Hey Riddle Riddle #380: Bleh Riddle Riddle 8 (October 29, 2025)
Episode Overview
For their eighth annual Halloween special, Adal Rifai, Erin Keif, and John Patrick Coan (JPC) deliver the signature chaos of Bleh Riddle Riddle—a riddle-soaked, improv-heavy, and deeply unserious comedy adventure. This year’s installment finds the trio hosting a “sleepover” full of spooky games, invented characters, and classic Halloween parody, but (true to their warning) barely any actual riddles. The crew riffs on Halloween costumes, urban legends, and pop culture while improvising horror movie trailers and competing for imaginary points. As always, the episode’s strength lies in quick-witted banter, running bits, and a willingness to abort any structure in favor of bits and goofs.
Key Discussion Points & Segments
1. Halloween Sleepover & “Mirror Ritual” Intro
[05:02–08:35]
- The hosts set the Halloween mood by joking about typical sleepover activities and riff on the “Bloody Mary” mirror legend—except here, they summon “Bleh Riddle Riddle” by chanting into a mirror.
- Inventing "Stuart," a mirror-dwelling character, who ends up just being a regular guy (“Scoliosis is rampant where I come from” – Stuart, 08:15).
- The group plays with the “mirror universe” concept, introducing offbeat versions of themselves and mirror guests like “Uncle Satan.”
Notable Quote:
Erin (as ‘Stuart,’ 08:15):
“I mean, we have, like, scoliosis is rampant.”
JPC: “That seems more niche than the flu…”
Stuart: “That’s number one!”
2. Riddle-Powered Characters & Improvised Lore
[11:01–14:44]
- “Stuart” recites a series of Halloween-themed tongue-twisters and faux riddles, reminiscent of past Bleh Riddle bits.
- Adal’s “nap” leads to a joke about elaborate, recursive character introductions and “spooky sleep pranks.”
Notable Moment:
Adal and Erin fake a sleepover prank:
Erin (15:21): “Should we wake up Adal or do sleep pranks?”
JPC: “Put his hand in water—and pee on him.”
Erin: “How do you still have so much pee?”
JPC: “I had my head in the toilet.”
3. Spooky Riddle (Joke) Payoff
[15:49–16:33]
- Resolution to last year’s cliffhanger riddle:
“What do you get when you cross a ghost with a detective?”- After several wrong turns (“Sherlock Boo,” “Scarelock Holmes”), the correct answer is revealed:
- Adal: “Sherlock Moans!”
4. 2025’s Top Halloween Costumes Game
[18:00–24:32]
- Adal hosts a point-based guessing game: The group tries to list the top trending Halloween costumes of 2025 (source: USA Today).
- Erin dominates with a streak of K-Pop Demon Hunter characters: “Rumi, Zoe, Mira, Jinu, Baby Saja, Derpy the Tiger.”
- Other highlights: Elphaba & Glinda (Wicked), Chicken Jockey (Minecraft), Labubu, the Lorax, Nightwing, Toothless, Gabby, Stitch, Superman/Supergirl, Donnie Darko, Pyramid Head, Wednesday, Cleo de Nile, Lord Farquaad.
- They riff on the etymology of “Farquaad” (“a play on ‘Fuckwad’—did you know that?”)
Notable Quote:
Adal (24:30): “When you first saw Shrek, did you…realize Farquaad was a play on Fuckwad?”
Erin: “I didn’t know that till just now.”
5. Monster High/Classic Monsters Improv Scene
[29:51–33:14]
- The hosts do rapid-fire improv as “Monster High” students.
- First, Erin is a vampire, JPC is Frankenstein’s monster in high school. Chaos erupts as Erin’s accent veers into Paul McCartney.
- They swap parts and continue the awkward high school dance negotiation.
Notable Exchange:
Erin (33:02): “I can’t breathe in the scene at all…”
JPC: “Maybe I could ask my best friend to homecoming...”
Erin: “I’m motioning to you…”
JPC: “Would you go to homecoming?”
Erin: “There’s no fresh air in the scene.”
6. Halloween Movie Trailer Challenge
[40:17–58:02]
- Each host improvises a “horror movie trailer” based on spooky parody titles (e.g., “Raging Skull,” “The Little Murder Maid,” “Back to the Boocher”).
- JPC’s “Raging Skull” fixates on Channing Tatum and Dave Bautista watching the movie, with a brief, terrifying description of a skull with no skin or lips—just teeth.
