display
and they were taking down theHalloween decorations and
putting up Christmas decorations.
It was like both up there atthe same time.
And then he decided to go homeand write a new version of the

(18:28):
Night Before Christmas.
So there's a poem that themovie is based off of that Tim
Burton wrote.
There's a link in our there'llbe a link in our notes to the
poem.
It's long but I'm going to readyou like the first two or so
stanzas.
It was late one fall inHalloween land and the air had

(18:50):
quite a chill.
Against the moon, a skeletonsat alone upon a hill.
He was tall and thin, with abat bow tie.
Jack Skellington was his name.
He was tired and bored.
In Halloween land Everythingwas always the same.
And it goes on like, like.
It's a long poem, it's a coolread.

Jonathan (19:09):
It basically outlines like the whole movie in the poem
Is the poem that cost TimBurton his job at Disney.

Mari (19:16):
No, actually it was artistic differences yeah.

Ashley (19:20):
Tim Burton, weren't the artistic differences the
Nightmare Before Christmas?
You know, I don't know, I knowit was like um yeah, tim burton,
weren't the artisticdifferences the nightmare before
christmas?

Mari (19:26):
you know, I don't know I know it was like um he was owned
this.

Jonathan (19:32):
They bought the story from him and then, I think,
marie's right.
The artistic differences cameout later and he left without oh
, I was asking.

Mari (19:39):
Yeah, kelly would know I I'm not great with the trivia,
but I know I watched.
We watched something and it hadlike the history of like how
Tim Burton was doing stuff andthen he kind of split off on his
own.
It was about like that era ofDisney where like they were
doing the Black Cauldron and allthat kind of stuff and then how
it evolved into like some ofthe Tim Burton stuff.
But I'm not great with thedetails.
Kelly's the trivia brain.

(20:01):
Kelly's the big brain of thehousehold trivia brain.
Kelly's the big brain of thehousehold.
Stuff goes in and out of mybrain like a colander.
Nothing stays.

Jonathan (20:11):
This is not a Tim Burton film.

Mari (20:14):
I mean it's sold and ticketed.
Say more words husband TimBurton's the Nightmare Before
Christmas.
His name is on it.

Jonathan (20:25):
Yeah, but it's not his story.
It's his story initially, butthe film he's not the director.
He might have a productioncredit.
It had a totally differentdirector.

Ashley (20:41):
I feel like we watched the wrong thing in preparation
for this.
We should have watched thedocumentary.

Jonathan (20:46):
Instead of the movie.

Ashley (20:47):
Yeah.

Jonathan (20:48):
Ah very, there's some like, and so some Tim Burton
films kind of get twisted aroundquite a bit.

Mari (20:56):
Henry Selick is the director.

Jonathan (20:58):
Yeah, yeah, he's a director.
So, like in my mind, I keepthinking, keep thinking to
myself this is it's more hismovie even than it is tim's.
Like tim had the.
I call him tim.
I we're on the first name basisyeah sometimes you know when
we're drinking it's timmy.
Um, all right, you know if we'reout on the town team.

(21:18):
Um so, tim, if you're out therelistening, you speak up.
If you're not, and you totallyagree with me, say nothing.
The yes.
I feel like Tim kind of passedthe torch on to say was Henry
the H train, and so he took thisbaby on.

Mari (21:42):
Yeah, I mean he didn't direct it, but I feel, I feel
like aesthetically and the barebones of it was like the basic
story is very Tim Burton.

Jonathan (21:52):
Yeah, yeah, he's, he's foundationally.
Yeah, he planted the seed thatHenry watered.

Ashley (21:59):
The skin creepy.

Mari (22:00):
Yeah, so what did you think overall, jonathan, your
overall rating.

Jonathan (22:07):
Overall rating.
This is a tough film for me, uh, as you know is it scary?
Uh, no, I'm not.
It's not scary to me.
I'm just not a super.
I like villains.
I'm just not a super halloweenfan.
Um, and I don't know how muchI'm into like, uh, claymation.

Ashley (22:26):
Interesting.

Jonathan (22:27):
Yeah, but like all claymation or just this 100%,
like you know I'm never, you'renot going to see me running
around with like a Gumby andpokey kind of is that why you
wouldn't put my root up?
I don't, yeah, I don't like it.

Mari (22:39):
The truth comes out it comes out, it does.

Jonathan (22:46):
There you go.
Let's get to the root causehere.
So what are you rating it?
It's the clay.
I'm going to give it a.
I'm going to give it a four.

Ashley (22:53):
Okay, that's fairly high Most.

