A Little Haunted Update

Hello hello my spooktacular friends! I figured it had been a bit since my YouTube live stream and I wanted to give you all a little update as to where we are and what we are looking at for a timeline.  

One of the things that I had talked about at length in the live stream was having a more defined and thought out schedule and timeline for writing, production, and release.  Previously, I had simply been writing an episode, recording it, producing it, and releasing it, which meant that I was never ahead of the game.  If there were any snags or roadblocks, it meant that the episode would be late, and the effects of that would snowball.  

The current plan is to write for a few months, record and produce for a few months, and then begin releasing the episodes monthly.  The current goal is to have the new season begin on Halloween, as we so often begin our fresh seasons on my favorite holiday.

That being said, I wanted to talk a little bit about some concept changes that have been made since I talked to you all last.  Previously, the plan was to simply do a full reboot.  If you didn’t get a chance to watch the live stream, it's up on our Youtube channel, but the super short version is… I’m not happy with the pacing or direction of the story, and I can do better for all of you.  And for me.  

Since then, I had asked our friends in the discord server if they had any requests for the upcoming reboot - specifically things like “are there scenes, moments, or even lines that you love so much you really want them to be in the reboot?”, and even suggestions for changes that you might have.  I can’t promise I’ll give these to you, but your voice and opinions matter to me.

One request asked if there could be a way to incorporate the reboot into the story arc.  Initially, my answer was no, because I felt that it completely defeated the purpose of it being a reboot, and I felt very strongly about this being a literal “do-over” for the show.  That idea also brought up questions about what will happen to the old show?  Will it still be available to listen to? 

I decided, as a little writing experiment, I would try to create an episode with scenes that would manifest this transition… and… surprisingly, I succeeded and I am quite happy with the path it took.  This also really helped shape how the reboot would go and make references more important and interesting. 

So… here is what you are going to be getting:  There will be a final episode to season 3, which will be the transition episode.  I haven’t decided if this will be released on Halloween, or possibly sooner.  There are a few behind-the-scenes factors that need to play out, but I will keep you posted.

Once the transition episode is complete, you will get a new “version” of the same story.  It will NOT be exactly the same.  There will be a lot of old scenes that will be nearly identical, but re-recorded for quality continuity. There will be a lot of new and expanded scenes, because that was something I felt was missing and hurt the pacing of the old show.  Some episodes will contain scenes from other episodes and change up the order in which things happen.  Some characters may have a slightly altered role.  Some things may never happen again. 

We are also taking a lot of extra time to really build out the town - the shops, the people, the daily lives, etc. 

Ultimately, the new show is going to take its time.  We are going to walk through the story, not run.  I have so many ideas, situations, and characters from the original show’s brainstorming files that were never used, and I think you are going to love them.

I think that wraps up this update.  I’m going to try to do more of these more frequently.

We do have a discord server here, so please join that for more frequent and informal updates.

Stay spooky friends!

-JD