Screaming Soup stars Deadwest, a gas guzzling, ray gun slinging skeleton cowboy, who reviews obscure fright flicks from yesteryear in a condensed format popular among YouTube audiences. A kaleidoscopic cast of original characters rides along with our animated horror host for episodic adventures that bookend quick-witted commentary.
Synopsis:
Screaming Soup is an animated web series that follows the adventures of Deadwest, a horror host who reviews B-movies he thinks horror fans need to know about—and sometimes avoid. Joining him is his sidekick Billy, a lovable goat from hell, his ghostly girlfriend Mandy, and a delightfully dysfunctional gang of parody-style monsters. Currently in his 6th season, with 54 episodes and counting, Deadwest’s antics have ranged from big top bar brawls with evil clowns and quick draws with scarecrows to epic crossover specials with legendary B-movie companies like Full Moon Empire.
Quotes:
“Four stars!” –Joe Bob Briggs, Shudder TV’s The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs
“Fresh!” –Svengoolie, Svengoolie
“Filmmakers should be honored to be reviewed by Screaming Soup!” –Charles Band, Full Moon Empire
“Toxie luvs Screaming Soup!” –Lloyd Kaufman, Troma Entertainment
“A terrific way of reviewing horror. Funny, entertaining, and intelligent.” –Robert Davi, Maniac Cop 2-3
“No one does horror hosting better than Screaming Soup! They created the Citizen Kane of Killer Tomato retrospectives.” – Costa Dillon, Creator of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Awards:
Silver Bolo Award – Awarded by Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder’s The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs (S3E1 2021)
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards: Favorite Horror Host – Nominated 2020-2022
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards: Best Website – Nominated 2022
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards: Best Documentary – Screaming Soup! Presents the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective – Nominated 2023
From series creator Dan Fowler:
Horror hosts were always my favorite part when watching scary movies on TV growing up. These charismatic showmen—and women—gave perspective to the pictures they featured, validated my opinions on questionable filmmaking, and always made me feel like I was part of an exclusive club of fun-seeking cinephiles looking for bizarre entertainment. Nowadays, horror hosts aren’t as prevalent as they once were in the traditional sense, so I felt compelled to apply my love of horror to keeping this artform alive and become a host myself. My goal isn’t just continuing this American tradition, but to aid in its evolution for 21st century audiences as well.
Screaming Soup is essentially the horror host show I always wanted to watch and wished existed. Best described as Space Ghost Coast to Coast meets MonsterVision, it condenses full-length features into highlight reel reviews that are most popular among YouTube audiences, and Deadwest is front and center providing humorous Mystery Science Theater 3000 inspired commentary the whole time. As an artist looking for a unique niche, I decided to break new ground with this being the first fully animated horror host show, allowing Deadwest to review movies of yesteryear while on wild weird adventures influenced by my love for retro video games, Saturday morning cartoons, and indie superhero comics.
We’re here with Screaming Soup! creator Dan Fowler, and here’s what he’s got to say … HOW ARE YOU?
DF: WHOA! Didn’t see you there! Um . . . I’m currently caught between the turbulent fringes of creative cackle fests while grounded by the hair-standing nirvana of superbly made grilled cheese sandwiches.
What was the inspiration for Screaming Soup! (what was the genesis as it were)?
DF: As an artist who grew up on horror flicks, action-packed cartoons and surreal funny books, I always struggled finding the right way to channel my creativity; I wanted to do everything—draw comics, make movies, write novels—I’m interested in all of it. When my love for horror hosts was reignited around 2010, I finally found a vehicle that could satisfy my creative drive and let my imagination run wild. To save our garage from becoming a permanent studio set with me in costume, my wife suggested it be a cartoon series, and that’s when it all came together for history’s first fully animated horror host show.
I decided the host would be based on a dead cowboy costume I threw together for Halloween around that time and just kept building this nutty kitchen sink kind of world around him, adding ghoulish and hopefully laughable characters in a fantastic limbo dimension where anything could happen. What ultimately inspired me to make Screaming Soup! a reality, however, was the rise of late 2000s web influencers, who proved it was easier than ever to get content in front of people and have great potential for success.
How long has it been around?
