Eerie Indiana Chooseday Challenge

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It's Tuesday, so today you get a choice between two prompts. Pick one, combine both, pit them against each other - on Tuesday, you choose!

This week, your options are:

Principal Togar versus Annabelle Lee

Eerie Indiana Crossover and Non-Canon Day!

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It's the 28th of the month, and that means it's officially time to talk about all those non-Eerie fandoms that, despite taking place outside of Eerie city limits, still remind you of the centre of weirdness for the entire planet.

Tell us about the latest episode of Welcome to Nightvale, your ideas for a Gravity Falls crossover, or what Twin Peaks's Andy Brennan would think of Eerie's Officer Knight. Caught up on Lumberjanes or Paper Girls? Tell us about it. Still not caught up on Eureka, Haven or Sleepy Hollow? Ask us about it. Wondering how Mister Radford and Skip from the 'Burbs would get along if they met in ice-cream making school? Me too!

timidwerewolf on an Eerie Indiana reboot

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Eerie Indiana deserves a revival and I have a pitch @joe_dante ! pic.twitter.com/JxCtVJrPIH

— Reverend Dr. Rob Walker (@timidwerewolf) July 28, 2020

I hope Algernon the Invincible will have a role...

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Wrestle House begins TOMORROW at 8/7c on @AXSTV! #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/as6jU5SCBq

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) July 27, 2020

Wrestle House, From the makers of Friends, Eerie Indiana & Hulk Hogan's Rock n Wrestling

— Chris Dunlop (aka Lucha Playboy) (@Screamqueenarmy) July 27, 2020

DANFlNlTY on Eerie Indiana

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Everyone talks about the popular cartoons but not enough talk about the OG cartoons.

Thundercats, Gargoyles, Beetleborgs, Mummies, etc.

— Maru (@MaruIRL) July 27, 2020

Beetleborgs was my SHIT! That and Eerie, Indiana.

— Dan (@DANFlNlTY) July 27, 2020

anotherhorroraccount on Eerie Indiana

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#EERIEINDIANA holds up better than 'The Adventures of Pete & Pete'. 💯% for all ages!

CharlesDAHammer on Eerie Indiana

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What an unsung gem Brisco County Jr. is

— Corey “The Buttercream Dream” Forrester (@CoreyRForrester) July 28, 2020

That it is.. another Old school gem is Eerie, Indiana.

— Charles “The Hammer” Martell (@CharlesDAHammer) July 29, 2020

Eerie Indiana fanart by atomichazmat

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TEENAGE NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH GONE INSAAAANE 🦇👻🎃🕷️🕸️ pic.twitter.com/56OYevoee2

— OSCAR (@atomichazmat) July 15, 2020

colovari on Eerie Indiana

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TEENAGE NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH GONE INSAAAANE 🦇👻🎃🕷️🕸️ pic.twitter.com/56OYevoee2

— OSCAR (@atomichazmat) July 15, 2020

I HAVENT SEEN ANY EERIE INDIANA CONTENT IN SO LONG... I LOVE THIS tht show slapped

— morishige @ team sugar (@colovari) July 28, 2020

A Lament For The Spooky '90s Anthology Shows That Defined My Childhood

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I hate to say this in my best old man voice, but kids today don't know the television they're missing. Back in my day television shows catered to children. Heck, there was an entire network devoted strictly to thinking like a kid, not honing the content to selling the next big thing. (Although several of these shows directly inspired consumer products, for the purpose of this article my point stands.)

If you were a '90s kid you probably watched the trio of anthology horror shows that populated the airwaves: Are You Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, and Eerie, Indiana. All three have become cult classics in their own right, but each catered to different facets of the horror genre. Each had its own unique type of fans. And the fact that all three existed at one time is a painful reminder of how children's programming has transitioned into something different.

Every great trend in television or film needs an outlier. A cult classic only the coolest of the cool remember. And if you wanted Are You Afraid of the Dark to be a little weirder or Goosebumps to be a taste more esoteric, your best bet was to watch Eerie, Indiana. Running for just one year, between 1991-1992, Eerie, Indiana told the story of Marshall Teller (played by a pre-Hocus Pocus Omri Katz), who moved to the titular town and ran into all manner of weird things ⏤ from Bigfoot to twins who stayed young in life-sized plastic containers. With director Joe Dante as a creative consultant, Eerie, Indiana was littered with references to old films and generally acted like a Twin Peaks-level horror show for kids. It was fun, it was smart, it was doomed to last just 19 episodes.

Halloween in July - Spook 'em ups

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Happy Summerween! We'll be watching throwback scary shows each week this month as a group, then discussing them as well as the book The Witches (by Roald Dahl) in the last meeting of the month, July 28th.

We will be watching some of the following:
- Goosebumps
- Are You Afraid of the Dark
- Creeped Out
- Eerie Indiana
- Tales from the Crypt

On your own recognizance:
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (books or 2019 movie)

We'll post a the link to the meeting in the comments right before the event. Unless we put together something else, it'll be streamed through the Kosmi website, so it won't require a download or login, and it's free.

Hope to see you there!

Eerie Indiana Virtual Book Club Nominations Round Two!

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We are coming up on the 31st of July which will bring the discussion post for Meddling Kids and we have a book set for August, but after that we need to nominate some more books! Comment on this post with any books you want to read for the Virtual Book Club and in August I'll put up a voting post!

