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She might have had a point, is what we're saying.

When Salinger's mother, Canadian author and Harmon acquaintance Kelly Oxford, wrote to him, jokingly demanding that Dan offer up an explanation for terrifying so many children, she didn't really expect a response. And that's good, because what she got instead was a diatribe. Addressed directly to Salinger, Harmon's reply began with some good old-fashioned buck-passing:

"I will tell you a secret that sounds so silly, you might not believe it, but this is true: I never finished writing Monster House before my bosses turned it into a movie. And then different writers, people I don't even know, changed the story in lots of ways, and the movie that you saw was not the story I wanted to tell you."

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That's ... actually a very concise and kid-friendly explanation of how modern Hollywood works. Bravo, Dan Harmon!

Gage Skidmore

"Write me back and next time I can explain how TV crushes your dreams!"

If only he'd stopped there.

"Why, after they escaped the house, did that old man tell them another scary story about a mean fat lady that didn't make very much sense either? I'll tell you why. Because Gil Kenan is a hack and Steven Spielberg is a moron. But hey, I shouldn't be dumping this stuff on you."

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He then goes on to say that Salinger should go watch Wall-E instead, before finally taking credit for Monster House after all: