The Shrieking Shack

Half-blood Prince chapter 30. Another book down! We fire off a 21 gun salute for Dumbledore and the sixth book in the series, with a lengthy discussion of the funeral scene (which is pretty much the entire chapter) and a deep dive into Pottermore's (RIP) classic Wizarding World Book Club questions. What themes, characters, and facts await us? Like the show? You can support us on Patreon for bonus...

Half-Blood Prince chapters 28-29. We realized the first chapter we read this week was pretty short and thin, so we blew this episode out into an almost three-hour double decker! We discuss the potential issues with dating werewolves, Snape's tactical error, The Order's tactical errorS, and the cosmology of attractiveness in J.K Rowling's universe. Finally, in preparation for the end of the book, w...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 27. Snape kills Dumbledore! We break down this shocking pop culture event, which is 90% a conversation between Draco Malfoy and Dumbledore about how smart Dumbledore is actually. We get some last-minute changes to how magic works, some minor Death Eater characters we've never met before bumbling into arguably the most critical scene in the series, and a truly impressive b...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 26. We stock up on a double dose of Harry Potter positivity in our news segment this week thanks to some video game news and some genuinely amazing book covers from Thailand before braving the cave. What's in the cave? Nonsense exposition, zero conflict, and a lot of zombies! We can't quite work out what it all means, so we enlist Reddit's help in the final segment to try...

Half-blood Prince chapter 25. Our fearless leader is back on Twitter for good, it seems, so we unpack her increasingly weird attempts to cheat the Blade Runner test through normie-posting. We also take a deep dive into Harry Potter at Home, the new initiative to... ??? Plus, of course, we have our chapter for the week, which is simultaneously fleeting and frustrating. Will Harry finally realize Du...

Half-blood Prince chapter 24. J.K Rowling is back on Twitter and starting to give us bad vibes, but that's okay--we have a really fun chapter to discuss this week full of teen drama, sword spells, and ghosts who live (?) for drama! Finally, we put our honor on the line and take the official Wizarding World Dobby Quiz, and descend into madness trying to figure out how calendars work. Like the show?...

Half-blood Prince chapter 23. Without much news, we have a looooong runway to discuss what may well be the true turning point for the Harry Potter series: the Horcrux reveal chapter. We chat about narrative structure, theology, and Rowling's boasted story planning, as well as the nature of the soul and the holy nature of the number 7 (you know, light stuff like that). Finally, we continue to attem...

Half-blood Prince chapter 22. We teach the Harry Potter fandom a harsh lesson about electoral politics and check in on the Harry Potter Skyrim saga before discussing a surprisingly good chapter (well, half of it, anyway) about our once-dreaded foe, Felix Felicis. Then we tumble down the rabbit hole into the world of PlayStation Move games, Pinterest recipes, and Reddit arguments. Like the show? Yo...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 21. We kick off Magical Mischief Month by discussing feasible ways to cyberbully the richest author in the world. We also wrack our brains to try and remember what a "scullery" is. Our chapter this week is a technical mess that nonetheless has a delightful Dobby scene and some primo Snape content. Finally, the arms race to find the most cursed content for the third segmen...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 20. Lost at sea without much news this week, we are left to contend with The Terror: the knowledge that constant information blowouts on J.K Rowling's new book and the next Fantastic Beasts film--and perhaps something else?--are looming on the horizon. We also have an interesting chapter this week, full of Evil Gentleman content, pensieve strangeness, and (at last) the re...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 19. We've got a ton of news this week between the announcement of the Granger 2020 campaign (???) and a truly bonkers game of telephone about a tour guide who claims he's the subject of the next J.K Rowling novel. Or does he?? We try to wrap our heads around this strange series of articles before discussing the first good chapter in a long while. Yes, the drought is over!...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 18. Wow! We've recorded 100 of these! We chat about this momentous achievement before grappling with the agony and the ecstasy of Harry Potter thanks to a chapter that both delights and frustrates us. There's plenty of interesting worldbuilding tidbits, lots of creepy dark comedy that works really well, and--unfortunately--a debilitating sense that none of it matters and...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 17. Well, here we are: another Pensieve chapter is upon us. Is it better than the last one? Worse, somehow? Tune in to find out, and learn all about zombie theories, congressmen, Rashomon parodies, and Supernatural (?) along the way! Like the show? You can support us on Patreon for bonus content and early episodes! www.patreon.com/shriekcast/ Follow us on Twitter @shriekc...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 16. We've got some music-quiz-related business to attend to this episode, as last week's estimation of Harry Potter's (and by extention, Dobby's) taste did NOT satisfy us. First, though, we have a dreaded recap chapter to... well, recap. Surprise! Everyone is being horrible to each other for no reason and the world they inhabit makes less sense with every new detail, but...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 15. After a series of truly dire chapters, we're granted a reprieve with a week's reading that features some pretty low lows, but some relieving highs. We chat about Jude Law's taste in heels, the continuing drama between Ron and Hermione, some truly vile implications for Fred and George's business acumen, some genuinely touching Luna content, and much more. We also manag...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 14. We've got a real doozy of a chapter this week. Is it as bad as the last two? Maybe not. Is it weird and unpleasant in its own way? You bet! Ron and Hermione hate each other, Harry and Ron hate each other, Ron hates Dean Thomas, Ron hates Ginny, Ginny hates Ron, Hermione hates Harry, and Harry hates... Harper? Everyone is mad and full of contempt this week, and we do o...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 13. Hoooooooooo-wee. We chat about WB's new AI greenlighting tool, the Fantastic Beasts franchise news, and a new low for pensieve chapters before checking in with Yelp and Google reviews for several Harry Potter tourist attractions! Like the show? You can support us on Patreon for bonus content and early episodes! www.patreon.com/shriekcast/ Follow us on Twitter @shriekc...

