Theories & Queeries #29
Say Podcast and Die!November 05, 202400:35:1724.25 MB

Theories & Queeries #29

In this bonus episode, Andy and Alyssa revisit their old game, RLS vs LMN -- with a twist. This time, Andy must guess whether a plot summary was written by R.L. Stine, the Lifetime Movie Network, or Chat GPT. Play along and let us know how you did!

Follow @saypodanddie on Instagram, and get in touch at saypodanddie@gmail.com // Theme music by Haunted Corpose

[00:00:03] Listener Beware, you gave us the scares!

[00:00:38] And I see something trying to punch her through the blanket and I think it might be fortune.

[00:00:43] I hope it's fortune.

[00:00:44] I don't know who else it would be.

[00:00:45] It could be a ghost.

[00:00:48] So, speaking of spooky things, happy election day!

[00:00:52] Yeah, we are recording this on November 6th, 2024.

[00:00:57] And while we don't really have the time or bandwidth to do regular bonus episodes,

[00:01:02] we felt like it would be fun to record one and put one out just in the spirit of getting our minds off the thing.

[00:01:10] Mm-hmm.

[00:01:11] We'll find out more soon.

[00:01:13] In the meantime, what do you got for me?

[00:01:16] I don't know what's happening here.

[00:01:17] That's right.

[00:01:18] I told Andy, just show up.

[00:01:19] You don't need to do any prep.

[00:01:21] So, one of our most popular theories and queries back in the day was when I created a game for Andy called RLS vs. LMN,

[00:01:30] a.k.a. RL Stein vs. Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:01:33] Yes.

[00:01:34] Could Andy guess which of these summaries came from RL Stein and which came from the vaunted, the highest of art forms.

[00:01:45] Criterion Collection level.

[00:01:47] Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:01:48] Makes the Criterion Collection look like fucking...

[00:01:51] Child's Play.

[00:01:52] Yeah, but not the movie Child's Play.

[00:01:53] Not literal Child's Play.

[00:01:55] So, I have devised a new version of this game.

[00:01:58] It's going to be three rounds.

[00:02:00] Okay.

[00:02:01] Round one is the classic RLS vs. LMN.

[00:02:05] Okay.

[00:02:06] Round two, something a little different.

[00:02:08] I fed some descriptions of Goosebumps and Fear Street through ChatGPT and asked it to spit out some original ideas.

[00:02:16] Okay.

[00:02:17] So, you have to guess which one was generated by RL Stein and which one by ChatGPT.

[00:02:22] And, okay.

[00:02:24] Okay.

[00:02:24] Which, I also kind of guess he uses it, right?

[00:02:28] Like, he must now that it's available.

[00:02:29] I think for a long time he didn't have to.

[00:02:31] Yeah.

[00:02:32] I don't know if it actually...

[00:02:32] He just was the ChatGPT.

[00:02:33] Yeah.

[00:02:34] When you're that efficient at just funneling culture into different iterations, do you actually

[00:02:37] need ChatGPT, you know?

[00:02:39] Yeah.

[00:02:39] And then the last section will be a Super Smash Brothers free-for-all brawl style round.

[00:02:47] Yeah.

[00:02:47] Where you have to guess, is it RL Stein?

[00:02:50] Is it Lifetime?

[00:02:51] Is it ChatGPT?

[00:02:51] Oh, my God.

[00:02:52] And for those of you listening at home, feel free to play along and let us know how you

[00:02:57] did.

[00:02:57] Can you beat me at this?

[00:03:00] Probably.

[00:03:00] Let's find out.

[00:03:02] I also want to say I normally use ChatGPT very judiciously.

[00:03:06] This was a special occasion.

[00:03:08] I don't.

[00:03:09] Sorry to the planet.

[00:03:11] I kind of feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

[00:03:15] I don't know the impact of any of my actions.

[00:03:18] But look, GoosePunks, I will say ChatGPT is a very good therapist.

[00:03:22] If you want to ask it how you're feeling or ask it about how you're feeling, it gives

[00:03:27] solid advice pretty consistently.

[00:03:30] Okay.

[00:03:31] So round one.

[00:03:34] Yes.

[00:03:34] The way we played last time was you get a point for guessing it right and a bonus point

[00:03:39] if you can tell me the title of whatever the thing is.

[00:03:42] Okay.

[00:03:43] Also, thank you for setting this up.

[00:03:45] I'm so excited.

[00:03:46] This is just what I needed.

[00:03:48] Oh, ChatGPT did generate titles, but I didn't include them.

[00:03:51] So it's only for the real things.

[00:03:52] They were actually quite good.

[00:03:53] I just didn't include them.

[00:03:55] Why?

[00:03:55] Well, why would you guess them?

[00:03:56] They're not real.

[00:03:57] From context.

[00:03:58] Okay.

[00:03:59] Well.

[00:03:59] I'm going to try.

[00:04:00] Note taken for next time.

[00:04:01] I didn't write them down.

[00:04:02] I'm going to try anyway.

[00:04:03] Okay.

[00:04:04] A pretty and talented cheerleader finds herself embroiled in a petty feud with a more popular

[00:04:09] and ruthless fellow cheerleader who wants nobody else stealing her spotlight.

[00:04:13] I mean, probably both, but I'm going to say LMN because I think I've seen that one.

[00:04:17] Correct.

[00:04:18] Do you have any guesses about the title?

[00:04:20] Psycho Cheerleader.

[00:04:21] Good guess.

[00:04:23] Cheer or die.

[00:04:25] Secret Lives of Cheerleaders.

[00:04:27] Oh.

[00:04:27] Okay.

[00:04:29] Cool.

[00:04:30] After a hurricane, a travel writer discovers orphaned twin boys and impulsively decides

[00:04:34] to adopt them.

[00:04:35] The boys seem amiable and immensely grateful, but the writer's family isn't quite so pleased.

[00:04:39] But even they can't anticipate the twins' true nature or predict that within a few weeks'

[00:04:44] time, the writer's husband will wind up implicated in two brutal murders with the police narrowing

[00:04:49] in.

[00:04:49] Did the word implicated show up in the description or did you add that?

[00:04:55] So I've lightly edited these.

[00:04:57] I don't remember.

[00:04:58] Okay.

[00:04:59] Because I feel like Lifetime is more likely to use the word implicated than R.L.

