Stories That Stick with Chad Quandt

Behold the first official episode of Stories That Stick. What sort of magnificent acclaimed story are we covering first? (checks notes) Roland Emmerich's 1996 super blockbuster Independence Day?! Director and showrunner Ed Skudder (The Super Mario Bros Movie, Unikitty!, Dick Figures) joins host Chad Quandt to talk about why this movie caused a ripple effect through all future summer blockbusters including Ed's work, how it turbo-launched the careers of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, and why three decades later it still holds up. We also discuss being blockbuster scumbags, the chronology of the Fast franchise, and Apex Presidents.

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Hey listeners,

I'm excited to share some big changes to the podcast! If you've been listening this past year we've already made format changes-- covering wider ranges of nostalgic media as it shifts into a solo-host show. This two-month break gave me the breathing room I need to figure out what gets me most excited for the show and what will build off we're already doing. Let's get into it!

Stories That Stick is our new main format-- inviting funny and insightful guests on to talk about classic media (books, movies, TV, games!) that have...

Hey Goosebuds listeners, your host Chad here.

Those on the Patreon have already gotten a heads up– but Goosebuds is taking a two month pause– from August and September. The reason is I’ve been swamped in work at my day job. By the way, I can finally announce I’ve been working these past two years as lead writer on the upcoming series Avatar: Seven Havens. That’s about the elemental warriors; not the James Cameron blue cat people.

Goosebuds will return in the spookiest month of October, with great guests and topics lined up. It’s m...

Hello?! Anyone in this abandoned church? Want to talk about infected rage zombies? Your host Chad Quandt is joined by editor Ben Ravid (Invincible Fight Girl, Big Nate, this show!) to gush about the acclaimed movie that kicked off the modern zombie craze: Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's 28 Days Later. And we also talk about the just released followup that is almost literally 28 Years Later. How would Chad and Ben survive an apocalypse? How amazingly badass is Selena with a machete? And what the hell is that Power Rangers cliffhanger? Spoilers abound for both films. Enjoy the episode!

They're here! Chad is joined by returning guest Jordan Morris (Bubble, Youth Group, Jordan Jesse Go!) to talk Tobe Hooper and Stephen Spielberg's 1982 classic Poltergeist. A surprising blend of supernatural horror and Amblin family charm. This is a movie where in first 30 minutes a boy is vored by a tree! We also discuss Chad's lost Heathcliff movie pitch.

MOVIE DISCUSSION BEGINS: 13:05

Support the show and get access to bonus episodes, our secret Discord, ad-free episodes and more at www.patreon.com/goosebuds

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Something stirs in grandpa's playroom; a toy clown Punchinello that can come alive on a whim. Can three kids find Grandpa's secret magical key and escape before they die from endless hop scotch games?

Your host Chad Quandt is joined by writer/comedian/singer Brian David Gilbert (Um, Actually; Unraveled) to discuss this beloved film from his childhood: WeeSing's Grandpa's Magical Toys. And we're then joined by a surprise guest; Kevin Hangeman (Trollhunters, Star Trek Prodigy) who plays the lead kid Peter! He's grown a bit since the 80s.

OFF TOPICS: The Gamers Throne, Clair...

Happy 200th, Goosebuddies! It's been a wild decade of the pod and we're happy to celebrate with honored guest Tim Jacobus, original artist of Goosebumps! We talk about his biography It Came From New Jersey, his love of rock album covers, staying in Jersey, and the surprise photo references for his iconic covers.

Support the show and get access to bonus episodes, our secret Discord, ad-free episodes and more at www.patreon.com/goosebuds

Dress your skeleton with Goosebuds apparel at goosebuds.store

Email: goosebuds@gmail.com

Bluesky: goosebuds.bsky.social

If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality, you'll end up in the backrooms. And you may also download this episode and end up listening to host Chad Quandt and guest Elspeth Eastman (Rift of the NecroDancer, League of Legends) discus infamous new-horror creepypasta that will soon be a major motion picture. Beyond this /x/-fueled creation, we talk about Chad's favorite book; Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. Both deal with liminal, infinite spaces. Grab a buddy before heading into the abyss.