Jonathan (22:55):
Christmas movies for me are a five.
Just so you know.
Like 90% of Christmas moviesare a four, this is a four.
So because it's partially aHalloween movie no, it's the
clay, it's the clay.

Ashley (23:04):
It's the clay Gotcha.
What do you think, ash, this isnot my favorite movie, but I do
appreciate movies that have twobig holidays in it.
Right, because Halloween meansthemes.
I like a good theme.
Halloween's not in this one.
Shut up, it's not your turn, myturn.

(23:25):
I like a good theme.
Halloween's not in this one.
Shut up, it's not your turn, myturn.
So I like a good theme and Ithink thematically the movie is
done very, very well, so it'slike it.
It's a three for me, like Icould.
I could go without it and beperfectly fine, but if it's on,
I'll watch it and I might singto it, but I don't know all the
words amy, what do you thinkwould you give it as overall

(23:48):
rating?

Amy (23:50):
I would have to say because , you know, I re-watched it for
this and it's a lot differentwatching it in the 90s and then
watching it now when I'm almost50.
So I would have said, if you'dasked me, you know, years ago, I
would have said, oh, this isyou know five.
This is a great movie, this isa classic.
But now that I re-watched it,maybe a three and a half.

Jonathan (24:13):
I don't know any of you people like.
That is a twist.
How is my rating higher thanyours?

Amy (24:19):
I don't know who any of you are anymore.

Mari (24:22):
So for me it was a five.
I have watched this movieusually at least once a year, if
not more, like every year.
Usually I'll have it up while Iput up like Halloween
decorations or take downHalloween decorations, because
to me it's this perfect likein-between movie.
So sometimes I'll watch itgetting ready for Halloween
stuff.
Sometimes I'll watch it inNovember as a November movie

(24:42):
because, let's face it, there'snot a lot of November movies.
And then sometimes it'll belike Christmas time when I watch
it.
It's to me it's just.
It hits this perfect sweet spotof like a cutesy Halloween and a
spooky, dark Christmas and bothof those are like the yin and
yang of my personality.
Like, if it had had Krampus init, it would be like a 10.

(25:05):
Sandy Claus is close, it'sclose, but it's not Krampus.
But yeah, I love the music init.
Like, love the music in it, Ilisten to the music in it.
Like, love the music in it.
I listen to the music outsideof the movie.
Um, I've choreographed, I'vechoreographed.
This is halloween.
Um, my troop and I dance tothis is halloween, while

(25:28):
balancing pumpkins on our heads.
So yeah, yeah I love.
I love this movie.
I love the vibes of it.
I don't mind Claymation, Ithink, to me.
I find Claymation really coolin that it seems like so much
work.
I look at Claymation the way Ilook at the people who do

(25:49):
pointillism art, where it's like, oh my God, all those little
dots, so much work.
So I appreciate that aspect ofit.
I generally like Tim Burtonstuff, I like the dark, creepy
stuff and I like the idea of allthe holidays coming together.
So for me it's a five, I accept.

(26:14):
Okay, it was going to be a five.
Even if you didn't, it is astrong five for me.
Fantasy world building.

Jonathan (26:28):
What do you think, jonathan?
I liked the fantasy, the worldbuilding.
I like that.
It's this that each Halloweeneach town has is dedicated to a
specific holiday.
And the portals that Jack Stumwas on, the portals.
I like that.
Everybody owns their own shit,so I'm going to give that.
I'm going to give the worldbuilding and especially because,

(26:50):
like it reinvents, like I likeOogie Boogie, I like the idea of
the lock, shock and barrel, Ilike the idea of all the
different characters, includingthe mayor who's thinking about
the mayor, a two-faced mayor.
I mean modern-day two-faces.
I get that.

Mari (27:11):
Makes so much sense now, as an adult, I can't be expected
to make a decision for myself.
I'm only an elected official.

Jonathan (27:19):
Right, yeah.
So I'm going to say worldbuilding is high up there for me
.
I'm going to give worldbuilding a Ash.

Ashley (27:34):
Yeah, no, I have to agree, I have to agree with all
of that.
Again, thematically right,Fantasy, I think every character
is unique.
You're not seeing, you know,stand-in duplicates.
It's not copy and paste, right.
They didn't skip corners onthat at all.
The songs were 100% originaland they're catchy as shit.

(27:58):
But yeah, thematically, youknow what caught me this most
recent rewatch?
The man said Kentucky and I waslike what does he know about
Kentucky?
Is this like a whole UnitedStates of America?
What version of Earth are theyin that they're just Halloween.

(28:19):
But they have Kentucky, Parisand France in the songs.
I was so confused I had neverheard that part before.
So this is like a real lifesituation where there are places
other than just this Halloweentown, Did you?

