Talking Scared

Send us a text This From the Vault episode is not quite so dusty. Gemma and I recorded this in 2022, but it’s more pertinent than ever. One because Gemma’s great uncanny novella The Folly is being reissued this week, and two, because the world is a mad place right now, and we all need to take care of our minds. This conversation is all about that. An epic conversation about the issue of mental health as creators and consumers of dark stories. We dig DEEP into our own neuroses, and talk about how great horror comes with great responsibility. Yes, there is difficult, challenging stuff to churn through — but there’s also chat about the Uncanny Valley, Men in Black, Creepypasta and Black Mirror. And the ethics of vandalising racist statues. Enjoy! Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Still on a break – still releasing episodes “From the Vault.” But this week’s was carefully chosen. In a time of darkness and doom-laden days, laughter is the best thing I can lace your horror with. And thankfully T. Kingfisher exists in the world. The funniest horror writer I know. We spoke WAAAAY back in October 2020, in episode 9, when The Hollow Places had just come out. Yes Ursula and I talk about that book, and The Twisted Ones (2019) and how they twist Weird classics into fascinating new shapes. But we also cover building your own Golem, the homicidal value of pig farmers, and the anxiety of being a frog biologist. I dunno guys… just liste! Hope it makes you smile. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: “The White People” in The House of Souls (1906), by Arthur Machen “The Willows”, in The Listener and Other Stories (2007), by Algernon Blackwood It Will Just Be Us (2002), by Jo Kaplan From a Buick Eight (2002), by Stephen King The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman Coraline, by Neil Gaiman Firefly Rain (2008), by Richard Dansky Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text I’m on a break – but couldn’t resist releasing something. Especially on today of all days, when lovers of democracy require audio sustenance whilst they wait in line to preserve America. For the first From the Vault episode, I’ve gone back to December of 2020, for an interview with Michael Marshall Smith. We talk about his 30 years of writing horror, fantasy, science fiction and assorted dark imaginings – captured in his career-spanning Best Of collection. Michael gives us all the good stuff about where ideas came from, why he writes the way he does, and all those details that literary voyeurs like us, want to know. It’s also a trip back into the weirdness of the pandemic, and the dying days of the Trump presidency. Have your trauma shields up just in case. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Halloween has finally arrived. I’m marking it in grim, macabre style. For this Off Book Samhain Special, I’m joined by Kaelyn Moore, host and creator of Heart Starts Pounding – a podcast for the darkly curious, which offers up a new true-story of horror, hauntings and mystery every week. Kaelyn is a treasure trove of haunted anecdote and freaky facts. We only touch the tip of her knowledge in this conversation, but still manage to cover the grimmest deaths at Disneyland, a South American Nazi cult, the most cursed book in history and Kaelyn’s own family history with an early American serial killer. All that, plus a lot of recommendations for movies and the gruesome true-crime reading. Stick around for the afterword, and plenty of updates on the future of Talking Scared, Enjoy! Happy Halloween. Books mentioned: The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery (2017), by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine (2017), by Lindsey Fitzharris I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer (2018), by Michelle McNamara The Devil’s Rooming House: the True Story of America’s Deadliest Female Serial Killer (2011), by M. William Phelps Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Things are heating up as we approach Halloween. I’m joined by a good friend of Talking Scared – Rachel Harrison – to talk about the hot kind of immortality Her new novel, So Thirsty, does much more than that though. It weighs the weaponization of beauty culture, it asks how women can navigate a world in which youth seems to be everything, and it illustrates the sheer social awkwardness of immortality. Plus – it prompts a frank reckoning with just how badly I would cope in an orgy. This is a fun episode, a deep episode, the perfect kind of bookish sign off for a few weeks whilst I take a break. And maybe a good hour of respite from the manic news cycle. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Return (2020), by Rachel Harrison Cackle (2021), by Rachel Harrison Such Sharp Teeth (2022), by Rachel Harrison Black Sheep (2023), by Rachel Harrison Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy Reluctant Immortals (2022), by Gwendolyne Kiste The Militia House (2023), by John Milas The Unsuitable (2020), by Molly Pohlig Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text As we gear up for Halloween, we get all gussied up in Gothic. Del Sandeen joins me to talk about the curses, colorism, and all the many influences in her Southern Gothic debut This Cursed House. It’s a novel that twists the sub-genre’s typical reliance on race, for a more subtle, pernicious form of prejudice. But it’s also chock full of all the haunted house–cursed family–secret rooms–and weird incest that you could want from a truly Gothic novel. It’s a damn good time, as is this conversation. We talk about New Orleans hauntings, the inspiration of Del’s grandmother, forgiveness as a theme, and the relative ickiness of incest. Consider this your starting gun for spooky season. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: Voodoo Dreams (1993), by Jewel Parker Rhodes The Good House (2003), by Tananarive Due Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison The Vanishing Half (2020), by Brit Bennett Sing, Unburied Sing (2017) , by Jesymn Ward When the Reckoning Comes (2021), by LaTanya McQueen “A Rose For Emily,” (1930), by William Faulkner “Jordan’s End,” in The Shadowy Third (1923), by Ellen Glasgow The Elementals (1981), by Michael McDowell The Conjure Woman (1899), by Charles W. Chesnutt The House Behind the Cedars (1900), by Charles W. Chesnutt Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Things get disinhibited on Talking Scared this week, when CJ Leede joins us for a conversation about her new novel, American Rapture. The novel plunges middle America into a torrid apocalypse, as a sexual plague spreads across the nation, creating “lust hell on earth.” In this framework, C.J crafts a story of sexual awakening, sacrifice, found family, hypocrisy and cruelty. It’s a book that is both extreme and comforting in equal measure. We talk about that crazy balancing act, about the threat of fundamentalist thought, the terror of demons, the delights of Americana, and the cathartic power of killing your characters. Oh…and gear up for some very forthright opinions on religion. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: Maeve Fly (2023), by C.J. Leede American Gods (2001), by Neil Gaiman Bury Your Gays (2024), by Chuck Tingle Camp Damascus (2023), by Chuck Tingle Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Hold hands, we need to stick together. This week’s episode plunges us into the impossible and endless dark, with Sofia Ajram and her experimental, existential headf*ck of a debut novella, Coup de Grâce. It’s the tale of a man who gets lost in an endless subway station – and the monsters inside (and inside himself) We talk about everything from the mythical history of mazes, to legends of the early internet, the mystery of Elisa Lam and what Sonic the Hedgehog has to tell us about the readers role in a story. Plus, a fair bit of chat about mental health, depression and suicidal ideation. That makes it sound a lot less fun than it is, but only fair to warn you. This is an episode for the adventurous and terminally online. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: I Am the River (2018), by T.E. Grau Water Statues (1980), by Fleur Jaeggy Misery (1987), by Stephen King House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text I started Off Book so that I could speak to some of the brightest dark stars in the wider universe of horror. This week that plan comes to absolute fruition – ‘cos Kate Siegel is Talking Scared! Yes, Kate Siegel, scream-queen of our generation, horror maven, acting superstar and now director of extraterrestrial found-footage nightmare (!!) ”Stowaway.” (a segment from the new V/H/S Beyond) Kate talks to me about the steep learning curve of making that short, the camera techniques she uses to disorientate, bewilder and horrify. She talks about her approach to finding character, especially in her collaborations with her husband, Mike Flanagan – and she talks about the horror stories she loves most in the world. She also calls me out very early on. How the hell did I recover?? Enjoy! V/H/S Beyond is streaming now on Shudder Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Release your inner child! …I mean through reading, not by letting it burst out of your stomach like some horrible sugar-coated xenomorph. Lora Senf can help. Her Blight Harbor Trilogy is a piece of magic, an umbilicus of imagination between the tired old grump that you’re halfway to becoming, and the wide-eyed wonder you once were. Lora and I talk about the challenge and reward of writing horror for kids, we talk about the influence of M.C Escher and his mad architecture, we talk about Bradbury and King and other inspirations (including the tiny role that I played in this story). And we also talk about the profound heartsick sorrow of loneliness. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Hike (2016), by Drew Magary The Library at Mount Char (2015), by Scott Hawkins “Kaleidoscope,” (1949), by Ray Bradbury All Summer in a Day (1954), by Ray Bradbury “There Will Come Soft Rains” (1950), by Ray Bradbury The Foghorn (1950), by Ray Bradbury Pet Semetary (1983), by Stephen King Misery (1987) by Stephen King Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), by Ray Bradbury Coraline (2002), by Neil Gaiman The House With a Clock in its Walls (1973), by John Bellairs Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text More devilish fun on Talking Scared this week when an old friend returns to talk about god, angels, demons and other things out there in the cold reaches of the universe. Johnny Compton is the author of The Spite House, one of my most admired books from 2022. In his newest, Devils Kill Devils, he starts with a compelling question – “what if your Guardian Angel was a murderous threat” – and then heads off in grander directions. We talk about how Johnny’s childhood religious confusion played a role in this book, what we both love about world-building and fan-theories, and our shared enthusiasm for the Alien universe. And Johnny gives my current favourite answer to the questions “what really freaked him out recently?” Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Spite House (2022), by Johnny Compton Carrion Comfort (1989), by Dan Simmons Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Keith Rosson is our first guest to be personally recommended by Stephen King! And the praise doesn’t stop there. Keith’s Fever House was one of the biggest hits of 2023, and now he’s back with the sequel, The Devil By Name, which takes the contained punk-rock fury of the first book in a whole different, nation-spanning direction. This is an epic tale of occult magic, diabolical messages, punk rock, political machinations and, eventually, apocalypse. So there’s a lot to talk about. And I hope you enjoy the following. Especially the part where I crowbar Stevie Nicks into the conversation, because I’ve developed the world’s most belated obsession with her. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: Mercy of the Tide (2017), by Keith Rosson Spiral (1995), by Koji Suzuki The Stand (1990), by Stephen King Knockemstiff (2008), by Donald Ray Pollock The Low Desert: Gangster Stories (2021), by Tod Goldberg Controlled Burn: Stories of Prison, Crime, and Men (2005), by Scott Wolven Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Laird Barron is on the podcast. This feels like cause for celebration. Not only is Laird Barron a phenomenal writer. Not only is it wonderful that he’s back to writing and talking about writing. Not only am I lucky to be able to speak to him… We also talked about DOGS! Granted, a cybernetic, immortal monster hound called Rex – but a dog nonetheless. That’s just one of the crazy concepts that make up the stories in Laird’s new collection, Not a Speck of Light… and I mean crazy. These stories involve evil fathers, strange invasions, billionaire bird-women and a disaster-addicted monster – and we talk about how Laird balances the bizarre and brutal, the cosmic and the cynical, the horrific and the hardboiled. Plus a lot of info on a very exciting project he’s currently working hard on. Let’s all just be happy, Laird Barron is back. He’s writing. And he’s Talking Scared. Enjoy. Join the Laird Barron Reddit Read-along Other books mentioned: When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), edited by Ellen Datlow The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013), by Laird Barron Blood Standard (2018), by Laird Barron The Fisherman (2016), by John Langan “On Skua Island” – in Mr Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (2009), by John Langan The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron (2014), edited by Ross E. Lockhart and Jason Steele The Delicate Prey, and Other Stories (1950), by Paul Bowles The Sheltering Sky (1949), by Paul Bowles Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Are you a Weenie? Don’t be offended. I am. Weenies are the curious-but-nervous. Those of us who love horror, but who never feel safe from its power to ruin our sleep (and a week of our life). If that’s you, or if you know someone who suffers from Weenie-ism, then Emily Hughes is here! Emily’s new book, Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch is a public service for the scared. It will save relationships, help ease you into horror and hopefully teach you a thing or two about fear along the way. In this conversation, we talk about how Emily came to write this most particular of books, and how she chose which films made the grade. We also hear about her own relationship with horror, from the film that haunted her as a child all the way to her grown-up reintroduction to scary movies. And I finally try to back up my dislike for Hereditary. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: Birdbox (2014), by Josh Malerman Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films (2022), by Nina Nesseth Tampa (2013), by Alissa Nutting Come Closer (2003), by Sara Gran The Family Plot (2016) by Cherie Priest Camp Damascus (2023), by Chuck Tingle Cuckoo (2024), by Gretchen Felker-Martin Manhunt (2022), by Gretchen Felker-Martin Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Anna Bogutskaya is one of the UK’s most prominent film critics, with a penchant for horror. She knows her scary onions. And in her new book, Feeding the Monster, she asks an important question (well, important to the likes of you and me) – Why does horror have a hold on us? In concise but free-ranging essays, she looks at the prominent themes that sets the horror oft the last decade apart, peeling back the skin of the genre to see how it’s muscle flex and grip, and also give you tons of films to watch in the process. We have a similarly freewheeling conversation in this episode, talking about everything from our primal horror movie experiences, to the meme-ification of monsters and why Mike Flanagan is both outlier and heart of the genre. Also… Anna introduces me to the concept of Vecnussy, which may ruin Stranger Things for you, like it has for me. Enjoy Other books mentioned: Death of a Bookseller (2023), by Alice Slater Penance (2023), by Eliza Clark Danse Macabre (1981), by Stephen King Red Dragon (1981), by Thomas Harris Coup de Grace (2024), by Sofia Ajram Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Send in the clowns. Tell them not to forget their crossbows and chainsaws. This week our guest is Adam Cesare, who’s Clown in a Cornfield trilogy reaches a climax (I won’t say end) in Book 3: The Church of Frendo. I read all three books in one mad rush and they confounded all of my horror-savvy, slasher-weary expectations. These books are a State of the Nation story for the ages – think George Orwell’s Animal Farm, but with fascist clowns rather than Bolshevik swine. Adam and I have one of those very Talking Scared conversations. We get into the political and the personal, touching on his time as a teacher, the challenge of empathy, the role of guns in fiction and the rural/urban divide in America. But also… clowns! Horrible face-painted bastards that they are. Enjoy. The Indian Lake Trilogy (2021-2024), by Stephen Graham Jones “The Lottery” (1948), by Shirley Jackson Influencer (2024), by Adam Cesare Rest Stop (2024), by Nat Cassidy Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Literary or genre fiction? Dumb question. This week’s guest showcases just how dumb! With her debut collection of stories, Mystery Lights showing that horror is literary and literary is horror. These tales of the American desert are full of hauntings, monsters, killers, and other oddities, yet they take a non-typical approach to the strangeness. They care more about the human in the mix than the weird thing in the corner. I loved them – and they proved that every time I think I know my own reading tastes, I find an exception to the rule. Lena and I talk about her literary allegiance to the desert, about the literary establishment’s appetite for strange things, about women treating women poorly, and about how she writes stories that don’t need to “click.” Enjoy. The Shining (1977), by Stephen King “Lamb to the Slaughter,” (1953), by Roald Dahl The Garden (2024), by Claire Beams Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text This week’s guest on Talking Scared: Off Book scares children. I mean… that’s not his main job or intent (I don’t think) but he does it anyway. Trevor Henderson is the internet’s favourite horror artist. He creates digital nightmares that have become the fuel for a new generation of nightmares. Trust me, in the few moments that Gen Z aren’t being terrified by climate change or the slide into global racism… it’s Trevor’s “Cartoon Dog” or “Long Horse” – or his iconic Sirenhead – who are capering through their minds. But his pictures are just the start of it. He works in movies, in video games, in podcasting and he’s even written a book. He’s horror’s renaissance man, and he joins me to talk about it – from how he started, to the secrets of great monster design. And then we spend the end of the show just talking about some awesome movies you may not have seen or heard of. This is a fun episode. Trevor is at the beating heart of horror. Enjoy! Movies mentioned: The Ritual (2017) Arcadian (2024) Horror in the High Desert (2021) Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva (2023) Late Night With the Devil (2024) History of the Occult (2020) Fake Documentary Q (YouTube Channel) StopMotion (2024) The Cat With Hands (2001) Infested (2024) Loop Track (2023) Savageland (2015) The Tunnel (2011) Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Finally, Gabino Iglesias is on the show. I tried, and failed, to get him for his break-out Stoker-winning smash, The Devil Takes You Home. Now he’s here to talk about his brand new barrio-noir, House of Bone and Rain. It’s an amalgamation of brutal street violence and Lovecraftian otherness – all taking place in the sweltering eye of a Puerto Rican hurricane. Gabino and I talk about the parts of the book that reflect his own life and youth. We talk about his rapid rise, and follow-up nerves. We talk about reclaiming Lovecraft. But mostly, we talk about violence – the horror of it, the reality, the sheer awful immediacy, and how the real thing is nothing like the stuff on a movie screen. It’s a good chat, about the right kind of manhood. Enjoy. The Devil Takes You Home (2022) by Gabino Iglesias Hungry Darkness (2015) by Gabino Iglesias Zero Saints (2015), by Gabino Iglesias The Ballad of Black