OFF TOPICS: Beautiful Cincinnati, our traumas from The Sport, improving baseball rules<...

Something's foul in the air, and we swear it's not us. Your host Chad Quandt is joined by triple-threat actor/writer/wrestler James Willems (Answer For It!, Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, Funhaus) to discuss one of Junji Ito's largest works; the stinky book Gyo (known as 'Fish: Ghastly Squirming' in Japan). A 'death stench' has taken over Okinawa, followed by an army of walking rotten fish, sharks, and eventually entire improv troops of stink people. This terror tome includes The Sad Tale of the Principal Post and the legendary short story The Enigma of Amigara Fault. This podcast was made...

Vroom voom, Goosebuddies. You wanna know what gives host Chad Quandt and guests Alexis Bevels & Darby Lynn Cartwright (IMHO the Show/Podcast) goosebumps? Dangerous highway infrastructure! We check out the 1994 action classic Speed, starring Keanu Reeves pre-Matrix and Sandra Bullock pre-Congeniality. This podcast can't go below 60 jokes per hour or we'll explode. Pop quick hot shot; will you enjoy this episode?

As a Patreon bonus-- and something we're trying out for future episodes-- this episode of Goosebuds has a special video version for our Patreon supporters at the Camp level. Watch our live reactions to jokes about...

Hope your thirsty for horror movie discussion, Goosebuddies. Your host Chad Quandt is joined by animation director Brock Gallagher (aka avant-garde V-Tuber NilbogLive). Before the Spy Kids era, Robert Rodruigez was a pretty cool director. Teamed with Scream's writer Kevin Williamson makes for The Faculty; a great 90s take on body snatchers and Animorphs-adjacent teenagers. As walking contradiction Zeze would say, this podcast is guaranteed to jack you up.

OFF TOPICS: Monster Hunter obtuseness, big monkey flatulence mods, server snooping, deer hunting parades

Movie Discussion begins: 11:17

Support the show and get access to b...

What sort of creepy story are we covering on the first episode of Goosebuds where Chad is solo host? A 2003 Lego fantasy toy ad. Yes, Goosebuddies. It's true. But we'll get to scary stuff again. Chad Quandt is joined by guest Payton Whaley (Flyover Culture, A Moment of Science) to review the first of many Lego movies about the dark fantasy island Mata Nui who is protected by Toa elemental warriors. Wait, is everything in this named after culture from South East Asia? YIKES. I guess this IS a scary story!

Movie discussion begins: 16:30

OFF-TOPICS...

Hope you're hungry for podcasts, Goosebuddies. Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole celebrate the end of an era for this show by watching the 90s Are You Afraid of the Dark episode 'The Tale of the Dangerous Soup'. Dr. Vink is running a strange bistro with an expensive soup that is bringing old rich people in by the bakers' dozen! But what's the secret ingredient? What's the deal with this lawn ornament? Why is it being milked? And hey Neve Campbell is in this! They also discuss Uncle Ben in card games and Wolverine's brain regenerating.

Ever since we were young boys, we watched Are You Afraid of the Dark/ From Philly to South Bend, we've seen them all/ But somehow this is the first time we're covering the show on Goosebuds!/ That sure was a mean episode!

The Goosebuds Boys Chad Quandt and Kevin Cole check out the 90s Nickelodeon episode Are You Afraid of the Dark called 'The Tale of the Pinball Wizard'. This is a very inaccurate portrayal of pinball and arcade games. Sorta what your grandpa thinks a SNES game is. But poor Ross is sucked into this mall a...

Have you ever wondered where toys come from? They're not really from Santa Claus nor your divorced parents trying to win your love. They're from Japan! Chad, Paul, and Kevin check out the lost 1983 Disney home video Where The Toys Come From; a 'Showcase' preceding Toy Story where two small toys Zoom and Peepers learn time travel, fight foreign toys, and meet their god Kenji. Enjoy the toy parades!

Off Topics: Vampire Neck Defense, Bread, Paul in Japan, City Pop, Kōji Yakusho

Movie discussion starts: 26:45

Support the show and get access to bon...

