Visitations - Podcast Rankings and reviews

Great conversations on creativity and life. Taking the interviews away from the usual anecdote touch points provided on a promotion tour. Relaxed and intimate .

One of my very favorite podcasts. I love the horror genre and it’s apparent in each episode that Daniel & Elijah are true fans. They are terrific interviews and a great hang.

Wouldn’t have begun the process of trying to become a filmmaker myself without these two and the way in which they speak to their guests. Daniel and Elijah are going to usher in a ton of young blood by simply speaking. Five stars just doesn’t seem like enough.

UPDATE: Yes! It’s back! I love this show!

The conversations are so freeform and honest and vulnerable and insightful and great. The docu-lite-feel of the open and close with a simple but incredibly catchy tune stays with me long after I finish each ep. Hats off. The bar has been set. Thank you.

I was excited to listen to the Cassandra Peterson interview. At the top, before they speak to Peterson, one of the hosts wonders aloud whether Peterson was always drawn to horror or if this is something she now finds herself inextricably linked to regardless of her personal interests (this is something Peterson actually addresses in the interview). The other host is silent, then bursts out laughing and says the question was so complicated he stopped listening. I'm pretty sure he's the same one who keeps up a constant patter of "yeah" and "uh huh" as the guest is talking, and who spits out trite "you go girl!" style responses any time the story introduces some kind of adversity. But wait, there's more! The theme music is slow and plodding and it goes on for way too long, and to make things even worse, they also keep it going in the background while the guest is talking. This isn't the type of journalistic podcast that needs a bed of music to stitch together different strands of a complicated story! The guest, Cassandra Peterson, was great, but the host's incurious attitude, vocal tics, and cliched responses, combined with that terrible nonstop dirge in the background, makes the podcast itself so unbearable that it's the audio equivalent of a Kabletown couch. I've never deleted an episode and unfollowed a show faster.

There was, I believe, a genuine push for authenticity on the hosts part originally. But it’s soon revealed in the episode with John Landis that those attempts were brought to a halt. For example, the choice to create faux conversations when first arriving at the interviewee’s location allows the podcast to slowly unravel. I was disappointed in this simply because there’s amazing artists interviewing and being interviewed.
The conversations never stay in the realm of digging deep for authenticity either. Politics put a blemish on the topic they’re trying to discuss and it becomes an atypical podcast of the Covid era. There are too many “breaks” where the original jingle comes in for a moment (what what purpose, I don’t know). I’m hoping the later episodes get better in quality, stay on point, and continue striving for authenticity.