Comments on: Episode 153: The House and the Brain

By: Smuggins

Smuggins — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 01:40:19 +0000

Awful episode, poorly written. People are doing way too much justification for this one. This was a poor attempt at “Nick and Nora See a Ghost” ripoff. Almost nothing made sense and none of the people reacted realistically. In satire and farces, people will often react in character and none of them did (aside from the policeman).

Eric nailed it when he said “What is the point?”. The answer: to simply fill up airtime and earn a check. Foley was also exceedingly poor, with so much telling what is going on instead of ‘showing’. 0 out of 4.

By: Lamont Cranston

Lamont Cranston — Tue, 04 May 2021 01:30:44 +0000

I actually enjoyed this. While listening I picked up on a couple of bits & pieces from other shows. I got a little bit of Ghost Hunt from Suspense, a bit of the Haunting of Hill House and a smidgeon of The Legend of Hell House and of course a bit of Scooby and the gang.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 21:44:25 +0000

In reply to Dave Potts. Agree on the plot synopsis, I didn’t even realize how much crazy WTF I had just listened to until it was summarized.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 21:42:20 +0000

I really enjoyed this one, in the spirit in which it was presented, I think. If I was trying to introduce someone to old time radio I wouldn’t go near it, but I was cracking up the entire time.

The story was so absurd, from the get-go, and then at every turn we’re introducing some entirely new weird thing that we’re not going to explain? It was like going on a county fair funhouse ride but the cars are going 80 miles per hour, so each scene is a blur.

I’m glad you guys mentioned Scooby Doo, because that’s all I can ever think of when anybody, in any context, introduces the ideas of a painting with live eyes. And, when they find the little painting? I was picturing a tiny oil painting done in a realistic style that somebody stuck googly-eye stickers over the eyes, and I can’t stop laughing at that image.

Anyway, I didn’t vote this timeless or even good, but wow, I loved this episode so much, so incredibly ridiculous. (And “oh my chubby aunt!” is entering my vernacular)

What else does Jill recommend? John Waters of Old Time Radio has definitely piqued my curiosity.

By: Doug Shaw

Doug Shaw — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 02:08:31 +0000

I agree with Mr. Potts – this was a shining Eric moment. When, in the future, there is a podcast about this podcast, This episode will be marked “A timeless classic.”

By: Dave Potts

Dave Potts — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 17:30:14 +0000

This was awful. It definitely does not stand the test of time — although that might not be applicable, as it was probably just as bad at the time as it is now. I agree with Joshua that they were deliberately going for comedy (at least part of the time), but where I disagree is that I didn’t find any of the attempts at comedy to be even remotely funny. (On the other hand, the sheer “WTF” factor made this far more interesting to listen to than any of the other, non-comedic, episodes of The Weird Circle that you’ve shared, none of which any more scary or suspenseful than this one; they were just terribly dull.)

However, as bad as “The House and the Brain” was, your commentary afterwards was among the most entertaining that you’ve ever done. Eric’s four-minute plot synopsis alone would have been worth the price of admission, if there were a price of admission.

I, too, have read Bulwer-Lytton’s original story, but unlike Joshua, I don’t recommend that your listeners read it. I really don’t remember much about it except that I found it tediously-written, dull, and utterly un-scary. The Weird Circle’s version at least added that crazy “WTF” factor, so maybe this adaptation was an improvement.