It's Schwimmer Time! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole check out the latest season of Goosebumps: The Vanishing, starring David Schwimmer of Run Fatboy Run and Madagascar fame. This modern retelling of the classic 'Stay Out Of The Basement' begins another serialized season of teenagers and adults hopping through other old 'Bump books. How does Season 2 compare to Justin Long's Season 1? What does 'bussin' mean? And who exactly is this show for besides us? (SPOILERS: We cover episodes 1 & 2 "Stay Out of the Basement, Part I & 2" but also have small discussion of episodes 3 and 4 'The Haunted Car' & 'Mon...

Prepare for something a bit different, Goosebuddies! While Chad flees the LA fires (don't worry; he's safe), Paul and Kevin gather to talk about two pieces of non-R.L. media they enjoy. The anime OVA classics: 1988's 'Dragon's Heaven' by Makoto Kobayashi and 1985's 'Angel's Egg' by Mamoru Oshii. Both about girls wandering desolate apocalypse landscapes. Hope you enjoy this departure from our usual fare. We're exploring more art to discuss for this podcast and want to hear from you about it on Patreon!

OFF TOPICS: Spyro, Sauna 2000, 2D vs 3D Games, Storylords!, SuperTry Intros

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Oh Come, All Ye Goosebuddies! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole revisit two 90s cartoon holiday episodes. First we check out ABC's Recess's politically correct 'Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave' guest starring James Earl Jones and Michael McKean in which Chad's cartoon proxy Mikey challenges 3rd Street to prove Santa is real.

We then shift to the more subversive with Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life's holiday episode 'Can't Squeeze Cheer From a Cheese Log!' otherwise known as Rocko's Modern Christmas. Rocko's hoping friends come by for the holidays, including some mysterious elves next door. I...

The Goosebuddies Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read R.L. Stine's Horrorland 'finale' The Streets of Panic Park. Sixteen (!!) book protagonist kids are globbed together to face the edgelord villain The Menace who hopes to scare the kids so bad they'll jump realities. And in what should be the hypest moment in all of Goosebumps, Slappy leads a group of villain allies! Can these kids and monsters escape Panic Park and get back to Horrorland- which they are also escaping from? This book was such a mess it caused an emotional crisis in your hosts and we n...

We're back to Hark as the Goosebuddies Chad, Paul, and Kevin adventure through the second (and last) of R.L. Stine's sci-fi Choose Your Own Adventure series: The Invaders of Hark. We're thrust into the city of Hark where multiple alien factions fight for control and a beautiful princess. These books are brutal with only one correct path. Will we survive?

OFF TOPICS: Paul's adventures in Unreal Engine, Godot

Adventure begins: 15:30

Support the show on patreon.com/goosebuds

UPDATE TO PATREON: Due to changes on Patreon's side we're being forced to...

We gotta escape from Horrorland! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps: Horrorland: Escape From Horrorland. A hell of a title. The last ten books have been building up to this; the YA equivalent of Avengers as all our survivng kids team up with original survivors Lizzy and Luke to run around in circles in a paranormal park that isn't even Horrorland! This horde of kids' goal is to get BACK to Horrorland to then escape it. This is indeed literature.

Topics Include: Patreon Changes, The California Raisins

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Help! We have a new podcast episode! Your hosts Chad Quandt and Kevin Cole check out R.L. Stine's 2009 Horrorland book Help! We Have Strange Powers. The powers these twin protagonists get are surprisingly easy to categorize: telepathy and telekinesis. Well, technically there's a subset of time power but it's really just a psychic baby ray. Enjoy the episode!

Book discussion begins:

OFF-TOPICS: Revenge Of, Saving Books for the Apocalypse. Little Book Libraries, The Book of Eli. Pseudo Harem, Dandadan, Uzumaki

The Goosebuds Boys check out the 90s sitcom Family Matters' late series episode 'Stevil'. Brought to life by a casual wish and a bolt of lighting, 'Stevil' is here to kill the Winslows and I guess help Urkel's ventriloquism career? They don't really work on their standup set at all. You know, this was once a sitcom about a blue collar family growing up in Chicago. Then Urkelmania took over the world. But how does this haunted doll episode compare to R.L. Stine's own wooden boy?

