You are now listening to Pokedmortem with Mick Garris where the most influential voices in horror cinema will spill their guts, literally, to the renowned horror director, writer and producer.

Now here's your host, Mick Garris.

I'm Mick Garris and from Nice Guy Productions World Headquarters overlooking the glamorous San Fernando Valley. This is Pokedmortem.

2020 has been quite the momentous year and I don't say that with affection.

The world has been rocked and partially dismantled by the most deadly virus in a century.

The United States has been curdled by a mean spirit and divisive election.

And here on Pokedmortem, we were caught in the midst of another controversy involving our former home network, which has since been sold and minted.

But it kept us off the air for months and during that time we've seen the closure of our beloved cathedrals to cinema, the local movie theaters, and the world's biggest theater chains are hovering on the brink of bankruptcy.

We miss that feeling of the communal film experience, but are learning to order our films on demand at home.

Will it change the viewing habits of the nation and push theater viewing further out of reach?

The coronavirus experience has already pushed up the window between theatrical and streaming movies to weeks rather than months and in many cases today and date.

Being with friends and sharing whether for a movie or a cup of coffee expands our world, which has been shrunk to the confines of a zoom conference.

It appears help is on the way multiple companies have created a vaccine that appear to be enormously effective may approve to be the savior of the planet.

I miss my friends, I miss film production, I miss movies and theaters, I miss doing our interviews face to face, like Anne Frank, my optimism has been tested by the last year, but I maintain it.

I hope for the best from people from the scientific community, from society and from each other.

The genre community has remained steadfast, and as much as I appreciate all that we've been able to share online, I can't wait to be safe in the same room with friends and family and a great big movie screen.

Our guest this time out is truly a phenomenon, one of those rare performers who has deservedly won every major entertainment industry award, the Tony, the Grammy, the Emmy, and the Oscar.

She's an amazing creator of characters and shares our love of the uncanny here with us on Postmortem. We'll be back with Whoopi Goldberg right after this.

Before we start our conversation with Whoopi, I just wanted to let you know that my first short story collection, A Life in the Cinema, with an introduction by Stephen King and an afterward by Toby Hooper, is now available for the first time in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon.

It's also available as an audible audiobook with stories read by Matt Fruer, Stephen Weber, the late great Miguel Ferrer, and myself.

My latest book, These Evil Things We Do, is also available in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon.com, just in time for the holidays.

And Whoopi, we finally meet, we almost met in 1993 when I was in casting for the original version of the Stan.

...