Cheap Chills - On Art and Monsters

Welcome back everybody! This very special episode is a conversation with comic-book artist, Patrick Carson Sparrow. Its also a candid chat between two people who yes, are artists who love monsters but are also middle-aged dads, trying to figure out how to get all the needs met, and sometimes struggle with mental health issues. So we talk about fatherhood, marriage, ADHD, day jobs, depression, anxi...

*STAY TUNED AFTER THIS EP! a track from the David Hartman (as Zorgon) Electronica album,  D1m3n51on X This week I’m joined by Director and Storyboard Artist, David Hartman . He’s the Director of the 2016 film, Phantasm: Ravager. Plus 25 years worth of other film  and Television work like Godzilla: the Series, Astroboy, Jackie Chan Adventures, Laser Fart and the animated video for Rob Zombie’s Amer...

Reed Randolph is an animation artist, most recently working as a character designer on Exposing Kittens.  This week Ben's chatting with  Reed about how he went from working as a teenage Scare Artist in the famous steel factory-turned haunted house, Sloss Fright Furnace to designing for an indie Dark Ride. In between he worked with Jim Henson Company, desiged concept art for Blippi’s Treehouse and...

This week, Illustrator, Creator (and your host) Ben Walker-Storey talks about his two big time-sucks: Procrastination and Distractions, what could be at the root of these problems and some thoughts, tricks and tips on working around them.  Then its time to talk about monsters! We need to talk about the 1988 film, Doomed Megalopolis the Last Megalopolis (or Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis) from Directo...

Welcome to Cheap Chills on Art and Monsters. I probably need a new intro but I do love the announcer I snagged for the original cheap chills podcast. This week's guest is Nick Prueher, best known as being half of the Found Footage Festival team along with his childhood friend, Joe Pickett. Nick is also a film producer writer having writen for The Onion and Late Night with David Letterman. We came...

I am so thrilled to bring you the conversation for this episode! I got a chance to catch up with my friend, world renown painter, Isabel Samaras. Years before we ever met I discovered her work through art magazines like Juxtapoz and Hi Fructose. I was blown away by Isabel’s work because she’s not just an incredible painter but she’s someone who has a take on popular culture, romance and humor that...

Welcome to the Cheap Chills podcast, where artists can talk, mostly about monsters. This week, Ben breaks down one major bit of inspiration from his past: The Bollock Brothers song, Horror Movies.  How many of the movies mentioned in this song have we seen? Then, in a very special “Let’s Check in with Ben” Ben talks about stress and burnout in what amounts to an explanation for why this podcast is...

I think you’re really like this episode. I Got to chat with cartoonist, David DeGrand. His art is mixes elements of silly, cute and gross in a way that really gets me excited to draw.  We also came in with an agenda; to talk about our shared all-time favorite movies, Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Ed Wood. But we also get into David’s background and influences and his wildly cool list of clients. Mad...

This week I’m joined by Art Director, Justin Moll, who is known as Dr. Wolfenbergen by night (and likely weekends). His personal art (and upcoming zine) is stripped down, simple yet gritty...and kinda dark. So I love it. We talk about the hot rod scene, making zines, the lost art of making band flyers at the 24 hour photocopy shop and then we really get into the nitty, grits of making low-fi digit...

Welcome to the Cheap Chills podcast, where artists and creators who love spooky, weird stuff can get together and talk spooky weird art ….talk. A few months ago, I was alone in bed watching The Cup Head show. It’s something I had tried to put on for our son when it came out but it was too creepy for him and he went back to watching something about trains with eyes. Anyway, I was blown away by just...

This week Ben is busy with something very frightening if common among us these days, bills! So we've dug up (get it? GET IT??) a spooky gem from the early days of this podcast, Monsters in Turtlenecks has Ben and his wife (who is her own person) Amanda getting into what is likely THE biggest influence on how Ben became the monster-loving weirdo he is today, The Monster Club starring Vincent Price,...

Introducing a new segment, "Continue Watching?" where Ben goes through his Tubi, Continue Watching list and talks about the movies he didn't get through; gems like Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century, War of The God Monsters, The Monster Club TV show and more. Ben takes a call on the Lost Movie Hotline. Does he know what film this caller’s talking about? If not, maybe you do! Call in and let us know!...

Hey Gang! This week I'm joined by Jules Fischer, an Indi Comic book Artist from Berlin, Germany. We get into all kinds of stuff! Her influeces, Charles Burns, Dan Clowes and Jamie Hernandez sent her down a path of self discovery through comic-book making. Plus fake food freaks her out, but in a good way!  We also get into how horror stories help us deal with anxiety and depression. And how creatin...

