Something stirs in grandpa's playroom; a toy clown Punchinello that can come alive on a whim. Can three kids find Grandpa's secret magical key and escape before they die from endless hop scotch games? Your host Chad Quandt is joined by writer/comedian/singer Brian David Gilbert ( Um, Actually ; Unraveled ) to discuss this beloved film from his childhood: WeeSing's Grandpa's Magical Toys . And we're then joined by a surprise guest; Kevin Hangeman ( Trollhunters , Star Trek Prodigy) who plays the ...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 201
Happy 200th, Goosebuddies! It's been a wild decade of the pod and we're happy to celebrate with honored guest Tim Jacobus, original artist of Goosebumps! We talk about his biography It Came From New Jersey , his love of rock album covers, staying in Jersey, and the surprise photo references for his iconic covers. Support the show and get access to bonus episodes, our secret Discord, ad-free episodes and more at www.patreon.com/goosebuds Dress your skeleton with Goosebuds apparel at goosebuds.sto...
Jun 16, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 200
If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality, you'll end up in the backrooms. And you may also download this episode and end up listening to host Chad Quandt and guest Elspeth Eastman ( Rift of the NecroDancer, League of Legends ) discus infamous new-horror creepypasta that will soon be a major motion picture. Beyond this /x/-fueled creation, we talk about Chad's favorite book; Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves . Both deal with liminal, infinite spaces. Grab a buddy before heading int...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 199
Something's foul in the air, and we swear it's not us. Your host Chad Quandt is joined by triple-threat actor/writer/wrestler James Willems ( Answer For It!, Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, Funhaus ) to discuss one of Junji Ito's largest works; the stinky book Gyo (known as ' Fish: Ghastly Squirming ' in Japan). A 'death stench' has taken over Okinawa, followed by an army of walking rotten fish, sharks, and eventually entire improv troops of stink people. This terror tome includes The Sad Tale o...
May 12, 2025•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 198
Vroom voom, Goosebuddies. You wanna know what gives host Chad Quandt and guests Alexis Bevels & Darby Lynn Cartwright ( IMHO the Show/Podcast ) goosebumps? Dangerous highway infrastructure! We check out the 1994 action classic Speed , starring Keanu Reeves pre-Matrix and Sandra Bullock pre-Congeniality. This podcast can't go below 60 jokes per hour or we'll explode. Pop quick hot shot; will you enjoy this episode? As a Patreon bonus-- and something we're trying out for future episodes-- this...
Apr 21, 2025•2 hr 15 min•Ep. 197
Hope your thirsty for horror movie discussion, Goosebuddies. Your host Chad Quandt is joined by animation director Brock Gallagher (aka avant-garde V-Tuber NilbogLive ). Before the Spy Kids era, Robert Rodruigez was a pretty cool director. Teamed with Scream's writer Kevin Williamson makes for The Faculty ; a great 90s take on body snatchers and Animorphs -adjacent teenagers. As walking contradiction Zeze would say, this podcast is guaranteed to jack you up. OFF TOPICS: Monster Hunter obtuseness...
Apr 07, 2025•2 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 196
What sort of creepy story are we covering on the first episode of Goosebuds where Chad is solo host? A 2003 Lego fantasy toy ad. Yes, Goosebuddies. It's true. But we'll get to scary stuff again. Chad Quandt is joined by guest Payton Whaley (Flyover Culture, A Moment of Science) to review the first of many Lego movies about the dark fantasy island Mata Nui who is protected by Toa elemental warriors. Wait, is everything in this named after culture from South East Asia? YIKES. I guess this IS a sca...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 54 min•Season 1Ep. 195
Hope you're hungry for podcasts, Goosebuddies. Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole celebrate the end of an era for this show by watching the 90s Are You Afraid of the Dark episode 'The Tale of the Dangerous Soup'. Dr. Vink is running a strange bistro with an expensive soup that is bringing old rich people in by the bakers' dozen! But what's the secret ingredient? What's the deal with this lawn ornament? Why is it being milked? And hey Neve Campbell is in this! They also discuss ...
Mar 17, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 194
Ever since we were young boys, we watched Are You Afraid of the Dark/ From Philly to South Bend, we've seen them all/ But somehow this is the first time we're covering the show on Goosebuds!/ That sure was a mean episode! The Goosebuds Boys Chad Quandt and Kevin Cole check out the 90s Nickelodeon episode Are You Afraid of the Dark called 'The Tale of the Pinball Wizard'. This is a very inaccurate portrayal of pinball and arcade games. Sorta what your grandpa thinks a SNES game is. But poor Ross ...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 193
Have you ever wondered where toys come from? They're not really from Santa Claus nor your divorced parents trying to win your love. They're from Japan! Chad, Paul, and Kevin check out the lost 1983 Disney home video Where The Toys Come From; a 'Showcase' preceding Toy Story where two small toys Zoom and Peepers learn time travel, fight foreign toys, and meet their god Kenji. Enjoy the toy parades! Off Topics: Vampire Neck Defense, Bread, Paul in Japan, City Pop, Kōji Yakusho Movie discussion sta...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 192
It's Schwimmer Time! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole check out the latest season of Goosebumps: The Vanishing , starring David Schwimmer of Run Fatboy Run and Madagascar fame. This modern retelling of the classic 'Stay Out Of The Basement' begins another serialized season of teenagers and adults hopping through other old 'Bump books. How does Season 2 compare to Justin Long's Season 1? What does 'bussin' mean? And who exactly is this show for besides us? (SPOILERS: We cover ...