Jonathan (28:35):
think it was Britannia .
Yes, maybe we're messing withreal life here no, baby, it's
fantasy.
There are ghosts and werewolveswell, let me say this santa is
a ghost begin no, no, that's adifferent topic of conversation.

Ashley (28:50):
Hold, please, um.
So yeah, the fantasy is a five.
Like the actual world, buildingtheir purpose.
You know their individualpersonalities, the jokes and the
songs.
For me, like it's not my like.
Again, it's not my favoritemovie, I'm probably not actively
going to watch it, but it'senjoyable If it's on in the

(29:11):
background it's on the everyyear watch list.

Jonathan (29:13):
For whom?
For us, no it's.

Ashley (29:20):
We watch it every year, but accidentally you watched it
with savannah.
You turned it on I did not turnit.

Jonathan (29:23):
It's an every year watch what do you think, amy?

Amy (29:26):
in terms of world building.
Yeah, in terms of worldbuilding and fantasy, it's, it's
definitely a five.
I mean the, the thought oftrying to merge these two
holidays and try to have them,you know, converge.
Like they're like oh, you knowhe's trying to explain Christmas
to them.
They're like, oh, what's in thebox?
Like pox, like you just can't.

(29:48):
You know.
The idea that they try to mergethese things in such a
beautiful but funny way I reallyenjoyed.

Mari (29:57):
Like their own perspective on it, yeah, I give it a five
for fantasy, for world building.
I want to say this is the firststory I remember experiencing
where there was like a holidaytown other than like North Pole,
because, yeah, you've gotChristmas, north Pole, but that
there would be a Halloween land.
And then also, obviously, thereis like a Thanksgiving land
because there was a tree with aturkey.

(30:17):
There's an Easter land becausethey kidnapped the Easter bunny.
Yeah, like I want to know moreabout this world.
Yeah, yeah, I would watch orread a story about each of these
crazy lands.
I absolutely would.
I very much like the worldbuilding in this.
So five for me.

(30:38):
Surprise.

Jonathan (30:40):
So, touching on that, I don't think that Thanksgiving
land deserves a land.

Mari (30:45):
Yeah, I think giving thanks is a good thing.
I think American Thanksgivingis highly problematic.
Like November, is a great monthto read stories by indigenous
peoples.
I highly recommend that.

Jonathan (31:01):
Yeah yeah, my thoughts were not as sensitive as yours.
They were like very helicopterview of like Christmas as being
a global holiday, easter isbeing a global holiday,
halloween a global holiday, andthen Thanksgiving Western
Hemisphere.

Mari (31:20):
Yeah, I think there's the idea of if you think of
Thanksgiving as a harvest, likea harvest festival that expands
it a little bit more to morecultures, Because I think every
agrarian culture would havecelebration of the harvest.

Jonathan (31:37):
Could you spell that word for me?

Mari (31:38):
A-G-R-A-R-I-A-N.
Agrarian.
Did I mention I was a spellingbee champion?

Jonathan (31:47):
I did not know.
I did not know that.
Did you have to?

Mari (31:49):
though I had to.

Jonathan (31:50):
I just had to.

Mari (31:52):
I won a skiing trip because I won the spelling bee
for my school and I won a skiingtrip and then I got pneumonia
and couldn't go.
Yeah, I got pneumonia,bronchitis, asthma, like
something happened to me.
I swear every year of my lifegrowing up Like I had the worst

(32:15):
breathing problems ever.

Amy (32:19):
Wow, yeah, I'm so sorry.

Mari (32:21):
It is what it is.
I got to go skiing in otherplaces, so it was fine.
It was fine.
I can't even remember what thelast word was.
I remember the last word wasreally hard and I can't remember
.
This was a long time ago in aland far, far away called Kansas
.
Oh yeah, away called Kansas, oh.

Ashley (32:41):
We like Kansas.

Jonathan (32:42):
We go to Kansas every year.
I love you.
Kansas.
Like is extreme.
I just got the alert that weget to go back to Kansas.

Mari (32:48):
I got that alert a few hours ago I heard Ash has grown
from here.

Ashley (32:53):
So excited I couldn't find the right gift today.

Jonathan (32:56):
We booked a two-star hotel.
Hopefully those two stars areback.
I couldn't find the right gifttoday.
We booked a two-star hotel.
Hopefully those two stars areback.

Ashley (33:01):
I hope it's the same two stars though, because it's
different two stars, Really sad.

Mari (33:08):
Romance.
Romance on the movie.
What do you think, Jonathan?

Jonathan (33:13):
None, Actually.
You know what I lie.