[00:05:03] Stein is, but this sounds like kind of a sausage fest, so I'm going to say R.L.

[00:05:07] Stein.

[00:05:08] Good job.

[00:05:08] Yeah.

[00:05:09] Red Rain.

[00:05:09] It's his, I guess, second book for adults.

[00:05:12] I wouldn't have guessed Red Rain was the title.

[00:05:13] I would have guessed Spooky Twins at Lighthouse Cave or something.

[00:05:19] Lily begins to suspect that her father's new girlfriend is much more sinister than anybody

[00:05:24] realizes.

[00:05:25] Hmm.

[00:05:26] Well, it doesn't give me a lot to work with, but I'm going to say, so it could be either.

[00:05:31] I'm going to say R.L.

[00:05:32] Stein.

[00:05:32] Do you want to know why I say it?

[00:05:33] Tell me.

[00:05:34] I say R.L.

[00:05:35] Stein because I think usually Lifetime is from an older person's perspective.

[00:05:39] This is Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:05:41] Oh, wait, now I guess the title.

[00:05:44] Deadly Stepdad.

[00:05:46] You were very close, except that you got the gender wrong.

[00:05:48] Oh, wait, is it a stepmom?

[00:05:50] Yeah.

[00:05:50] Oh, Deadly Stepmom.

[00:05:52] Oh, if I had listened and known it was a stepmom, I think I would have guessed Lifetime Movie

[00:05:56] Network.

[00:05:57] It's the wrong stepmother.

[00:05:58] The wrong stepmother.

[00:06:00] Now I just want to go back and watch the movie that you hate, Stepmother, as a Lifetime

[00:06:05] movie.

[00:06:06] Yeah.

[00:06:07] You do that on your own time.

[00:06:09] Okay.

[00:06:10] A high school girl's spirits are crushed as she suffers through a humiliating cheerleader

[00:06:14] initiation week.

[00:06:15] But her dreams aren't the only thing in danger when another girl on the squad turns up dead.

[00:06:20] Okay.

[00:06:21] Wow.

[00:06:21] Cool.

[00:06:22] Again, could be either.

[00:06:24] Oh, shit.

[00:06:25] I actually don't know with this one because my first instinct is to say Lifetime Movie Network

[00:06:31] because I feel like stories about initiation weeks are like ripped from the headlines.

[00:06:37] I don't think R.L.

[00:06:38] Stein just very much ripped from the headlines.

[00:06:39] He's like, I set all of my material in like the late 70s and I'm sticking with it.

[00:06:44] But I also don't know the history of that being in the headlines.

[00:06:49] Maybe there was a boom of it in the 70s, too.

[00:06:52] On the other hand, I know R.L.

[00:06:54] Stein has written a lot of cheerleader stuff.

[00:06:56] You know, he's got like, it's basically a subgenre within the R.L.

[00:07:01] Stein verse.

[00:07:01] There's a whole cheerleader verse.

[00:07:02] Specifically within Fear Street, yeah.

[00:07:03] Yeah.

[00:07:04] Yeah.

[00:07:06] So I'm going to go with my heart and say R.L.

[00:07:09] Stein.

[00:07:10] I'm sorry.

[00:07:11] That is the Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:07:12] Cheer for your life.

[00:07:14] Cheer for your life.

[00:07:16] That's cool.

[00:07:18] Julie's best friend, Diane, encourages her to pursue a basketball star she has a crush on.

[00:07:23] Julie winds up feeling humiliated for what she believes was a cruel prank and seeks revenge.

[00:07:28] R.L.

[00:07:28] Stein.

[00:07:29] Correct.

[00:07:29] Yeah.

[00:07:30] That is a novel, a standalone called...

[00:07:32] Wait, I want to...

[00:07:33] Oh, sorry.

[00:07:33] Go ahead.

[00:07:34] Zippa, zippa, zippa.

[00:07:35] Zippa, zippa, zippa.

[00:07:36] It is a standalone called Dunking on Julie.

[00:07:42] Phone calls.

[00:07:43] Phone calls.

[00:07:44] Yeah.

[00:07:44] It's from 1990.

[00:07:45] Cool name.

[00:07:47] Ellie takes a summer job as a nanny at the Hamptons.

[00:07:50] From the outside, the family's home is perfect.

[00:07:52] But when she meets a four-year-old boy who has not spoken in months, his behavior suggests

[00:07:57] that he has experienced something too horrible for words.

[00:08:00] R.L.

[00:08:01] Stein.

[00:08:01] What makes you say that?

[00:08:02] Because it sounded kind of like Donnie.

[00:08:05] Oh, yeah.

[00:08:06] You're right.

[00:08:06] It sounded like The Babysitter, but like on vacation.

[00:08:10] You're correct.

[00:08:11] It's called The Sitter.

[00:08:12] And it's from 2003.

[00:08:13] Cool.

[00:08:14] I feel like, yeah, the other thing that was kind of a giveaway for me is I think Lifetime

[00:08:20] doesn't usually do evil children.

[00:08:23] Lifetime usually does boring, anodyne children.

[00:08:26] Oh, yeah.

[00:08:26] I thought – I kind of read that as a traumatized child personally, but I don't know.

[00:08:31] No, you're right.

[00:08:32] It is.

[00:08:32] Because I haven't read the book.

[00:08:33] Well, I just feel like Lifetime really likes to focus on either teens or moms.

[00:08:39] True.

[00:08:40] The Hamptons is also pretty specific.

[00:08:42] Yeah.

[00:08:42] It just seemed like something R.L.

[00:08:44] Stein would have on his mind being from around here.

[00:08:47] A tech genius is persuaded by her roommate to begin online dating.

[00:08:51] Unfortunately, she begins to suspect that one of her suitors might be a deadly cyberstalker.

[00:08:57] Lifetime movie network.

[00:08:58] What makes you say that?

[00:08:59] The way you said deadly.

[00:09:00] Also, I think tech genius is not really something R.L.

[00:09:04] Stein's interested in and certainly not something he genders female.

[00:09:07] I'm really sorry to tell you that this is R.L.

[00:09:10] Stein, Eye Candy, which was published as a novel in 2004 and turned into an MTV series

[00:09:16] in 2015.

[00:09:17] What?

[00:09:17] Let's watch it.

[00:09:18] There's like an even more extended plot about – she gets like a motley crew of hackers

[00:09:21] together to like figure out who this person is.

