Shows
Black Magic TreehouseShivers #10: The Curse of the New KidJose drops Eric like a bad shoe for a conversation with A.D. Aro (@bumps_in_the_night_books on Insta). Together they traverse the forest of irresponsibility that grew from the mind of M.D. Spenser by way of a particularly unsane entry in the Shivers series, The Curse of the New Kid! Is this just American Psycho for elementary students? Does vomitation really carry the comedic weight Jose thinks it does? And how many faculty members need to either fall from great heights or be fallen upon from great heights before we outlaw second stories in school...2024-12-232h 04
Black Magic TreehouseHalf-Minute Horrors!If a picture is worth a thousand words and your thoughts cost a penny apiece, then today's episode might just save your life! No, we don't know what that means, either. What we do know is that, as Jose and Eric guide you through a cross-section of thirty-second terrors from this 2009 collection, you will be able to say with certainty that you heard them speak for a particular length of time.2024-09-231h 35
Black Magic TreehouseBruce Coville's Book of MonstersAfter earning an extra long summer break by graduating early from the Class of Sass (and Horror), Eric and Jose return to reading, writing, and rill silly names with the first entry of the ultimate children's anthology series of the '90s: Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters! The stories--and the creatures within--rip, slap, rule, and rock. 2024-08-111h 49
Black Magic TreehouseHeebie Jeebies #2: Welcome to Camp CreepsHave you ever been to camp? Was it creepy? Have no fear, the Lord is here! Rod Randall uses the horror genre to teach us a thing or two about the Bible or...something.2024-04-281h 22
Black Magic TreehouseA Bad Dream Come TrueHave you ever wondered what would happen if all of your worst nightmares came true? Wonder no longer, for the listener-submitted tale read aloud in this episode answers that question--and more! One more. It answers exactly one more question.2024-04-081h 22
Black Magic TreehouseStrange Matter - Driven to DeathLet's venture into new territory--that of an anthology series to rival Goosebumps: Strange Matter! This one is about phantom greasers who drive through walls, up buildings, and over oceans in a bid to recruit fresh victims for--what, exactly? Well, telling you would spoil the twist, wouldn't it?2024-03-101h 26
Black Magic TreehouseShort and ShiveryJose makes his triumphant return to the pod with nothing but boxing shorts and a dream! A BAD dream! Or several! That comprise the folklore compendium Short & Shivery! A rival series to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! Does this episode merit so many exclamation points? NO!2024-02-131h 51
Black Magic TreehouseGet It Fright This Time!On a second excursion into the realm of the trilogies-of-teeny-tiny-terror known as Fright Time, Eric welcomes a new guest into the treehouse--his girlfriend! Take that, everyone who says I'm patently unlovable. Adana fills in for the pretending-to-be-busy-to-get-out-of-work Jose and gives her thoughts on Creatures from the Ice, Dead-End Drive-In, and Strange Exchange. We'll either have to bring her back on the show someday or else kill her now that she knows where the treehouse is located....2024-02-051h 06
Black Magic TreehouseFright Time, A Couple Times!Remember those books you could apparently buy at the dollar store with a price tag of $7.95? Nothing is spookier than cognitive dissonance! Anyway, Eric doesn't remember that (although the dollar store may be where he picked up Gooflumps) but Jose had rollicking fun reading entries in the Fright Time series whenever he got a break from all those child beauty pageants his mom was always entering him into. Three spine-tingling stories for the price of two! Jose deep-dives into book #1 while Eric wades into the shallow pool with book #4.2024-01-222h 05
Black Magic TreehouseThe Bailey School Kids Holiday SpecialMonster Kids Don't Host Podcasts! Except that they do, in the form of Eric and Jose, who celebrate the Ghoultide season with winter-appropriate entries in the popular children's chapter book series, the Bailey School Kids! At what point do child sleuths cross over from "charming" to "obnoxious"? Is the best case scenario that all the adults in Bailey City are just weirdos with boundary issues? Could the series be rebooted for Gen Z? All these questions, and more, go completely unanswered in our latest episode! But that seems appropriate, given the ambiguity of the subject matter itself. Ho Ho...2023-12-251h 33
Black Magic TreehouseGabbin' Bout GoosebumpsWhat do you do when you have an opportunity to record a podcast episode and you've done no preparation whatsoever? You shoot the breeze, of course! Or the 'bumps. Eric and Jose reminisce about the ghoulish godfather of '90s children's horror, R.L. Stine, and his plethora of peculiar paperbacks. Reader beware--we'll throw our arms in the air like we just don't care!2023-12-091h 48
Black Magic TreehouseEvil Mirror by Jose CruzOn this Very Special Episode of Black Magic Treehouse, Jose regales Eric with a tale of his own creation: a little ditty crafted in childhood that bears more than a passing resemblance to Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and, needless to say, Mortal Kombat. Evil Mirror tells the story of a boy's horrific (and surprisingly action-packed) encounter with his shadow self. Tune in for a heartfelt moral about how sometimes, the things we fear the most have been less than twenty steps away from us the entire time.2023-11-271h 07
Black Magic TreehouseEric's October Challenge Movie Journal, Part TwoHalloween is over, except in our hearts. Join Eric once more as he runs down the second half of his October watchlist, offering thoughts on first-time watches including The Stendhal Syndrome, the Spanish-language version of Universal's Dracula, Offseason, Basket Case, Lord of Illusions, Satan's Rhapsody, The Bloody Pit of Horror, Books of Blood, Tourist Trap, Five Nights at Freddy's, The Night Strangler, The Hole in the Ground, The Haunting of the Queen Mary, Psycho II, Insidious Chapter 3, and Blind Beast.Also I don't know the ethics of utilizing works created by AI in a I'm-not-profiting-off-this context, but...2023-11-131h 22
