Hello Sunshine.
Hey, bestie is it is our first ever Halloween show. Today we're celebrating this spooky holiday with comedian and Halloween fangirl Lauren Lapkis in her podcast called The Haunting. Lauren brings real ghost stories to life, and after hearing a few of them, you may want to sleep with the lights on. Okay, it's Thursday, October thirty. First, I'm Simone Boyce and.
I'm Danielle Robe And this is the bright Side from Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to share women's stories, laugh, learn and brighten your day.
Happy Halloween, y'all.
Happy Halloween? Or shall I say boo?
Just kidding?
Honestly, Simone, my heart is still racing. I haven't had a scare like that in a long time.
Oh so good, guys.
Simone pranked me. I got cranked for real.
It was epic.
I was so nervous that we weren't be able to pull it off because you ask a lot of questions, Who's we.
Who's we?
You had a team of people helping you.
Oh, I had the whole podcast team behind this. Pretty much the entire office was in on it. This was a team effort. I just I love pranks and I finally got to pull one off on our show, So be aware.
Watch your back Danielle.
Okay, I have to tell everybody the backstory of this, so yeah, please do.
Tim is our showrunner.
You've heard him on Popping Off and he calls me one day after work and he was like, Okay, it's like it's gonna be Halloween. Are you a prank person? Do you want to prank Simone? And I'm like, I'm not really a huge prankster, Like, if you have any ideas, I'll be up for it, and I was like, thinking about pranks, I couldn't really think of any.
So the next day I call you, like a good best he does.
And I say, Simone, Tim called me.
And asked me to prank you. So I'm sure he's going to call you and ask you to prank me.
Why don't we throw both of those away and prank him?
And You're like, oh, I don't know, maybe like if you can think of anything, let me know.
And then all of a sudden, I walk into the studio one day and boo, you scared the livingsh out of me.
Well, what you don't know is that I'd been planning this for like three weeks, so by the time you called me, all the pieces were in place. We were ready for the scare the next day, and I was like, oh no, she's onto us. She's gonna ruin this whole prank. But you didn't ruin it. I got myself a clown mask and I was hiding out in our studio. We created this whole ruse. We told Danielle that she had
to do a studio tour for social media. So as she's backing into our studio, she's like talking to camera. Her back is towards me where I'm waiting to scare her. As she comes around the corner, I just jump out in the clown mask.
And it was so good. I really scared you.
You really scared me, And I just want you to know I'm gonna say it on record.
Watch your back, girlfriend, because I'm coming for you. It's gonna happen when you least expect it.
Bright Side bessies, if you're listening and thinking, man, I wish I could have been there to see how terrified Danielle was in this moment. Well don't worry, the video is up on all of our social media pages, so check it out.
It's there for your enjoyment and mine.
Y'all boycott it, don't watch it.
Okay, Well, in the spirit of pranks and being scared out of your mind, let's keep the Halloween celebration going. Today, we are joined by a comedian and all around a Halloween girly. Her name's Lauren Lapkiss and she actually happens to be from my hometown. She's from Chicago. We grew up near each other. And her podcast, The Haunting is so hilarious. She's bringing comedy to real life ghost stories.
I love this comedy horror mashup. It makes so much sense. So in the podcast, she plays a fictional influencer named Terreza, which I love. It's not Terresa, it's who's stuck somewhere between.
Our world and the next.
And this whole time she's fighting for verification, not just like emotional and psychological verification or validation like literally a blue check mark on Instagram.
It's a hilarious setup.
So in the show Thereza narrates these supernatural spooky stories and hilarity ensues.
All I can think about is Teresa Caputo, the Long Island medium. I wonder if there was some inspiration from her behind this character.
I mean, talk about dancing in the liminal space between this world and the next. I think there's I think you might be onto something.
I just think of the poof, the blonde poof in her hair. Okay, anyways, let's get back to business.
Let's go ahead and bring her in.
Lauren lavcis Happy Halloween and welcome to the bright side.
Oh my god, thank you for having me. Happy Halloween at that day of the year.
Hello, it's your favorite day of the year.
It is one of them. Yeah, it's this in Christmas, I think, and my birthday, and I don't know, I guess a bunch of other days.
Speaking of Christmas, we hear that you have a Halloween themed Christmas tree.
This sounds genius. Tell us anything, dude.