Tom (2016), by Victor LaValle Woodworm (2021), by Layla Martinez Lost Man’s Lane (2024), by Scott Carson Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Remember those books you read in the summer when you were young? Kids fighting evil in their small town? Bikes, and blood brothers and promises to keep? If you love those kinda stories then you’re in good company. This week Jonathan Janz joins me to talk about the coming-of-age horror in his ongoing epic, Children of the Dark. Book One was rereleased earlier this year, just in time for the sequel The Nightflyer’s to continue the story of Will Burgess and the monstrous secrets in his backyard. As well as a whole lot of chat about favourite movies, a million book recommendations and Jonathan’s beautifully wholesome horror movie bond with his daughter – we also discuss the canon of coming of age horror, how to write honestly about childhood, the role of theme in a story, and where Jonathan’s monsters originated. Climb up to our treehouse. Bring snacks. Enjoy. Savage Species (2013), by Jonathan Janz Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), by Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine (1957), by Ray Bradbury The Body (1982), by Stephen King The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012), by Stephen King Boy’s Life (1991), by Robert R. McCammon The Dark Valley (1998), by Joe Donnelly The Deer Kings (2021), by Wendy Wagner The Reformatory (2023), by Tananarive Due Summer of Night (1991), by Dan Simmons Ghoul (2007), by Brian Keene The Beast House (1986), by Richard Laymon The Girl Next Door (1989), by Jack Ketchum Incidents Around the House (2024), by Josh Malerman Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Why is Adam Nevill so scary? I don’t know. Do you? He’s a nice guy – as you’ll hear in this episode. Yet he tells stories that crawl under your skin and stay there. Stories that squat in your subconscious. His latest novel, All the Fiends of Hell is no exception. Same elusive nightmare mystery, but expanded to a whole epic end-of-the-world canvas. And when Adam says end of the world, he means it. In this conversation we talk about apocalyptic fantasy, about angels and demons, about the sea and its endless hope, and about his own unique style when it comes to fear and monsters. Oh… and about a certain prog-rock masterpiece that plays a big part in this story and in each of our childhoods. Enjoy. The War of the Worlds (1898), by H.G. Wells The Road (2006), by Cormac McCarthy Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024), by Annie Jacobsen Apartment 16 (2010), by Adam Nevill Last Days (2012), by Adam Nevill Banquet for the Damned (2004), by Adam Nevill Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival (2022), by Luke Harding The Turn of The Screw (1898), by Henry James The Exorcist (1971), by William Peter Blatty Here is the link for Adam’s story - “Where Angels Come In” at Nightmare Magazine And the link to the Shadows at the Door Kickstarter for EARWORM Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Part One was epic. Part Two is just as good. In that way, it’s much better than the adaptation of IT! In the second part of this celebration of King short stories, a whole other roster of Constant Readers come along to talk about their favourites. We have writers for all ages, a fellow podcaster and a filmmaker with important updates. All of them united by one thing – their love of these little twisted word-worlds that Stephen King has given us over the years. This was a blast, but god I’m glad it’s finally done. Enjoy! Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text What’s your favourite Stephen King story? Everyone has one. Hot off the back of the recent interview with the man himself, it seemed a neat idea to get a few friends on the show to talk about their own preferences from King’s huge back-catalogue of short fiction. I am the architect of my own doom! What was supposed to be a small side project grew, like Grey Matter, or unnatural mist, into FOUR HOURS of top-notch King chat, with some of the best and brightest constant readers. I’m not telling you who they are… why spoil the surprise. But in this first of a double-bill you can hear old and new friends of Talking Scared talk about the King short that lights their fire, freezes their marrow, or breaks their heart. It’s a whole lot…and it’s only half. Enjoy! Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Stephen King is back! What other intro do you need? Okay, fine. He talks to me about the stories behind the stories in his new collection, You Like it Darker. I had the audacity to ask him “where he got some of his ideas.” He also updates us on the potential of a third Jack Sawyer book, to follow The Talisman and Black House. He hints at what’s next from him, and Holly Gibney. He gives a perspective on his view from the top of the horror pyramid, and I finally get to ask him about a beloved-yet-underappreciated novel. Is that enough for you, or do I need go on? Thought not… Thanks for listening – and enjoy. Other books mentioned: Waiting for Winter (1966), by John O’ Hara Horror Movie (2024), by Paul Tremblay A Head Full of Ghosts (2015), by Paul Tremblay Survivor Song (2020), by Paul Tremblay Fever House (2023), by Keith Rosson Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy Come With Me (2021), by Ronald Malfi American Rapture (2024), by C.J. Leede Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text 200 episodes! Madness. Who knew there could be so much to say about horror? I knew. You knew. And here we are. It turns out that the real cursed treasure was the friends we made along the way – and how better to celebrate the bicentennial, than by inviting some of the Talking Scared nearest and dearest, to tell us their scariest story? I called, they answered – with tales of voyeuristic ghosts, horrifying roadside encounters, disappearing witches, whispering demons, damaged eyeballs, lost children and ….Richard Simmons!! Enjoy this. You deserve it. Thank you so very much for your ear, your attention and your support over these last four years. Onward. Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text My unpaid cohost returns. Josh Malerman ladies and gentlemen. Josh has been on the show many times before, but never have I been so excited to speak to him. His latest novel, Incidents Around the House is about as good a horror book as I’ve ever covered on this show… or possibly read in my life. It’s the story of a young girl, her family, and the entity pursuing them, but – as you’ll hear – it goes a whole lot deeper (and unforgivingly darker) than that. Josh tells us about the unique process of writing this book. We discuss the challenges of child narrators. I beg insight into the demons and half-glimpsed horrors of his story… and I assault him with odd comparisons. It’s all very freewheeling and fun. As the 199th episode should be, before we tip over the edge into a whole new century. Enjoy – and read this damn book! Other books mentioned: The House of Last Resort (2024), Christopher Golden Coraline (2002), by Neil Gaiman The Exorcist (1971), by William Peter Blatty Good Night Sleep Tight (2024), by Brian Evenson Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993), by Stephen King From a Buick 8 (2002), by Stephen King 11/22/63 (2011), by Stephen King Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text In the second Off Book episode we get out of our armchairs and go on a real adventure. Well, not really – but we talk to two people who do. Danielle and Cassie are the hosts of National Park After Dark – a podcast catering to the “morbid outdoor enthusiast.” They have skyrocketed to success, with well-researches stories of murder, maulings and mad incidents out in the world’s national parks. I’ve listened for years now and I’m delighted to finally get the chance to ask them all the questions… what is their favourite flavour of outdoor macabre? Is there a particular unsolved mystery that burns a hole in their brain? What’s the scariest thing they’ve encountered out there… and should we reintroduce wolves to the UK? (Yes!) You don’t need to like the outdoors to enjoy this episode. Danielle and Cassie do the hard work for us. Just enjoy! Books mentioned: Wolfish: Wolf, Self and the Stories we Tell About Fear, Ferocity and Freedom (2023), by Erica Berry A Bolt From the Blue: The Epic True Story of Danger, Daring ad Heroism at 15,000 Feet (2012), by Jennifer Woodlief The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), by Stephen King Where the Dead Wait (2023), by Ally Wilkes Fire in the Sky: The Walton Experience (1997), by Travis Walton Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Paul Tremblay returns to Talking Scared on a long orbit, like that fabled Planet X that’s going to kill us all. He’s back after two years for another discussion of horror aesthetics, introspective terrors and mixed-media nightmares – this time in Horror Movie, his meta-take on cursed cinema and lethal creativity. Horror Movie is about young filmmakers and the shoot that marks them all, even unto death. It’s also about the making of art, the machinery of fear and the cynicism of Hollywood. But beneath all that self-reflexive interrogation, it’s also just a damn creepy story. And Paul talks to me about all of it. Note – there is jet lag aplenty in this episode. An arms race of confusion and forgetfulness. It makes for a good time. Bear with us. Enjoy Other books mentioned: The Pallbearer’s Club (2022), by Paul Tremblay A Head Full of Ghosts (2015), by Paul Tremblay “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (1966), by Joyce Carol Oates Greasy Lake and Other Stories (1985), by T. C. Boyle The Stand (1978/1990), by Stephen King A Better World (2024), by Sarah Langan Curdle Creek (2024), by Yvonne Battle-Felton Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Elle Nash’s Deliver Me ruined my week. In the best possible way. This book, about a woman so desperate for a child that she does truly terrible, no-good things, contains some of the bleakest, most brutal scenes I’ve read in a while. And it’s not even really being treated as a horror novel. Elle and I talk about that. We also talk about the hot-button topics of the