[00:09:23] When is it from?

[00:09:24] The series is 2015 and the book is 2004.

[00:09:27] That sounds so cool.

[00:09:28] I would totally be down for that.

[00:09:30] You know how I feel about Sandra Bullock and the net.

[00:09:33] The sun's right in that vein.

[00:09:34] Also Angelina Jolie and hackers.

[00:09:37] Movies that turn you by.

[00:09:39] Yeah.

[00:09:40] A teen with a reputation for telling lies and creating trouble witnesses her new stepmother

[00:09:45] murder a man in a vacant parking lot.

[00:09:47] Ooh.

[00:09:48] Now she must convince her mother to believe her story before she enacts her plan to destroy

[00:09:52] her family.

[00:09:52] Okay.

[00:09:53] So I want to say lifetime and I'm also like why is the vacant parking lot in the description?

[00:09:59] So yeah.

[00:10:01] I really pulled the first descriptions I could see and last time I think I edited them more

[00:10:06] heavily and so this time I wanted to leave in more flavor.

[00:10:09] Yeah.

[00:10:09] I mean that's definitely flavor.

[00:10:11] I'm just like how much of a role does the vacant parking lot play in the development of

[00:10:15] the story?

[00:10:15] I don't have that information.

[00:10:17] Well, is it lifetime?

[00:10:18] It is.

[00:10:19] Okay.

[00:10:19] And is it called deadly parking lot?

[00:10:22] No, I wish.

[00:10:23] Is it called the girl who cried parking lot?

[00:10:29] No, it is not called anything to do with parking lots unfortunately.

[00:10:32] Okay.

[00:10:32] It is called killer stepmom.

[00:10:34] Oh, was the stepmom the killer?

[00:10:36] Yeah.

[00:10:36] Wait, what was the other one?

[00:10:37] Deadly stepmother?

[00:10:39] The wrong stepmother.

[00:10:41] The wrong stepmother.

[00:10:41] This is killer stepmother.

[00:10:42] They're totally different genres.

[00:10:43] Okay.

[00:10:44] Well, I have five points so far.

[00:10:45] Cool.

[00:10:47] Everyone is happy for Sarah when she begins to date her popular classmate Rob, but he

[00:10:52] soon starts to reveal his darker side.

[00:10:55] So what's tripping me up is the name Rob because I don't think R.L.

[00:11:00] Stein would name a bad guy Rob because of him being Robert.

[00:11:04] At the same time, I doubt he ever went by Rob.

[00:11:08] That would be hilarious.

[00:11:10] No, Bob for life.

[00:11:10] Yeah, Bob for life for sure.

[00:11:12] And I feel like that kind of name is the kind of name R.L.

[00:11:16] Stein gives a guy and it's not the kind of name that lifetime gives a guy.

[00:11:21] But it doesn't sound like there's a lot happening in this book also or movie.

[00:11:26] Can you read it again?

[00:11:28] Everyone is happy for Sarah when she begins to date her popular classmate Rob, but he soon

[00:11:33] starts to reveal his darker side.

[00:11:35] Okay.

[00:11:35] I'm going to say R.L.

[00:11:36] Stein because I think in his universe, you would have a plot point be everybody is happy

[00:11:41] for Sarah when she starts to date Rob.

[00:11:43] Like I don't...

[00:11:44] What?

[00:11:45] That's a really strange conception of how humans act.

[00:11:49] And I think that sounds like R.L.

[00:11:51] Stein.

[00:11:51] It is the Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:11:53] Oh, well, okay.

[00:11:55] Do you want to whack at the title or no?

[00:11:57] Yes.

[00:11:58] Go more out left field with this one.

[00:12:00] Like, is it a baseball thing?

[00:12:02] No, not literally.

[00:12:04] I mean, it's not a the wrong or psycho situation.

[00:12:10] Popularity killed the cat.

[00:12:11] No.

[00:12:13] Popular boyfriend or else.

[00:12:17] It's called No One Would Tell.

[00:12:19] Oh.

[00:12:20] Michelle is thrilled to earn a spot on the academic decathlon team.

[00:12:24] Ah!

[00:12:25] But when a student winds up in the hospital, she starts to wonder if there's more going

[00:12:29] on with the team than she knows.

[00:12:31] Lifetime.

[00:12:32] Correct.

[00:12:33] Yeah.

[00:12:33] Because I don't think R.L.

[00:12:35] Stein has heard of Akadeka.

[00:12:36] I also had not heard of Akadeka until I got to college.

[00:12:38] And then I had this friend who just talked about it all the fucking time.

[00:12:42] I didn't know it was called Akadeka.

[00:12:43] That's what she called it.

[00:12:44] I don't know.

[00:12:44] Maybe that's what they call it in Idaho.

[00:12:45] That's where she was from.

[00:12:46] But I was like, no one knows what that is, Anna.

[00:12:49] But it turned out I just didn't know what it was.

[00:12:51] Do you want to guess the title?

[00:12:53] Deadly Decathlon.

[00:12:54] Sorry.

[00:12:55] That is Killer Grades.

[00:12:56] Killer Grades.

[00:12:57] Cool.

[00:12:58] So.

[00:12:59] It's not really about grades, though, is it?

[00:13:00] No.

[00:13:01] Sometimes.

[00:13:01] I think Lifetime has a similar strategy in that the title comes first.

[00:13:05] Yeah.

[00:13:05] And sometimes they stick three titles on one movie just to see what's next.

[00:13:08] It's true.

[00:13:08] So maybe I have guessed some of the right titles so far.

[00:13:10] I'm at six.

[00:13:11] Okay.

[00:13:12] Now we move on to round two.

[00:13:14] R.L.

[00:13:14] Stein versus ChatGPT.

[00:13:16] Okay.

[00:13:17] So none of these are Lifetime?

[00:13:18] None of these are Lifetime.

[00:13:19] Okay.

[00:13:21] Though they may sound the part.

[00:13:22] And did you edit the voice?

[00:13:25] These I mostly edited just for length.

[00:13:27] Okay.

[00:13:28] Because I feel like ChatGPT has a style.

[00:13:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:13:31] I did ask it to write it in the style of the Goosebumps and Fear Street summaries that I

[00:13:37] fed it, though.

[00:13:38] I still think ChatGPT sounds like ChatGPT.