Ashley (33:17):
The very last scene there was almost hand-holding in
a snowy it's not about thatslow burn.

Jonathan (33:23):
It was a hundred and fourteen minutes slow burn.
I'm gonna give it or what is itnow?
But yeah, we're gonna give itone star one one.
Moravian star okay many pointsyeah all the points.

Ashley (33:39):
I'm yeah, I'm gonna agree this.
This, this movie was not about.
This movie was like spookyholiday wizard of oz for me.
Like there, this was not about.
This was about, maybe,friendships and trusting
yourself.

Amy (33:54):
This was'd say a one, amy, what do you think?
Same, I would say it's one starbecause she was into him, right
, but he pays no attention toher.
And I mentioned to you, youknow, yesterday that we're
watching this movie.
If you have ADHD, you get it.
It seemed like this movie was ametaphor for having this really

(34:19):
strong ADHD hyperfocus.
And so like he hyperfocused onChristmas and then he couldn't
accomplish it in two hours afterspending like 550 bucks, and
now he's completely over it andeveryone around him is super
glad it's over.
And so now he's like oh, andthere's you now.
So that's what it felt like,okay, um, I this other hobby

(34:43):
failed yeah yeahmoving on to the next hobby, hi,
the rebound the face, jonathandoes I feel so called out you
think I don't know I I.

Mari (34:56):
I thought there was romance in it.
To me it was, I would say,three and a half romance.
I feel like she had feelingsabout him and that's why she was
trying to stop him and, youknow, save him from himself.
And then towards the end, likewhen he saved her from Oogie
Boogie, when he saved her fromOogie Boogie and a lot of it may

(35:23):
be just because I love so muchthe scene at the end where
they're on that little curlycliff overlooking the pumpkin
patch, and it's simply meant tobe.
I have a little locket that'sgot them on it that says simply
meant to be.
That I've had for over a decade.
I think it took them a while toget there because they weren't
in the right in the same placeat the same time on the journey.
But I feel like there was acute little little romance, um

(35:47):
subplot.

Ashley (35:48):
So she was definitely stalking him right like that's
kind of what we do best when wefeel, because I was I was
thinking about that.

Amy (35:58):
You know it's.
It's kind of romantic, but in away like okay, first of all,
she literally throws herself outof a multi-story building to
like go bring him a snack andshe's obsessed with him.
She's not using osha approvedgear for all these potions and
things she's trying to performelder abuse with, and then she

(36:21):
picks this flower and it turnsinto a Christmas tree and it
burns and this is like a vision,but I really think it was a
hallucination, for maybe all theother things like the traumatic
brain injury yeah, amy.

Jonathan (36:36):
And Amy.
That's why Ashley and I live ina ranch home now, because I
didn't want to risk it.
Yeah, I did.
I did get those vibes, I'mwatching it, and when you're a
kid you're watching it like ohyeah, this is happening.
But when you're an adult andyou look back, I like that's
some really, that's some honestbehavior.

Mari (36:59):
Well, I mean she was.
She was being kept against herwill by Finkelstein, who was
like you're mine, I created you,You're my thing.

Jonathan (37:04):
You're my Rapunzel in the tower, yeah.
He got himself a new object bythe end.
Yeah, he did.

Mari (37:13):
Do you know who played the voice of Finkelstein, the Dr
Finkelstein the mad scientist?
Have you guys seen NationalLampoon's Christmas Vacation Of?

Jonathan (37:24):
course have I.

Mari (37:25):
Yeah, he can quote it to you.
So William Hickey the old, oh,you can hear a dump truck.

Jonathan (37:32):
You couldn't hear a dump truck.

Mari (37:33):
Yes.

Jonathan (37:36):
Can you hear it?
He died.

Mari (37:40):
Oh, and while we're talking about voices, do you
know who did the voice of JackSkellington?

Jonathan (37:45):
No, wasn't it a singer of some sort?

Mari (37:48):
No, well, kind of, there's two voices, so Jack Skellington
had two voices and Sally hadone.
So Jack Skellington's sungparts are done by Danny Elfman.
So all the singing that thepumpkin are done by Danny Elfman
.
So all the singing that theJack and the Pumpkin King does
is Danny Elfman, but the spokenparts it's Chris Sarandon, who
played Prince Humperdinck in thePrincess Bride.

(38:09):
Yeah, prince Humperdinck isJack Skellington.

Ashley (38:14):
It's such a.
It's that's so hard to picture.