Discussion begins: 10:30

Off Topics: Chad's Puzzle Box Proposal...

S-s-s-so good to be back, Goosebuddies! We were doing a snake thing there-- was that clear? Your hosts Paul Ritchey and Kevin Cole enroll in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book Welcome to Camp Slither. There are rumors of man-eating snakes at camp, but no reports on if they'll eat the other genders. And when we rejoin the Horrorland arc a terrifying ride called the R.I.P.P.E.R. Dipper threatens to do some sort of ripping. Hopefully not to their butts. We also talk about recent Magic sets and indie games we're digging. Enjoy the episode!<...

Summer's over, Goosebuddies. How did you spend it? Were you hunting for buried cars at the beach? Attacking the pool lifeguard with psychic damage? Or tracking down a beloved but lonely ice cream man? The Goosebuddies check out The Adventures of Pete & Pete's classic episode "How I Spent My Summer Vacation", arguably one of the best in the series. And Michael Stipe is there!

Episode discussion: 17:30

Off-Topics: Secret Level, Crying

Behold the glory of the Helmacrons! Your hosts Chad Quandt and Kevin Cole take a Goosebumps break to read through arguably the weirdest Animorphs book; The Suspicion by K.A. Applegate. The kids' war campaign against the Yeerks is interrupted by the arrival of the Helmacrons, miniature space people with giant egos. Enjoy the episode!

Book discussion starts: 9:15

OFF TOPICS: Nyx the dog, hard hitting Sports insight

The Goosebud Boys Chad, Paul, and Kevin face the Horrorland version of R.L. Stine's infamous haunted camera: Say Cheese -- And Die Screaming! That dash is in a weird place, right? It's the wrong pause? Anyway, somehow the rules of these deadly photo predictions have changed since last book. Are the spirits getting more artistic? Or just lazier? And we also try to answer the question: what happens to waste on an airplane?

Book discussion: 9:40

OFF TOPICS: Where Does Airplane Poop Go?, Christopher Lloyd, Joe Dirt

Tighten your shoes and do some stretching, cuz we got a big track meet today! Your Goosebuds hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole check out the Choose Your Own Adventure book Track Star! by R.A. Montgomery. We're a high school athlete with a lot of pressure to run the fastest and longest to get that college scholarship and make dad proud. And somehow all paths lead to performance enhancing drugs. Will we get busted for juicing? Will we rat out our fellow teammates? Or will our legs blow out in the middle of a 200m? Check...

Holy hells, Goosebuddies. This episode marks our 10th Anniversary of the podcast. We started in 2014 with a mission to cover the works of R. L. Stine and we still have mountains of pulp to go through. But in honor of the celebration we take a look back at the story that started it all: Welcome to Dead House! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole re-review this 1992 book about a sort of terrifying time share. Then we hop around the timeline and inspect 2014 and the modern year to see how this franchise has changed with the world...

It's time to morph into a shark! But sadly we're not reading Animophs and fighting an alien resistance, we're a dumb kid trespassing into an ancient temple and cursed by a vague monk! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read through the 80s Choose Your Own Adventure book: You Are A Shark by Edward Packard. Despite the direct title, it's really hard for us to get the animal form we want and really run through the fauna of the world. Will we get to punch out that smug mystic cursing us? Or will we die to hum...

Do you know what it's like to be considered a beast by your classmates? To be so big but also good at computers? A teenage Hank McCoy? At least one of hosts does and this episode hits hard. Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole cover R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book My Friends Call Me Monster. This is a weird story about monster closets and egg-based horror. Not recommended for vegans!

Book discussion and banter are as inseparable from each other as the briar and the rose.

Off-Topics Include: Elden Ring, Skyrim

This book tasks questions the reader: who is your mother and what do they do? Are they wrapped up in bandages? And are they being used as a fuel source for eternal life? Your hosts Paul Ritchey and Kevin Cole cover R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book Who's Your Mummy? Protagonists Abby and Peter stay with their uncle who has a dark secret: a real tasty stockpile of mummies to eat up. Weird! And the adventure continues into the ongoing Horrorland saga. Is horror Byron an ally? Or is he tracking them with GPS chips? Enjoy the episode!

