The Shrieking Shack

Deathly Hallows chapter 23. We receive an update from an anonymous benefactor regarding the Harry Potter pin collecting scene before we check in on an unfortunate Yahoo op ed about whether or not it's okay to play the video g- sorry, whether it's okay to wear a halloween costume. Then we chat about the continuing Fantastic Beasts production drama before diving into a true Clusterfuck Chapter tour...

Deathly Hallows chapter 22. We investigate the Wizarding World brand's Halloween plans for this year and end up stumbling into some incredible Christmas lore instead before discussing a chapter that finally honors the REAL heroes: podcasters. We also chat about the ever-unraveling state of the story's theology, worldbuilding and politics before taking an accidental deep dive into the world of offi...

Deathly Hallows chapter 21. After checking in with Buzzfeed to see how they're handling Harry Potter clickbait these days, we finally learn all about the Tale of the Three Brothers: a wizarding world story so common, why, everyone knows of it! We also learn about a bunch of aphorisms and other cultural artifacts that surely anyone would recognize, because they've been part of the wizarding world t...

Deathly Hallows chapter 20. We catch up with Eddie Redmayne and the WB Game Studios statements on Rowling before making our way through an absolutely dire chapter where all of our heroes are unrecognizable, even by the shifting standards of book 7. Arguing about what 'rook' means, having youth pastor chats, and holding extremely strong opinions about the role of the press for teenagers--that sound...

Deathly Hallows chapter 19. We chat about JKR's t-shirt and the dogshit TERF-etsy she is boosting, contemplate the impending (perhaps already complete?) merger between radfems and the far right, and wonder if WB will ever actually do anything (they won't, but it's fun to think about). Then we go long on a chapter that feels like a story reaching its climax, but with all of the buildup completely m...

Deathly Hallows chapter 18. We discuss *inhales* the Vancouver billboard funded by hateful people riding a hateful billionaire's coattails, the initial Troubled Blood review that got things kicking off this week, the continued Troubled Blood reviews from The Guardian that revealed how it's actually WORSE than the initial review made it sound, the pile of pre-existing Known Stuff about the Strike s...

Surprise! Here's our mega-length news segment for this week, hot and fresh. Didn't seem fair to make people pay up to hear it early. We discuss *inhales* the Vancouver billboard, the initial Troubled Blood review that got things kicking off this week, the continued Troubled Blood reviews from The Guardian (very helpful, thanks!), the apparent pile of pre-existing Known Stuff about the Strike serie...

Deathly Hallows chapter 17. Oh my god, an actually good chapter? It sounds too good to be true, but we had a blast reading this oddly self-contained story that starts as a spooky horror movie and ends with an outrageous and strangely endearing Voldemort sequence. We also learn all about The Butterbeer Bosses, engage with a listicle trying its best to navigate Harry Potter clickbait in a post-mask-...

Deathly Hallows chapter 16. We have a heaping helping of news to catch up on, including some Fantastic Beasts production news that sends us down a rabbit hole of cursed movie plot and casting speculation. Our chapter this week is strange, combining some irritating worldbuilding and plot problems with a surprisingly affecting personal drama that ends up making for an overall better experience than...

Deathly Hallows chapter 15. On this powerful mega-episode, we immerse ourselves in an Audio Experience, watch the Snyder Cut trailer, check in on JK Rowling's favorite new Epic Win Gentleman twitter guys--and that's all before we get to the chapter! This week's camping adventure sees Ron going Boromir Mode, so naturally we talk about Lord of the Rings for a while as well as more Wizarding religion...

Deathly Hallows chapter 14. It's the beginning of the god damn camping sequence, but that's okay: we've got a rowdy news segment and a pepe-silvia conspiracy to weave about the original chapter order of this book to spice things up! Plus, our continued adventures on Reddit as we shore up our karma stocks as we prepare to select a House to apply to. UPDATE! Thank you to listener Brynn who sent in a...

Deathly Hallows chapter 13. We're back from our week off, which was in no way timed to coincide with a certain author's superyacht cruise! We discuss Jo's pilgrimage to the infinite money trousers (maskless, natch) and a few bits and pieces we missed last week before completing the Ministry Heist we left off in the middle of last episode. Hermione performs the Oblivion item duping glitch, Harry sm...

Episode 124: KD/A With a break in the news cycle, we take a look at Funko pops and imagine a world where GRRM and JKR swapped places. Then we examine 'Magic is Might', a chapter that turns book 7 into a heist movie all of a sudden, simultaneously becoming the most entertaining and most baffling chapter so far. We even have a conspiracy theory to share about its origins... finally, we don our own h...

Deathly Hallows chapter 11. We discuss expensive Zoom calls and the mysteries of faith, and then pick apart our relatively complex feelings on a chapter that has some of the best moments of the book so far, but also some of the worst. Finally, we explore some more old pre-book 7 ending predictions, and discover one so powerful it derails the entire segment. Like the show? You can support us on Pat...

Deathly Hallows chapter 10. We predicted TWO things that came true in this week's news segment, which is a spooky way to start a mega-length episode! Cormoran Strike's naming conventions, Muggle posters, spell utility, and, uh, slavery in the Wizarding World are all on the docket this week, along with much much more--including some more classic ending predictions from 2007!

Deathly Hallows chapter 9. We sort through this week's massive pile of news--J.K's garbage tweets, the Harper's letter, the Harry Potter at Home program, and more--before discussing a chapter so bad it threatens to rattle the entire book apart not even a quarter of the way in. Why is there a grenade spell now? Why is Hermione's character now "mom"? Why does Moody think a tongue twister curse would...

Deathly Hallows chapter 8. We catch up with J.K's latest Twitter drama with Stephen King and discuss the feelings of mutiny apparently brewing among the developers of the still-yet-to-actually-be-announced AAA Harry Potter video game. Then we take a trip to a wedding that's just as excruciatingly boring as a Muggle wedding, only some stuff floats I guess. We talk a lot about the meaning of chairs-...

Deathly Hallows chapter 7. We speculate who could be called in as a celebrity ringer for the troubled Harry Potter At Home audiobook series and tear into a chapter that has it all. PUA books! Convenient plot dreams! Teen drama! Flesh memories!? This chapter isn't good, but it's certainly interesting. Finally, we take another trip in our time machine to 2007 to read some hilarious ending prediction...

Deathly Hallows chapter 6. We do a little bit of catching up with the fallout of last week's Rowling drama, and speculate on the future of Fantastic Beasts and the beleaguered Harry Potter At Home marketing initiative. Then we rip into another chapter of Deathly Hallows, which is definitely not better than the last few, but it certainly isn't boring! Finally, since we wish this book had been a big...

Deathly Hallows chapter 5. We go deep on J.K Rowling's despicable blog posts, the responses to her behavior, and the future of Fantastic Beasts and her other ongoing business ventures. If you don't want to hear a very frank discussion about her transphobia (that also includes ableism, sexual assault, and generally awful behavior) skip to 1:15:24. Good news, though! The chapter we read this week al...

Deathly Hallows chapter 4. Literally hours after we finished recording last week's episode, Jo did exactly the thing we had been wondering about in the news segment. This week, we catch up with all that--and if you understandably don't have any interest in hearing the particulars of her shitty behavior, skip ahead to 26:36. Good news if you want to hear a roasting, though! This week's chapter is a...

Deathly Hallows chapter 3. We try and run down the list of all the things that Happened this past week with JKR's horrible tweets, art contest, and new children's novel, then discuss our praises and frustrations with a chapter that serves as a sendoff to the Dursleys, the set of characters most damaged by the series' slide from mischievous dark comedy to serious war story. Like the show? You can s...

Deathly Hallows chapter 2. After checking in with Jo's deeply unpleasant transphobic behavior yet again, we tear into one of the most deathly (get it) boring chapters in the entire series. It consists of, mostly, two newspaper articles. Exciting! However, this leaves us plenty of room to chat about the slow death of symbolism in the series, the continuing clumsy attempts to turn a children's fanta...

Deathly Hallows chapter 1. We're here! It's time to start our journey through the final book in the Harry Potter series, and we've got plenty to cover already. We finally get a chance to peek inside Voldemort's war room in this spooky chapter that highlights some of the series' best and worst tendencies at once. We chat about ancient poetry, driveways, snakes who are also human women, and whether...

It's movie time! We discuss the sixth film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. With so many mixed feelings about the book, this was a really interesting one to dig into, with many changes and additions that run the gamut from ridiculous to genius. Also, why does it look like that? We cover as much as we can in this episode that, as is tradition, is longer than the f...