It's the Movie Crypt! And welcome to another edition of the Movie Crypt. I'm Adam Green. I'm Joe Lynch. And we are recording this episode way back on September... 4th 2024 and i'm sure you're like wait what the fuck well it's because uh at the time we're recording this i am going to be
leaving in the near future to go on a new adventure and so we've been banking episodes and banking episodes because we want to make sure you guys always have a new one it's probably going to have to be some that joe does solo because i don't think we're going to be able to bank
Enough for the amount of time I'll be gone. It's going to be next year and shit. Yes. But our good friend Steve Barton, you would have heard his... What episode number was he? 115. 115. 115 or 155? Christ. Whatever it was. It was early on in the podcast. It's been probably eight years, ten years since he's been on. You know Steve Barton as the guy who started Dread Central. You know his involvement with the first two Terrifier movies. 155.
I was close. Well, he has a book coming out. So we wanted to record while we could all be here. And then we're going to hold this one back and release it closer to the release of the book. It's called A Comedy of Tragedies. It comes out on December.
10th. You can get it wherever books are sold. But then as you'll hear in the episode, he also suggests a specific place where you can get it from, where you can get a personalized signed copy and things like that. There's also going to be an audiobook. But it is a great book. And you might be thinking, why does Steve Barton need an autobiography?
Well, when you read it, you'll see. You'll find out. From the childhood stuff, which you heard some of if you heard his original episode. If you're in the classic crypt here of Patreon, you can go listen to it right now if you want. But man, it is. it's an inspiring read to like you, like we try to do on the show to showcase that everyone struggles. Everyone goes through some shit, but you keep going, you find a way and you carry on. And man, is this book a great example of that happening.
A number of times. So we're going to shut up and get right to it. This is our conversation, our 2024 conversation with, now we can say, author. Yeah. Steve, Uncle Creepy Barton. Our guest this week is one of very few returning guests.
to the movie crypt if you've been listening to this podcast for all 11 and a half years you know it's very rare that we bring somebody on a second time and for no other reason than there's just so many people that we want to try to talk to but this is pretty special because he has a book, a autobiography coming out on December 10th, a comedy of tragedies. In fact, I gave a great quote, which was, well.
will do for autobiographies what Jaws did for swimming, which. Hey, that that's worthy. Our Movie Crypt live audience will appreciate that. But please welcome back to the Movie Crypt podcast. Steve Uncle Creepy. Martin. Hey guys. Now, now I'm in the new school vault. Yes, but it's probably been close to 10 years since you were on eight, nine years. You know, what about Yorkie thon though?
You've been on a bunch of Yorkie thons doing disaster. Don't, don't discredit the Yorkie thon shit disaster. And when we do Yorkie thon nine, which unfortunately we're going to have to, normally we do Yorkie thon at Christmas. We have to postpone it. this year because of shooting. But when we do it, there is something from your book that I really want to do a live reading of. It's one of the funniest things I've very seldom in life.
And I, as you know, I read nonstop. I'll read anything somebody puts in front of me. Please, you out there, don't send me your script, your book. I won't read that. But I. I was laughing so hard that my wife had to be like, what is so funny? And I just handed her the iPad. And then within 30 seconds, she was laughing out loud. But we'll get to that.
so uh obviously you have this new book it's an autobiography and i'm sure many people ask you this being like what made you want to write an autobiography because everyone thinks of it because no one knows your life better than yourself but few people do it but but you did it and so where did the idea to do this come from where did the uh drive to actually see it through come from where did it start
You know, that's a really good question because anytime anyone's ever come up to me and said, hey, man, I'm writing an autobiography, you know, my first initial thought is what makes you think your life is so interesting? And I don't mean that. as a slight of any kind it's just a good question you know and it i always that was the sticking point i never intended to do that but i i reached a point in my life where
You know, there were so many demons, man, and they were all rattling around in my head. And no matter how hard I tried to just silence them, they just kept fighting. and it was just incessant. So I was watching something about psychology and like, you know, sometimes it's good. to write these things down and get it out of your system yeah a lot of people will tell you to journal but you journaled a way that was for mass consumption being like it here here's my journals
Yeah, I mean, I told I have a very specific writing style. You can always tell when I wrote something because it's anyone who's ever had a conversation with me that that's my writing style. It's my voice. And I just started writing down all these things. And as a creative, it came natural to me to write it almost like a sitcom in my own head. Right. And what I wanted to do.
was I wanted to do that psychological thing, man. I wanted to get it all out of my system, get it all on paper, and then just burn it. That was my initial thought. I'm going to get it, I'm going to print it, and I'm going to burn it. fuck this thing fuck this life and i wrote half of it while i was still in san diego and then the world ended
And as in typical Steve Barton fashion, it wasn't enough to have a deadly plague. I had to actually throw a hand grenade on my whole life to make it even more special. So I decided to just say, fuck it. no, I don't have enough problems. Let me just upend my life, end a relationship and head over to New Jersey because that was the logical thing to do. It was hard, man. So I wrote half of it.
And I got to a point in the book where it was really difficult for me to keep revisiting these places because I figured if I wanted to really do this and do these. stories which actually happened, the justice that they deserved, I had to just open up doors that I've kept closed for a very long time. And every single detail that I could remember is in those stories as it appears in the book of all these.
different accounts and all these crazy people that I've met and my parental upbringing, such as it was. And, um, you know, my mom's death, there was a lot of really difficult things that I was dealing with. Now that, now that you have.
the book done though has there already been things that you realized fuck i never even mentioned that i didn't talk about my worry is that there's always going to be something that you go fuck I missed that or ah shit I didn't mention that person you know yeah I always am saying whether to myself or to close friends like oh that was definitely going in the eventual book someday in the book I'm going to talk about that and then when I start thinking about it
I'm like, I only really have like two stories that you just get recycled over and Mr. Bunny. And then I'm like, oh, wait, no, no. There were all those movies I made, I guess. But like you forget, like you just time happens. And speaking of while we're on the subject of this, this is a good time to bring this up because I was going to say I have a bone to pick with you, but I don't know if I really have a bone to pick with you.
So at Monsterpalooza back in June of this year, 2024. What did I do? Well, wait, because I don't know if you did it, but I think you did. So. There was, I just done a run of at that point, I think seven or eight conventions and literally not one.
Weird encounter Which is saying a lot To do that many all over the country And just everybody was fucking wonderful and normally that's 99.9% of the time that's the way it is but every now and then you just get that one um problematic encounter are you talking like some parasitic in a way either parasitic or um
Most of us have at least one stalker out there, and then you see them coming. Well, you haven't made it until you have a stalker, to be fair. I would have rather not made it then. But point is, I won't get into all that. But there was this lull because Monsterpalooza, especially the Pasadena one, is packed because if you've never been there, it's like a celebration of effects. And there's all these.
super talented makeup effects artists doing demonstrations. There's a museum of stuff to look at. Like, it's just awesome. And. Tony Todd was to my right and he was taking a break and Kane Hodder was to my left and he was I think it is photo op and we were short a handler so I was just like I'm fine by myself I don't care for a few minutes what do I care and
All of a sudden, there's this like, whoa, there's just nobody there at my table. And this old man, he was probably in his 80s, late 80s, maybe. Like, I don't know. But he stops, he looks at me and he walks over and he's like, Adam Green, I've been waiting 20 years to tell you something. And in my mind. Because it's a local show in LA, I had already signed a bunch of ticket subs for like the premiere of Hatchet, people who saw Hatchet 2 in theaters in the five minutes before it got pulled.
Um, and I assumed it was going to be something like that. So he says, I was at the opening night of hatchet at the arc light in 2007. So I'm like getting my pen out, ready to sign his tickets up. And he's like, and your behavior that night. was so fucking despicable this whole thing and i'm like is this a bit because like bowsman had just walked by so i'm thinking this is a bit like they're putting me like this is a joke and i'm like what what are you talking about and he's like first of all
You got up there and you were drunk and you were visibly drunk. And then you were on the microphone saying, fuck this and fuck that and fuck you. And I'm like, I never did that. There's no way I ever, dude, that wasn't me. He's like, yeah, it was you. And he's like ripping into me. And I'm just like, what is happening? I'm like, dude, you have me confused with somebody else. Like, sure.
I definitely will say fuck every now and then. Or, you know, especially back then, I probably swore even more, but not like I'm not fucking Joe Begas with like you motherfuckers ready for the fucking fucking motherfucker. Like and he's just but this dude's just. going on me and like i'm trying to be respectful especially because it's an elderly man but then he starts blaming me for his the woman he was seeing breaking up with him after that screening because she was so offended
by how much I was saying fuck. And I'm like, you know, you think that's why she left you? And I'm like pointing at him. I'm like, you don't think it was this is like at this point I had it with him. And then anyway, it got a little ugly at the end. Nothing I'm proud of. I don't want to get into that. But I was like baffled. And then sure enough, like 10 minutes after this guy finally left.
These these two women come up who are like, oh, we were at the Arclight for Hatch. I'm like, OK, do you remember me holding a drink in my hand and seeming drunk or saying fuck every other word? And they're like. no, I didn't think you drank. I'm like, yeah, I don't. I'm like, so I don't know where. And I told them the story and they're like, that didn't happen. And then a few nights later, I'm still fuming about this. Spooky Dan comes by and tell him the story.
And I can see he's like thinking, he's like, I don't really remember that. But when he spoke to Tammy, his wife, she's like, wait, you don't remember that night? And he's like, what are you talking about? And she's like.
on our way home both of us were like man when creepy introduced adam he was he really was going man like he was just swearing left and right she's like he probably can over the 20 years use that without him so it was your fault that this crazy wait so this whole thing was set up so you can do this It was. Wow. I'm sorry, Steve. Remember. But the thing is, none of us know for sure. Did that make the book? If that's what it was. Yeah. Was that? No. No, it's not.
That wasn't in the book. You know, it's funny. I number one know that I had nothing to do with that other than being the impetus. But yeah, that's crazy, dude. I'm sorry. Well, two decades later.
Yeah, it's a crazy story, but that was the only possibility that kind of made sense. It was the only possibility that kind of made sense because you... especially back then you did swear that that guy held this grudge for 20 fucking years at that moment well to be fair his memory wasn't very good because i kept saying you're confusing me with somebody else that was a different screening
I finally said you so you saw hatchet yeah I saw it I'm like what happens in it and he just looks at me he goes they all they all turn on each other and start killing each other I'm like no no that's not no that's not what happens so It's possible, though, that For whatever reason, his memory was your introduction of me. And then over 20 years, everything that's gone wrong in his life, he's now blamed on me, but he has us confused. That's amazing.