Yes, I have a bright orange Christmas tree that is decorated with Halloween ornaments, very spooky bats and ghosts and black cats and all sorts of things. And it's just so great because I you know, it was a pandemic purchase, which makes sense because everything was really sad and I was like, how can I make my life less depressing right now? But also it's we don't get enough time with the Christmas tree. So it's really it gives you that soft glow every night as you're getting the house
shut down and things feel like a little cozy. It's it's a really nice way to prolong that period of time.
So some of my very best memories are, go, I grew up in Chicago and we have like window seats in our house.
Do you know what those are?
Yes? Wait, where are you from? Because I'm from Evanston you are, Yeah, I.
Grew up in Glencoe, like we'll met.
I went, yeah, oh, I went to ets. That's so crazy from Yeah.
Yeah, your dance team beat us every single year.
It was very mortified.
So good, that's amazing. I didn't know that.
That's such a small world.
Okay, so you know what window seats are because people know they don't know what window seats are.
Oh okay, yeah, so it would open up.
The window seats with my mom and there would be all of our Halloween decorations and I would go and like decorate our whole house. Okay, and Chicago suburb halloweens are really awesome because that's yeah exactly. Yeah, I know that you have two little girls what are you guys doing, Like, do you have any traditions?
Oh my god. Well, first of all, I do wish that they could have the Halloween that I had growing up, because it was so idyllic to grow up there. I mean, for people who don't know, I mean a lot of the John Hughes movies were filmed there. It's very like quintessential eighties nineties movie fall crisp, crunchy leaves vibes. But we have really fun costumes. My husband and I and our older daughter are all going to be snakes because
she wanted to be a snake. And my baby is going to be a Hershey kid because I didn't know the snake plan when I bought.
The Hers she Kissed thing.
So yeah, we're going She's going rogue, but I'm very excited about it. One of you has kids. Somebody told me this.
This is true. I am the mother I have children.
What are your kids gonna dress up as?
Today?
So my oldest son, Logan is Jack Skellington, and my youngest son, Keenan is a Stormtrooper. So they're super pumped about those costumes.
So cute.
I wanted to ask you if you have any trigger treating hacks. As a mom, I've seen some people on TikTok they like put a little mommy juice in a little cooler little cup and walk around the.
Name right, God, that's a great idea. I you know, we've only been triggered treating once. My daughter's three, So last year we took her out and it was so overwhelming to her that we literally got one piece of candy and then we went home. She also took her costume off right as we were walking up to the
street to go do it. I was like, okay, so my husband and I were dressed like two monsters, ain't characters, and she took off her boo costume and was just wearing clothes and like, I was like, so we're a trigger dream. I don't know. So I'm hoping this year will be more traditional and that she'll keep her costume on and actually knock on some doors.
But we'll see.
Where do you guys stand with candy and kids. Are there any strict rules or are you a free for all? Oh?
Man, I think I thought that I would have more rules, but I really kind of do whatever. She loves candy. I'm like, you can have it. Every day. I really don't care. What do you think?
So, Mom, I'm the same way, Lauren.
I grew up dumping out a pillowcase of candy on the floor and just like go into town with my girlfriends and it was great. It was such a great memory. So I'm just like, enjoy it. You know, it's like Monday year. Yes, the candy's gonna be around for a while, but enjoy it.
Who cares?
Yeah, I mean that being said, I kind of was saying I serve candy every day. I let her eat dessert every day. At least she has a cupcake or popsicle. The popsicles are sugar free. I don't know. Maybe I'm not a terrible.
Mom, Danielle. When you were growing up, what was the candy policy at your house? You're setting me up.
I know nothing. I'm genuinely curious, Lauren.
Just to get you up. Someone the other day was like, do you have an almond mom?
Because I told her a story about my mom. My mom's probably listening. She doesn't know she's an almond mom, but she is a little bit of an almond mom. We actually we were allowed to eat what we had, pillowcases of candy. We were allowed to eat it, but I think it would secretly disappear after a week.
Oh yeah, but we didn't.
Really notice or care. It was fine by that point.
Yeah, I don't even know. Maybe my mom was doing that too. I don't know how long all my candy lasted.
You know.
Yeah, we were counting it all and being really excited. But we'll see what she actually consumes.
