VYS0009 | If There's Something Weird - Halloween 2022: Ghostbusters

VYS0009 - Show Notes

We got one! Before there was Hellier, before there was Twin Peaks there was Ghostbusters. In this special Halloween episode Hine and Buckley take a deep dive into this cherished classic - the movie that launched a thousand ghost hunting expeditions and at least one podcast about weird stuff. At the remove of 38 years and examined through the lens of Vayse, is Ghostbusters a beloved and harmless comedy blockbuster, a Lovecraftian cautionary tale, or a technicolour Reaganite super-dream? See you on the other side. Recorded 26 October 2022.

(Warning: Throughout this episode we operate on an all spoiler no explainer basis. But if you haven't seen Ghostbusters, perhaps it's time to carefully examine your life choices...?)

The Texts

Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Music Discussed we talk a lot about the music in Ghostbusters in this episode - here are some choice cuts:

Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr (...?)
I want a New Drug by Huey Lewis and the News
Elmer Bernstein's fantastic score
Magic by Mick Smiley (and as a special treat the very 80s MTV Video)
Savin’ The Day by the Alessi Brothers
In The Name of Love by The Thompson Twins
Vayse Soundtrack by Polypores

Other References

Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History by Daniel Wallace
Ghostbusters: The Inside Story by Matt McAllister
Spook Central
Ghostbusters Fandom Wiki
Ghostbusters.net
Ghostbusters.net on Twitter
Welsh Ghostbusters on Twitter - Seemingly random but a really great account
Necronomicon by Simon
Close up of the doors to the temple of Gozer
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories - a fantastic Lovecraft "Greatest Hits".
The Exorcist
The Evil Dead
The Magical Revival by Kenneth Grant - probably the place to start with Grant. Discusses the idea that Lovecraft was, in fact, a psychic and that the Cthulhu mythos was a revelation.
The Real Ghostbusters – The Collect Call of Cthulhu
VYS0004 | The Uncanny Vallée and the Unreal Keel - The Ultraterrestrial Hypothesis Pt.1 and VYS0005 | UFOnauts and Inverted Crosses - The Ultraterrestrial Hypothesis Pt.2 - Our episodes on the Ultraterrestrial Hypothesis
Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret by Jacques Vallée and Paola Leopizzi Harris - Our neoliberal overlords at Amazon seem to be by far the cheapest place to get this book at present.
Speaking of Neoliberal overlords, the New Economic Foundation did a great series of podcasts about neoliberalism which Hine borrowed from heartily to fuel the frenzied final third of this episode.
Life After Death: Eighteen Years on Death Row by Damien Echols - eye opening account of his time on death row following his wrongful and how Magic and love saved his life.
Making Ghostbusters by Don Shay - unfortunately long out of print and now ridiculously expensive.
A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever by Jr. Greene James