Jan 27, 2025•2 hr 8 min
Prepare for something a bit different, Goosebuddies! While Chad flees the LA fires (don't worry; he's safe), Paul and Kevin gather to talk about two pieces of non-R.L. media they enjoy. The anime OVA classics: 1988's 'Dragon's Heaven' by Makoto Kobayashi and 1985's 'Angel's Egg' by Mamoru Oshii. Both about girls wandering desolate apocalypse landscapes. Hope you enjoy this departure from our usual fare. We're exploring more art to discuss for this podcast and want to hear from you about it on Pa...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 41 min
Oh Come, All Ye Goosebuddies! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole revisit two 90s cartoon holiday episodes. First we check out ABC's Recess's politically correct 'Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave' guest starring James Earl Jones and Michael McKean in which Chad's cartoon proxy Mikey challenges 3rd Street to prove Santa is real. We then shift to the more subversive with Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life 's holiday episode 'Can't Squeeze Cheer From a Cheese Log!' otherwise known as Ro...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 48 min
The Goosebuddies Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read R.L. Stine's Horrorland 'finale' The Streets of Panic Park . Sixteen (!!) book protagonist kids are globbed together to face the edgelord villain The Menace who hopes to scare the kids so bad they'll jump realities. And in what should be the hypest moment in all of Goosebumps, Slappy leads a group of villain allies! Can these kids and monsters escape Panic Park and get back to Horrorland- which they are also escaping from? This book...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 39 min
We're back to Hark as the Goosebuddies Chad, Paul, and Kevin adventure through the second (and last) of R.L. Stine's sci-fi Choose Your Own Adventure series: The Invaders of Hark . We're thrust into the city of Hark where multiple alien factions fight for control and a beautiful princess. These books are brutal with only one correct path. Will we survive? OFF TOPICS: Paul's adventures in Unreal Engine, Godot Adventure begins: 15:30 Support the show on patreon.com/goosebuds UPDATE TO PATREON: Due...
Dec 02, 2024•1 hr 45 min
We gotta escape from Horrorland! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps: Horrorland: Escape From Horrorland . A hell of a title. The last ten books have been building up to this; the YA equivalent of Avengers as all our survivng kids team up with original survivors Lizzy and Luke to run around in circles in a paranormal park that isn't even Horrorland! This horde of kids' goal is to get BACK to Horrorland to then escape it. This is indeed literature. To...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 53 min
Help! We have a new podcast episode! Your hosts Chad Quandt and Kevin Cole check out R.L. Stine's 2009 Horrorland book Help! We Have Strange Powers . The powers these twin protagonists get are surprisingly easy to categorize: telepathy and telekinesis. Well, technically there's a subset of time power but it's really just a psychic baby ray. Enjoy the episode! Book discussion begins: OFF-TOPICS: Revenge Of, Saving Books for the Apocalypse. Little Book Libraries, The Book of Eli. Pseudo Harem, Dan...
Oct 28, 2024•1 hr 50 min
The Goosebuds Boys check out the 90s sitcom Family Matters ' late series episode 'Stevil'. Brought to life by a casual wish and a bolt of lighting, 'Stevil' is here to kill the Winslows and I guess help Urkel's ventriloquism career? They don't really work on their standup set at all. You know, this was once a sitcom about a blue collar family growing up in Chicago. Then Urkelmania took over the world. But how does this haunted doll episode compare to R.L. Stine's own wooden boy? Discussion begin...
Oct 21, 2024•1 hr 29 min
S-s-s-so good to be back, Goosebuddies! We were doing a snake thing there-- was that clear? Your hosts Paul Ritchey and Kevin Cole enroll in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book Welcome to Camp Slither. There are rumors of man-eating snakes at camp, but no reports on if they'll eat the other genders. And when we rejoin the Horrorland arc a terrifying ride called the R.I.P.P.E.R. Dipper threatens to do some sort of ripping. Hopefully not to their butts. We also talk about recent Magic sets and...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 45 min
Summer's over, Goosebuddies. How did you spend it? Were you hunting for buried cars at the beach? Attacking the pool lifeguard with psychic damage? Or tracking down a beloved but lonely ice cream man? The Goosebuddies check out The Adventures of Pete & Pete 's classic episode "How I Spent My Summer Vacation", arguably one of the best in the series. And Michael Stipe is there! Episode discussion: 17:30 Off-Topics: Secret Level , Crying Support Goosebuds to get access to bonus episodes, join o...