[00:13:41] Okay.

[00:13:41] Let's find out.

[00:13:42] Okay.

[00:13:43] Destiny and her twin sister, Livvy, return from their summer vacation with an overpowering

[00:13:47] thirst, an inhuman thirst to drink blood.

[00:13:50] Have they turned into vampires?

[00:13:52] How will they keep their horrifying secret from their family and friends?

[00:13:55] And can they find a way to become human again before it's too late?

[00:13:59] Did you, you fed in Fear Street and anything else?

[00:14:03] Goosebumps also?

[00:14:04] Okay.

[00:14:05] Damn.

[00:14:06] ChatGPT.

[00:14:07] That is R.L.

[00:14:08] Stein.

[00:14:09] What is it?

[00:14:09] It's called Dangerous Girls, and it's part of a duology.

[00:14:12] And now we also have an answer to the question of whether he ever got on the vampire train.

[00:14:15] Oh, let's read those.

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:17] Because that sounds great.

[00:14:19] I just thought with Livvy showing up, and we had just read another book with Livvy in

[00:14:24] it, I thought, oh, they're just pulling character names from some of his other

[00:14:27] books.

[00:14:28] Which is what he did.

[00:14:29] Yeah.

[00:14:30] Although I think this might have been written first.

[00:14:33] I think this is before the Horrorland books, but I don't remember.

[00:14:38] I didn't write down all the dates.

[00:14:40] I think that I might not be able to tell ChatGPT and R.L.

[00:14:43] Stein apart.

[00:14:44] Let's go.

[00:14:44] We got more to go.

[00:14:46] Rachel and her little brother, Max, are thrilled to inherit a giant dollhouse from their great

[00:14:51] aunt, Eleanor.

[00:14:51] But when the dolls start moving on their own and whispering strange things, Rachel realizes

[00:14:56] that the dollhouse isn't just a toy.

[00:14:57] It's a prison for trapped souls, and her family is next in line.

[00:15:01] That's fucking cool.

[00:15:02] I feel like this is impossible.

[00:15:05] I'm just going to be flipping a coin each time, and I'll say ChatGPT.

[00:15:08] You're correct.

[00:15:09] Well, it was very good, though.

[00:15:11] I was flipping a coin.

[00:15:11] Great job, ChatGPT.

[00:15:12] Actually sounded more interesting than a lot of R.L.

[00:15:16] Stein plots, and that's why I guessed ChatGPT.

[00:15:19] Devin O'Bannon didn't want to leave his best friend Luanne Franklin behind on Halloween.

[00:15:24] Sorry, the names.

[00:15:25] Yeah.

[00:15:26] He did not ask to go on this trip, and that was before he heard the strange scratching

[00:15:30] on his windows and saw the shadows moving around in the fields.

[00:15:33] Something is out there, and it does not seem to want Devin around.

[00:15:37] How confusing.

[00:15:38] That's just plotless enough for me to think that ChatGPT would have made a plot.

[00:15:44] So I'm going to say R.L.

[00:15:45] Stein.

[00:15:45] You're correct.

[00:15:47] Yeah, because that was just like a bunch of vague shit.

[00:15:49] Also, what's funny to me is the name Dev Noe Bannon, because it's a reference to Dan

[00:15:52] O'Bannon, who is one of the writers of Alien.

[00:15:54] Yeah.

[00:15:56] So this is from Wanted, colon, The Haunted Mask.

[00:15:58] They did a whole series of Wanted books.

[00:16:01] Oh, yeah.

[00:16:01] I saw.

[00:16:01] Rift on original property.

[00:16:02] So this is one of the two stories in that book.

[00:16:04] Yeah.

[00:16:05] Night for Noah Beanstalk is a scary time.

[00:16:08] Noah Beanstalk?

[00:16:10] It's B-I-E-N-S-T-O-C-K.

[00:16:13] I'm going to say R.L.

[00:16:14] I'm going to say ChatGPT.

[00:16:16] He keeps having the scariest dream that he's being haunted by a monster he can't escape.

[00:16:25] Then he meets Monroe, the new kid in town.

[00:16:27] But there are some strange things about Monroe.

[00:16:30] Noah must do whatever it takes to make sure his nightmares don't come true.

[00:16:33] Yeah.

[00:16:34] So Noah Beanstalk doesn't sound like R.L.

[00:16:38] Stein to me.

[00:16:39] He does have a lot of Noahs, but if it was going to be Noah Beanstalk, this would have

[00:16:43] to be a, like, he has to be given magic beans and there's a giant.

[00:16:46] Is Monroe a giant?

[00:16:48] So I'm going ChatGPT because it sounds too confusing.

[00:16:52] This is R.L.

[00:16:53] Stein.

[00:16:53] What?

[00:16:54] You want to guess the title?

[00:16:55] The Beanstalk Stalks at Bean Night.

[00:16:59] How I Met My Monster.

[00:17:01] Oh.

[00:17:02] You get it?

[00:17:03] Yep.

[00:17:04] Yeah.

[00:17:05] Because that's a TV show.

[00:17:06] Yeah.

[00:17:07] Yep.

[00:17:08] Topical.

[00:17:09] Yep.

[00:17:09] See, ripped from the headlines.

[00:17:11] So there, Andy.

[00:17:13] Fair enough.

[00:17:14] He does, I mean, rip titles from things that he sees around him.

[00:17:18] That's true.

[00:17:18] Like Walmart.

[00:17:19] Yeah.

[00:17:19] Anna volunteers at her town's forgotten library and discovers a select, and discovers

[00:17:24] a section of books that whisper secrets only she can hear.

[00:17:27] At first, the books are fun, telling her ways to prank her enemies.

[00:17:31] But when the books start, when the books start demanding dangerous favors, Anna must silence

[00:17:36] them before they turn their pages on her.

[00:17:38] Could completely be any, but I'm going to say ChatGPT because turn their pages on her

[00:17:45] is kind of missing how metaphors work.

[00:17:47] You're correct.

[00:17:48] Yeah.

[00:17:49] Yeah.

[00:17:49] That was actually, it was good.

[00:17:50] Like, right?

[00:17:51] I'm impressed.

[00:17:52] ChatGP's like, oh, I'll put a cool, like, twisty language thing at the end.

[00:17:56] But then it's like, turn their pages on her.

[00:17:59] It, like, doesn't quite work, right?