novel, the patriarchy, the toxic Christianity, the… insect erotica! But we also discuss her wandering heart and the empathy and provocation that drives her work. It’s a lovely, laid back conversation about a challenging book. Enjoy Other books mentioned: Geek Love (1989), by Katherine Dunn Violent Faculties (2024), by Charlene Elsby Frisk (1991), by Dennis Cooper Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Todd Keisling can write the hell out of a short story. So well, in fact, that they may convince you to resist a bully, stop going to church, or tell your boss to f**k off! Cold, Black and Infinite is full of liminal tales of the between-places. Cosmic “Otherness” that defies religion or belief. Corporate soul-hells that take everything you have…and more. Weird then, that they are so fun. Todd and I talk about all of that connective tissue between his stories. Plus, we map The Southland, this “pocket cosmos” of weird Appalachia that is destined to be the stage for the next era in his career. It’s a blast. And this conversation is the anti-corporate, anti-fundamentalism, anti-bully screed you’ve been waiting for. Enjoy. Cold, Black and Infinite was released September 2023, By Cemetery Dance Other books mentioned: Ugly Little Things: Collected Horrors (2017), by Todd Keisling The Final Reconciliation (2018), by Todd Keisling Devil’s Creek (20200, by Todd Keisling In the Lake of the Woods (1994), by Tim O’Brien The Raw Shark Texts (2007), by Steven Hall ‘Salem’s Lot (1975), by Stephen King The Bad Book (2021), ed. by John D. Taff (contains “Gethsemane”) The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters (2002), by Chip Kidd The Ceremonies (1984), by T. E. D. Klein Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Something new for me this week. A bold venture into uncharted territory. The graphic novel!! As is proper, I’ve started with one of the best. Emil Ferris joins me to talk through the creation of her landmark epic, My Favourite Thing is Monsters. Volume 1 came out in 2017 to rapturous acclaim, and now, Volume 2 picks up exactly where that story of cute werewolves and cherished monsters let off. This is an EVENT!! Emil talks me through this alternative form of storytelling. She tells me about the laborious process behind the books, and how it saved her life (literally). Most of all though, we talk creativity, and how art and monsters are the things that will preserve humanity. Enjoy. My Favourite Thing is Monsters is released May 28thth from Fantagraphics Other books mentioned: Maus (1986), by Art Spiegelman The Talisman (1984), by Stephen King and Peter Straub The Shape of Water (2018), by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus Whalefall (2023), by Daniel Kraus Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Believe it or not, there is more to life than just books. Very little, granted… but there is more. Talking Scared: Off Book is a chance for this show to spread its wings a little. To fly further, wider, deeper into the world of horror and come back carrying different kinds of guests in our bloody beak! (ok, I may have stretched that metaphor too far). Basically, I’ll be talking, now and then, to other kinds of horror creatives. Filmmakers, actors, musicians, podcasters, designers, comic book artists, whoever the hell takes my fancy. I hope you’ll enjoy it. This first episode features Phil Nobile Jr. Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria, and a man with his finger on the bloody pulse of the genre. We talk about films, journalism, how to market horror and, yes, of course, a few books. This is a good episode for the hopeful journalist. Enjoy! Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text We return to Australia for the second time in a month, to find that (once again), home invasion isn’t the worst thing to happen on a typical day. Alan Baxter’s Blood Covenant is a violent, thrilling story of a threeway battle between an innocent family, a nasty criminal gang of bogans (see, I’m learning!) and an otherworldly force that is even worse! Think, what if The Strangers took place in the Overlook Hotel. It’s a hugely enjoyable book that prompts a conversation about the influence of 70s and 80s paperback classics, the overlap of horror and crime in Australian fiction, some extreme horror movies and a whole long celebration of unpretentious storytelling. Enjoy! Blood Covenant is released May 24th from Cemetary Dance Other books mentioned: The Gulp (2021), by Alan Baxter Hidden City (2018), by Alan Baxter The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding (1986), by Robert Hughes “Devil” by Glen Hirshberg, in Screams From the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous (2022), edited by Ellen Datlow The Fog (1975), by James Herbert The Hunted (2021), by Gabriel Bergmoser Terra Nullius (2017), by Claire G. Coleman Dirty Heads (2021), by Aaron Dries Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text A charming man approaches. With dark secrets to tell you. Yeah, that L.P. Hernandez. Author of the novella In the Valley of the Headless Men and the forthcoming collection, No