Mockingjay Act 1We're back to it! We discuss act one of Mockingjay, a book that dares to ask: is filming wrestling promos just as bad as running a dystopian fiefdom? The people cry out for a teenage superhero to jump out in front of a smoke machine and say character select screen phrases, and only Katniss can answer the call. We discuss the loaded …

The Truce at Bakura, chapters 15-21We conclude our detour into the Star Wars expanded universe this week! We discuss the finale of Luke's adventures on Bakura, which involve cutting a bunch of dinosaurs' heads off, using his mind to kill a bunch of bugs eating his guts, and a lot of hanging around at an airport bar. We also chat about meeting celeb…

The Truce at Bakura, chapters 8-14After a few weeks of unprecedented circumstances, we're back to continue examining The Truce at Bakura. This novel is asking some fascinating questions, like: how did they put bugs in Luke Skywalker? Will Luke Skywalker get some with this Imperial senator? Will the bugs inside of him make that awkward?…

The Truce at Bakura chapters 1-7We're back! Work has been kicking both of our asses lately, but we've finally convened to discuss the first third of the fascinating Star Wars Legends novel 'The Truth at Bakura'--as a little break between Hunger Games novels. Have you ever wondered what happened after Return of the Jedi? Like, maybe fifteen minutes …

This week we convene to enjoy a big, warm bowl of classic Shriekcast third segment style content as we check in with Quora questions about Catching Fire! Epic length essays about whether or not an INTJ could win a Hunger Game, extremely dodgy political opinions, and excellence in the field of run-on-sentence construction abound. And that's not all;…

Catching Fire chapters 24-27It's been a busy couple of weeks for both of us (working; moving) but that didn't stop us from finishing the last four chapters of Catching Fire! And boy, if we thought we were in a rush, nothing compares to this book's bizarre finale. People often offer the criticism that certain stories "just stop," but the last few mo…

Catching Fire chapters 22 & 23TWO giant reveals that we avoided having spoiled! Can you believe it!? This one is particularly funny, given our hobby trajectories of late. This awesome new arena mechanic is revealed alongside an exciting action sequence, some ridiculous (complimentary) side characters joining Katniss's party, some ridiculous (deroga…

Catching Fire chapters 20-21Remember how we had somehow remained completely unaware of the werewolves in the first Hunger Games book? Somehow, by some beautiful miracle, we remained equally, blissfully unaware of another animal threat in this series. Not much happens in these action-packed chapters outside, but boy does a lot happen. There are chap…

Catching Fire chapters 18-19We are so back! We kick off 2024 with a rowdy return to podcasting about work sucking, holidays sucking, and Peeta sucking. We have some exciting news on that front this week however, although neither of us is convinced it really happened. Still, even if things are feeling a bit predictable, we certainly can't accuse the…

Catching Fire chapters 16-17We're still not at the Hunger Game. It sure seems like we're running out of book, but instead of duking it out in the arena our heroes are still meeting their foes and/or potential allies. Are Katniss and Peeta building a heist team, or are they just going to fight all these guys? We've got lots to discuss about this and…

Catching Fire chapters 14-15Life threw Liz some work-related lemons this past week, but we're here and discussing how best to turn them into bonus lemonade! We chat about future plans for discussing future plans, give an update on what's going on in strings world, and get attacked by Earl--and that's all before we get into our crazy chapters! We le…

Catching Fire chapters 12 & 13We have a lot to catch up on this week! Neopets news, string performances, (not so) scary films... plus, we've got a pair of chapters that propel Catching Fire forward into exciting territory. Hopefully? There's going to be another Hunger Game in these books, it turns out. We speculate on how exactly that might shake o…

Catching Fire chapters 10-11We're back! Load roadworks couldn't keep us away from talking about these chapters, that feature some absolutely massive twists--political and technical. Did you know that there are solar-powered perpetual energy generating guns in Panem? Neither did we! We discuss those strange new worldbuilding additions, and attempt t…

Catching Fire chapters 7-9We start this week with another music game, with another unexpected twist! Plus, an update on all things strings and Neopets. Then we've got three exciting chapters to cover as the rebellion in District 12 starts heating up--or maybe doesn't, depending on who last spoke to Katniss. We chat about some of the great character…

Catching Fire chapters 5-6This week we're back on our string section stuff. We play a rousing game of Classical or From Something? (it'll make sense) that spins out in some unexpected directions before getting to work on this episode's pair of chapters, which are... fine? Good, even? But one thing's for sure: the road trip movie dream is dead, and …

Catching Fire chapters 3-4The PAX pox won't keep me away from recording! We've got lots to catch up on after taking a week off for travel, and we spend some time chatting about the PAX trip (thanks to everyone who came to say hi!) and Liz's exciting new musical venture. We've got two rich chapters to discuss this week too, with mostly high highs an…

Catching Fire chapters 1-2Onward to book two! We started the next installment of the trilogy, and we might have had more fun with these two chapters than we had with the entire last book. Who knew that what this series needed was a Bond villain? These chapters are a little short, but they introduce an irresistibly fun bad guy and get us incredibly …

We've finished The Hunger Games, and we're feeling a little rowdy! We celebrate the end of the book (and Liz's birthday!) by immediately checking in on what sort of Relatable Hunger Games Content we can find. We take a quiz about how our taste in decor would affect our chances in the Games (really), read incredibly mean grandmas commenting on Willi…

The Hunger Games chapters 23-25How did both of us manage to go 15 years without learning what the big twist of this book was?The Shrieking Shack

Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for scams! We apologize for our accidentally-prophetic bonus episode last week and discuss the market for 2000s internet nostalgia. Then we've got two action-packed chapters to discuss--well, actually, one is action-packed and the other is steamy. Kind of? It's attempting to be? We're still not sold on this…

The Hunger Games chapters 19 & 20We saw Asteroid City! We chat a little bit about our latest movie outing (mild? spoilers? Hard movie to spoil!) but not for long--because it's Freak Day, the fateful day when everyone went crazy and started biting each other. Or something? Maybe we should be reading that book instead, because the third act of this o…

The Hunger Games chapters 14-18 (concluding act II)We've got Mario on the mind! Specifically Mario RPG, the game with the fakest sounding name ever that we have a lot of fond memories of. This leads us through a whole tangent about retro gaming setups, but we can't talk about that for long--we've got a lot of book to talk about! This week we finish…

The Hunger Games chapters 12 & 13We went to the movies! We talk a bit about the new Spider-man movie (no spoilers) and the trailers we saw ahead of it before discussing our action-packed pair of chapters for the week. Katniss is mostly looking for water in these ones, but there are also some dastardly villains chasing her who have been trained from…

The Hunger Games chapters 10 & 11It's game time! Where we dropping? Well, it turns out that in the Hunger Games arena, everyone drops in the same spot no matter what. Will Katniss score some good loot, or will she get taken out by a guy warping around on a laggy wireless collection?That's right, we're finally in the Hunger Games section of the Hung…

The Hunger Games chapters 8 & 9The people have been crying out for more third segment content! But since we're both reading this series fresh, what can we do? This week, we find an answer (in the first segment, natch). We also discuss the final two chapters of the first act of The Hunger Games--it's good! So good, in fact, that we can't stop excite…

The Hunger Games chapters 6 & 7We're back with another two chapters of Hunger Games! This week's pair are a little plodding, but there's a lot of drama to discuss: Katniss and Peeta "just pretending" to be friends! Evil career fairs! And more badass knife throwing/bow firing moves to show other characters you mean business! We also fall down a rabb…

The Hunger Games Part 1 Chapters 4 and 5We've made it to the Capitol! But first we've got to talk about something very important: The 7th Saga, a SNES RPG with barely any merch. We've also got our first Hunger Games listicle. Our chapters this week are full of dizzying ups and downs: brutally honest characterization and heartfelt drama alongside ri…

The Hunger Games Part One Chapters 2 & 3We're the tip of the spear! Or maybe just the shaft. It seems the whole world decided to reread this series around the same time we did, so we discuss a little bit of what we're seeing out and about in the world and how it's shaping our expectations. We also chat about a recent TV show announcement... that's …

The Hunger Games Act 1 Chapter 1It's time for a bit of a refresh! New book, new cover art, new... oops, I forgot to choose a new theme song. Well, we'll deal with that later--right now we've got Hungry Games to discuss! This week starts with an introduction to The Seam, The Meadow, The Forest, The Square, The Reaping, The Hob... and probably severa…

It's been a while since we did a proper news segment, isn't it? We have grievances to air with the coming and going of that game's release, a certain author's doings and new media projects, and the shambling undead franchise we are finally free of. We miiight also have a teeny tiny bit of schadenfreude to spare for some gamers whose wildest dreams …

The Da Vinci Code, pt. 2We're back to wrap up our discussion of Dan Brown's novel and we brought cards! We explore the Da Vinci Code Top Trumps deck to refresh our memories on some of the facts of the story before we walk through some of the Facts of the novel, and end up falling down a rabbit hole trying to piece together the game's design through…

The Da Vinci Code... part one!That's right--we called an audible mid-episode this week because there's just too much to fit into even a big two-and-a-half-hour episode! In a fitting development for discussing a novel all about dualism, we're devoting an episode each to the two halves of the story: The airport thriller novel this episode, and the sp…

Maximum Ride: The Angel ExperimentLiz has pulled the greatest coup in Shriekcast history! This week we discuss Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, the first (sort of) book in James Patterson's hard swerve into books for kids in the wake of the Harry Potter phenomenon. So much happens in this novel, and I can scarcely keep track of it all--you're ju…

Twilight (the movie)I have a confession to make: I've been listening to the soundtrack all week. Now that we've finished reading Twilight and Midnight Sun, it's time to talk about the crown jewel of the franchise: the movie! This film launched several acting careers and catapulted the series into unimaginable popularity, and is also responsible for…

Twilight/Midnight Sun epilogues (which are really chapters)We did it! We made it all the way through the first Twilight novel and its companion, and we have over two hours of discussion about what a weird ending it all has. First, though, we touch briefly on the (developing; I'm sure we'll be back on this soon) story about Jo inserting herself into…

Twilight chapter 'An Impasse'/Midnight Sun chapters 'Chores', 'Three Conversations', 'Inevitability'We've got a mystery on our hands! We open this week's episode with a discussion of the theory circulating on book blogs that a newly released novel--teased as being written under a pseudonym by a "New York Times bestselling author"--might be an under…

Twilight chapter 'The Angel'/Midnight Sun chapter 'Blood'Our chapters were very, very short this week, and we got a little rowdy. We chat about current events (respectfully), character birthdays that happen to fall on unfortunate dates (respectfully), Edward's horny blood drinking (respectfully), and much more!…

Twilight chapters 'Phone Call' and 'Hide-and-Seek'/Midnight Sun chapter 'Race'On this week's episode we've got an exciting follow-up to last episode's amazing K-pop-related discovery, but first we have to catch up with the thousand page monstrosity that's been analyzed in more detail since last week. Then we have some really fun--dare we say, good?…

Twilight chapter 'Impatience'/Midnight Sun chapter 'Ambush'We've got big news this week--literally, as early reviews have revealed that Jo's new book clocks in at over one thousand pages (Twilight talk starts at 30 mins in if you fancy skipping this). We've also got two wildly different chapters to discuss: one that is moody, plaintive, and mysteri…

Twilight/Midnight Sun chapter 'Goodbyes'The classic Song of Throne and Games button gets a workout this week as we discuss dudes' heads exploding on the new one of those shows, along with the rumor that a Wizarding World HBO show is in the works (again). We've also got quite a chapter to discuss: one with a brisk, thrilling pace that falls apart th…

Twilight/Midnight Sun chapters 'The Hunt'We ease into our new evening schedule with a check-in on the Peacock Box before discussing a truly electrifying chapter of our vampire romance novel(s). 75% of the way through the book, conflict is here! ...In the form of some French guys we've never heard of. How will Edward mind-read his way out of this on…

Twilight/Midnight Sun chapter 'The Game'The Money Fandom is out of control this week and we check in with the aftermath of the latest round of WB/Discovery news and lament how close we might have come to Fantastic Beasts meeting a dark fate. Then we have a packed chapter to discuss: Billy is making veiled threats! Bella isn't understanding them! Ed…

Twilight/Midnight Sun chapter: CarlisleIt's another no news week so far for us (knock on wood) so we spend our time at the anchor's desk goofing off and talking about private planes, Star Trek: Voyager, pricing errors, and movie lengths. Our chapters this week were incredibly short (Twilight's was 10 pages!) and maybe the most pointless content in …

Bella visits the Vampire Family.After a recent run of Shriekcast After Dark recordings, we record a little earlier to beat the heat! We chat about morning television and blockbuster adventure movies based on YA movies before moving on to discuss our chapters. Edward has decided it's time to introduce Bella to his family, but how will she react to h…

Twilight chapter 14/Midnight Sun chapter 18We convene a Late Recording to deliver a rowdy episode about a rowdy pair of chapters! Bella has invited Edward into her house, but what's going to happen when there's only one bed!? It turns out that they won't, naturally, but things will get incredibly weird, between Edward admitting that he has been wat…

Twilight chapter 13/Midnight Sun chapter 17We've had a week (knock on wood) with precious little Potter or Twilight news, so we start this week's episode with another Maximum Ride check-in as a sort of Common-Room-Lite treat! Then we're off to the meadow to discuss Confessions, which is perhaps the origin of a huge amount of the popular criticism o…

It's a big one this week! After catching up with some updates on last week's news stories and checking in with Maximum Ride, we have four (!!!) chapters of Twilight and Midnight Sun combined to get to. Not much is happening, but there's a lot going on, not least of which is Edward's wardrobe. We've got so much Twilight content, in fact, that we hav…

Twilight chapter 11/Midnight Sun chapters 12-13Here we are! Safe from the heat with a late night recording, we cover the surprisingly ample amount of news from the past week and dig through a combined three (!) chapters of Vampire Content! This week, Edward and Bella have long, deep conversations about soda, Linkin Park, and much much more--all whi…

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of DumbledoreWell, here we are. After actual years of filming delays, author controversies, and a theatrical release we didn't feel like spending money on, we've finally watched the third and hopefully final entry in the Fantastic Beasts series. Thankfully, for as predictably awful as it is, it's awful in some very unp…

Twilight chapter 11/Midnight Sun chapter 12Well, well, well! The money fandom is in shambles as two franchises race to the bottom of the box office. This week's chapters are the closest together these two books have been yet, so we have a fun time analyzing both characters' contributions to a very, very long conversation they have with each other a…