Retro Ridoctopus

Equal parts poet, punk rocker and urban philosopher, David Baillie is the author of the acclaimed novels "What We Salvage" and "Little Bones". For this sprawling chat, he talks about what it was like growing up in a Canadian steel city in the 80s, and how the burgeoning punk scene of the day helped shape him for life.

Expect some hard hitting history and a deep dive into topics like race, tolerance, music and what happens after bec...

Cryptozoology is the study of hidden animals and other folkloric entities. Creatures that have been spotted from time to time, but never officially described by science.

For this episode, we read the history, poured over the first hand accounts and gathered up a slew of pop culture references for 8 such creatures. Some you know, but others may prove more elusive. So steel your nerves and keep that camera steady because Retro Ridoct...

Somewhere in time and space... we nabbed another geek LEGEND for the BRIG!

Mary Joe Pehl is a talented writer, actress and comedian who's written for TV, comics and even her 2022 memoir “Dumb Dumb Dumb: My Mother's Book Reviews”. But you probably know her as the villainous Pearl Forrester from the legendary Peabody award-winning, Emmy nominated comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000!

Mary Jo spills the hamdingers on...

We all have our favorite fast food treat. Heck some of us have one too many! But what happens when that tried and true guilty pleasure that you've ordered dozens of times suddenly disappears from the menu FOREVER?

For this episode, we take a trip down the drive-thru of time to order up some of our favorite retired fast food items! We're each serving up burgers, chicken, desserts and even a little something something from a no-holds...

For tonight’s episode of the Brig, we welcome back the celebrated psychological horror writer of many novels, novellas, short stories, screenplays, essays and even the occasional poem! 

L. Marie Wood is the recipient of such esteemed accolades as the Bram Stoker Award, the Michael Knost Wings award and the Golden Stake awards and she’s here tonight a pair of powerful releases. Both of which, you can purchase below....

You can't spell HEAVY METAL without IRON MAIDEN... figuratively.

With the help of our Horn-Handed pals, Nintenjoe, Synopsis Grim and Portland Maine's own, DJ Rick Johnson, we'll strap on our best pair of Icarus wings and soar through the band's 17 studio albums, taking aim at 6 to spotlight! If you dug our tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, you're gonna love this one.

UP THE IRONS!

And since you're here... check out Rick Johnson's blog: HEA...

With the help of Rich Davis (AKA Velvet Joker) from Nerd Culture News and Entertainment, we give a Krash Kourse on the original game, the culture and most of all, the four live action MOVIES of MORTAL KOMBAT!

RETRO RIDOCTOPUS is -----------------------------------

"Parasite Steve"...... AKA Steve Van Samson (read)

"8-Bit Alchemy "...... AKA Tim Krikorian (listen)

"Coopster Gold"...... AKA Justin Cooper (subscribe)

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How many live shows have you been to? Dozens? Hundreds? If you had to pick your 2 most important concert experiences, what would they be?

It's not an easy question, but we do our best to whittle a lifetime of live rock and metal into one jam-packed episode of the Retro Ridoctopus cephalopodcast. Best part, these tickets are on the house... and just wait till you peep the set list!

RETRO RIDOCTOPUS is -------------------------------...

Tonight, locked in the BRIG, we have a multi-faceted artist, Sandy Netburn!

Sandy is a New York based singer songwriter, comedian and ventriloquist whose talent and fearlessness as a performer, utterly belies her years! Her debut album “ISSUES” was released last October and she’s currently dishing out inspiration and goosebumps on tour!

With handcrafted style and humor that positively permeates her lyrics, Sandy's...

On this episode of the THE BRIG, we have a local hero who, thanks to 13 seasons on Antiques Roadshow, has risen to become a nationally recognized name in the collecting, appraisal and selling of old plastic playthings.

He also owns and operates Wex Rex Collectibles in Hudson, Massachusetts, writes novels, rock operas and has been running Northeast Comicon for decades… Retroids, put your tentacles together for the one and onl...

BEEP! BOOP!

With the help of our pal Scott Clevenger (from the Slumgullion podcast), we are greasing the gears and making sure all the little lights are blinking for a serious synthoid celebration that runs from the 1950s all the way to the 1990s and beyond!

We looked to movies, cartoons, comics, TV shows and beyond to bring you our favorite ROBOTS, DROIDS & OTHER MECHANICAL MEN! From Robbie the Robot, to the many droids of St...

Writer Ryan Benson caught a wave onto the indie comics scene with his debut ECLIPSED, a tie-in comic to the upcoming VAMPIRE SURF CULT animated series!

He dishes on the book, his ties to the show and all about his new story “Sir William and the Scourge” which features incredible art by Mason O’Halloran. This sword and sorcery/horror yarn is going to be featured in AHA! (A Horror Anthology!)  That's 70+ pages...

Tonight… locked in the pit of despair we call THE BRIG… we have the creators of the long-running storytelling podcast ACHEWILLOW and the first Achewillow novel "A DASH OF DEMON"! Both chronicle the exploits in and around a fictional Canadian/American town, where you can get a darn good cup of coffee, but also… possibly disemboweled by a demon. :o

Writer, J.F. Dubeau and narrator/producer Amy Frost spill the tea...

Tonight we'll be spotlighting characters that have had a ton of different VARIATIONS over the years. Think costumes, alternate dimensions and even the dreaded heel turn!

We plumbed the depths of video games and comic books to find just the right candidates to create quite the motley crew for you to enjoy. Ever see #Batman on the same list as #SimonBelmont ? Well, now you have! And the medium that shows off these different versions ...

Our guest tonight is a legendary character actor who you have definitely seen in more movies and TV shows than you can COUNT!

Daniel Roebuck has 273 acting credits on IMDB since his debut in 1985. You might recognize him from TV shows like Matlock, Nash Bridges, or a truly EXPLOSIVE appearance on LOST! He’s also appeared in movies like Rivers Edge, The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals, The Munsters, Terrifier 3 and so so many more. Hi...

The black sheep of the 16bit console generation of video games was definitely the TurboGrafx-16, but does coming in third mean it wasn't great in it's own right? Heck no! (link in comments)

We run down a list of our nine favorite TURBOTASTIC games (plus a few more in there for good measure) on the system that was called the PC-Engine in Japan. We cover everything from head-banging cave babies to everyone's favorite Jason Voorhees c...

Though Jenny Toupin has been writing books since the first grade, she just released her first full length novel!

The Blurry Man is a masterful portrait in psychological horror. The book is haunted by ghosts and grave robbing, by dolls and wannabe devil worship, but these things exist on the edges of the narrative. The heart of the Blurry Man is a guarded one, and you will not be ready when it is finally laid bare.

Jenny spills the ...

Back in the early to mid 90s, when a popular movie was turned into a video game, that game was often released for both of the 16-bit systems that dominated console gaming of the day. This meant that whether you owned a Super Nintendo or a SEGA Genesis you'd be able to snag a copy and play!

The thing is, in those days, these licensed games would often involve completely separate developers for each system, leading to a pair of game...

Tonight, in that vinegar-laced cask of nightmare fuel we call THE BRIG… we have the clobberingly awesome, Michael Burke!

Mike is the author of many pulpy tales of horror, fantasy and more. He's here to promote his brand new novella “Vengeful Spirits”, which appears in the 2025 collection SINISTER SOCIETIES by Ruadan Books. Beyond all that, he’s the co-founder of the Eisner-award-winning comic and collectibl...