Get in formation, Goosebuddies! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole watch another classic The Adventures of Pete & Pete episode, "Day of the Dot". As Big Pete's marching band competes in the Regional Championship, he struggles with affections for Ellen and a tyrannical teacher. Meanwhile Little Pete is trapped on an endless school bus as Bus Driver Stu wrestles with a broken heart. This is a sweet indie episode and we're inspired by the discussion. Enjoy!

Episode Discussion begins: 18:18

OFF-TOPICS: SpongeBob SuperBowl, Perfect High School, Doctorin', Wolf C.I.A., You Can Desaturate Your...

Your Goosebuds Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read through the 1985 CYOA book The Badlands of Hark, written by R.L. Stine! This is written before Goosebumps, Fear Street, or Horrorland; what sort of sci-fi fantasy world does a younger Stine have in his soul? Turns out it's one with an endless maze. A lot of death in this hellworld of R.L.'s. Can Paul and Kevin survive and find The Nonspecific Treasure?

OFF TOPICS: Phone Cord Twirling, Beet Feudalism, Picard's robot body, Robot Hands, RoboCop, Chad's First Cousins Once Removed

Adventure begins: 14:15

Your Goosebuds hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole review R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book Dr. Maniac vs Robby Schwartz where aspiring cartoonist Robby discovers his comic creations come alive to eat squirrels and torture local kids. But also none of this matters as Robby resets the narrative multiple times (it was all a joke, reader!) and it causes an emotional cataclysm for your Goosebuddies . To be honest, this episode really broke us. But don't CTRL+ALT+DEL on us; we'll keep pounding through Young Adult books because tackling R.L.'s legacy is our great purpose...

The corn state is in trouble, listeners! Small robotic drones designed like metal wasps are terrorizing the youth. They are not being used for war. Let us make that clear: this is not a metaphor about drone warfare at all. Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole cover Johnathan Rand's American Chillers: Iron Insects Invade Indiana. And we're joined by the wonderful Payton Whaley (WTIU's Flyover Culture). Payton's an Indiana boy like Chad and the two bond about their lives in the 'Crossroads of America', working for public television, and enjoying a time when there weren't metal me...

The corn state is in trouble, listeners! Small robotic drones designed like metal wasps are terrorizing the youth. They are not being used for war. Let us make that clear: this is not a metaphor about drone warfare at all. Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole cover Johnathan Rand's American Chillers: Iron Insects Invade Indiana. And we're joined by the wonderful Payton Whaley (WTIU's Flyover Culture). Payton's an Indiana boy like Chad and the two bond about their lives in the 'Crossroads of America', working for public television, and enjoying a time when there weren't metal me...

Beware of grues, Goosebuddies! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole check out another Choose Your Own Adventure book based off one of the first adventure games ever: Zork! This 'What-Do-I-Do-Now" Book is Zork #1: The Forces of Krill by S. Eric Meretzky. Is Krill the Ganon of this world? Would we be shaking in our +1 Boots at the mention of his lizard men if we had played the original game? It seems Krill just likes hiding in holes in the ground, which isn't that much different than Tears of the Kingdom. We also discuss how delicious 'dino...

There's a terrifying affliction of fear going around; so we're enforcing a Haunted Mask mandate! Your Goosebuds hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book The Scream of the Haunted Mask. It's been a year since the original story and Carly Beth is worried she'll put the mask back on and become evil. She could just get rid of it, maybe try to destroy it, but it stays locked in her basement. Until it doesn't. But also: Ghost horses haunt the local children's center/farm! It's very tragic. This book that's really...

This episode is part of a balanced bookfast-! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read the third of R.L Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland series: Monster Blood for Breakfast. The iconic green growth slime is back for a fifth time. And somehow this is the least-scary story!Protagonist Matt Daniels deals with the terrifying idea of... being taller and stronger and winning the swim meet? We also get the next chapter of the Horrorland narrative and meet monster revolutionary Byron. We also discuss toy belts with I.P. powers and the mystery of missing Skeeter.

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