Well, Lauren, everyone's probably wondering why we're chatting with you about Halloween. Besides your orange tree tradition, which I really love, you have kind of created a whole new genre of podcasts. It's called the Haunting, and it's this hybrid of super natural and comedy because of course we all know you as a comedian. The newest season just launched, and for those who haven't quite listened yet, can you explain the premise of the show, because if I do it, I'm not going to get it right.
Yes, Okay, So the show is half scripted, half real ghost stories. So I play a dead influencer named Terreza who fails to cross over. She's stuck between two worlds because she hasn't gotten verified yet, so she's trying to kind of get to the other side, and that's a battle. Every episode is a battle for why she can't become verified. But within that we get to hear real stories from people who have experienced supernatural phenomena, ghost stories, different creepy things,
and it's really fun. It really works for me because I get scared very easily. I get scared of ghost stories. I get scared of scary movies, and the comedy breaks up, you know, the actual terror. So it's a nice balance.
The concept, to me is so hilarious. Did you come up first of all, why is her name not Teresa? Why is it Teresa? And how did you come up with this concept?
So it's actually written by this amazing writer Aliah Welsh, who is so talented and so Terreza. I think she just put a little spin on her name. It probably is Teresa. She's you know, it's like saying totally, oh my god, I haven't thought about Targe in a while.
That was really what we always called it. But yeah, she's she's you know, she's kind of vapid and focused on the wrong things, and and Terreza is probably just the flair that she gave herself to get a little extra attention, but a little space on it.
So how did you find the vocal quality for Teresa? How did you develop that?
You know, it's an important balance because since it's just an audio medium, you don't want to have too annoying of a voice, because my instinct would be to make her really annoying. But we you know, we found like a nice balance where she's she's she has a really she's very like, well, I guess I'll just do the voice.
So she talks with a lot of confidence, and she is very very serious most of the time, and she's you know, she's not going into that naisal like I'm gonna you know, which would be so fun, but people don't want to hear that in their ear for NonStop podcast listening. Yeah, so she had a death that was really embarrassing and we haven't fully gotten to hear what happened to her yet. It's going to come out later. But her death was something she doesn't want to talk
about because it wouldn't look good on Instagram. So it's kind of how she views everything.
We are rooting for Theresa and her verification. We are thank you so much rooting girl.
We need to take a quick break but we'll be right back with Lauren lap Kiss.
And we're back with Lauren lap Kiss.
My basic knowledge of ghosts and I'm kind of a woo woo girl, so I'm open. But my basic knowledge of ghosts has come from Casper and Wendy movies. What do you know about ghosts and what do you believe?
Man?
I have watched a lot of ghost related shows, like those ghost hunting things, and I like a lot. I think that there is something on the other side. I think it would be limiting to think that there's nothing, Like, how can we know there's no proof when we are another I try to tell myself, I don't believe in ghosts because I get creeped out. But because I get creeped out, I think that means I believe in it. So it's kind of a you know, catch twenty two.
There so are ghost people that get stuck in the middle?
Is that what it is? Technically?
See? That's my okay, that's my belief about ghosts is that it's someone who has unfinished business and they're like trying to communicate, to try to get some something across. I believe that, like souls exist, one you pass and I don't think that's the same thing. I think people can communicate from the other side and it not be that same sort of you know, scary element. I don't really think, you know, your soul is a scary thing. I think a ghost who's haunting something is a scary thing.
But that's very different.
Well said, I've always thought that horror and comedy are like cousins, like they almost there's a shared language there or rhythm there. I think that's what it is. Like, it's all about timing in both of those genres.
And like a release of tension, like screaming or laughing. It's like you're kind of like waiting to have a reaction. So I agree with you.
As a comedian.
Why do you think the supernatural is fertile ground for comedy?
Oh my god, Well, there's so much there.
I think.
I think horror comedy is a really fun genre. But it's because you have that tension you're building. You're building like up to a scare, which can be a funny scare or it actually scary scare, but it's just kind of ripe for it. I mean, I think when you're holding your breath, I mean in comedy, when you're watching a comedy, you're not holding your breath for the laughter, but you are expecting to laugh at some point. So there's a part of your brain that's kind of going, like,
I'm going to laugh at a certain point. Something funny is about to happen, whether you're consciously thinking about it or not. So I mean, and I think with horror, you're very on the edge of your seat thinking something about it or scary is going to happen. So it is kind of that balance in your mind as you're watching something. And so I think as a creator it's really fun because you get to play with people a little bit. And I mean our podcast, the haunting is
very light in the comedy. It's not trying to scare you with that comedic part. But the ghost stories are really real and I mean very scary to me. I don't know, not all of them, some of them. There are some that are more touching. There's like an example of one is there's an episode where a woman connects with her father who has passed, which it's not a scary episode. It's like a really I find moving episode.