[00:18:01] At the same time, you have people writing things like, you don't play the game, the game plays

[00:18:05] you.

[00:18:05] So I can see how it would try that out.

[00:18:08] That makes sense.

[00:18:08] That does make sense, though.

[00:18:09] Does it?

[00:18:10] Yes.

[00:18:11] Okay.

[00:18:12] Agree to disagree there.

[00:18:13] But yes, you're right.

[00:18:13] It's like when it tries to render hands and it's like, ah, 11 fingers on one hand.

[00:18:17] Yeah.

[00:18:17] It's so funny because it's just so close to right that I don't think, like, a person could

[00:18:21] come up with it.

[00:18:22] Yeah.

[00:18:22] Because it's just a direction you wouldn't think.

[00:18:25] Yeah.

[00:18:27] Katie Orton loves animals, especially unusual ones.

[00:18:29] So when she sees a pop-up ad on her computer for an amazing lizard from Australia, she has

[00:18:34] to have it.

[00:18:35] The ad says the lizard is actually a kind of chameleon.

[00:18:38] It can change its appearance to blend in with its own surroundings.

[00:18:41] But when the package finally arrives, Katie finds an egg and a warning.

[00:18:47] ChatGPT.

[00:18:47] What makes you say that?

[00:18:49] The lizard is actually a kind of chameleon?

[00:18:52] The lizard is actually a chameleon?

[00:18:55] This is Arlstein.

[00:18:57] Why is that a sentence in your description?

[00:18:59] Okay.

[00:18:59] So I had to shorten it.

[00:19:00] And so it said it's kind of chameleon and it can also change – it can even change its

[00:19:04] shape.

[00:19:05] So that might be on me editing an issue.

[00:19:08] Sorry.

[00:19:08] It was such a long description.

[00:19:10] Yeah.

[00:19:10] Well, and that's the other thing that made me think it was ChatGPT was – it was like,

[00:19:14] this description keeps going on.

[00:19:15] Like, okay.

[00:19:17] Cool.

[00:19:17] Do you want to guess the title?

[00:19:18] Yes.

[00:19:19] It's a pun on something that you've been talking to our kid about.

[00:19:24] Kit Kat bars?

[00:19:25] No.

[00:19:27] Earlier.

[00:19:29] Wicked?

[00:19:31] The Wizard of Oz?

[00:19:33] Wizard of –

[00:19:34] Yeah, you're on the right track.

[00:19:35] So now it's got to be a pun.

[00:19:36] The Lizard of Oz.

[00:19:38] Yes.

[00:19:38] It's called The Lizard of Oz.

[00:19:40] Eight.

[00:19:40] Does that count?

[00:19:41] Did I get half a point for that?

[00:19:42] I get half a point for that.

[00:19:43] Okay.

[00:19:43] Nine and a half.

[00:19:44] Sweet.

[00:19:46] Tommy loves spending his weekends at the old arcade down the street.

[00:19:49] When he stumbles upon a forgotten game called The Haunted Quest, strange things start happening.

[00:19:54] Characters from the game come to life, and Tommy finds himself battling pixelated monsters

[00:19:58] in the real world.

[00:19:59] Cool.

[00:19:59] If he doesn't win, he'll be trapped in the game forever.

[00:20:02] Or I'll study.

[00:20:03] Wrong.

[00:20:04] Whoa.

[00:20:05] Good job, ChatGPT.

[00:20:07] Pixelated monsters.

[00:20:08] Sounded so cool.

[00:20:11] Riley and her friends are always up for a dare until one challenge goes horribly wrong

[00:20:15] and their friend Noah vanishes.

[00:20:17] When Riley starts –

[00:20:18] How many Noahs?

[00:20:20] When Riley starts receiving notes daring her to complete more sinister tasks or suffer

[00:20:25] the same fate as Noah, she realizes someone knows their secret and wants them to pay.

[00:20:29] This also sounds like a very cool plot.

[00:20:32] ChatGPT?

[00:20:34] Correct.

[00:20:35] Cool.

[00:20:35] What made you say that?

[00:20:36] Because it was kind of generic.

[00:20:37] It's like, yeah, I've seen that, you know, story.

[00:20:41] Like, there was a black mirror like that and stuff.

[00:20:44] Yeah.

[00:20:45] Oh, go ahead.

[00:20:45] Well, I was just saying, but I also felt like I actually haven't seen R.L.

[00:20:50] Stein do stuff where there's, like, kids in it, but they're getting, like, a sort of – like,

[00:20:55] that seems like a mix of, like, kid genre and adult genre to me.

[00:20:59] Also, it starts out with they're playing truth or dare, but the second part is it's

[00:21:03] going to reveal their secret, and those two halves don't actually go together very well.

[00:21:06] Yeah, that makes sense.

[00:21:07] The ChatGPT ones I really only edited for, like, names and simplicity.

[00:21:10] I didn't, like, add things.

[00:21:12] Yeah.

[00:21:13] Or I didn't add things to any of them.

[00:21:14] I mean, I didn't, like, change them significantly.

[00:21:17] Well, what's funny is I think that also it would totally be very possible for an R.L.

[00:21:23] Stein book to be saying half of one story and half of another on their description.

[00:21:28] But they usually get someone better to, like, clean that up in the back cover.

[00:21:32] Yeah, that's true.

[00:21:33] Oh, and in case you're wondering, I gave it the descriptions of the original Goosebumps

[00:21:36] series and the original Fear Street series.

[00:21:38] Okay.

[00:21:39] But I pulled stuff from all over his oeuvre.

[00:21:43] Man, you really pounded the pavement for this one.

[00:21:46] I did.

[00:21:47] I did.

[00:21:48] Meg decides to throw a surprise party for her friend Ellen, who moved away a year ago

[00:21:52] after their friend Evan died in the woods.

[00:21:55] That's when the terror begins.

[00:21:56] The phone calls, the threats, the acts of violence.

[00:21:59] Cancel the party or else, whispers the voice on the phone.

[00:22:02] Who would do so many terrible things to stop her party?

[00:22:05] To find out, Meg will have to venture into the dark woods that took Evan's life.

[00:22:10] R.L. Stein.

[00:22:11] Correct.

[00:22:11] Yeah, it just sounded really, really good and a little bit not predictable.

[00:22:16] Very specific.

[00:22:17] Any guesses on the title?

[00:22:19] Stay Out of the Woods.

[00:22:21] The surprise party.

[00:22:22] Oh.

[00:22:22] I believe it's Fear Street number two.

[00:22:24] Cool.

[00:22:25] Twins Betty and Billy are visiting their Uncle Wendell at his secluded house in the Wayward

[00:22:29] Forest.

[00:22:30] What they think is going to be a boring stay quickly turns into a real nightmare.

[00:22:34] Wendell is in possession of the scariest book in the world, and someone is after Wendell.

[00:22:39] To keep the book safe, the siblings will have to plunge directly into the heart of the

[00:22:42] dangerous forest.

[00:22:43] That sounds like Chad TBT.

[00:22:46] Why?

[00:22:46] Because I haven't heard of it, and it sounds like a Goosebumps book.

[00:22:50] It is R.L. Stein.

[00:22:52] It is called Scariest, period, book, period, ever, period.

[00:22:55] And it is from the series House of Shivers, which seems like a Goosebumps series.

[00:23:00] I don't know if it's the same age range or what.

[00:23:01] Got it.

[00:23:02] Well, well.

[00:23:03] Cody always swore she'd come back to her childhood home.

[00:23:05] She knows the spirit of her dead sister Callie is trapped there, waiting to be set free.

[00:23:10] Now Cody is starring in a movie about the evil that murdered Callie, and she hopes that

[00:23:14] she can find and help Callie.

[00:23:15] Huh?

[00:23:16] But Callie doesn't want to be saved.

[00:23:17] She wants revenge.

[00:23:18] Okay.

[00:23:19] That sounds cool, too.

[00:23:20] I'm going to say Chad TBT.

[00:23:22] Why?

[00:23:23] Because it doesn't make sense.

[00:23:25] This is R.L.

[00:23:26] Stein, the third horror.

[00:23:28] The third horror.

[00:23:28] So I think it doesn't make sense because we're not familiar with the first and second horrors.

[00:23:31] That might be it.

[00:23:32] Yeah.

[00:23:32] It sounds cool.

[00:23:34] Madison is excited to spend the summer working at a lakeside resort, but guests and staff

[00:23:38] begin vanishing without a trace.

[00:23:40] The locals whisper about an old legend of a lake monster that emerges every 20 years.

[00:23:45] Cool.

[00:23:45] Madison must unravel the mystery of the disappearances before she becomes the monster's next victim.

[00:23:50] Yeah.

[00:23:51] I'm going to say Chad TBT because my feeling as it's starting to shape up is that Chad

[00:23:56] TBT creates very general scenarios, and R.L.

[00:24:02] Stein gets a little bit more specific.

[00:24:04] It's strange because it's like R.L.

[00:24:07] Stein is weirder in terms of what happens in the story, but correct in terms of how to talk.

[00:24:15] And it's the opposite with Chad TBT.

[00:24:17] Like, it doesn't always make sense, but it's very general.

[00:24:20] Like, yeah.

[00:24:21] Yeah.

[00:24:22] Like, coherent.

[00:24:23] All right.

[00:24:23] That was the end of round two.

[00:24:24] Was I right?

[00:24:25] You were correct.

[00:24:26] Sorry.

[00:24:26] I meant to say that.

[00:24:27] Yeah.

[00:24:27] So I think I'm at 11 and a half points.

[00:24:30] All right.

[00:24:31] Out of how many possible points?

[00:24:32] 24?

[00:24:33] 24?

[00:24:34] Oh, I guess.

[00:24:34] So far out of 22 points.

[00:24:38] Okay.

[00:24:39] And then we have one more.

[00:24:40] Over 50%.

[00:24:41] Yeah.

[00:24:41] Then we have 10 more points to go.

[00:24:43] So 30.

[00:24:43] Oh, you know, I did 32 is because that's how many were possible in our last episode.

[00:24:47] This is the Super Smash Brothers free for all round.

[00:24:49] Is it lifetime?

[00:24:51] Is it R.L. Stein?

[00:24:51] Or is it Chad TBT?

[00:24:52] Okay.

[00:24:54] That's so many things to keep track of.

[00:24:56] Yeah.

[00:24:56] And did you feed it any lifetime?

[00:24:59] I did.

[00:24:59] Okay.

[00:25:00] I used the filters on IMDb, which were not very good.

[00:25:02] And also sometimes really weirdly specific.

[00:25:05] Like there's a tag that says woman bound and gagged.

[00:25:07] I was like, that's from someone's like private collection that I didn't need to see.

[00:25:11] I bet it gets searched a lot.

[00:25:13] Yeah.

[00:25:14] I think I filtered for like high school and like teenage stuff and deception.

[00:25:19] Deception.

[00:25:20] Nicole always thought her friend Lucy's life was so much better than hers.

[00:25:24] She had cooler parents and a cuter boyfriend.

[00:25:26] Next to her, Nicole felt like a loser.

[00:25:28] So when Lucy asked if she wanted to switch bodies,

[00:25:30] Nicole thought it sounded like a fun idea.

[00:25:33] Switch bodies or switch outfits?

[00:25:35] Bodies.

[00:25:35] The look on Andy's face right now was so good.

[00:25:38] Well, up to that point, I was like, lifetime, obviously.

[00:25:40] Now I'm like, definitely not lifetime.

[00:25:42] She didn't realize the switch would actually work.

[00:25:44] Or that Lucy's life might turn out to be not so sweet after all.

[00:25:46] Turns out Lucy's got a few issues.

[00:25:48] And she's about to get revenge using Nicole's body.

[00:25:51] I mean, that's very cool.

[00:25:52] And it sounds like it could be an R.L. Stein plot.

[00:25:55] Except I feel like a normal person would explain how they were going to switch bodies.

[00:26:00] Like you don't just make until they decided to switch bodies.

[00:26:03] Yeah.

[00:26:03] So that was not a me edit.

[00:26:05] That's just the description from, I think, Amazon.

[00:26:08] Oh, so it's not ChatGPT.

[00:26:10] Because I was going to guess.

[00:26:10] Oh, sorry.

[00:26:11] Shit.

[00:26:12] Wow.

[00:26:13] Okay.

[00:26:14] Well, all right.

[00:26:15] That negated that point then.

[00:26:17] Well, I guess I just, I would have thought that someone would say,

[00:26:20] if they're describing a book where people switch bodies, luckily, like Lucy has a body switcher

[00:26:26] machine, Neolatron, you know?

[00:26:29] Yes.

[00:26:29] Well, that's R.L. Stein switched.

[00:26:30] Well.

[00:26:31] My bad.

[00:26:32] So a total of 31 points, let's say.

[00:26:34] Okay.

[00:26:35] When a mysterious social media account begins to post blind items.

[00:26:38] Well, I would have been wrong anyway.

[00:26:39] That's true.

[00:26:40] When a mysterious social media account begins to post blind items about the scandals of a small town

[00:26:45] high school, a troubled teen and her best friend set out to unmask the culprit

[00:26:49] with deadly consequences.

[00:26:51] Blind items?

[00:26:52] Blind items.

[00:26:53] What's that mean?

[00:26:55] Anonymous, I think.

[00:26:56] Oh.

[00:26:56] I don't think ChatGPT would use that phrase because I've never heard it.

[00:27:00] So I'm going to say Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:27:02] Mm-hmm.

[00:27:02] Do you have any guesses about the title?

[00:27:04] Well, was it a yard sale?

[00:27:07] A garage sale?

[00:27:08] No.

[00:27:08] There was no yard sale.

[00:27:10] This is not deadly garage sale.

[00:27:12] Nice try, though.

[00:27:12] No, no, no.

[00:27:12] I just, I feel like in my mind there was some aspect of it that sounded like estate sale.

[00:27:18] Small town high school.

[00:27:19] Small town high school.

[00:27:20] But there's someone who's selling stuff on the internet.

[00:27:23] It begins to post blind items.

[00:27:25] I think that means it's, somebody's posting anonymous gossip.

[00:27:29] Oh.

[00:27:30] That's my read.

[00:27:30] I definitely pictured eBay.

[00:27:33] Oh, I see.

[00:27:34] You thought that was like a silent auction.

[00:27:35] Yeah.

[00:27:36] Okay.

[00:27:37] And then everyone in the high school is getting upset with each other?

[00:27:39] Yeah.

[00:27:40] I definitely was picturing like a needful things, but eBay with teens.

[00:27:46] Okay.

[00:27:46] Okay.

[00:27:47] Then social media can be deadly.

[00:27:50] Killing for extra credit.

[00:27:51] What?

[00:27:53] Okay.

[00:27:54] I think I'm at 12 and a half points now, maybe.

[00:27:57] After a near fatal accident, Olivia wakes up to find that her identical twin sister, Ivy, has taken over her life.

[00:28:03] Everyone believes Olivia is the one who's changed, but Ivy's dark secrets come to light.

[00:28:08] Or excuse me.

[00:28:09] But as Ivy's dark secrets come to light, Olivia realizes she must stop her sister before Ivy's twisted game ends in murder.

[00:28:16] That sounds like a really cool story.

[00:28:19] And maybe it's R.L.

[00:28:20] Stein.

[00:28:21] Chat GBT.

[00:28:22] Ah.

[00:28:23] High school senior Melissa has always admired her charismatic English teacher, Mr. Turner.

[00:28:28] But when he starts showing her special attention, Melissa becomes uncomfortable.

[00:28:32] As his behavior turns obsessive and dangerous, Melissa must find a way to protect herself from the teacher she once trusted.

[00:28:38] Lifetime movie network.

[00:28:39] Chat GBT.

[00:28:40] Well, it's coming up with lifetime.

[00:28:42] I mean, that's the thing about chat GBT and lifetime.

[00:28:47] That's interesting.

[00:28:47] I think R.L.

[00:28:48] Stein is a better story crafter than lifetime.

[00:28:53] Yeah.

[00:28:53] You heard it here first.

[00:28:54] It's Andy's hot take.

[00:28:55] Because I feel like lifetime is, you know, those toys you have when you're a kid that are like, there's a head, a torso and a body and there's like different animals.

[00:29:03] And you spin it around.

[00:29:04] I think lifetime just spins those around.

[00:29:06] Yeah.

[00:29:07] Whereas R.L.

[00:29:07] Stein is drawing animals.

[00:29:10] Carrie and her three friends look forward to a party summer working at the Howling Wolf Inn.

[00:29:15] After finding it deserted, the mysterious owner allows them to stay.

[00:29:19] However, after a murder is committed, Carrie and her friends want out but find themselves trapped on the island.

[00:29:24] That sounds like ski weekend.

[00:29:26] It does.

[00:29:27] So I'm going to say R.L.

[00:29:28] Stein.

[00:29:28] Yeah.

[00:29:29] And it's not going to be ski weekend.

[00:29:31] No, it's party summer.

[00:29:33] Because it's the opposite time of year.

[00:29:34] Ah.

[00:29:35] Wait.

[00:29:36] So is that the title?

[00:29:37] Yeah, party summer.

[00:29:37] Okay.

[00:29:40] Having trouble fitting in at her new high school, outspoken teen Hannah is invited to a sleepover at the popular Melissa's house, not realizing that she was only invited to be the victim of a prank.

[00:29:50] No, that's my worst nightmare.

[00:29:53] I'm going to say chat GPT.

[00:29:55] Why?

[00:29:56] Outspoken Melissa.

[00:29:57] No, it's Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:29:58] Oh.

[00:29:59] Surviving the sleepover.

[00:30:00] They are not distinguishable, but this whole exercise is making me really have more nuance about how R.L.

[00:30:07] Stein is not, he is the person.

[00:30:10] Yeah.

[00:30:11] Not a machine.

[00:30:13] Amber is thrilled to be voted captain of her high school cheer squad, but a stalker begins sending threatening messages warning her to step down.

[00:30:20] Ooh.

[00:30:20] When accidents at practice turn deadly, Amber must unmask or torment her before her first game becomes her last.

[00:30:27] It's either R.L.

[00:30:28] Stein or Lifetime Movie Network.

[00:30:31] It reminds me of Deadly Cheer Mom, or whatever that one was called, where the cheerleader's mom wanted to keep this random girl off the squad or get her girl on the squad or something.

[00:30:41] But there's no adults featuring, so that makes me think R.L.

[00:30:45] Stein.

[00:30:46] Chat GPT.

[00:30:47] Well, well, well, well.

[00:30:49] The lifeguards at North Beach Country Club know they're lucky.