Sep 16, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Behold the glory of the Helmacrons! Your hosts Chad Quandt and Kevin Cole take a Goosebumps break to read through arguably the weirdest Animorphs book; The Suspicion by K.A. Applegate. The kids' war campaign against the Yeerks is interrupted by the arrival of the Helmacrons, miniature space people with giant egos. Enjoy the episode! Book discussion starts: 9:15 OFF TOPICS: Nyx the dog, hard hitting Sports insight You can support Goosebuds, get access to bonus episodes, join our secret Discord, a...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 36 min
The Goosebud Boys Chad, Paul, and Kevin face the Horrorland version of R.L. Stine's infamous haunted camera: Say Cheese -- And Die Screaming! That dash is in a weird place, right? It's the wrong pause? Anyway, somehow the rules of these deadly photo predictions have changed since last book. Are the spirits getting more artistic? Or just lazier? And we also try to answer the question: what happens to waste on an airplane? Book discussion: 9:40 OFF TOPICS: Where Does Airplane Poop Go?, Christopher...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 48 min
Tighten your shoes and do some stretching, cuz we got a big track meet today! Your Goosebuds hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole check out the Choose Your Own Adventure book Track Star! by R.A. Montgomery. We're a high school athlete with a lot of pressure to run the fastest and longest to get that college scholarship and make dad proud. And somehow all paths lead to performance enhancing drugs. Will we get busted for juicing? Will we rat out our fellow teammates? Or will our legs bl...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 42 min
Holy hells, Goosebuddies. This episode marks our 10th Anniversary of the podcast. We started in 2014 with a mission to cover the works of R. L. Stine and we still have mountains of pulp to go through. But in honor of the celebration we take a look back at the story that started it all: Welcome to Dead House! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole re-review this 1992 book about a sort of terrifying time share. Then we hop around the timeline and inspect 2014 and the modern year to s...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 58 min
It's time to morph into a shark! But sadly we're not reading Animophs and fighting an alien resistance, we're a dumb kid trespassing into an ancient temple and cursed by a vague monk! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read through the 80s Choose Your Own Adventure book: You Are A Shark by Edward Packard. Despite the direct title, it's really hard for us to get the animal form we want and really run through the fauna of the world. Will we get to punch out that smug mystic cursi...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 24 min
Do you know what it's like to be considered a beast by your classmates? To be so big but also good at computers? A teenage Hank McCoy? At least one of hosts does and this episode hits hard. Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole cover R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book My Friends Call Me Monster. This is a weird story about monster closets and egg-based horror. Not recommended for vegans! Book discussion and banter are as inseparable from each other as the briar and the rose. ...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 49 min
This book tasks questions the reader: who is your mother and what do they do? Are they wrapped up in bandages? And are they being used as a fuel source for eternal life? Your hosts Paul Ritchey and Kevin Cole cover R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book Who's Your Mummy? Protagonists Abby and Peter stay with their uncle who has a dark secret: a real tasty stockpile of mummies to eat up. Weird! And the adventure continues into the ongoing Horrorland saga. Is horror Byron an ally? Or is he tracki...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 45 min
Get in formation, Goosebuddies! Your hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole watch another classic The Adventures of Pete & Pete episode, "Day of the Dot". As Big Pete's marching band competes in the Regional Championship, he struggles with affections for Ellen and a tyrannical teacher. Meanwhile Little Pete is trapped on an endless school bus as Bus Driver Stu wrestles with a broken heart. This is a sweet indie episode and we're inspired by the discussion. Enjoy! Episode Discussion ...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 40 min
Your Goosebuds Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole read through the 1985 CYOA book The Badlands of Hark, written by R.L. Stine! This is written before Goosebumps, Fear Street, or Horrorland; what sort of sci-fi fantasy world does a younger Stine have in his soul? Turns out it's one with an endless maze. A lot of death in this hellworld of R.L.'s. Can Paul and Kevin survive and find The Nonspecific Treasure? OFF TOPICS: Phone Cord Twirling, Beet Feudalism, Picard's robot body, Robot Hands, ...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Your Goosebuds hosts Chad Quandt, Paul Ritchey, and Kevin Cole review R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Horrorland book Dr. Maniac vs Robby Schwartz where aspiring cartoonist Robby discovers his comic creations come alive to eat squirrels and torture local kids. But also none of this matters as Robby resets the narrative multiple times (it was all a joke, reader!) and it causes an emotional cataclysm for your Goosebuddies . To be honest, this episode really broke us. But don't CTRL+ALT+DEL on us; we'll ke...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 52 min
