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

TGIF, comic book lore, and Salem Saberhagen… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they begin their deep dive on one of the Pretty Darkest mainstream characters of the 20th century. From her Archie Comics debut to everyone’s Friday night TV screens, Sabrina went through a lot to become the witch we know and love. Plenty of origin-stories and sitcom behind-the-scenes await… Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Halloween How-To's, spicy pumpkins, and relentless hope… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘80s AND ‘90s kids as they wait in the pumpkin patch and share everything from the childhood and career of Charles Schulz to the origin of Peanuts, to a breakdown of America’s first bonafide “Halloween Special.” Intwining their own Halloween memories, this October dream team is characteristically wistful about keeping the spirit of the holiday alive… just like Linus. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Headless Horsemen, undying legends, and glowstick Jack-o’-lanterns… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they discuss their own ghostly happenings, yearn for Halloween dances gone by, and get “a-head” of Spooky Season with one of the oldest and most prevalent American ghost stories – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. From early Dutch settler lore to revolutionary-era imprints of tragedy, Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman, imparted to us here by the Midnight Society, has held a chilling place in our collective hearts for over two centuries, and seems like the perfect introduction to our sixth Halloween together. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Romantic friendships, flashlit faces, and perpetual comings-of-age… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they round all the bases on this beloved staple. Together, they’ll do s’more reflecting on the “mature themes” and childlike wonder that combined forces to make this film such a classic, take a closer look at the scenes that made multiple generations cheer, shudder, and smile, and get just a lil emotional about the finite nature of life (and baseball). If this Existential Summer is reminding us of one thing, it’s that life goes by way too fast – and we should take chances when they spit on our shoes. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Achy Americana, baseball slang, and Benny the Disappearing Jet… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they wring out whatever magic is left in Existential Summer and step up to the plate at the Sandlot. Writer and director David Mickey Evans hit a home run in nostalgia, and this peek behind the scenes highlights his quest to reframe his own experiences as the new kid on the block. Come bask in 30-year cycles, prime schoolyard insults, and the timelessness of a pre-tech childhood with your Ghost Hosts! Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ducky-isms, banana teeth, and emotional extinction events… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they take one for the millennial team and journey toward their own Pretty Dark Great Valley, full of dino-racism, prickly tears, and the death of Littlefoot’s mother. This film shaped a generation’s view of life, grief, and loss in ways that most of us are still unpacking… but luckily, we can do it together, armed with dino-facts and thoughts of Norman Bates (don’t ask). Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dinosaur infodumps, paleontological accuracy, and Bambi's Late Jurassic ancestor… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they tackle the production story behind one of the most emotionally heavy-hitting films they can recall – and learn how it almost hit even heavier. From Spielberg’s original vision, to James Horner’s unmistakable musical imprint, to the late 19th century Bone Wars and their dinosaur naming conventions, there’s more than a century of Lore Before Time to excavate together. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Blue collar blues, nursing homes, and the crushing conveyer belt of existence… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they flash back to the Brave Little Toaster franchise to break down a song they couldn’t squeeze into their earlier coverage. One of the most existentially charged tracks from their childhoods, they’ve spent years carrying the confusion of the complex, adult references and haunting obsolescence. They’re ready to make it all make sense with and for their Darkling friends, one lyric at a time.  Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fiery bosses, paper pushers, and infinite Reptar cereal… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they rewind to the dawn of the Nicktoon and learn how these toddlers were created – and how they managed to teach a generation about growing up. As one of Nickelodeon’s longest running programs, and one of the earliest to reach your Ghost Hosts, Rugrats had a unique opportunity to shape our collective psyche in ways we wouldn’t appreciate for decades. This first trip into the catalog showcases that developmental shift as the kids share a hellish fantasy about the perils of adulthood. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Psychic Photography, vengeful spirits, and Phoebe Bridgers… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these four ‘90s ParaPods kids (including Em Schulz and Christine Schiefer!) as they wade deeper into the curses and tragedies that made Samara spiral in the first place. Walk with them through the original Japanese cursed videos and novels, compare and contrast their American counterparts, and explore the misogynistic shadows of the Japanese spiritualist movement. Historical context makes The Ring’s trademark echo of hate, revenge, and destruction all the more haunting… and all we know is, society better do a quick 180, lest these patterns ripple and repeat. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sleepwalking parents, Japanese folklore, and viral marketing campaigns… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids and two of their podcastin’ heroes as they turn up the horror dial with a millennial classic that shaped the genre as we now know it. Em Schulz brings the FASCINATING history of chain letters, Christine Schiefer shares childhood nightmares that prevent her from watching horror movies to this day, and your Ghost Hosts guide you through the film’s production history and cyclical Japanese ghost stories that inspired it. Though it wasn’t made for children, many of us caught The Ring early in life…. and if you want to heal that “TV trauma,” listen and forward this episode to 10 friends! Or else. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chanting townsfolk, quarantined premises, and The Little Engine That Could… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! Join these ‘90s kids as they head back to Hillwood for Arnold’s very first toe-dip into urban legend territory. These airwaves are consistently partial to the Boo-Radley-kind, and Stoop Kid is no exception. Highlighting the effects of neglect, societal pressure, and the power of one’s mindset, this Hey Arnold! fixture not only stuck in our minds but showed us that there’s life beyond one’s stoop… but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to leave. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bracket busters, trolley problems, and exploding heads… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! These FOUR ‘90s kids take you through their first annual March “Dadness” bracket (underscored by Jeri’s foolproof Daddy/Babygirl scale), in which they rate, rank, compare, and debate the traits of 16 randomly selected Pretty Dark villains to determine The Darkest of Them All. The final matchup is one for the ages, and it’s possible your Ghost Hosts have never soapboxed this hard, so get your March Madness fix a month late with laughs, logic, and these tangenting ParaPods partners in crime.  Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Super Soaker battles, gravedigging legends, and androgynous icons… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! These ‘90s kids are finishing up season 2 of Are You Afraid of the Dark? and going out with a bang… a game, really, of potentially disastrous consequences. Around here, we recognize that it’s important—maybe now more than ever—to play. To connect to our inner children and re-live carefree times gone by. In fact, kids have been hiding-and-seeking for nearly all of recorded history. But in the case of this Midnight Society tale, we find that play can sometimes become an eternal state of being. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Unicornian origins, Greek mythology, and bodies that are dying around us… Oh lawd, it's about to get pretty dark! These ‘90s kids are rounding out their coverage of a film (and novel) that, though elusive to both of them in childhood, has plenty of nostalgic, achy yearning to go around. They’ll lead you through this Unicorn-hero’s journey centered on mortality, identity, and regret – built by not only the terrifyingly finite nature of time, but our inherent need for authenticity and community. Don’t worry, Darklings, your Unicorn might still be coming ‘round the mountain. Email us at [email protected] Give to our Patreon for extra content: patreon.com/tpdpodcast Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @thatsprettydarkpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices