“I got COVID really bad,” Couto said recently, sitting inside Ghostlight Coffee on Wayne Avenue. “It lingered for about nine months, but I was lucky because I got a variant that didn’t affect my throat. I had shortness of breath and my fatigue was such that I’d nap twice a day and then sleep all night, but we never had an episode late. That was really important to me. Even on the days it was hard, I’d record half of it, go take a nap and then record the other half. Having to do the podcast every week brought an incredible amount of structure. It was amazing to have something to do. The week made sense because no matter what happened, I had to sit down by Tuesday and do it or else it would be late.”
A scary past
Talking into a microphone and narrating scary stories aren’t new interests for Couto, who hosted his first podcast from 2005 to 2007. He also released a CD of scary stories, “Don’t Listen in The Dark,” in 2011.
“I’ve always been obsessed with podcasting and narrating stories,” Couto said. “I had done one for about three years and I always wanted to get back into podcasting. Then, I got really amped when I finally found a renewable source of entertainment, telling a story every single week. It’s very flattering when people call us the audio ‘Tales from the Crypt.’ You get something new every week. You just don’t know exactly what that is until you sit down and listen.”
Couto is best known as the director of horror flicks like “Ouija Room,” “Scarewaves” and “Babysitter Massacre.” In October 2019, he stepped in front of the camera as host of the YouTube series, “Popcorn Fodder.” Each episode featured a screening of one of his favorite low budget horror movies and other genre titles.
“The one thing I have from all of the things I’ve done is stick-to-it-iveness, you know, the willingness to stay with something,” he said. “When I started ‘Weekly Spooky,’ all of my friends thought I was crazy because I said, ‘I’ll just do 100 and if it isn’t sticking by then, maybe I’ll stop.’ When I got to the 100th show, I knew I wanted to do it at least another year. (Roughly) two or three weeks later, we had the biggest October ever, so I was very happy with that. Support has been growing.”
Finding an audience
Unlike many storytelling podcasts, “Weekly Spooky” doesn’t feature the works of famous literary figures from the past or present but rather new tales from unsung contemporary writers. It’s one more avenue for Couto to share his love of all things spooky.
“As a filmmaker, the best element of your craft you can own, more than a camera or anything, is how to tell a story in a way that people identify with,” he said. “There’s something so pure about sitting down and being like, ‘I’m going to scare you, all right?’ And the listener saying, ‘Yes, please.’ I used the term, ‘spooky,’ because to me it connotates something that is kind of cheesy. It can be hair-raising or grossed out. Spooky can be this unsettled feeling or being shocked and that’s the fun of it. There can be a lot of humor one week and then no humor at all the next week and that’s extremely gratifying.”
Given the approach of diverse stories from fresh voices and Couto’s creative drive, it’s not surprising “Weekly Spooky” has found an audience.
“Doing the podcast has been incredible,” he said. “At this juncture, we’re in the top five percent of all podcasts as far as listenership. ‘Weekly Spooky’ is kind of like running a costume shop where in October, November and December, it’s boffo. So, in October we were in the top one percent of podcasts. Our listenership was five times what it is now. What’s nice is, every October it leaps up and then it falls back but it never goes all the way down. We always get a few new people that stick around.”
More info: weeklyspooky.com.
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