That's Pretty Dark: An '80s & '90s Nostalgia Podcast

Holey euphemisms, storyboard solidarity, and... Donnie Darko?!? Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids in the dusty desert of Camp Green Lake (21 years later!) where they dig up all kinds of exposition including production stories you’ve always wondered about, details on the cast and crew, and the importance of empowering children’s literature… Email us at thatsprettydarkpodc...

Flashlight flasks, Bram Stoker’s widow, and Dr. Nosferatu… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids in another Midnight Society flashback where they reminisce on theatrical magic and “Fright Nights” gone by, revel in the glory (and grief) of early Germanic horror, and uncover every disturbing detail available about the legend of the Pied Piper. Sometimes, movie monsters are so...

Eye boogers, bedside weapons, and iron nests on the moon… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they gather ‘round the Midnight Society campfire to laud and applaud some of the darkest forgotten Grimm tales, get cozy with Jekyll and Hyde’s originator, and learn the eye-popping lore behind everyone’s favorite nighttime visitor…The Sandman. Growing up is hard to do, and des...

Haunted islands, dreadful pennies, and idiotic scheming… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids for a Saturday back in Hey Arnold!’s Hillwood as they break down one of Gerald’s true-blue urban legends involving a phlegm-hacking murderous figure and counterfeit buried treasure. Kalyn and Christian join Arnold and the gang, flashlights and jellybeans in tow, to make some Goonie...

A Big and Loud villain, misremembered footprints, and the horrors of the Hayes Code… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids to unravel some of Hollywood’s best and brightest landmarks…and its darker chapters of censorship, racial tension, and child-star trauma. Laughing their way through one of the wittiest scripts they’ve discussed yet, they’ll explore how its allegories and...

Backlot kitties, Gene Kelly, and studio-executive dysfunction… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they swing into the 1930s (by way of 1997) to understand the storied studio history and production lore that brought this musical mainstay into existence. Learn with them how, while times at Turner Feature Animation were tough, a 28-year-old director pulled off the impossi...

Dreamland predators, great expectations, and the rise and fall of the Nightmare King… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these punch-drunk ‘90s kids as they wrap up their journey into Slumberland/Nightmareland and the revolving door of creatives involved in its production throughout the 1980s – including the famed Sherman Brothers. From the earliest inklings of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Ta...

Quiet On Set, flashy circus ads, and the dark side of animation history… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they confront some harsh realities and trace the origins of one of their most requested Movie Nights back through the late 19th and early 20th centuries via its creator – the dream-obsessed (and problematic) Winsor McKay – and his plight as one of the founding fa...

Mummified curses, the infamous Big Toe bandit, and lessons in Egyptology… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they seek to “return the slab” by unpacking some of Courage’s most talked-about and seemingly sinister segments. They’ll dive into ancient omens and confounding cases that brought Egyptian history to the Western world, look back at old Hollywood legends that led...

Grabby shadows, psychic hotline hi-jinx, and emotional alien encounters… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids in the land of Nowhere once again as they traipse through extra-terrestrial lore surrounding tractor beams and alien abDUCKtions, enjoy television psychic tropes, and explore the anti-hero elements present in so many Courage the Cowardly Dog antagonists. These episo...

Narcissistic ne’er-do-wells, supposed Southern expressions, and makeshift northern lights… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids for the final leg of their Balto-thon where they trek through voice-cast trivia and unpack every ounce of jaw-dropping peril, malignant personality disorders, and innocuous innuendo that made Balto one of the foremost millennial favorites they’ve e...

Spielberg surreality, old-Hollywood caricatures, and blatantly honest lies… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Come along as these ‘90s kids get within one degree of Kevin Bacon by hanging with two of the legendary writers behind Balto (and a dozen other mind-blowing millennial favorites). Hear their origin stories, explore their shiniest memories of Balto’s inception, and listen in as they r...

Questionable motives, an early American media frenzy, and Governor Bone… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Returning from an unexpected hiatus, these ‘90s kids are eager to get back in your ears recounting the true-life tale that served as inspiration behind Balto, the heroic 1925 Serum Run of Nome. Prepare your warmest blankets as they begin to sled (ha!) light on how the Hollywood version...

