Often described as Walt Disney meets Stephen King, David Bertolino transformed the Horror industry in the ’90s with Spooky World. The Berlin, Massachusetts theme park was the Halloween Horror Nights before Halloween Horror Nights, a national sensation that turned Halloween into a tourist destination for millions of ghouls of all ages.
Now, Bertolino’s incredible story is the subject of Spooktacular!, a killer new documentary from executive producer Tom Savini and filmmaker Quinn Monahan. In addition to a glutton’s worth of found footage, the winding walkthrough of ’90s horror is further brought to life with familiar faces like Savini, Linda Blair, Kane Hodder, Spencer Charnas, and more.
The Halloweenies are big fans of the documentary, and executive producer Michael Roffman had the pleasure of speaking to Bertolino last month. For a little less than an hour, the Massachusetts maestro revisits his origins, shares some more anecdotes surrounding the legendary park, and weighs in on the past, present, and future of the Horror industry.
Stream the episode below and check out Spooktacular! now on Amazon and Shudder via Quiver Distribution. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, Chucky, Alien, and the Universal Monsters. Next year? Hellraiser!
You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Re-Animator, Darkman), one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Manhunter), and even spinoffs like their recent run Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.
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