DF: Screaming Soup! is in its 10th year now, believe it or not! Funny thing is, I thought I’d reach my goal of 100 episodes by now, but the production time behind each episode has gradually gotten more involved as I continue developing my animation skills. While I initially started the show with the intent to produce something quick and simple like Adult Swim’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,”I outgrew that approach to animating after the first two seasons and have been steadily improving the show with more kinetic camerawork, dynamic edits, and backgrounds full of scope and depth. It’s crazy to see how far I’ve come between season one and season six, and I’m getting more ambitious with each episode!
How have you not been flagged by YouTube’s censorship addicted algorithm?
DF: . . . a lot of dumb luck so far! I’m sure the fact that I didn’t monetize certain content helped me fly under their decency radar, but that trick is definitely getting tougher the more advanced YouTube’s AI programs become.
Are you doing the convention circuit this year?
DF: As much as I’d like to spread the news far and wide that Screaming Soup! is the world’s #1 animated horror host show, I tend to stick close to homebase. The best place to catch me promoting the show is at Retro Toy Con in Greenville, SC, every November, where I’m a regular guest and emcee. All weekend, toy and cartoon enthusiasts get to hear Deadwest make regular announcements, take pictures with his life-size prop, and see me host the celebrity panel discussions. It’s always a great time!
What makes you guys tick?
DF: Laughter. While I do my best to entertain viewers with some action/adventure punctuated with a little shock and awe each episode, my biggest goal is to be funny every time.
Who, what, where, when, how are your influences?
DF: I like to think one of the things that separates Screaming Soup! from so many of its contemporaries is its outlandish storylines and seasonal story arcs; that is directly influenced by my lifelong love for comics—especially the indie titles! “The Tick,” “Scud: The Disposable Assassin,” “Flaming Carrot,” “Sam and Max: Freelance Police”—all these off-the-wall characters facing the most outrageous situations absolutely influence the brand of misadventures I want my characters to have.
Any future crossovers to look forward to (hint, hint, we wanna collaborate, damn it)?
DF: While I already have scripts completed through episode 100, I’m always open to collabs and cameos so long as they can be organically worked in without upsetting the show’s storylines. Most of my friends and contemporaries in the horror community, as well as a few fans (known as Scream Freaks) have become regular extras in the backgrounds, but sometimes I manage to write in more significant crossovers like when Charles Band allowed me to animate Deadwest going toe to toe with his Full Moon characters for an entire season . . . what an unbelievable experience! Our sixth season has fellow horror host Dr. Wolfula dropping in to help wrangle an out-of-control Frankenstein, and movie buff influencers Joe and Sean from “Movie Dumpster” got to see cartoon versions of themselves watching a couple of their own monstrous creations fight a cage match against some of Deadwest’s gang. These collabs are just born out of the moment, so who knows who’ll pop up next?!
Who the hell is Mrs. Valdez?
DF: She’s the embodiment of that tickle in your elbow nerve that warns of pending judgment.
Any big projects coming up?
DF: Having just completed the be-all, end-all “Screaming Soup! Presents Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective”(free to watch on YouTube, by the way) featuring over three hours of exclusive interviews with nearly every creator, cast and crew member involved with the franchise from its movies to its short-lived cartoon series, I’ll be shifting my focus to developing more Screaming Soup! merch for fans. Thanks to generous contributions via the Screaming Soup! Patreon page, I recently started selling the Scream Freak Fan Club Kit through ScreamingSoup.com. It’s a sweet little treasure trove of Screaming Soup! stickers, trading cards, coasters, mini-posters, and buttons. Profits from the kits will fund even more merch, helping me produce additional trading cards, Billy dolls, a miniseries of comics, replicas of Deadwest’s laser and my dream goal: a Screaming Soup! toy line!
Any last words for your fans?
DF: Never stop singing in the shower, out of sight/out of mind doesn’t apply to invisible threats, and if you’re looking for a new spin on horror hosting like you’ve never seen, give Deadwest and his gang of rowdy hellions a watch at ScreamingSoup.com, home of the web’s #1 animated horror host show! We truly appreciate our Scream Freaks and are always looking for fellow horror fans to join us.
If you have further questions or want to request an interview, feel free to email me at ScreamingSoup@gmail.com.