Hiatus explanations, a holiday recap, and some watch recommendations… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark as the sun sets on 2023! As has become tradition, join your 90’s kid Ghost Hosts around the proverbial campfire to unpack where they’ve been this holiday season, discuss plans for 2024, and remind you how not-alone you are. Have a frightfully nostalgic memory to share or a pretty dark topic...

Haunting core memories, the limitations of primordial kool-aid, and that big Halloween dance in the sky… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Reaching the finish line in this Halloween season, these ‘90s kids reminisce on the plot of Casper with all of its perfect '90s charm, lament the need for their own Up-And-At-‘Em machine, and, inevitably, get down and dirty with the heartbreakingly tenuou...

Slapstick spookiness, Spielberg’s dualistic vision, and the earliest iterations of the friendliest ghost… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Leading into another glorious Halloween, these ‘90s kids introduce Casper – a Pretty Dark icon – to the podcast and provide a timeline of his 80+ years of friendly haunting, then go behind the scenes to uncover the production story surrounding one of the...

Schoolyard superstitions, problematic fifth graders, and the luckiest unluckiest day of them all… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! On this special, spooky October Friday the 13th, these ‘90s kids take on a classic Nickelodeon episode and immerse themselves in the ancient (and not so ancient) origins of alllll of the superstitions you know and love — including but not limited to spilling sal...

Classic horror nods, looping big-screen / reality parallels, and the monster inside us all… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! For their SECOND podcast-iversary, these ‘90s kids explore the production story behind the heart-stopping, groundbreaking cultural phenomenon that is Thriller, discuss some deeper themes and potential misgivings from Michael’s childhood faith, and reminisce on the imm...

Ancient werewolf lore, Sisyphean games of Whack-A-Mole, and the unfortunate reality of generational curses… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Continuing their Courage binge, these ‘90s kids learn the origin of the ol’ “hair of the dog” cure, brush up on their understanding of lycanthropy, and tip-toe toward the emotional horrors that made Eustace one of the darkest villains of our childhood....

Mirrored realities, Milk-Carton-worthy disappearances, and portals to dimensions unknown… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! In their conclusion of this messy movie night, these ‘90s kids explore the labyrinth of connections between the novel and the film, get into the nitty gritty of some of the biggest horror conventions and jump scares, and dissect how and why certain plot holes — and inte...

Birthday woes, divergent visions, and a whole lot of horror clichés… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! In Part 1 of a somewhat obscure movie night, these ‘90s kids boldly aim their flashlights at Disney’s buried young-adult-horror blunder that ushered in the '80s, gear up to better understand its many fabled AND released endings, and most of all, lament the story that could’ve been. Have a f...

Fatal fumes, living funerals, and PEAK childhood separation anxiety… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! In this week’s movie night, these ‘90s kids immerse themselves in animated existentialism, ponder the ripple effects of littering on the highway, and of course, unpack THAT infamously tragic toxic gas scene. Have a frightfully nostalgic memory to share or a pretty dark topic you'd like us t...

Exorcist epiphanies, rhyming inner-monologues, and a predisposition to be…naughty… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! In their most popular Courage venture to date, these ‘90s kids whip out some 1970s horror comparisons, remind their dear Darklings that personal autonomy and emotional safety trump the social norms of hospitality, and attempt to get all of Seuss-sounding Fred’s freakiest accus...

Experimental institutes, childhood hyper-vigilance, and an amorphous Nowherian mob… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Getting back to their Cartoon Network fixation, these ‘90s kids explore the origins of Bigfoot and his surprisingly heartwarming presence in Nowhere, remember an America that left pies cooling in their windowsills, and get spooked by the uncanny parallels to emotional abuse f...

Camp-y summertime tropes, tales of a reformed tomboy, and a plunger-wielding dream stalker… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! In response to serious Darkling demand, these ‘90s kids rewind back to Nickelodeon’s heyday to revisit the gruesome legend of Zeke the Plumber from Salute Your Shorts, confront toxic truths from Kalyn’s girlhood, and explore the intrinsic ties between sleepaway camps...