But there are some much more scary ones or just creepy and it kind of makes you think something's going to happen inside your own house after you listen, Like there's an episode with this guy Greg who has.
That's the one I want to ask you about.
So he buys a condo and pretty much immediately it's like haunted, like there's just things that are happening, or you know, you can say it's not haunted, but you can say, well, there's something a little weird, like this light is flickering, or this thing is happening, something's a little off. It just builds so much through his story and the way he tells it is so great, but I think it goes from being something that you can
be skeptical about to something that you have to question. Basically, you know, things get moved a little more, like bigger things get moved, like his iPod doc is knocked off his counter and like it's all falling on the floor or something like that couldn't happen. Or his door keeps locking anytime someone goes outside to smoke a cigarette the
door locks even though nobody locked it. And ultimately he has a very creepy moment at the end where his couch has like a handprint from some sort of like creature and it's coming from an angle that nobody could stand at, Like it's just very creepy to be. And then I turned my light on, which actually I have this one light in my house that has been flickering, and I was like, I know it's the light bulb.
I mean, I think it's I have to tell myself it's light bul But after listening to that this morning, I put it on and I was like, I don't really want to have this light on. He was doing something where when the light would flicker, he would scream because he knew that a person had passed in his house.
The owner had passed.
And then he bopped me, yes, and I think that's what makes this all so creepy.
Yes, I left out the most important detail. He literally knew that somebody had died there. So when he was when the light was flickering, he's yelling like not get
off Elmer like the party. He literally knows the guy's name, and then the light would stop flickering, and it happened every single time, and he was like, you can argue that a light would stop flickering if you had just the cord or something, but every time I yelled to stop doing it, it stops, like, that's not really how you know electricity works, So you gotta believe in that a little bit.
I think.
So, do you ever find yourself as a comedian making jokes during creepy situations or moments where you're like, oh, I shouldn't.
Have said that. Oh.
I mean, I think it's kind of my natural go to is to make a joke when I'm uncomfortable. So it definitely happens a lot, you know, in my life. Thankfully I don't have enough creepy things happening, but if I did, I would be trying to make a joke about it. I mean, I get creeped out just the idea I can imagine something and really scare myself. So I will often talk to myself out loud when I start thinking of something like that and I'm like, there's
nothing happened. I have to like say out loud, like nothing is happening, no one is here, and everything's fine. But I don't know, Simone, what do you think about ghosts? I feel your skepticism seeping through the zoom.
That's how I feel like burning your You feel my retinas burning your yes, what do I think about?
I actually think ghosts are real. I do.
Okay, I misread that?
WHOA too?
Okay, good, I'm great, I'm glad.
I do think ghosts are real. Yeah, I don't know what they mean.
It's it seems like a soul is trapped or something, but I don't. This is why I don't watch I don't watch like demonic or like spiritual ghost d movies because I do think it's real, so it's too close to nonfiction for me, so I kind of stay away from that.
So I agree with you. I prefer a movie where there's a murderer. Honestly, of course, this is like more real, but I prefer a movie with a murderer that who is then is killed at the end. Then I go, story is done. It was scary, but now that person is dead, like that is much easier for me to handle.
Thank you for articulating that, because that's exactly how I've felt for, you know, thirty six years as a moviegoer.
Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah.
I love Scream Like that's my favorite scary movie of all time, and I love the whole franchise, but the first one I've seen, like a million times, and I just love it because it's it's tied into a bow, like you do feel like the story is told. Sure, yeah, even though we know it keeps going.
But yeah, I was just gonna ask you guys your favorite scary movie of all time?
Do you have one?
Simone?
I mean, I'm probably gonna say a bit more of a science fiction pick Alien.
Oh yeah, Alien's awesome. Yeah, what's yours, Daniel?
What's the Disney movie with the three which focus Pocus?
Otherwise, Yeah, that's a great mix of horror and comedy. That's like perfect because it is a little scary, especially since you know, we probably be the nostalgia of watching it as a kid when you were more scared, but like, it's also very funny, great performances.