I want to do Monsterpalooza next just so I could have that moment where I'd be like, I don't know what you're talking about, dude. I'm Joe Lynch. Anyway, but speaking of remembering things correctly, that's what. that was my segue there. But that's my biggest fear is, and a lot of people will say in the beginning of their book, like this is the way I remember it. You know, other people might say, Oh, that wasn't, it wasn't that date or it didn't happen like that or whatever, but.
If you're going to write an autobiography, you want it to be as accurate as possible. But at the same time, and you did do this with a couple of characters where you change names, you change their name for the purpose of not of just not having to deal with them. Yes, you know, but you always pointed that out where you said who, for the sake of this book, we're going to call Bob or low ginch. Yeah. No shaking. Adam.
But what was your Thought process in that Because there's some people's names That are in it And there's others that aren't You're very up to speed with everything that's gone on with me. So there was some times I had a real dilemma on my hands. Like, how much do I say? And if I don't say enough, is that accurate? Do I feel good about this? So I had to find a way to present some of these interactions that at times weren't so fortunate or even were fortunate in a way.
not to really present them as like i'm holding a grudge and you're a cocksucker i mean yeah there's some of that in there but i believe was the original title that was the original title you're a cocksucker by yes but um You know, it's funny. And to answer your original question, yes, there are stories that I should have put in there. But I was only for the first part really dealing with... I mean, the first half of the book is like my upbringing. You know what I mean?
and i was really only focused on that and then by the time that i got to what i guess some would say the meat of the story that they're going to be reading for you know stories about the industry and this and that i had to really cherry pick which ones i i picked because it would be really long so what i decided to do is to make this work in my favor if i do readings i'm gonna not
tell a story that's in the book. I'm going to tell a story I left out of the book. You know what I mean? Oh, that's a good idea. And if I ever write a sequel, it'll just be called post credit sequence. And then I'll give those stories. That's a good title. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I thought about that. But it's funny, the book didn't, it came this close to just nearly not happening at all.
you know um when i moved out of california i was in a really dark place mentally go figure um a lot of things we all had that shitty COVID year and all these people died and, you know, and I'm, I'm one of those people that if there's a real negative vibe, man, I feel that shit 10 times over, you know? And so I needed to, for my own sake, go back to someplace familiar where I know where I am, or at least go to a place where nobody knows where I am. You know what I mean?
Or who I am for that matter. And so I moved back to the East Coast. I'm living in Jersey. And I moved in with this girl. Her name is Danielle. and now she's my wife which is incredible because i can't believe someone would sleep with me willingly for the rest of my life i've been saying the same thing You know, it's just a really weird fact. And like, you sure? I mean, did you see this? Anyway, so.
You know, one day I was sitting at my computer and I'm working on whatever it was I was working on. And she comes in here and she asked me, she's like, Hey, you know, that book you started writing. Can I, can I read what you wrote? And I looked at him like, what the fuck for? You, you married me, you know, every single thing about me. She goes, I know, but I just, I, I'm curious when you told me you were writing one, I just wanted to see how everything was coming together.
i'm like whatever fine and so i forwarded her at that point it was half done and i went back to work and a few hours later she came downstairs and she She just sat across from me and she looked at me and I'm like, what? She goes, you can't burn this. You have to finish this. You have to finish this and get this out there. And I'm like, well, why?
And she said, because there are so many people out there that have been through similar. And the one bad thing about going through everything you went through is you feel really alone. You know, and she said that this has the possibility of being able to help someone and at the very least make them feel not so alone. And so I sat and I thought about that. And if I've ever done anything, yes, I'm loud. Yes, I'm obnoxious. Yes, I could have a random 80 year old man hold a 20 year.
grudge against adam green because i was silly-headed you know i i can do all those things but if there's one thing i really want to do it's to be able to help people and i always enjoyed helping people and when i was going through my tenure of dread central and you know hanging out with george romero and sid haig and they taught me so much those two and you know And I just, everything they taught me, I've kept in like a bank in my head. And I just want to.
pass it on to everyone else because it was so valuable to me you know especially knowing how to treat people and how to expect to be treated and I wanted that all out there. And I figured, all right, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it and I'm going to finish it. And then I realized in the back of my head, I had to finish it because George made me promise him, Steve.
If you do anything in this life that you start, you better fucking finish it. And I promise you, George, George. Right. Well, yeah, dude. And fucking. So I said. I got to finish it because I told him I would. So I wrote this. Sorry. We don't want to spoil. too many stories from the book, but one which I think you might have even told it in your episode of the podcast.
But for some reason, because a lot of it, like, look, obviously I'm a biased reader. I've known you 20 years. I was familiar with a bunch of the stories in it. But one of my favorites is how you wound up meeting Tony Timpone. And I love that and becoming the person in charge of the message boards of Fangoria, which kind of started your whole path in this. But like, I know it's I don't we don't want to like.
spoil the whole book but for anyone who didn't hear that story yet this is such a good dangler could you just tell that one really quick yeah man so as everyone could surmise by now if they've been following me or listening to this show or whatever the fuck i'm approximately five years old mentally And what that means is if you show me toys that light up, I will sit there and make them light up incessantly until the battery dies.
So my girl at the time knew this about me and little things would make me happy. So she went on eBay. And sometimes she would just search for, you know, surprise gifts for me, a practice, which I've been trying to get Danielle to follow suit on, but as of yet hasn't worked, but she already agreed this to sleep with you. I know. I know. I know.
steps maybe thrusts so so she buys me this roaring jurassic park cage right essentially all it was was like a a hunk of cardboard with the jurassic park containment unit graphics on it that you press a button and it goes so um yeah man i and i was like yeah that's all me so the person who was selling it he ended up living two blocks away from me and so he's like you know why don't i just walk this over it makes no sense to put it in the mail
And I was like, oh, fine. That's fine with me. So, you know, I get a call one morning and it's like, hey, this is the eBay seller. Right. I'm like, oh, yeah, man, just come on over. So I went upstairs and I sat on my stoop. which is uh your front steps for anyone not from the east coast and and i look down the block and there comes this dude with this really familiar walk and i'm looking at him
And he goes, hey, I'm Tony. I'm like, you're Tony Timpone, right? He's like, yeah. He wasn't wearing the suit. No, he wasn't. That would have been so weird. dude that's like seeing that's like seeing our favorite slashers without the makeup i've only seen tony not in a suit like a couple times like yeah yeah
And so he just walked up to me and I instantly recognized him because, of course, when I was going to the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors and this and that, he gave me the whole, it's great to know that there's a member of the Fango family right down the block. And I'm like, oh, yeah. man. So Steve, you like horror movies. I like horror movies. I love the horror. I do.
We became fast friends because Tony is really like the nicest guy in the world. I mean, he really is. He's such a fan of the genre. He knows so fucking much and he's just a great, great guy. Yeah. So I went from being his neighbor to helping him fix his radiator and shit like this now. Right. And.
I love that because it becomes, it's like that moment in Simpsons where it's like, I think it's one of the Treehouse of Horror episodes where at the end, Homer has like the little Crussy the Clown, like actually like making him food and he's grumbling the whole time. It's like, be careful what you wish for.
creepy because someday you're gonna have to fucking fix Tony Timpone's radiator yes seriously the funny thing is I was like I don't know what I'm doing but I wasn't about this I think I bang it with this yeah that works exactly man i i ain't looking a gift horse in the mouth give me that fucking wrench um so it didn't take long for him to realize that i knew my shit you know and
one day as we were riding to manhattan together on the train he goes you know steve we got you know fangoria.com and how would you like to come on board to be the message board moderator and i said you mean you want me to work for fangoria and he's like yeah i'm like well yeah i'm doing it right and then of course that's when i picked my screen name uncle creepy which
Had I have known the connotations that came with it like 40 years later, I would probably have been a little bit more selective. It's so funny how something like that, where at the moment you're just looking at this like little blank square that says like user ID or, you know, username. realizing that that is going to define you I think all of us went through that when the internet first started where you don't think about like oh yeah the like creepy spooky rotten whatever those like are gonna
stick with you for a very long time. Yeah. But even like picking a Twitter handle, I didn't like, I think with Twitter, wait, it went MySpace, Facebook. Twitter, right? Right. Is that sort of the genesis of how it went? Roughly. And I just, there was already all these Adam Green's taken and I didn't want to be Adam Green one or whatever. So it's like. I'll be Adam underscore effing underscore green on Twitter. I didn't realize it would last as long as it has. I would have picked something.
different like yeah man like that's the thing now and it's like man I wish I'd picked I don't know what because but you know what though I mean I am sure you could relate to this even though that's the name you picked it's brought Me personally, the name Uncle Creepy has brought me nothing but good things. And that's pretty amazing to me because it is such a weird fucking name to pick. And I love when people are.
you know first hey creepy and the person like next to me doesn't know what he's talking about and it's always a really cool awkward moment to have well i have to explain it your your time moderating message boards Leads to the funniest Thing ever And you know
And I feel bad about this because the first thing I said, because I read it the second you sent it to me. And that was the first thing I commented on was, holy shit, that's the funniest thing I've ever read. And you're like, hey, thanks. Thanks. Thanks for pointing out that you love the part of the book I didn't write. That's the one part of the book he didn't write. But we're going to save it for a York-ethon so that we can do...
a live reading of it will like cast it and whatever we have to do. But it is so fucking funny. And normally I don't. Find like some people I have friends, for instance, who will purposely watch the shittiest horror movie they can find on whatever streaming site or like because they they. like laughing at like bad stuff. I'm like, I'm normally not that guy. Like the first time I saw the room, I appreciated it a lot because Tommy was so was there. He was so happy. The audience.
as much as they were laughing, they were they were there was a reverence for it. They loved it. But then I brought friends a second time and it was such a different audience they were so mean-spirited about it just just making fun of making fun of tommy when he did his little intro he like he always says like i'll answer three questions from the audience and the first question was
bro going yeah why do you fucking suck and i just i couldn't stay i'm like i i hate the dancing screening i left after 15 minutes i hated the audience so much like but you this thing it's so innocent Because it was just somebody, I'm going to assume English wasn't their first language. I don't know. All right. So when this first, it was on the Dread Central message boards. And I used to have like a forum for everything.
so there was a forum for people to share their own stories you know and um this guy his name was tsmk and a bunch of numbers right and i'm like what is this and the name of the story was a tale of suffering and i'm reading it and and like you i had that same exact reaction i'm like this is the funniest fucking thing i have ever read in my Life and it like It's endlessly quotable You know it's just My wife still quotes it Just randomly she'll quote it like all the time Now like it's so funny
It's impossible not to feel the innocence and joy behind it. But this dude thought he was writing the next fucking Stephen King movie, you know? he ended up the fact that it's in like four parts like part three is part is in two parts so his tale of suffering part three part two it's just it's just insanity and i knew
That no matter what I did, if the internet went down the next day, I was preserving that shit for good because it made me laugh. So that has been sitting on my computer for 20 years, you know? And I was like, I don't know what I'm doing with this, but one day I'm going to get a chance to bring this to a different level. It reminded me. Sorry. It reminded me of.
When my parents first moved out of Massachusetts, they were in Nevada for a while, like outside of Vegas for a few years and helping them like pack up stuff. And my mom had saved. I used to write stories when I was like. seven, eight years old, like just like and mainly there were drawings. And the only thing because my artistic.
skills like as a artist drawing stuff peaked at eight years old. Like when I draw storyboards now, it looks like an eight year old drew them. And if the crew can get their hands on them, they end up passing it around, laughing at it. Like it's terrible. But I all the only thing I knew how to draw was like a shark, like and not even like a full shark, just the head coming out of the water because it's basically just one line. It's a thumb. Yeah. And then a smaller thumb.
but so all of the stories that i wrote and there were dozens of them they were all jaws that's it and it was just all my friends getting eaten by a shark that was And then the next story, same thing, same thing, same things would happen, same thing, but I'm reading it and it's, they're so bad. And there's, but you know, again, I'm eight years old. I can, I only know so many words.
But that's what it reminded me of. And I think that was the joy I got in it, was that in my mind, whoever wrote that was 10 years old. I hope they weren't 40 and thought it was good. The only thing I know is his name was Manny.
and he worked at a Best Buy. Those are the only two things I've ever known about him. Okay, so he wasn't eight years old? No, unless Best Buy had a toddler's unit. I don't know. Child labor laws, you know, they're... they're loosening up but you know so i'm writing my book and i get to like the dread central chapter and i i open up my files and i'm looking at it i'm like do i or don't i
And I'm looking at it. And then I opened it up and I started reading it again. And then it occurred to me, hey, wait, this is my book. I could do whatever the fuck I want. I decided to put it in there. And the way I frame it is like, listen, if this doesn't make you laugh, I don't know what to tell you. The joy is gone from your life. I don't know.
it just fit in all the rest of the absurdity that actually happened and so i wrestled with that for like at least i don't know five seconds before i realized it's my book i like a whopping five seconds but i had a whopping five seconds of of planning and um way to track down the author right because it was just like a random screen name
Yeah, it was TSMK and a bunch of numbers. I don't even remember what the numbers were. But I mean, I hope he comes forward because I would love to just shake his hand and say thank you, Flea. years of joy and then he'll go oh you're welcome and sue me but fuck it it's a chance i had to take and um and you know it just it was there and the funniest thing was
When I sent the book to the editor who is doing like, I'm like, listen, you cannot change a single character of this part of the book. And he's like. okay i'm like just skip it completely move on to somewhere else and i i guess that made him want to read it And so he messages and he's like, dude, my fucking head is pounding and my eye is twitching. I just want to fix that. I'm like, no, you can't. That has to be what it is.
That's it, man. I went on from there. And I'm thankful for my decision. I'm thanking myself to include it. But I also hope I don't end up losing. The reader at that point, because this story has absolutely nothing to fuck to do with anything. Well, it does, though, because it's indicative of what you were doing at that time. Now, granted, not every one of those message wars was writing three part.
stories that make no sense whatsoever but you still your job was to keep some sort of um sanity towards these message boards which as we all remember when we would make our first film and then You can't help yourself in the beginning. You keep looking and it's all just just the most horrible shit that people are saying.
even though they can't spell, they can't type and you're taking the shit to heart. And then sometimes it's their dick slapping against the keyboard. Once you like, you know, you get a few years under your belt and you realize like, why do I care? what this person has to say. You just don't look anymore in your life.
improves but in the beginning everyone's guilty of looking because you just you can't believe somebody watched something you made you're like holy shit someone oh shit then it's up to you to kind of decide do you really want to go down that rabbit hole all the time it's the worst thing ever
It really is, but I am not going to lie. By the time that kid posted part two, it was an event. You know? It's like, part two's up. Where's the popcorn? Let's see TV shit. Oh, dude, I almost screamed. I was glued. when I saw there was a part three and because I didn't want it to end. And anyway, so we'll stop talking about a thing that people can't read. I want to talk a little bit about that. You were talking before, Steve, about the hook or how you grab people because now full disclosure.
I have not read the book you sent it to me But I have not read it I'm waiting for the audiobook We're going to get to that There's part of me that enjoys listening to you talk. So that's part of me is like listening now, just letting you just that your voice is like ASMR to me. It's just like every time you say, man, I'm like, oh.
But I do listen to a lot of nonfiction books, a lot of autobiographies, a lot of biographies, especially about like creatives, filmmakers. And anytime that you have a biography. They usually try to it starts out in nonlinear fashion. They find some kind of opening story or, you know, whether it's they're at the height of their their fame or at the rock bottom of where everything's going wrong.
And it's that typical, like, how did I get here? And that, you know what? Honestly, it's always such an intriguing. point to start with in like the last three books that I read that I read a book on uh Bob Fosse um there's there's a new one that Sam Wasson who Sam Wasson is like one of my favorite autobiography like biographers because he just has great stories he just did one on Coppola that did the same thing and there's a Kubrick one that is fucking amazing and all three of them
Have a very particular structure, but it also uses that almost archetype of let's find a story that's kind of embedded within the DNA of this person's life, shove it all the way to the front, and then allow the audience to kind of get hooked from that. Did you ever find yourself? I mean, you read the book, Adam. Do you find yourself having to scour through your life to find that hook? And did you do that for this particular book?
I started the book with what is legitimately my first memory, you know, and that chapter. chapter one a lot of people tell me is their favorite i'm like oh great there's only fucking 20 more to go um but but it was that chapter was very necessary for the rest of the story so you can get an idea of who i was and how i came to be And again, when I started writing it, I didn't think of it as an introduction to whatever's going to come next. It literally is my first memory of being alive.
I frame it in a way where it ends up not only being my first memory, but it leads to my first... bout of self-discovery of of what i actually loved in life and how i wanted to chase that you know so it it ended up being a really interesting way to start it and i've just lived a life that's been rife with colorful characters you know from my my venom spitting grandmother to i mean they're just all there man
And I think what's, you know, it's funny when, when I sent the book to Encyclopocalypse publications to, to, you know, for a possible publisher. They just wanted to take the book because I wrote it, you know, and I thought that was an incredible compliment. But I'm like, no, man, I don't think I think you should read it. So you know what you're getting, because it isn't just me telling.
you know industry stories i mean that stuff is in there sure but it's a very personal book in on a lot of really deep personal levels it's a lot of childhood stuff i mean then all the 9 11 stuff of course yeah really big deal um so you know i i said read it Let me know what you think. If you don't want, if this isn't your thing, please don't worry about it. You're not going to hurt my feelings. And about a week or two later, he came back and he goes, we have to release this book.
And I'm like, OK, that's great news. And they really got it. And I think that they realize its purpose. And the book does have a purpose. it's a there's my french bulldog going hi i'm here play with me now i guess that bark was better than farting um yeah it's just It's a very interesting tale. It's one I'm very proud of. I really bear my soul in it because I never thought anyone was ever going to read it.
rather than take out some of the things that some people may have been embarrassed by. And I just, I put it all on display. And that's what I really appreciated though, is that you tell the stories of.
Bad decisions or mistakes that you made But you do it in a way where you own it Whereas sometimes when you read an autobiography As opposed to a biography the right you can tell that the person telling their story is very much concerned with how they're going to come off looking and they're constantly
as much as they're trying to be honest and show, hey, man, sometimes I make mistakes. There's also a but it wasn't my fault. It was because of this or because of that or because but you just like own it. yeah i mean listen the one thing i didn't want to do is come off and i've had a lot of tragedy but i frame it with gallows humor in the book because gallows humor is kind of what i do and it i tried
to tell it in a way where one, I made sure I did not want it to read like I was having a pity party. You know, this isn't a woe is me type book. This is a fuck it. I could do this type book. That is my vibe. And it just goes to show you that there isn't a lot of adversity that can happen to somebody that they can't take control of. And I'm very proud of that.
this audience, especially those that read it, I think are going to get out of it is like, look, anytime you want to pursue something that it's not like. even just doing a corporate job, you're not going to have really bad moments and hard times and bad shit happening. It happens to all of us, but in particularly the entertainment industry.
as people have heard over 600 episodes now, everybody goes through shit like it just it happens. And it's either you let it beat you or even worse, let it change you and become a bitter. asshole because of it right you pick yourself back up and you go try again Or in your case, one of the things I really appreciate about your story is the way that you've managed to pivot. It wasn't, I have to do this one thing and that's the thing I'm going to do. Like you paid attention to.
what life was throwing at you and then took the opportunities whether it went the way you wanted or not but you kept trying and I think a lot of people can benefit from that Thank you, man. I really appreciate that. And I hope they do. You know, I always say I'm not unique. Everybody has their stories. I hope that when people read mine. they can number one it's a little scary that in a couple months everyone's gonna know like everything about me but um i i hope that they can take
my situations and my reactions and how I frame things and maybe look at things that are going on in their lives in a little bit of a different way. I'm not perfect. I've never been perfect. I'll never be perfect. And I'm okay with that. I just want to live a life where I could do what I love and be around people whom I love. You know, given how the first half of the book went, you know, of course I chose to be in the entertainment industry because I'm a fucking idiot. And yeah, man, it just.
It's funny. There's one quote from George that I love that I didn't put in the book. And it was it was we were having a heartfelt moment because I'm a big mush, you know, and I go, George, I don't know. how many times I could thank you for taking me in and teaching me all that you have. And he went, I go, you're a true mentor and a friend to me. And he said, of course, Steve, that's obvious. I'm your mentor. You're fucking broke. And I'm like, yep, that works. Well, that is.
One of the biggest lessons, though, in this industry is before you're in it, you at least our generation assumed if you are in something or you made something. that's popular, that is available everywhere, that people have seen, then, man, you won the lottery. You must be doing okay. And then when you meet your heroes and you find out, no.
That's not the way the industry is set up. Like, yes, some people, Spielberg, James Wan, I'm sure is doing just fine. James Gunn's doing just fine. Like there's, there's people out there that hit that, that other level, but for the like. as joe always says it like the blue collar filmmaker no it's not like that um and i also think there was a when i was growing up there was a girl in my class who i was friends with and
It didn't matter what it was. If I like stubbed my toe and said, ow, she had a lecture that how can you care about that when there's children starving in Africa? And. And it's not that I don't care about children starving. I just right now I just stubbed my toe. Can't I say ow because I stubbed my toe. But there's that philosophy of how dare you feel bad because someone hasn't. And that doesn't help.
It just doesn't. I think, yes, it is very important to have empathy beyond yourself. And the more I go through life, the more I meet people who sometimes I question, are they capable of that? But. There is something in sharing disappointment or hard times. And the most important part is, but I'm still here and I got through it. And that.
is what I hope people take out of it. Not well, I know my life sucks, but fuck this person is worse. We recently at the time we're recording this, our Blair Witch Roundtable episode had run and that was a. like pivotal moment in my life was that dinner that I was at when Josh and Heather and Mike and Eduardo, when they just started unloading what they've been through, because right always forever.
on this podcast kept saying, unless your movie makes Blair Witch money, they'll always find a way to hide it. But in that case, how are they going to hide it? Movie costs 35 grand to make, made a quarter of a billion just in theaters.
obviously they're all fine. And then you find out what happened, which if you're listening to this and you haven't heard that episode, go back and listen to it. And it wasn't a, oh man, somebody got fucked worse than I did. It's holy shit them too but then you how how they all still found a way and found happiness in in real things and managed to get through such a fisting. It's it's super inspiring. And I think that's why it's important that people share that when this podcast started.
We didn't know what it was going to become until like after maybe the first like 15 episodes or whatever. It was really the Bowsman episode that changed everything at all. But there were some people that they don't want to hear that. They don't want to hear.
about the struggles and stuff, because after all, you're lucky you get to do this, not all you've given and gone through in order to try to do this. But I. i think what you did really well in this book is that dude it's a lot of tough tough to read really tough to read but you make it all relatable and the overlying message is like
I'm not saying I've had it the worst. People have had it worse. It's not a competition, but this is how I did it. This is how I kept picking myself back up and to be prepared just because you picked yourself back up once. That doesn't mean that was the only time you're going to get knocked out. Oh, man. You know what? I've been knocked down so many times that I'm well equipped to deal with that eventual fall, you know, because to me.
I've embraced it at this point because it's inevitable. And that's not to say I'm a pessimist, but when it does happen and it will happen, especially given the lives we've chosen, you know. I've learned to embrace that moment because when you've been knocked down and there's. nowhere else to look or go. All you could do is climb the walls and get back up. And it's the choices you make during those moments that are going to dictate who you become and define your character.
You know, so I welcome that. I really do. I didn't realize it until a few years ago, but like most of my book collection, which I've very large.
Library because I'm a avid reader But most of it is Rockstar biographies And then there's some filmmaker ones Some actor ones whatever but that's usually What it is and i one day i was just staring at it and obviously it's because i'm so into the music i'm into so that drove my interest but i was asking myself if i was gonna you know some people do what are they called
a board a vision board where they put like images and words on on something and you're supposed to like imagine you know your future oh um a mood board not mood board vision board yes vision board it's a vision board yeah and i there was one point when I was at like a low point where I was like, maybe I'll just put like photos of the people I admire up next to my desk. And I ended up.
not doing it. But I realized one of the things that 95% of them had in common was that they were all addicts. Now. I've been fortunate enough in life. I've never had to personally face something like that, but I have such respect for everyone who has because. I feel pretty familiar with it. I've lost people to it. I have friends who still battle with it every day. But when somebody can can can soldier through that and and work that hard because it isn't like.
Oh, you, you go through a rough week and then you're cured every day is a battle with that. And that they still found a way to be so productive and do what they do, especially the rock stars who once they. Had that moment where they finally were like I gotta get clean I can't do this anymore or I'm gonna wind up dead But then they still have to exist in a world Where they're surrounded by it And the temptation and people handing it to them And that they find a way
It's unbelievable. And I'm trying to remember what brought me here, but oh, it's just when you're saying how no matter how many times you get knocked down. You have to just figure out a way forward. You can't just be like, well, this is where I belong now. This is what I am. I'm a loser. I'm this, I'm that like, I'm not meant for anything better. You can't think that way. You just can't.
i mean you could but you end up going nowhere you know this has been a robert altman conversation this whole time like adam overlaps creepy creepy overlaps me i overlap everybody jesus christ at this point it's like a 20 20 plus year friendship here yeah i mean like it's funny because when because i was working in the back and i was like when i was walking up i'm like jesus christ i'll still never forget that day
in pittsburgh because it was a meeting george and sitting there for three hours and you know like kind of rapping with him but also at the premiere because i had just talked to nicotero again and he asked me about
do you remember that time that we all were there at land of the dead and we all, everyone was going to the mines and everything. I was like, yeah, that was like, that was a pivotal moment. Cause that's where I got to meet Rodriguez for the first time and Edgar for the first time. And I go like, and Steve Barton goes, Oh, uncle creepy. I'm like, yeah.
that's right. It was like, everybody was there to celebrate that moment with George. And the only reason there's no other reason why we would have been there. Otherwise it was a celebration of this man that affected. All of us. All right. I wanted to ask this really quick, just on a technical level. When you have a autobiography.
autobiographies a lot of times people either use co-writers or ghost writers was there ever any thought to bring someone else into the fold or were you that confident that you could be able to tell this because sometimes people don't do it only because They don't feel like they have the chops to be market friendly when it comes to their writing.
You know, was there ever like a thought to that? Because I mean, the stuff that I have written, like read from the book, it's like, well, yeah, this sounds like creepy, but it also sounds very, I don't want to use the word commercial, but it just it goes down easy. You know, was there ever a thought to bring someone else into the fold? Never. The way I looked at, I mean, I've been behind some incredible things over the years and I'm very lucky to be associated with.
And this was the first time that I've ever did something on this scale just for myself. I mean, don't forget I was doing this from a psychological point at first where I said to myself, you know, I got to get this all out. And the only person that could tell those stories was me. And they had to have the slants that I give them because they happened to me. I mean, you can get somebody and they can try to fluff it up for you.
Over the years, I never was a writer. I taught myself everything that I've ever learned to do. And being that I've been writing for 20 years, I'm able to tell a story and get a story out there. And when I went back after I finished it, I had to do a little bit of work on the first half of the book to make it a little bit more accessible for the reader to follow along.
other than that no this was this was all me this is actually i was telling adam that this right here right now this is an honor for me because this is the only time i've ever talked about something that is solely mine that i created that i worked on that i put in the hours to do so in terms of that though but like considering that you encapsulated everything all of that life into
a book that took months, obviously years to gestate, develop, if you will, then to put it all on paper, and then to have an editor come in and... you know, do their job. Was there ever a moment where you felt like, God, this is so weird that someone is editing my life for one reason or another. Was there anything that like, was it, who was the editor?
Actually, Scott Johnson, who I met doing Dread Central and the Horror Channel and all those other fucking things. He was the editor and the only work he did on the book was just cleaning up my grammar.
That was it. So there was never any concession on like, because sometimes I've read stuff with editors before where they're like, look, the only reason why we're kind of saying you shouldn't use this, you shouldn't use that is either for litigation purposes, like, oh, you've gone too far and we have to get that vetted.
And that's going to be a whole thing or it's not reading very well, you know, and then that's where I get like iffy on even having someone say anything about that because it's like, well, that's not your life. And maybe. Yes, maybe me having a chicken sandwich on Coanga one day that ultimately got me to go, maybe I should write that script, which ultimately got this movie made and whatever it is, there's always those seeds that you go, that's a perfect start for a story.
who's to say that you can't leave that in and then some editor goes like oh actually maybe that's not really the right thing to do and you go no fuck you so it's good to at least know that this is like unfiltered creepy in a way Oh, it's very unfiltered. And the only thing I changed was from the version you read, Adam, was I adjusted the language to a certain extent.
in the final chapter because that was a very tumultuous moment in my life. That's what I wanted to... bring on and ask you about now anyone who heard your first episode of this show almost a decade ago anyone who knows you or has read interviews with you or any of those things has heard at least some version of some of the stories up to those last couple chapters. And that was the first time I heard your side of it. It's the first time many people are going to hear your side of it. But.
obviously you were the champion of the original terrifier when that came out you were you had a producer credit on the second one and we're involved in in championing that in a major way and now you're not involved in the third one which at the time when this comes when this podcast airs the third one will have already come out um but you You really let it out about all. Oh, it's still there. It's very much still there. But here's what I didn't want, you know, because as I.
I started thinking about it, man. And the last thing I want to do is I want to ruin those movies for anyone, you know? I still support those movies. It's good that they exist for the genre. And at the end of the day, the genre is what's more important rather than my personal feelings. So instead of...
Being venomous, which I was very venomous, I framed everything in a way where I said the exact same thing, but without having... the need for anyone to feel like they should take sides you know it's uh it's a very down the middle approach i said again the message is there It's just a lot clearer. And at the end of the day, this is what happens, man. It's just what happens.
And what happened to me again, I don't think it was done out of malice. I don't think it was anything like that. It was just pure ignorance. And that's not to say that.
that's okay it's i'm not saying that what happened was okay and it's not it's just that um these are the things that happen especially on the indie scene because you have people that don't really know what a producer does or anything like that i mean i did everything on terrifier 2 but make the movie you know everything i arranged all of it i you know it's all in the book and to have what happened is unconscionable it really is but it was one person's decision
and that's what it is and I have to live with it and I was down for a very long time and I was sickened physically for a very long time but at the end of the day It's going to make me better because during that time, I picked myself up. I wrote a script with a guy named Jed Shepard, who's a really good friend of mine. And it was the first time I wrote a script with someone. And it was a great experience. And now the project is sitting with a studio. And I'm so thankful for that.
And then I wrote another one and I'm going to keep writing it. And I'm just going to keep going because giving up isn't an option. You know, you just got to go. If that's the thing people don't understand about this business sometimes, man, there is no plan B. This is who you are. You know, this is what you do. It may not be the smartest of things, but it's what you do.
If you're going into this business and you have a plan B already in mind, if you failed, you've already failed. And that's the reality of it. And again, you either let it break you or you let it make you. And I choose to let it make me. To hear the rest of this episode, go to patreon.com slash themoviecrypt. For only $1 a month, you'll get every new episode every Monday downloaded right to your podcast app of choice.