Grand Rapids, we have a horrormeister in our midst. Ted Raimi has put down roots in Southwest Michigan and recently emerged from his crypt to talk to GR Mag about Your Dearest Darkest Friend, with Ted Raimi, his new horror talk show premiering October 30 on SCREAMBOX. The title, coined by a friend, is bang on for a particularly peculiar cocktail party where horror fans can gather to talk shop.
A Detroit native, Raimi came up on the mean streets of Eight Mile and Livernois. He shoots the show in Chicago, thanks to its film incentives, but these days he calls Michigan home, trading the city for a farmhouse somewhere in the wilds of the state. We’d tell you where, but there could be consequences—it’s haunted.
Think Alfred Hitchcock Presents with a little Vincent Price, a dash of Pee-wee Herman and some Muppet-style mischief. The manor is full of ghoulish oddities and puppets, including Mortimer Dustworth, Raimi’s enigmatic right-hand man.
The first three guests are filmmaker Joe Swanberg, horror-world favorite Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond) and Charlie Benante, founding member of Anthrax and drummer for Pantera. Swanberg opens October 30 with “Man of Leisure,” accompanied by a cocktail called the Necroni. Crampton follows November 6 in “The Raven,” celebrating the 40th anniversary of Re-Animator with a Re-Animartini. On November 13, Benante brings metal into the manor for “Forbidden Sandwich,” featuring a rum-spiced Chemical Warfare.
No tedious introductory course in the macabre. No looking down our noses at slashers. And—thankfully— no trite questions about whether anyone believes in ghosts. This is horror talk for horror fans: the movies, the memories, the monsters and the mayhem.
Remember when television let people finish a thought? Raimi does. He also remembers Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, when atmosphere and conversation had room to breathe. His show isn’t interested in frantic cuts or three-second attention spans. It’s an invitation to settle in and see where a good conversation goes.
Ted puts it this way: if horror movies were a genre of music, they’d be metal, like Black Sabbath. The show about them? Chuck Mangione. The subject may be dark, but there’s a lighter side to all that macabre business. Think of it as a G-rated variety show for horror fans, complete with puppets and alcohol. Almost G-rated, anyway.
And if you’re wondering where Raimi hangs his hat when he’s not in the haunted manor, well, shhh. We wouldn’t want to compromise his cover, but he has several favorite haunts of his own around town. We’ll get into that more in our upcoming print edition of Grand Rapids Magazine.
Until then…
Your Dearest Darkest Friend premieres October 30 on SCREAMBOX, with new episodes weekly. Consider this your invitation. Just don’t ask for directions to the farmhouse.
