Retro Ridoctopus

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...

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 t...

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...

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...

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...

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, Terrif...

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 e...

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 f...

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...

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...

G.I. Joe is the codename for America's daring, highly trained, special mission force. Its purpose: To defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world. For millions of fans, the exploits of G.I. Joe have been chronicled in the forms of action figures, plastic vehicles, cartoons, video games and even live action movies! It's a lot to cover, but ton...

Last season, 8-Bit Alchemy and Parasite Steve devoted some playtime and one whole episode to the classic Lucas Arts point and click adventure game, Maniac Mansion. Now they dive into the sequel! Day of the Tentacle is a true classic of the genre, but these guys are playing it for the first time! So stock up on some exploding novelty cigars, hop into your Chrono-Johns, and prepare for a far out tri...

In what might be our longest episode ever, we welcome back one half of the Throwdown Thursday Podcast (the great Ashes Von Nightmare) to talk about some of our favorite movies that feature fictional bands! After a STONEHENGE-sized presentation on the one that started it all, Rob Reiner's seminal classic THIS IS SPINAL TAP, we move onto 8 other films that are also GONNA ROCK YOU (tonight). We've go...

Back in the BRIG is a 10-time Amazon/Audible best selling author of the long running post apocalyptic zombie mega hit series ADRIAN'S UNDEAD DIARY and much much more! This time, Chris is here to chat about his brand new smash hit LitRPG novel AN UNDEAD GLITCH! This one takes the zombie apocalypse and makes it digital, via an incredibly well realized (sadly fictional) game environment. Think "...

This week, things are gonna get a little MESSY, as we welcome back a true comic book expert. In the virtual studio is artist Derek Rook, (from Rough House Publishing) to talk about his newest book and horror comics as a whole! After a excruciatingly cool expose on the (hot off the presses) GORE SHRIEK RESURRECTUS Vol. 3, we take a SCARY amount of pleasure spotlighting HORROR-CODED stuff from the 6...

Having worked for Bally Midway in the 1980s, game designer / artist / animator Brian F. Colin has created and worked on more classic arcade games than you can shake a giant mutant wolfman at! RAMPAGE, XENOPHOBE, ARCH RIVALS, PIGSKIN 621ad, GENERAL CHAOS and RAMPAGE WORLD TOUR, just to name a few! Brian infused each of these games with the sardonic wit of MAD Magazine, while ensuring each of these...

2025 ended with a truly unthinkable tragedy that we are all still reeling from. Retro Ridoctopus could think of no better way to pay tribute to the great Rob Reiner, than by dedicating the first episode of season 8 to those films of his that have brought us so much joy for so many decades. From tense courtrooms, to the Cliffs of Insanity and the thousand laughs and tears in between, we each picked...

All tentacles are in the air as we reflect on and celebrate another successful season of the Retro Ridoctopus cephalopodcast! After copious amounts of reminiscing over another amazing year, we dive into our annual final topic. Like every year, we asked you for voice mails, giving your quick reviews of a classic movie you watched for the first time this year. Every single year, this block gets long...

If your purple tentacles are tingling, that might just be because our pal Nintenjoe joined us for NUMEROUS playthroughs of the classic LucasArts point and click adventure game Maniac Mansion! Seriously, this one has a ton of different ending and we got almost all of em! So watch out for falling meteors and get that hamster in the microwave because things are about to get WEIRD. RETRO RIDOCTOPUS is...

For our last regular episode of season 7, we are talking about a childhood experience everyone out there can relate to. Sitting down with a big box of crayons and a coloring book! With the help of guest host Christine (AKA Mrs. Parasite), we'll share a bit of history on the Crayola company before diving into some colorful childhood memories revolving around crayons. Get ready for some personal col...

Tonight, in the BRIG, we are thrilled to welcome back an incredible guest from all the way across the pond! Simon Bestwick is an accomplished as well as prolific British contemporary horror author, whose acclaimed work includes the novels Black Mountain, Hell’s Ditch, The Devil’s Highway and Wolf’s Hill as well as numerous short short collections such as 2020’s “And Cannot Come Again: Tales of Chi...

It's time to play the music... It's time to light the lights... It's time to meet the Muppets on Ridoctopus Tonight! Your host of the moment Coopster Gold has a backstage pass to the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational show around! For this episode, we celebrate some of our favorite all time characters from Jim Henson's The Muppets! We're talking Frogs, Pigs, Dogs and all the wacky What...

Double, double, toil and trouble... fire burn and cauldron... (well you know). With the help of our be-broomed co-host Greenie (AKA The Green Witch of the Shire) we squeeze one last episode into the spooky season! This one is all about movies involving witches! We're talking mean ones, green ones and even seldom seen ones! Some are sort of nice, but some will turn smelly little children into mice!...

The legendary Ellen Datlow has been called “the venerable queen of horror anthologies” per the New York Times, and with over 40 years in the business, it's not hard to see why! Returning to the podcast, Ellen has brought two amazing authors from her new horror anthology, "Night & Day" from Simon & Schuster! Kari Sanders and Parasite Steve get to chat with Rachel Harrison and Kaar...

This episode is not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of mind... For our second spooky episode of 2025, we tackle the cosmic horrors of H.P. Lovecraft--and we do it through the lens of... well, a LENS! We've picked six Lovecraft inspired films to raise from the unknowable depths. Three direct adaptations of his stories, and three more that are what has come to be known colloquially as... LOVECR...