So I get scared all the time in my own apartment. So I can't watch scary movies. I would never go to the theater to watch one. Like the closest I'm getting is your comedy horror podcast.
So hocus Pocus is where I end.
I love hocus Pocus. I went to see it the new the newest one or whatever in the theater, and that was really scary for me, Like that was like it just kind of felt like something was gonna go down, I don't know, or someone's going to run in with a mask on or something. You know, Like it just feels like people get weird with Halloween.
I'm married to a screenwriter, so he's always watching horror stuff. He's always trying to get me to watch stuff. He really wants me to see Hereditary. Have you guys seen Hereditary? I hear that it's in that Okay, here.
It's amazing.
Anyways, Yeah, it's for another short break, yeall, But we'll be right back to our conversation with Lauren Lapis.
And we're back with comedian and podcaster Lauren Lapkis.
Well, I know how you feel someone about haunted houses, But Lauren, how do you feel about them?
Mostly negative? I would say I've been to a few, you know, they do, like the Queen Mary, like the haunted thing on the ship here in la and that's really scary.
I've done that.
There's people who jump out at you and try to scare you and like universal hornits. I've done all that stuff. I don't like being like yelled at and like having people run towards me. That doesn't feel good. So those
are kind of too much for me. But there was this play, it's like a haunted play that you moved through in La called Delusion, and it's they rent out a huge house, like the one I went to was in a Victorian house that I don't know if it was abandoned or what, but in that area of town when there's all those old Victorians.
Immediately creepy, immediately spooky. So creepy Victorian, immediately spooky.
You know, there's like just like a rocking chair that just moves all night like by it. Oh yeah, it was so creepy. And then there's so it's all actors and you know it's actors, but they do such an
amazing job. So there's people leading you through the show and you're there's a story being told, and you have to go in different rooms and sometimes your friends will be like removed and put in a different room and something will happen with them that you don't know about, and then they get to like they get brought back to your group at a certain point, and it's really scary. I mean, I think for people who love immersive things,
it's amazing. I truly I enjoyed it. But I was terrified the entire time.
One of the most fun Halloween experiences I've had was going to Sleepy Hollow, which is a real town just outside of New York, and they really do up Halloween.
You know, yeah, do it up big.
So I did a haunted house there and that was really fun. I feel like the best thing you can do during this spooky season is just like find a setting that really immerses you in the vibes and like really lean into it.
That kind of experience is so fun.
Yeah, that's so fun. I would you would have to go to a haunted house if you're there, because I feel like that's what it's all about.
But totally yeah, Okay, Lauren, I'm gonna take a hard left turn here. As a comedian, I'm sure you've seen a lot of things.
You have.
You've probably seen a lot of stuff on tour. They're probably I don't know, maybe you've dealt with fear going out on stage when you were first starting out. What's the scariest experience you've had as a comedian?
Oh, my god, Well, quite specifically, I went to Dallas, Texas with my improv team. This was now like twelve years ago. Or something, and we stayed at a haunted hotel and it was known to be haunted and it was under construction, so that was also creepy because it's just like lots of areas where it feels like there's it's all dark and dusty and crazy. And the people I was traveling with love horror stuff, and we including my friend Betsy Sidaro, who is like, she's actually on
the show Ghosts coincidentally, but she loves horror stuff. She has a podcast all about horror scary ghost stories, and she loves horror movies. And so everyone was like really excited to go try to explore this hotel. And we walked around for a while in places we weren't supposed to go. We went into like the construction areas, like we're just being creepy and dumb, and I didn't see anything, and it sounds like I'm building up, like I want
to say, And then I saw a ghost. I didn't see a ghost, but I went back to my room and I was really scared all night. So that's.
Great endings, Yes, such a good ending.
I was like, should I lie though it's not worth it?
And then I saw Wendy and Casper.
Yeah, and they were both hanging out and it was so cute, incredible.
Well, Lauren, thanks so much for hanging out with us.
Thanks for coming on the right side.
Thank you for having me. This was so great.
Lauren Lapkiz is the host of Haunting, a new podcast that shares real life paranormal stories. She's also appearing in the new film Another Happy Day Out this month on Apple TV.
That's it for today's show.
Tomorrow, we're popping off with comedian, writer and podcast host Chelsea Davontez. Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram and at The bright Side Pod on TikTok oh, and feel free to tag us at Simone Boyce and at Danielle Robe.
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
See you tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side.