What makes a good scary story? Hamilton podcasters share their spooky secrets
CBC
There's an art to telling the kind of tale that causes someone to break out in goosebumps and makes their hair stand on end.
Chances are more than a few brave souls will try their hand at weaving a spooky or supernatural tale out of thin air as Halloween approaches.
With that in mind, CBC reached out to Sean Howard and Eli Hamada McIlveen, a pair of Hamilton podcasters, to get their takes on what makes for a good scary story.
They are co-founders of Fable and Folly, a network of like-minded, narrative storytellers.
McIlveen had been writing scripts since his days producing a radio comedy series while studying at the University of Waterloo, but their story really began about a decade ago in a dining room — not exactly the scariest of settings.
Neither was their first subject.
McIlveen said he's long been interested in creating a "fairy tale, sitcom, hospital show."
In the end, the pair found their sweet spot somewhere between an ogre and a TV doctor who often acts like one.
"Shrek meets House," said Howard with a laugh.
The result was Alba Salix, Royal Physician. Three years later, they put out their first episode. Then essentially walked away from it after releasing a six-episode season.
"One day out of the blue, like a year later, Alba's numbers started to go crazy," Howard said.
The duo dove back in, producing three originals and launching the Fable and Folly Network after Howard was laid off in 2020 to support other creators.
Today, the network sees about a million downloads a month.
It's a far cry from their first success when Alba took off with thousands of downloads in a day.
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