Mari (38:18):
Yes, it is.
And then, sally, her voice isdone by Catherine O'Hara, who
was the mom in the originalBeetlejuice Well, I guess in
both Beetlejuices and the mom inSchitt's Creek yeah, she did
the voice and she sung.
She did both singing and thespoken parts and then she also

(38:38):
did the voice of I can neverremember with Stock Lock and
Barrel the witch, whichever onethe witch is of, stock Lock and
Barrel, stock Shock Shock,whichever one the witch is of
those.
She did the voice for that too,catherine O'Hara is like super
talented.

Jonathan (38:54):
She is.

Ashley (38:55):
Because don't they go?
Lock, shock, and BarrelProbably, oh wait.

Jonathan (38:58):
Is she is?
Don't they go lock shock inbarrel probably.
Oh wait, is she the?

Mari (39:01):
do you know who did the voice of lock?

Jonathan (39:06):
you know, pw so unprepared paul rubens oh yes,
you're right, it almost lookslike him too.
Yeah, you know what I feel like?
Barrel is the most shit oncharacter.

Mari (39:16):
Yeah, nobody's running around being like let me be more
like barrel so what do we thinkabout the spice spiciness of
this situation, Jonathan?

Jonathan (39:27):
Spice.
It was like I wish there wasspice.
There's no spice.

Mari (39:34):
You want claymation spice.

Jonathan (39:37):
Well, I'm saying Gumby has pokey.
Eee, I'm not going to go with.
I don't have spice, maybevisions of gumdrops, but no
spice.
I can't openly give this aspice rating.

(39:58):
That's difficult, you know what?
Yeah, I'm going to give itspice rating only because at the
end I think there was that newcharge nurse was maybe picking
up some extra food.
She was picking up some extrashifts, shift, she was doing

(40:19):
some.
So we're going to get, we'll goahead and we'll give it a faint
star.

Mari (40:26):
Okay, the suggestion.
What do you think Ash?

Ashley (40:31):
Yeah, no, there wasn't any spice in this.
I don't even think there therewas spice.
Yeah, also, jack's pants arereally tight.
There's not much to see there.
There's no spice.
He's got a massive bone.

Jonathan (40:47):
Massive boner.
I mean, is that what you're?
That's what you turned thismovie off.
It never occurred to me to lookat Jack Scratch.
My mind is the one in the gut.

Mari (40:59):
So do you guys know that there's like a spicy retelling
of this right?
Do you guys know there's a book?
It doesn't surprise me yeahthere's a book called Stitches
by Violet Taylor.
It was published fairlyrecently.
Yeah, september, september ofthis year.
I read it.
It's not like out of this world, but if you want a spicy, it is

(41:23):
a spicy Night Before Christmasretelling.
If that is something that ismissing in your life, it does
exist.
Be aware.

Jonathan (41:32):
Interesting Dark monster romance reimagining
darkly depraved monsters.

Mari (41:40):
It's the story of the Skeleton King and his
stitched-up queen.
A dark reimagining of aHalloween favorite, stitches is
a dark monster romance.
Reimagining it contains graphicviolence and sexually explicit
content.
Check the author's website forfull list of content warnings.
Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk.
Um, yeah, it's, it was fine, itexisted.

(42:02):
It's a thing, it exists in theworld, um, and now?
Now we're all aware of it.
Yeah, ab.

Amy (42:11):
Spice.
Yeah, I had the same track thatJonathan did.
I'm like there was no Spice,except for that little kind of
hint that you get at the endwith Dr Finkelstein's new wife
and then she has like half hisbrain.
So I'm like she's kind of halfhim.
So when someone tells him to gohimself, he is, he's literally
doing it.
Hmm, half his brain.
So I'm like she's kind of halfhim.
So when someone tells him to gohimself, he is he's literally
doing it.

Ashley (42:31):
Hmm, God that went in such a direction I.
I didn't see it coming.

Jonathan (42:38):
It's such a man.

Mari (42:39):
You know that's like the that matters in your own hands
Right.
That's like the wholediscussion with like the Loki
stuff, with the variants likeLoki and Sylvie right, is he in
love with himself?
Are they in love themselves?

Ashley (42:50):
that whole narcissistic yeah yeah, see the whole like
identical twin thing.
Right, like the whole twinconcept of Game of Thrones
taught us anything.
Yeah, I don't know why.
I have less of a problem withthat for someone like Loki, but
more of a problem for DrFinkelstein.

Jonathan (43:07):
I don't understand the reference that's probably for
the best.

Ashley (43:11):
Okay, you'll think differently of me that's weird
don't marinate on it I'm not.
There's a good cruise on passso I I for spice.

Mari (43:22):
I I like wrote zero down, I was like zero question mark.
Yeah, I agree, there's.
There's no spice to be had,which is fine.
It's still a good story.
Um, do we think it's a kissingbook or kissing story?

Jonathan (43:37):
you know I went back and watched this over and over
again, to like at the at theover and over.
Like some parts, I'll watchover and over again.
Um, and I was trying to figureout, like the, because I
couldn't pop this one throughthe calculator.
I felt inappropriate if I didso.
I thought how could I?

Mari (43:57):
I need to just go back.
Amy, do you know what thecalculator is?
No, tell Amy what thecalculator is.

Jonathan (44:04):
Amy, I enjoy, I am a freak in the sheets, the
spreadsheets, and I enjoy usingExcel a whole bunch.
And in order for me to help me,guide me and determine if a

(44:26):
book that we're readingqualifies as a kissing book, I
have an algorithm establishedand it's just, you know, it's
based on a series of questionsand qualifiers that rate it and
give it a percentage and tellsme like, hey, is this smut or
spicy?
And so most books that we read,I drop it through that filter
and come out with a result.
And I just couldn't do that.
Part of me was like I don'twant to put this book through

(44:48):
the calculator because I want itto be more wholesome to me.
Yeah, um, so I think Idefaulted to the idea of if we
remove sally from the story doesis the outcome any different?
And I the point of like the.

(45:09):
The crux for me was when uggiemeets his demise because he's
got he's.
So uggie's got santa and he'sgot sally strapped to the thing,
he's rolling the dice and hegets snake eyes and stuff like
that.
But it's not really like shedoesn't save the day.
Jack does.
The old switcheroo at the lastminute pops up and Jack doesn't

(45:31):
really take out Oogie.
Oogie's responsible for his owndemise.
He got his burlap thread caughtright.
So I'm thinking to myself no,this is not a kissing book.
There's a reward of a kiss, orthe concept of one at the end,
but I'm going to go ahead andsay this is not a kissing book.
Final answer.

Mari (45:54):
Ash, what do you think?

Ashley (45:57):
That was such an impressive answer with details
and explanations and data.

Jonathan (46:04):
There was data, there was data Spreadsheets.

Ashley (46:06):
I feel very less than um no, this was not.
This was not a kissing book amyyeah, definitely not.

Amy (46:20):
Uh, the whole entire movie could have done without sally,
which I found very surprisingre-watching the whole movie.
Um, she, you know, she tries tostop him, you know, initially
from from doing the wholechristmas thing and it fails.
So I just don't see any pointof her being in the movie.

Mari (46:39):
Yeah, no, I I agree with you guys.
I I don't think it's a kissingbook.
I like the, I like the romancethat's in it, but I don't think
it's central to the plot.
I agree, like if she didn'texist, I think it probably would
have still more or less gonedown the same way.
Overall, I don't think thestory would have changed
dramatically.

Amy (46:56):
Yeah, I agree.
I think if it had an elementwhere they were together in the
beginning and then thisobsession strained their
relationship and then thefailure of this mission he had
bringing them back together,that would have changed it a
little bit.

Mari (47:12):
Yeah that'd be an interesting story.
Write that.
Uh, anything else anybody wantsto say about um nightmare for
christmas?

Jonathan (47:25):
yeah, I'll throw this, uh, this last bit down here.
I can definitely provideevidence of this being a
christmas movie, and it would behard objective evidence.
However, I like to think thatanything can be any type of

(47:45):
celebration to any bought anyone.
So if you told me that youwatch rudolph the red nose
reindeer on october 31st andyour family has done that
traditionally and you qualifythat as a halloween movie, then
I would wholeheartedly acceptthat as an answer I feel like
you would not I would have to,because I feel like you would

(48:07):
debate it.

Ashley (48:10):
I would debate it within the guidelines that are
inclusive of what I'm sayingRight here and right now, but
next time no.

Jonathan (48:20):
Keep these in mind.
Hold my feet to the fire forthis one.
If I were to win, if I were topresent all this evidence,
there's a conclusive argumentthat states that this is a
christmas movie, not a halloweenmovie.
And they win that argument.
What do I achieve?
I hurt, I take something fromno I yeah, like personally I

(48:40):
don't care.

Mari (48:41):
I my answer when people ask is this a christmas movie or
a halloween movie?
Literally my answer becausekelly will ask me this sometimes
is yes.

Jonathan (48:50):
That's my answer.

Amy (48:51):
Because it really is all of those for me, there was one
kind of little tipping part inre-watching it, because usually
I would say you know you couldwatch it.
To me you can watch it any timeof year, because there's a
moral to that.
But the fact that he goesthrough all this, he's in
Halloween town, he's kind oftired of it.
And then he goes through thistrial because he wants to be

(49:11):
something different.
I want to be.
You know, have this Christmasand then Christmas fails and
ultimately he realizes thatHalloween he's happy about it
again.
He realizes that Halloween isso much better than Christmas.
Yeah, I agree, that's the moralof this movie.

