Secret phobia time: I’m terrified of talking to people. Not really of public speaking- public speaking is easy, if you have a goal to achieve and enough time to plot out a path to it. I’m also a natural ham- ask me to make an ass out of myself in public on purpose, and I’m on it like ham on a… ham sandwich. Need me to act on-camera? Show me where my mark is. Want me to read words that I’ve written but that have never been read by outside eyes? Just let me clear my throat. Throw me in a room with a couple of people that I’ve never really gotten the chance to feel out and tell me to “talk,” however, and you may as well have asked me to talk to them in Swahili (And for the record, I distinctly suck at speaking in Swahili). I bring this up because recently, Morgan came up with the idea of doing a “New Media Masters of Horror Roundtable” series for the podcast.

This series would consist of a group of experienced horror podcasters getting together over Skype and talking about whatever subjects might come to mind covering the genre- be it current movements in the genre, the discussion of new releases or old favorites, the proper use of character archetypes vs the prevalence of clichés, etc. I thought this was a great idea, and I wished her the best of luck with it. She then offered that she wanted me to be involved with the project. In a talky-to-peopley manner.

After a quick ahem, I pulled down the projector-screen and tapped the part of the diagram labeled “Masters of Horror” with my tappy-stick, then directed her attention to my nametag, which read, “Dean Sasser: Amateur-With –Delusions-of-Grandeur-At-Best-of-Horror.” She frowned very schoolmarmishly, slapped a microphone in my hand, and told me to shut up and deal with it. Being of a mind not to sleep outside on the cold, cold ground, I agreed that I would do my best to keep up.

This week, you can hear the result on Episode Eight of the podcast. The fact that I got anything out resembling coherent speech at all is due to the nature of our wonderful guests for the roundtable, the wonderful Jennifer Hudock and her charming fiancé James Melzer. These guys put me at ease and made me feel less like a stranger and more like a friend they just hadn’t met yet. The next time we do one of these, I can guarantee at least 50% more input from my end and at least 12.5% more coherency. Given that we do it with the exact same people involved, or with at least 150% more alcohol in my system.

‘Cause I’m just sayin’… writing about zombies with all the lights off? No biggie. But people? They freak me out, man. They just freak. Me. Out.
- Dean

Post Script, from Morgan: This was a bit of an experiment the first time around, but I would like to do it again in the future, with varied guests and topics. I hope you bear with us as we work out the kinks. And let us know what you think! Have any thoughts about the topics we discuss? Have some suggestions for guests you’d like to hear on the Roundtable? Send your thoughts/opinions/rants to us either here on the blog, email us at show@trickstermoon.com, or call our new voicemail line (224) 698-7425.
-xxxM

Promo: The Ballad of Iron Percy

 

 Episode 08 - New Media Masters of Horror Roundtable [01:08:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download