Hey gang, this week Ben is taking calls on the new Lost Movie Hotline. Listeners who caught a movie when they were little, one that seared itself into their memories, can now call in with a voicemail for Ben. If he doesn't recognize your lost movie maybe the Cheap Chills community will! We do what we can. Ben describes his own lost movie. It's something that he's been wondering about for 45 YEARS!...

Ben is joined this week by artist, mom and teacher, Audrey Rose, also known as Mad Monster Lady. This week's (official) topic is the Crestwood Monsters series of books. They talk about how monsters are relatable because they are also weirdos dealing with rejection. They also get into real life monsters like narcissists, sociopaths and serial killers and why Satanism isn’t scary.  And in a very spe...

This week I am joined by Kenneth Filmer, who is half of a Film and Television/Promotion company in New York City called Khloaris. Khloaris produces films and hosts screening parties in unusual places like back-alleys of industrial neighborhoods and has built a community of like-minded, film-loving oddballs.    We came into this with a theme in mind so keep an ear out for the part of our conversati...

This week Ben is joined by someone who was there for all of it, Ben’s brother Jimmy Walker. They get into memories and thoughts on the series, Friday the 13th...The Series (1987-90). That’s the one not featuring anyone with a hockey mask or machete. Instead this one stars (Louise) Robey and John D. LeMay as Micki and Bryan, two VERY attractive, young cousins who hunt for cursed objects and return...

This week Ben’s flying solo! First its the odd tale of the time Hammer Films and Walt Disney both set out to make a film about Dr. Syn, the Pirate turned Preacher/ Smuggler.   Then, in a very special Let’s Check in With Ben, he talks about the emotional roller-coaster ride that was the recent Estate Sale of someone with geeky, Gen X taste and a flair for hoarding.  Ben also chats about a book that...

The Cheap Chills Podcast is back with a new format! Host Ben Walker-Storey talks with other creatives about the spooky, weird stuff from our younger days and how it influenced the art, film, music et cetera that we make now.   This week Ben is joined by Joshua Sterling, also known as Haunting Season on TikTok, Instagram and Youtube. He tells Ben about how a friendship made through Twitter led to a...

Ben Walker-Storey is back for a new kind of Cheap Chills Podcast! This is a quick check-in to let you know what we'll be doing here each week.  For me, there’s nothing better than wrapping myself into a blanket-burrito and checking out something spooky and weird. Whether its a reclusive creep inviting lone travelers into his castle or there are monsters battling it out over Tokyo, I want more! (ju...

They said it wouldn't happen. But the stars aligned and Cheap Chills lives on! This time Ben and Amanda talk about fate and destiny, delving into some personal stories after delving into other personal stories for their popular "Hometown Horrors" segment. Check out Rin Tanaka's series of street fashion books, My Freedamn! Pick up a copy of Ben's new book, Monster Funk, in adult coloring book form...

Live at STAB Comedy Theater in Sacramento, California! Ben & Amanda talk about the Hometown Horrors of the fun-zone in Grass Valley and fighting old ladies at estate sales. Then it's on to the cults! What is a cult? What is a sex-cult? Aren't they all sex-cults, really? Ben & Amanda discuss their favorite movies about cults and recount that time they went to a party thrown by pyramid-scheming, lif...

We're back! This time, Ben reads selections from his new self-published, Adult coloring book, Monster Funk. Friendship, rejection, career lows, embarrassment: Ben tells the incredibly personal stories that are behind the poo and fart jokes. Amanda recalls coloring with scented markers and rates all the smells. Plus Amanda and Ben share a Hometown Horror story and compare some of the grossest thing...

In this return to greatness, Ben and Amanda unpack everything they know, think and feel about those sexy, blood-sucking fiends: Vampires. Ben starts the show with a brief rant about the age-old conflict between grumpy curmudgeons and you meddling, sardine-like teenagers. Then it's full-tilt into all the movie vampires: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Lost Boys, True Blood, Hammer films, Nosferatu, Ed Wood...

Ben and Amanda talk Satan, Satanism and their experiences growing up Christian, going to church getting spooked by Devil-talk. Half-way through, the couple takes a break to have a crazy-mom-off. Then it's back to the Beast, discussing the alleged former Satanic High Priest turned "Christian Comedian" of the 1980s, Mike Warnke. Plus, what are the best loved Satans in pop culture? And what are the "...