Mari (49:25):
That is the moral of the movie.

Amy (49:27):
This straight up just feels , like.

Jonathan (49:29):
That's the moral of this movie.
That is the moral of the movie.
I didn't arrive at the sameplace.
We must have been in differentvehicles.
I didn't get there.
I got to the whole.
Santa came and saved the day.
He made it snow on Halloween.

Ashley (49:38):
What is this?
This just feels like the Wizardof Oz to me.

Jonathan (49:41):
She wasn't the way she was.

Ashley (49:43):
She wanted to think different.
She wanted adventure and brightcolors and song.
And then there's thatrealization of course that
everything you ever wanted.
You've already had.
Fat white guy at the end savesthe day, yeah.

Jonathan (50:00):
I didn't know the Wizard of Oz.
How I didn't see the Wizard ofOz.

Ashley (50:05):
I thought the female was the Well, yeah, so I mean like
the Good Witch of the North oh,it was in you the whole time.
She came down was a female.
Well, yeah, so I mean like thegood witch of the north oh, it
was in you the whole time.

Jonathan (50:12):
She came down in a bubble Kalinda, it's a bubble,
bro.
Her sister was a witch.

Mari (50:20):
Are you a good witch or are you a bad witch?

Ashley (50:24):
I just yeah, I mean again.
I think it's good theme ThemingHalloween Town's impressive.
Yeah, I just yeah, I mean again.
I think it's good theme themingHalloween Town's impressive.

Mari (50:32):
Yeah.

Ashley (50:32):
I think I was more disappointed when I heard them
say Kentucky today.

Mari (50:37):
I was like what are you bro?
What are you talking about?
It was a to a man in Kentucky.
I'm Mr Unlucky Right.

Ashley (50:42):
What do you know about Kentucky?
I just couldn't let it go.

Mari (50:47):
That's funny.

Ashley (50:47):
Like where is Halloweenoweentown based?
You need to know Logistically.

Jonathan (50:53):
Well, it's got to be in the US.
If there's Thanksgiving, orCanada, it's in the western,
okay, but where they speakEnglish.

Ashley (51:04):
Do you think it's like the Midwest?
Because it's like Germany.

Jonathan (51:10):
It's very interesting, I don't know.
Maybe we should do that.
You should Thank you forvolunteering.

Ashley (51:15):
No, don't give me.

Mari (51:18):
Ashley said no, but when he was like I've also seen
London and France.

Ashley (51:23):
I've seen Paris and France.
Have you, though, like how'dyou get there?

Mari (51:29):
Your automobile vehicles don't seem legit, you know what
I just realized as like maybe alittle headcanon Is maybe you
see Halloween Town and you seeeach of these holiday towns
through your own vision of whatHalloween is for you.
Like if Halloween for you, youcelebrate it a certain way,
that's what you're going to seewhen you go to halloween town.

(51:49):
Like if, if you live inaustralia and christmas is like
going to the beach and having abarbecue when you go to
christmastown, that's whatyou're going to see.
You know what I mean.
Like we're saying north poleand that's our culture.
That's my brain cannon.

Ashley (52:04):
So it's the trees of all the holidays in the same place
of each of the other lands, solike if Halloween Town's in like
Kansas is Christmas Town inKansas and the forest is just
all like a multi-universe treesituation.

Mari (52:19):
It's a timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly, cross-universe
quantum situation.

Jonathan (52:26):
Is this really the first reference of the
multiverse?

Mari (52:34):
situation.
Is this really the firstreference of the multiverse?
Um, it depends on how youdefine multiverse.
I mean like, is lord of therings a reference, or a
multiverse where you have likethe, the area where they and and
I'm sorry, I'm not a lord ofthe rings super nerd, so I don't
know all this.
So I hear people screaming atme telling me the right
terminology, fine, please at me.
Um, at the end of lord of therings were like the, the races

(52:55):
were dying or had chosen to die,and they were like the elves
and whatnot were going off intothe, whatever.
I feel like that was likeanother land, another universe,
and then the it was the time forthe age of the, of man in in
this world.
I mean, maybe that's areference to like a universe,
multi-universe which predatesyeah, yeah, yeah it does

(53:19):
by a lot 1938, yeah I mean Iguess around the same time,
because what tolkien and cslewis used to hang out together
at the pub?
So you have, narnia was writtenaround the same time.
Narnia is arguably, oh, narnia.

Ashley (53:32):
You know multidimensional Well, so it's a
book.