Half-blood Prince chapter 12. Happy 2020 everyone! Liz kicks the decade off with a harrowing tale of arcane coincidence, and we have one hell of a chapter to dig into. Choke-slams, cruel pranks, property crimes, curvy barmaids, and a mysterious curse awaited us this week. Finally, we check in on the Wizarding World website, just to see if everything is still Normal there. Like the show? You can su...

Another year down! This episode contains some of the highlights of 2019's episodes. A huge thank you to everyone who has listened this year, the show wouldn't be possible without you. Here are the timestamps: 00:00 - Liz's Fawkes Prediction 02:08 - God Hates Hufflepuffs 06:21 - Borange Beer 10:28 - Sibling Violence 11:40 - The Boss 16:06 - Oppa Dobby Style 16:59 - Themes, Characters, and Facts 21:...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 11. Well, we got our wish. The monkey's paw has curled, and JK Rowling has returned to Twitter, but never in our wildest dreams could we have predicted exactly how she did it. Instead of coming back to dance around being a TERF, she just threw the mask off entirely and scorched the earth. This conversation dominates our news segment, but we do at least have an extremely g...

Early cut of the news segment for Episode 93 where we talk about, well, The Tweet. Didn't want to make people pay to hear this one in a timely fashion 🦉

Half-Blood Prince chapter 10. We've got GAMER NEWS (match 3) and say a prayer for more GAMER NEWS (open world AAA RPG) before tackling one of the worst chapters in the entire series. Earnestly, it's a truly awful chapter, but we have a lot of fun bagging on it before turning to some Christmas cheer and a long tangent about Halo 3. Like the show? You can support us on Patreon for bonus content and...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 9. After taking a week off, we're back with tarot news and a personality analysis for Dobby! Then we have quite a chapter to get into, featuring a revamped Ernie Macmillen, Secret Agent Jack Sloper, and a hearty serving of Snape Content, as well as some weird potions and portentous smells. Finally, we listen to the newly released A Magical Time of Year, aka the Wizarding...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 8. We reminisce about Fyre Festival and check in on Wizarding World Gold before banging our heads against Half-Blood Prince's confusingly selective portrayal of a world mad with paranoia but also not all that worried about Voldemort doing anything. Oh, but Snape gets some time in the spotlight this week, and it's incredible. Like the show? You can support us on Patreon fo...

Half-Blood Prince chapter 7. It's a slow news week after the rush of shocking events last episode, so we take a peek at some heartwarming (really!) Mugglenet content and chat about the newly-released Wizarding World Gold. Then we dissect Half-Blood Prince's first true stumble of a chapter, which features some absolute nonsense character depictions, a kinda uncomfortable character introduction, and...