"Haunted Mansion" director Justin Simien joined host Aaron Sagers in the Den of Geek Studios at San Diego Comic Con 2023 to discuss the new movie, which opens July 28. In the following conversation, Simien talks about the life and death of New Orleans, and why it became the setting for the film. He also reveals his own Haunted Mansion origin story, and his favorite ghosts. Simien likewise discusses the magic of "scary fun" for families and how to be spooky without terrifying kids.

Inspired by the classic theme park attraction, “Haunted Mansion” is about a woman and her son who enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters. The film is set in New Orleans at the Gracey Manor we know from Disneyland, and stars LaKeith Stanfield as a scientist with paranormal tech, Tiffany Haddish as a medium, Owen Wilson as a priest, Danny DeVito as a historian, Rosario Dawson as the mom, and the excellent newcomer Chase W. Dillon as her son, as well as Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota, and Jared Leto as the hat box ghost.

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Talking Strange Paranormal Podcast with Aaron Sagers is a weekly paranormal pop culture show featuring celebrity and author interviews, with a weekly "Small Talk" mini-sode with reader submitted letters and spooky tales. Sagers is a paranormal journalist and researcher who appears as host of 28 Days Haunted on Netflix, and on Paranormal Caught On Camera on Travel Channel/Discovery+, and Talking Strange is part of the Den of Geek Network.

If you like Talking Strange, please subscribe, leave a nice review, and share with your friends. The Talking Strange Paranormal Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you check out spooky content. For more paranormal pop culture, head to Den of Geek, and follow @TalkStrangePod on Twitter.

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Until Next Time:

Be Kind.

Stay Spooky.

Keep It Weird.

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