- Erin’s “The Little Murder Maid”: Ariel implores to go to the surface “to kill a ton of people,” sings parodic Little Mermaid songs with horror lyrics. Tries not to do a Sebastian Jamaican accent for points.
- Meta-commentary emerges as the hosts debate whether to stick closely to the spoofed IP or be more creative (leading to more off-the-rails trailers).
- In “An Axe to Grind,” JPC has Ryan Reynolds introducing the (unshowable) film, using airtime to make Erin freestyle “Halloween” raps.
- Erin struggles (humorously, on purpose) with freestyle rapping, prompting supportive yet teasing commentary from JPC and Adal.
Notable Quotes:
JPC (43:03): “Imagine a man so terrifying that no one wants to punch him in the face—‘cause his face has no skin—and there’s no lips, but there is teeth!”
Erin (47:43, as Ariel): “There you see her, sitting there across the way...You want to kill the boy. Ursula, you’re not even scary when you come back, ‘cause I’m the bad guy this time.”
7. Meta-Improv Jokes and "Podcast Within a Podcast"
[38:24–40:12]
- As mirror characters leave, the group jokes about every version of themselves now having a podcast: “You know the market’s saturated when the creatures in my mirror have a podcast…”
- Jokes about potential Patreon spinoffs (“$500 Tier!”) and the Lorax’s unlikely resurgence (“Loraxaissance: May cause rash, sweating, or makes you speak for the trees”).
8. Rap (W)Rap Finale
[64:25–68:21]
- Erin is cajoled into an end-of-episode wrap about “full moons” and being a werewolf, after choosing from several spooky topics.
- JPC joins the rap as a “vampire Ryan Reynolds,” incorporating Mint Mobile and aviation gin into his verse.
- The music cuts out, prompting comedic sputtering to the “end” (on brand for Hey Riddle Riddle’s tradition of botched endings).
Notable Exchange:
Erin (65:35): “I’m a werewolf, and it’s my time of the month. It’s time to change—look at the full moon…”
JPC (66:29): “Hey, it’s Ryan Riddles, you’re seeing me again! Skin steady sippin’ on aviation gin…”
Notable Quotes & Moments
- Adal (08:15): "Scoliosis is rampant."
- Erin (15:33, on pranks): "How do you still have so much pee?"
- Adal (24:30): “Did you realize Farquaad was a play on ‘Fuckwad’?”
- JPC (43:03): “Imagine a man so terrifying that no one wants to punch him in the face ‘cause his face has no skin—and there’s no lips, but there is teeth!”
- Erin (47:43): “You want to kill the boy. Ursula, you’re not even scary when you come back, ‘cause I’m the bad guy this time.”
- JPC (67:00): “Hey, it’s Ryan Riddles, you’re seeing me again! Skin steady sippin’ on aviation gin…”
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 05:02 – Mirror ritual and introduction of “Stuart”
- 10:58 – Halloween riddle-poem sequence
- 15:49 – “Ghost + detective” riddle resolution
- 18:00 – Top costumes game
- 29:51 – Monster High improv scenes
- 40:17 – Movie Trailer Challenge begins
- 58:06 – Meta-rap trailer featuring Erin freestyling
- 64:25 – Rap finale: Erin and JPC rap about full moons & vampires
Tone & Style
The episode is boisterously silly, self-aware, and loaded with callbacks and running in-jokes. The hosts constantly break improv to comment on each other’s performances, throw shade in a loving way, and praise or penalize based on completely arbitrary point systems. The horror theme is both celebrated and mocked, and the tone is pure playful Halloween nonsense.
Summary
“Bleh Riddle Riddle 8” exemplifies what Hey Riddle Riddle fans expect from the annual Halloween episode: mayhem, improv, barely-contained chaos, and a friendly-but-cutthroat game mentality. The riddles themselves are more setups than serious puzzles and serve as launchpads for bits, improvised characters, and escalating inside jokes. While rooted in Halloween trappings (costumes, monsters, urban legends, and parodic trailers), the episode’s real strength is the riffing between three seasoned comedians who, above all, love making each other laugh.
Perfect for listeners who want:
- Wild, unscripted Halloween silliness without heavy reliance on actual puzzles,
- Comedic chemistry and inventive improv,
- Parody, pop culture references, and tongue-in-cheek “spooky” humor.
“If you don't like riddles, don't worry! This podcast is barely about them!”