Charlie Emery

{{short description|American pinball podcaster and machine designer}} {{Infobox person | name = Charlie Emery | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|08|16}} | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = | employer = Spooky Pinball LLC | occupation = Pinball Designer | years_active = 7 | height = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | opponents = | boards = | spouse = KT | partner = | children = 2 | parents = | relations = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | website = [http://www.spookypinball.com Spooky Pinball] | footnotes = }} '''Charlie Emery''' is a [[pinball]] podcaster and pinball machine designer from the [[United States]]. He runs ''[[Spooky Pinball]]''.<ref name="Madison.com" />

==Career== Emery started with a retheme project of [[Godzilla]] based on a Williams [[Firepower (pinball)|''Firepower II'']].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Godzilla - Pinball Makers |url=http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Godzilla |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101024339/http://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php/Godzilla |archive-date=2017-01-01 |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=pinballmakers.com |language=en}}</ref> He went on to design his own pinball machine called "pinball zombies from beyond the grave", which has been turned into a [[Rob Zombie]] themed pinball with updated layout.<ref name="spookypinball.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.spookypinball.com/ |title=Home |website=spookypinball.com}}</ref> He currently runs a pinball company called ''Spooky Pinball'',<ref name="Madison.com">{{Cite web|url=http://host.madison.com/business/spooky-pinball-makes-its-mark-in-a-tiny-town/article_ea6f0383-212f-5cab-9ab6-f0e5c367a0d2.html|title = Spooky Pinball makes its mark in a tiny town}}</ref> named after his [[podcast]]. Spooky Pinball finished manufacturing 150 units of ''America's Most Haunted'' designed by [[Benjamin Heckendorn]] as of January 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.benheck.com/amh/|title=America's Most Haunted | Web Portal for Benjamin J Heckendorn}}</ref>

Emery worked for Signcraft screen printing in Galena, IL from 1992-2013 before starting his pinball company.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 2013 |title=Business Spotlight |url=http://www.bentonwi.us/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/April-Newsletter2013.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629054912/http://www.bentonwi.us/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/April-Newsletter2013.pdf |archive-date=June 29, 2015 |access-date=2015-07-26 |work=Newsletter Village of Benton Benton Municipal Utilities |pages=1–2}}</ref> Many of the techniques he learned have carried over to pinball, including direct printing to playfields and cabinets. He has been podcasting since April 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.spookypinball.com/http://spookypinball.com/spooky-pinball-podcast-show-1 |title=Spooky Pinball Podcast Show #1 Â» Spooky Pinball |access-date=2015-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309144821/http://www.spookypinball.com/http://spookypinball.com/spooky-pinball-podcast-show-1/ |archive-date=2016-03-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He often has his family on, including his two kids (Corwin "Bug" Emery and Morgan "Squirrel" Emery) who do skits to advertise products, as well as pinball and horror related celebrities. In the past year, Charlie has handed the reins of the podcast over to his son bug, dubbing it the "bugcast". On the February 2021 podcast they announced that they would be shifting from podcasting to more video content.<ref name="spookypinball.com"/>

A documentary, ''Things that go bump in the Night'', was released in 2017 about the Emery family and how ''Spooky Pinball'' was created.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Things That Go Bump in the Night Movie, the Spooky Pinball story |url=https://thingsthatgobumpmovie.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817221007/https://thingsthatgobumpmovie.com/ |archive-date=2022-08-17 |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=Things That Go Bump in the Night Movie |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Joosten |first=Jonathan |date=2017-04-10 |title=Report: Texas Pinball Festival 2017 |url=https://www.pinball-magazine.com/?p=3240 |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=Pinball Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Games Manufactured== * ''America's Most Haunted'' - [[Benjamin Heckendorn|Ben Heck]] designer (March 2014) * ''Rob Zombie Spookshow International'' - Charlie Emery designer (February 2016) * ''Domino's Spectacular Pizza Adventure''- Adam Gacek & Charlie Emery designer (July 2016) * ''Jetsons Pinball'' - contract manufacturer for The Pinball Company (March 2017) * ''Total Nuclear Annihilation'' - Scott Danesi designer (August 2017) ** ''Total Nuclear Annihilation'' CE Remake (September 2022) * ''Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle'' - Charlie Emery designer (April 2018) * ''Rick and Morty'' - Scott Danesi designer (January 2020) * ''Halloween'' - Group design (July 2021) * ''Ultraman'' - Group design (July 2021) * ''Scooby Doo'' (December 2022) * ''Looney Tunes'' * ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' * ''Evil Dead'' (November 2024)

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emery, Chuck}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1969 births]] [[Category:People from Benton, Wisconsin]] [[Category:Pinball people]]