Dark Discussions’ fourth annual Meetup in Mystic, Connecticut was a huge success! The DD crew and our friends from The Dorkening enjoyed a couple of meals and a flick, in this case, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.

The DARK DISCUSSIONS and DORKENING crews sport our meetup T-shirts–courtesy of DD’s Mike–pre-movie at the Waterford Regal 9. In case you’re wondering, we’re standing in front of the POP for 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED.
Want to know what we thought about Tarantino’s latest (and very polarizing) film? You can listen to the episode here on Stitcher, ITunes, and here: http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_396.html
If you’d like to check out The Dorkening, you can do that here: https://www.thedorkening.com/ or on their YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChZGjPSLIGecp9a5EmYAykw
I’ll keep you posted on when and where our event will be next year. Here’s photos from our awesome weekend!
Despite leaving work early so I could make the two hour drive and arrive with an hour to spare, it took me four hours to get there. Connecticut has gotten a lot of bad press lately, and it’s well deserved no matter what it’s centered on. Trying to get anywhere in Connecticut is just terrible—don’t drive through this state if you can help it; you’ll always lose several hours in traffic for no reason.
DD crew members Phil (left) and Abe (right) were the first to arrive at Mystic Pizza. Photo by Phil.
Clockwise from left, DD crew members Abe, Eric, and Phil. Photo by Phillip Perron.
I got to Mystic Pizza in such a bad move because of the stressful drive. Mike fixed it all–with a pair of Shark Week glasses! It was the greatest surprise ever!!
My Shark Week glasses from Mike! I love that they came with a protective bag!
So, do my Shark Week glasses look sharp or what? Thanks, Mike?
Me and Abe take our annual selfie
Left to right, Eric and Phil. Eric, who also hosts the Askancity podcast, is wearing last year’s meetup shirt. My husband lost mine and it’s somewhere in my house, or I would’ve been wearing it, too…
Right, DD’s Mike with his wife, Pam.
Against the wall, Leo of THE DORKENING podcast. Wearing that lovely smile is his wife Megan.
DD’s Mike is generous enough to design and give us shirts every year as gifts. This year’s was all about SHARKS (very appropriate, since Discovery Channel’s Shark Week begins on Sunday!)
Eric is obviously making fun of Phil.
Phil checks out his shirt!
Group shot! Left, from front: Abe, Me, Megan, Leo. Right, from front: Phil, Eric, Pam, and Mike.
From left, Abe, Eric, and Phil get ready to take in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. Phil has a terrible habit of texting Eric when he’s in a movie, so we figured seating them together would solve this problem.
Pam and Mike get ready to watch the movie. Check out Mike’s Dark Discussion pin with the shark jaws! So great. He gave me one; I wish I’d thought to wear it.
The guys from The Dorkening get ready to take on ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.
Cheesecakin’ it in the movie theater. In those reclining seats, it’s hard to resist.
These were always my mom’s favorite. I just felt like getting some.
After the film, the group gathers outside for post-game chat.
There’s a whole thing about this. ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD took place in the spring and summer of 1969. There were women riding in cars with their feet on the dashboards, and in one scene, Sharon Tate had her shoes off in the movie theater. I remember this actually being a thing in the late 1960s and early 1970s — my mother did it all the time. When we got out of the film, Phil was like, ‘so what was with all the feet on the dashboards? Gross!’ I did this just to make the windshield dirty.
The whole group goes out to dinner at Latitude 41 at Mystic Seaport.
Abe records THE DORKENING crew’s opinions on ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD.
We taped our episode at the Panera Bread in Waterford.
From left, Mike, Pam, and Abe at the taping of DD’s episode on ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD.
Eric and I always do a selfie on the Sunday. Last year it was at Paul’s Pasta Shop in Groton; this time, it’s at Panera Bread.
From left, Abe and Phil record DD’s episode on ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD at the Panera Bread in Waterford.
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About kristipetersenschoonover
A ghost story writer who still sleeps with the lights on, Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies; her traditionally published books include a short story collection, THE SHADOWS BEHIND. She was the recipient of three Norman Mailer Writers Colony Residencies and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She serves as co-host of the DARK DISCUSSIONS podcast, as founding editor of the dark literary journal 34 ORCHARD, and is a member of both the New England Horror Writers and the Horror Writers Association. Follow her adventures at kristipetersenschoonover.com.
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