Halloween Show 2011

This is the fourth year in a row that Chatterbox has performed a live-to-broadcast Halloween Show on 91.1 WKNO-FM, and we were able to assemble a real dream team. I’m grateful once again to have collaborated with Halloween regulars Eric Sefton, Deborah Hyatt, and Cheri Hughes. I’m also grateful to have ended up with a cast and crew that would be the envy of any theater in town.

As with last year’s show, this broadcast was part of Transcontinental Terror, an international collaboration that puts Chatterbox in the company of five other stellar audio theater production companies: The Wireless Theatre Company, Electric Vicuna Productions, FinalRune Productions, The Icebox Radio Theater, and the Willamette Radio Workshop. What a kick to work with these great people (none of whom I’ve ever met in person) over Skype and email to create a one-of-a-kind online event.

This year, Chatterbox served up yet another batch of spooky short stories — torture, hauntings, murder, and even a nightmare tree. (Remember, everything you hear was performed live; even our recorded effects were cued in real-time, just like in the Golden Age of Radio.) The show is delightfully creepy, and of course everyone involved gets a big kudos for making it that way. And that’s all I’ll say about it, in order to preserve the suspense.

Overall, it’s amazing to reflect on the amount of talent and work that goes into creating something that we hope is just good creepy fun. Listen to this one with the lights low, a trusted friend by your side, and a healthy dose of imagination. If you’re willing to buy in to the experience, audio scares are some of the best scares around.

—Robert Arnold