[00:30:52] While other kids are flipping burgers, they're sunning themselves by day and partying by night.

[00:30:56] Do they have names?

[00:30:58] They might have, but I had to squish it.

[00:31:01] Then, one by one, the lifeguards start to die horrible deaths.

[00:31:05] Someone or something, evil, is stalking them.

[00:31:08] They all know how to save other people's lives, but who will save theirs?

[00:31:12] So, if it had names in the original description, then my answer might be different because the lack of names makes me feel like it was Chat GPT.

[00:31:22] I don't remember if it had names or not.

[00:31:24] Sorry.

[00:31:24] Okay.

[00:31:25] Because otherwise the plot sounds like R.L.

[00:31:26] Stein.

[00:31:27] Want to make a guess?

[00:31:29] Charles P.

[00:31:30] R.L.

[00:31:31] Stein.

[00:31:34] R.L.

[00:31:35] Chat GPT.

[00:31:36] R.L.

[00:31:36] Stein.

[00:31:37] The dead lifeguard.

[00:31:38] Oh.

[00:31:39] I don't know why it's just one dead lifeguard when there's a bunch of them in the description.

[00:31:42] I guess only one dies?

[00:31:44] Or maybe it's a dead lifeguard who's stalking them or someone that they thought was dead.

[00:31:48] We'll have to read and find out.

[00:31:49] Yeah.

[00:31:50] Yeah.

[00:31:50] I'm into that.

[00:31:51] We have actually been talking about maybe after we finish Horrorland not going on to Slappy World or whatever.

[00:31:59] Not quite right away, but yeah.

[00:32:01] Yeah.

[00:32:02] So, maybe taking a little detour into Pier Street for a while.

[00:32:05] Yeah.

[00:32:08] But after eccentric Aunt Sylvie put a weird spice in his mac and cheese, suddenly Sam can't stop eating.

[00:32:14] Paste and pepper.

[00:32:15] Dishwashing soap.

[00:32:16] Oh, this is R.L.

[00:32:16] Even dog food.

[00:32:17] This is R.L.

[00:32:18] Stein.

[00:32:19] You can finish reading.

[00:32:20] Uh, that, you're right.

[00:32:21] It's The Boy Who Ate Fear Street.

[00:32:23] What?

[00:32:24] Really?

[00:32:25] Yeah.

[00:32:26] Oh, I definitely thought that was a Goosebumps book.

[00:32:28] Um, it seems like he might have done a, like, Junior's version of Fear Street.

[00:32:34] I'm not totally sure.

[00:32:35] He's written so many fucking books.

[00:32:36] It sounded like R.L. Stein because of all the, like, specific food descriptions.

[00:32:39] Yeah.

[00:32:40] And how, like, wacky it is.

[00:32:42] Yeah.

[00:32:43] All right.

[00:32:43] Last one.

[00:32:44] Okay.

[00:32:45] I'm at 14 and a half.

[00:32:46] High school friends Zoe, Mia, and Nick explore a mysterious abandoned mansion rumored to be haunted by a cursed mirror.

[00:32:53] When each of them sees their own death reflected in the glass, they laugh it off as a prank.

[00:32:57] But when the deaths start coming true, Zoe realizes the mirror's curse is very real.

[00:33:02] And if she can't break it, she's next.

[00:33:04] Okay.

[00:33:04] This is really hard.

[00:33:06] And I have 14 and a half right now.

[00:33:09] So if I get this one, I could round up to 32, you know, with 15 and a half points.

[00:33:14] 15 and a half round up to 32?

[00:33:16] Round up to 16, which is half of 32.

[00:33:18] Okay.

[00:33:18] You get a solid 50%.

[00:33:19] 50%.

[00:33:20] Uh-huh.

[00:33:20] So a lot hinges on this.

[00:33:23] And it has so many elements from RL Stein plots that I'm going to say chat GPT.

[00:33:30] Correct?

[00:33:32] Thank God.

[00:33:34] 50%.

[00:33:35] Yeah.

[00:33:35] Congratulations.

[00:33:36] So was that easier or harder than last time?

[00:33:38] I don't know if you even remember last time.

[00:33:39] I felt like last time was easier.

[00:33:40] Yeah.

[00:33:41] I think last time you got something like 20 out of 32 or whatever.

[00:33:45] Well, I'm glad to know.

[00:33:46] I've improved over time.

[00:33:47] Well, actually, I think it's chat GPT.

[00:33:48] That's the issue.

[00:33:50] Yeah.

[00:33:51] Really fascinating study in how these guys put together stories.

[00:33:56] I guess Fortune Cookie has said he wants to join us again.

[00:33:59] He's like, I hear you wrapping up in there.

[00:34:00] Tapping at Alyssa.

[00:34:02] How was it for you?

[00:34:03] Was it good for you too?

[00:34:04] Yeah.

[00:34:05] Were you surprised by what I did and didn't get right?

[00:34:08] I don't think so.

[00:34:09] No.

[00:34:09] I think you were picking up on really, like, good distinctive things.

[00:34:12] But some of them were just – sometimes descriptions are just generic enough that it's confusing.

[00:34:16] Also, the titles are out of absolutely nowhere.

[00:34:20] None of those titles made any sense.

[00:34:21] Yeah.

[00:34:24] Well, GoosePunks, we want to know how you did.

[00:34:26] Let us know what you scored.

[00:34:27] Good luck today with, you know, life keeping cool.

[00:34:33] And, yeah, good luck to all of us.

[00:34:37] Listener beware.

[00:34:38] Those were the scares.

[00:34:40] Good meow.

[00:34:42] Good meow.

[00:34:42] Good meow.

[00:34:45] Listeners beware.

[00:34:46] Send us more scares.

[00:34:48] Woo.

[00:34:49] Good boo.

[00:34:50] Good boo.

[00:34:56] What did you think I was doing?

[00:34:58] I don't know.

[00:34:58] I just wanted to –

[00:35:00] Ah!

[00:35:02] Oh, my God.

[00:35:03] He's like, now you're under the rug.

[00:35:05] How fun.

[00:35:09] So I definitely just got attacked by a cat.

[00:35:13] Hey, Fortune.

[00:35:14] Do you want to come in, buddy?

[00:35:15] Hey.

[00:35:16] Hey.

[00:35:16] Hey.

[00:35:16] Hey.