Self Help Radio 102623: Halloween 2023 - Ghost Towns!

Can you imagine an actual ghost visited me on the Halloween show? It's true! For the purposes of this Halloween post! Because the songs about ghost towns I found weren't as scary as I'd hoped. There were a few things that were scary, tho. I promise. I'm a big fan of Halloween so I wouldn't ruin it by not having some scares in the show. Did I mention a ghost visited me?!?

This week's show is at the top of the Self Help Radio web page. It's not too hard to listen but you need a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp) to do so. Lots of songs about ghost towns - all called "ghost town" as you'll see - & some surprises. That is listed below.

Remember, I have a lot more Halloween shows if you're so inclined. They are here.

One more link: Help out Freeform Portland during out Fall Fundraiser! Go to this webpage & make a donation or even better become a Friend Of Freeform. It's what makes my dumb show possible.

Self Help Radio Halloween 2023 Ghost Town Show

"Ghost Town" Don Cherry _The Best Of Don Cherry: The Columbia & Monument Years_

"Ghost Town" Meic Stevens _Outlander_

introduction, definition, & our resident cinephile Chuck calls

"Ghost Town" C.W. McCall _Black Bear Road_

"Ghost Town" The Younghearts _All About Love_

"Ghost Town" The Specials _Ghost Town_

interview with ghost hunter Victor Stillman

"Ghost Town" Angelic Upstarts _2,000,000 Voices_

"Ghost Town" Michael Martin Murphey _Tonight We Ride_

"Ghost Town" Gemini _Geminism_

a ghost interrupts!

"Ghost Town" Chrome _Alien Soundtracks II_

"Ghost Town" The Coctails _Hip Hip Hooray!_

"Ghost Town" Kurt Vile _Smoke Ring For My Halo_

our resident cinephile Chuck calls again

"Ghost Town" Pierce Pettis _While The Serpent Lies Sleeping_

"Ghost Town" Sarah Shook & The Devil _Seven_

"Ghost Town" DJ Shadow _The Mountain Will Fall_

interview with ghost town realtor Vincent Starr

"Ghost Town" The Vaccines _Come Of Age_

"Ghost Town" The World _First World Record_

"Ghost Town" The Shed Project _Ghost Town_

conclusion, goodbye, & our resident cinephile Chuck calls one last time

"Ghost Town" Mikey General _Confidence In Jah Self_

"Ghost Town" The Hot 8 Brass Band _The Life & Times Of..._

"Ghost Town" D'Arkestra _Ghost Town_

Whither Halloween 2023 - Ghost Towns?

(A building in the ghost town of Golden, OR - from the Wikipedia)

Here's the thing - I do a Halloween show every year. I don't know why I can't just play "The Monster Mash" & that Ministry song like everyone else but I can't. Instead I feel the need to explore a different Halloween-related theme each year. I have covered black cats, clowns, death, Frankenstein, ghosts, graveyards, haunted houses, hell, monsters, mummies, nightmares, pumpkins, spiders, vampires, voodoo, werewolves, witches, & zombies. One show I called "Attack Of The Self Help Radio" & featured songs using the phrasal beginning "attack of the..." I have complained about running out of Halloween-related themes before.

This year I chanced upon the idea of a show about ghost towns. Ghost towns are pretty scary, right? It turns out not so much. The songs about ghost towns can be more wistful & sad. But there were so many! & I found some guests who found ghosts in ghost towns! & it's probably not a theme that anyone will explore this Halloween - so ghost towns it is today!

Also it's the Fall Fundraiser - perhaps you can help out by becoming a Friend Of Freeform. The station is worthy of your investment.

Self Help Radio's Halloween 2023 show - about ghost towns - airs this afternoon from noon to 2pm on 90.3+98.3 fm here in town & online everywhere at Freeform Portland dot org. Tune in for some thrills - & maybe just a few chills!

Preface To Halloween 2023 - Ghost Towns: Oregon Ghost Towns

(The banner for visit oregon dot com.)

On the site whose banner I display above, it tells us:

Oregon is historic for its record number of Ghost Towns

Did you know that Oregon has the highest number of ghost towns in the country? Thus far, 200 Oregonian ghost towns have been counted! Some of these abandoned communities are completely starved of human interaction while others have an extremely small population with 30 people or less.

During the pandemic, I daydreamed about visiting some nearby ghost towns. Alas, we had an elderly dog who didn't enjoy car rides & there was always the trepidation of visiting places where people thoughts masks were irritants. (Not the ghost towns, the service stations & other places we'd have to stop at.) It's interesting that I didn't think then of doing a Halloween show about ghost towns. But the idea of visiting ghost towns has always been at the back of my mind.

Now I get to visit them on the air!

Halloween Time Again

(A snapshot of the page)

Since Halloween is right around the corner, I wanted to remind you that pretty much every Halloween show I've ever done is available for listening over at the Self Help Radio Halloween Page.

From spiders to pumpkins, from "attack of the" to Frankenstein, from voodoo to black cats, from clowns to death, from mummies to hell, from nightmares to graveyards, from haunted houses to werewolves, from witches to zombies, from monsters to vampires - there are eighteen (18!) Halloween shows I've done. I wonder if they're any good?

& there'll be another Halloween show this week! What luck!

Psychic Cinema

(image from the IMDb)

You didn't have to be psychic to appreciate last week's episode of Self Help Radio which was about psychics. But maybe you predicted our resident cinephile Chuck would come by & talk to us about films featuring psychics. If you haven't listened already, then before your brain explodes please go so do at the Self Help Radio website. Then check out the helpful links Chuck has supplied!

He has two YouTube playlists of films & trailers: part one is here; part two is here.

Chuck did something quite interesting this time around - he says, "I uploaded a few scenes I filmed with my phone, which I have put on the playlist, but they can all be found on my channel."

Here is his Letterboxd list. Here are his Letterboxd reviews.

Here is the IMDb list of films available to stream for free.

Here is Chuck's IMDb keyword list.

Chuck says:

I posted about some of the films on Bluesky (right now it's just all the links seen here, but go ahead an give me a follow. I usually follow back).

He adds:

I tweeted about some of the films on Twitter (right now it's just all the links seen here, but go ahead an give me a follow. I usually follow back).

Here are the direct links for Chuck: Twitter,  Bluesky, & Substack. He adds, "I may write an article about them on Substack, someday, but in the meantime you can subscribe for free. (I have started using the chat section for early announcements about the letterboxd lists for upcoming shows.)"

Chuck foresees that you will have some incredible psychic film experiences!