If you don't want to go through the tag, here are the books we already did/will do:
- Bone Gap
- The Rest of Us Just Live Here
- Lumberjanes
- Maybird and the Ever After
- Paper Girls
- Welcome to Night Vale
- Meddling Kids
- The Longing and the Lack

PhantoMantis on Eerie Indiana

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I met Joe Dante once, I told him I was a big fan of Eerie, Indiana. He responded "Everybody your age says that, too bad your generation wasn't in the Nielsen family."

— PhantoMantis (@PhantoMantis) August 2, 2020

Mikeslikes2 on John Astin and Eerie Indiana

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His role on Eerie, Indiana was a delight as well as Night Court as Harry's friend, Buddy. Whenever he shows up and starts giving you that grin of his, you know you are about to laugh at whatever he says. https://t.co/Na1DQQSWhc

— Edmond Dantes (@Mikeslikes2) August 2, 2020

JaneNightshade on Eerie Indiana

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His role on Eerie, Indiana was a delight as well as Night Court as Harry's friend, Buddy. Whenever he shows up and starts giving you that grin of his, you know you are about to laugh at whatever he says. https://t.co/Na1DQQSWhc

— Edmond Dantes (@Mikeslikes2) August 2, 2020

World O’ Stuff! Loved that show!

— Jane Nightshade, Writer (@JaneNightshade) August 2, 2020

A Brief History of Hocus Pocus

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The film originally started off as a bedtime story film producer David Kirschner, who also created the Chucky series, told to his kids. He’d originally submitted the idea to Muppets Magazine. People really liked what they read, and that lead to him submitting it to Disney. The film was also inspired by some personal events from his childhood; even Binx the cat was named after his pet cat, Inks.

Originally to be called Halloween House and intended as a Disney Channel Original Movie. Studio heads at Disney read the screenplay and decided that Hocus Pocus had a chance to become something really big. And they were right, at least after the initial box office burn.

It starred Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters.

Leonardo DiCaprio almost starred as Max, the virginal black flame candle lighter, who chose instead the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Omri Katz got the part instead. Despite being 42 years old now, Katz is now retired from acting. He also starred in another cult show, Eerie, Indiana. DiCaprio was nominated for best supporting actor for his role in Gilbert Grape.

Thora Birch was in her pre-teens when she appeared as Danielle “Dani” Dennison, Max’s younger sister. Later in life, she did American Beauty and Ghost World, both roles earned her high praise.

Easter Eggs, goofs, and little known facts

Max gives Allison his number in class, but when she returns it in the next scene it’s a different note.

The movie takes place on Halloween, 1993, which was a Sunday. There wouldn’t be school on a Sunday. And there hasn’t been a full moon on Halloween since 1974.

Even though it is set in Salem, Mass., it was filmed in Los Angeles

In the scene in the Dennison’s kitchen, you can see the camera crew in the reflection.

Mrs. Dennison’s wedding ring disappears and reappears throughout the party scene, where she is dressed as Madonna.

Winnie’s hood goes on and off throughout one scene.

A dead body of the girl moves as the sisters dance.

A fountain that appears is also seen in the opening credits of the Friends TV series.

In the Book of Spells, the spell to the left of the Life Potion, is also to the left of the Excruciating Punishments.

When Winifred takes the stage to perform, she says “Hello Salem, my name is Winifred. What’s yours?” Winifred is referencing “Gypsy,” which Milder also starred in, specifically the famous line, “Hello world, my name is Rose, what’s yours?”

Despite what rumors say, Edgar Allan Poe did not write the song that Sarah Sanderson sings.

Doug Jones, who played Pale Man (and also the Faun) in “Pan’s Labyrinth” played Billy Butcherson. Real moths are coming out of his mouth.

The Devil and his wife are played by a brother and sister, Garry and Penny Marshall.
Hocus Pocus is the first Disney film to use the word “virgin.”

Sarah Jessica Parker, later know as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City, had a tenth great grandmother, Esther Elwell, who was an accused witch during the infamous Salem Witch Trials but the charges were dismissed.

Legacy
Critics today still dismiss the movie, saying at best that children will like it.

Yet, the many who watched it as children are now grown up and still enjoy it. Yohana Desta in her blog, Mashable, said:
“The generation who grew up watching it can relive it and finally understand the many adult themed jokes that lace the dialogue. (How many 8-year-olds actually know what a virgin is?) It manages to have the right amount of spice and scariness, teetering on the cusp of child film and secret adult guilty pleasure.”

Bette Milder calls it her favorite movie she’s played in and has dressed up as Winifred Sanderson for performances. The actress/singer is pleasantly surprised by the movie’s cult status: “All of us are just stunned. Kathy, Sarah Jessica and I have talked about it. We are totally thrilled to death. Because when it came out, it laid a tiny little bit of an egg, so we didn’t expect much. And now look at it! OCTOBER is HOCUS POCUS MONTH!”

The movie is still in print and available for purchase and streaming through various outlets.

IMDB on Eerie Indiana: No Brain No Pain

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This episode is an extended critique of (allegedly) brainless people in American politics. The script mentions a number of Republicans of the early 1990s. Marshall and Simon find a "Bush/Quayle 88" bumper sticker in a homeless man's shopping cart, prompting Marshall to quip, "Well, at least we know he's not a liberal." Later, we hear that Eunice Danforth once negotiated a multi-million-dollar plot orchestrated by Ed Meese to steal the 1980 election "by pumping MacGyver's brain into Ronald Reagan, thereby quadrupling his IQ."

petesmoviejunk on Eerie Indiana

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