Jonathan (53:38):
I see the movie Narnia , isn't that Chronicles of
Narnia.

Mari (53:40):
Chronicles of Narnia is a good reading for this time of
year.
Actually it's a good winterstory.
There's probably some amazingaudiobook versions of it as long
as that book's been around.
But like it's a good, it's agood winner tale to read.
I think you could do thatthere's your homework, jonathan
what to watch read it will watchthat by yourself watch it on TV

Jonathan (54:04):
read it with your ear holes my, my heart here is watch
it on TV.

Ashley (54:09):
I'll Google it on TV, watch it alone.

Jonathan (54:11):
I'll Google it on Netflix.

Ashley (54:14):
Is it sad?

Jonathan (54:17):
The boa dies Fast forward through it.

Ashley (54:20):
It's pretty poignant.

Jonathan (54:24):
Oh.

Mari (54:24):
Boo Amy, anything or any of us, anything else we want to
talk to Amy about.
Anything else you want to bringup about your business.

Ashley (54:34):
No, amy, where can we?

Amy (54:35):
find you.
You can find me on Etsy.
Yeah, Maplegrass Design on Etsy.

Ashley (54:42):
I'm also on Instagram and Facebook Important platform,
yeah.

Amy (54:49):
How's Etssy treating you?
Uh, fees are a little high, butI'm able to find people that,
uh, maybe I I couldn't findbefore have you explored any of
the other um marketplaces?
I checked out um.
There's shopify that a friendof mine uses, um, but they
charge by the month and I don'tfeel like I've grown quite to

(55:11):
that level.
So right now the Etsy fees areless than what a monthly
subscription with Shopify wouldbe.
The tough thing with Etsy ismaking sure that you have
everything tagged appropriately,because there are, I mean,
hundreds of thousands of thingsthat may come up.
So even if I search for myself,even very specifically, the
type of surprise ball that I'mmaking, I may not even show up

(55:35):
in some of the searches.
So that part of it has beenkind of tough.
So the in-person markets havebeen a lot better than the
online.

Jonathan (55:45):
Oh, nice, Nice.
How many in-person markets haveyou been?
I'm assuming locally it's ahustle too.
How are you finding those?

Amy (55:54):
friends who do vending.
The first one that I did was awitch's night out.
Everything was very warmlyreceived.
I had to do a lot of explainingbecause everyone's like what is

(56:14):
this?
Or is this a bath bomb?
That was probably the mostcommon thing Is this a bath bomb
?
So I'm in the process of makinglike a poster that kind of
explains a little bit more whatthis is.
But once that comes across,everybody really liked it.
I did very well at the Witch'sNight Out, which is very
encouraging.

Jonathan (56:36):
Very nice, very nice.
Yeah, I'd be keen to followalong and see how this develops
for you.

Ashley (56:46):
Yeah, do so, thank you.
Thank you for joining ustonight.

Amy (56:50):
I appreciate you guys having me.

Mari (56:53):
I told her we'd be nice.
She was nervous.
It's fine, it's fine.

Ashley (56:58):
We're fairly harmless over here.
Most of the time.
Well, I said fairly.

Mari (57:03):
Alright, so I'm going to wrap it up.
Thanks to listening to Of Sw,of sorts and soulmates.
Before we go, make sure tocheck the show notes, rate and
review, and subscribe to us onyour podcast app of choice.
It helps others to find us.
Follow us on instagram at ofsorts and soulmates, or join our
facebook page of sorts andsoulmates.
Check out our website of sortsand soulmatescom and we're also

(57:25):
available on youtube tick tock,tick tock and Pinterest with all
the same username.
Check out.
I have lost my place.
I am so sorry.

Ashley (57:38):
It's the first time it's happened.

Mari (57:39):
It is.
If you'd like to offer asuggestion for a future rapid
fire question, reach out to uson any of those options or email
us.
If you want to read along withus as we prep for a new episode,
you can follow us on any ofthose options or email us.
If you want to read along withus as we prep for a new episode,
you can follow us on Goodreadsat Of Swords and Soulmates.
Or if you want to go likechapter by chapter discussions
and breakdown, you can follow uson the Fable app.

(58:02):
We have a book club on theFable app.
It's also called the Swords andSoulmates Book Club.
Right now on there we'rereading Phantasma.
We hope you'll join us in twoweeks for our next episode when
we read and talk about JingleAll the Slay by Dakota Cassidy.
Bye-bye, yeah, thanks forwatching.

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"The Nightmare Before Christmas" - Exploring a Magic Holiday Classic

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}"The Nightmare Before Christmas" - Exploring a Magic Holiday Classic