Black Magic TreehouseTales of the Great White: The Legend of Harvey ShankJocelyn Heaney's anthology about our friend the shark contains precisely one good story. At least that's the way Eric remembers it from his time spent with the collection following a Scholastic book fair in 5th grade. And by "good" he means someone gets eaten by a shark and it is goretastic. Jose is also here, relating memories of trips to the beach that include monster roleplays under tree tunnels and tricking his mother into thinking he's being attacked by a bloodthirsty ocean creature. Or something to that effect. 2023-11-111h 13
Black Magic TreehouseEric's October Challenge Movie Journal, Part OneEric took the October Challenge, and since nothing is valid unless you're sharing it online, he decided to drop a bonus podcast series all by his lonesome detailing his thoughts on the horror movies he's watched this month! Part One includes mini-reviews (or ramblings) for: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Funhouse, At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, 1922, Possessor, Meg 2: The Trench, Twins of Evil, Destiny, Skinamarink, The Stepfather, House on Haunted Hill, The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales, The Strangers, Shivers, and We're All Going to the World's Fair.2023-10-311h 21
Black Magic TreehouseHalloween Special 2023Happy Halloween! Jose and Eric blast into the past to discuss the special Halloween episodes of nostalgia-favorite TV shows. They discuss how Hey Arnold is more meaningful when you're watching as an adult, touch on the idea that Stevil may have been the exact moment when Family Matters jumped the shark, and flutter their orange-and-black-themed eyelashes at the Halloween commercials and network promotional bumpers of yore that let you know the spooky season had really arrived.2023-10-291h 34
Black Magic TreehouseCreepover #9: No Trick-or-Treating!On the first of two VERY SPECIAL Halloween episodes, Jose and Eric discuss the ninth entry in a post-Goosebumps anthology horror series entitled (You're Invited to a Creepover) by the mysterious, and apparently pseudonymous, P.J. Night. They swap Halloween memories, recommend Halloween activities, and occasionally say things about the actual book. Fangs for stopping by!2023-10-131h 42
Black Magic TreehouseThe Tale of the Silver SightOn part two of our Are You Afraid of the Dark? retrospective, we discuss the three-part meta-episode, The Tale of the Silver Sight! Jose and Eric bag on child actors, bag on the writing, and bag on the look and feel of the post-revival show. But they love it...they swear.Opening music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio2023-10-081h 57
Black Magic TreehouseAre You Afraid of the Dark?In what was meant to be an episode focused on the seminal three-parter The Tale of the Silver Sight, Jose and Eric waffle on for nearly an hour with general reminiscences about what might be the ultimate expression of '90s horror for children, Are You Afraid of the Dark? We talk best episodes, worst episodes, underrated episodes, and...uh...Hayden Christensen. Join us next time as we get specific!2023-09-1855 min
Black Magic TreehouseMonster Kid Reference Books!As the last dog day of August slips by, join us on a trip to a utopian ladder-filled library as we pore through junior encyclopedias for classic creature features. The yellowing pages! The crummy Xeroxed black-and-white photographs! The musty scent of a book that ought to have been "weeded" (an industry term, apparently) decades ago. Ah, nostalgia, thy name is Crestwood. Also, Jose and Eric discuss why they will probably never do a Godzilla themed-episode. (He boring! Go ahead, cancel us.)2023-08-311h 53
Black Magic TreehouseUncovered by Paul Jennings - "Forever"On this episode of the podcast, Eric regales Jose with a tale from an aptly titled collection by Paul Jennings: Uncovered!: Weird, Weird Stories. Together they UNCOVER the touching story of a boy on crutches and his toilet-paper-obsessed brother, who only communicates by barking. Maybe Eric should have vetted this one before reading it for the first time on the podcast, but it's too late now! No wonder Jose sounds so tired.2023-08-161h 15
Black Magic TreehouseFreaky StoriesJose introduces Eric to Freaky Stories, an animated anthology series from the late '90s that retells urban legends! They talk being blindsided by Pee Wee Herman, the halycon days of the Fox Family channel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ripoffs, and, of course, their favorite scary urban legends.2023-07-301h 46
Black Magic TreehouseThe Dollhouse MurdersIt's playtime at the Treehouse as Eric recounts the not-really-a-mystery of the Treloar grandparents' murder. With guest appearances by Spuds Mackenzie and the Mouse on the Motorcycle!2023-06-261h 25
Black Magic TreehouseThe Scary States of America - North DakotaJose guides Eric on a tour of all the spookiness that the United States has to offer--or at least 1/50th of it. Learn about paranormal blogs run by twelve-year-olds of questionable authenticity, the curse of locker 615, and how everything you need to know about being a doctor comes not from medical school but from out-of-body experiences.2023-05-071h 17
Black Magic TreehouseThe Cold PeopleCome take us by the chilly hand and journey to Christopher Pike's SPOOKSVILLE, a land rife with witches, aliens, crocodile=snapping human popsicles, Mayors turned Bums, and a boy wearing an excessive amount of wristwatches.2023-04-241h 42
Black Magic TreehouseIn a Dark, Dark RoomJose leads Eric by candlelight into Alvin Schwartz's widdle-kid follow-up to his seminal generational trauma-inducer, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Find out why you should never touch green ribbons, stay away from smiling men, and how to watch out for... A GHOST! (Grabs listener)2023-03-271h 09
Black Magic TreehouseThe Curse of the Mummy's TombLooking at pyramids and feeling thirsty? Eric regales Jose with a summary of the fifth Goosebumps book. Tar pits! Inadequate kidnapping! Product placement! And a little bit of mummy all night long!2023-03-131h 17