Gods, Only Chaos. Both are great; both are entirely different. One of them will expand your horizons. One of them will shrink you in horror. I’ll let you find out which. We talk about both books in this episode, digging into the real historical mystery behind the novella (it’s fascinating) and the craft and commitment that went into the collection. How to write emotion and character concisely, using action within metaphor, the presence (or lack of) military vets in horror, and when, exactly, LP knew he was becoming a better writer. If you are starting out as a storyteller, I think you’ll find this episode enlightening and inspirational. I did. Kudos to L.P. for that! Enjoy! In the Valley of the Headless Men was published on January 29th by Cemetery Games No Gods, Only Chaos is published on June 4th, by DarkLit Press Other books mentioned: Stargazers (2022), by L.P. Hernandez The Militia House (2023), by John Milas Mr Shivers (2010), by Robert Jackson Bennett Bound Feet (2022), by Kelsea Yu Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Opinions are like assholes, they say. Everybody has one. The subtext of that, is that you shouldn’t show them to people. Well my guest and I don’t hold back on ours this week. Robert Ottone joins me for a conversation about his debut novel for adults, The Vile Thing We Created, which is almost exactly one year old. I loved it, which is more than either of us can say for the one-year old little boy that it is about. This novel skewers the impulse to procreation – presenting a horror story of parenthood that will make the child-free sweat and the happily en-familied nod sagely (though hopefully your child isn’t a cosmic-horror menace. Robert and I wade into the controversy over not having children? We ask, how people summoj the courage to do it in such a frightening world, and we also hold forth on other topics, such as why most colleagues are boring and some ill-advised movie opinions. I blame Robert, I’m usually so shy and retiring. Seriously though, this is a great conversation. More disorganised and discursive than usual. Though for once, that is no bad thing. Enjoy! The Vile Thing We Created was published on April 18th 2023, by Hydra. Other books mentioned: The Triangle (2022), by Robert Ottone Less Than Zero (1985), by Bret Easton Ellis Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis Imperial Bedrooms (2010), by Bret Easton Ellis Sefira and Other Betrayals (2019), by John Langan Watchmen (1987), by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Filthy Creation (2023), by Caroline Hagood Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Ah the madhouse. The loony bin. The ASYLUM!! A classic horror location. One of my favourites, but problematic as hell in the wrong hands. Thankfully, I have the right author for the topic. Christ Panatier has the talent and the sensitivity to ensure that his novel, The Redemption of Morgan Bright can engage with the tropes without perpetuating them. He brings something as old-as-time but very new to asylum horror, and the results are dizzying, terrifying, awful. We talk about the perils of research for an empathetic horror writer, we discuss some hideous medical practices from the past, and we look hard at the desecration of rights that we all grew up assuming were here to stay. Plus, the way to make friends in the horror community... Enjoy! The Redemption of Morgan Bright was published on April 23rd by Angry Robot Books Other books mentioned: The Phlebotomist (2020), by Chris Panatier Stringer (2022), by Chris Panatier Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson Never Let Me Go (2005), by Kazuo Ishiguro Mad Wives: Schizophrenic Women in the 1950s (1988), by Carol A. B. Warren Full Immersion (2022), by Gemma Amor The Grip of It (2017), by Jac Jemc The House at the End of Lacelean Street (2024), by Catherine McCarthy The Spite House (2023), by Johnny Compton The Day of the Door (2024), by Laurel Hightower Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text We all love a good spooky house. And most of us enjoy a terrifying home-invasion ordeal (or at least, I know I do). What happens when you put them together? Kaaron Warren’s The Underhistory is the answer, but it’s nothing at all like what you’d expect. This new novel by the award-winning Australian writer is a story of memory, of rooms and architecture, of violence and misogyny, and of a very unusual old lady. We talk about all of that and more. It’s a great conversation, one in which we go hunting for the secrets of her book together. Enjoy! The Underhistory was published on April 11th by Viper Other books mentioned: Slights (2009), by Kaaron Warren The Grief Hole (2016), by Kaaron Warren Any Human Heart (2002), by William Boyd The Measure of Sorrow (2023), by J. Ashley-Smith Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text I bite off a lot this week, in a five-way conversation with editors and contributors to the ever-so-of-the-moment anthology The Black Girl Survives in This One. That’s a promise right there on the title page, but as you will find out, survival is not always the same thing as living happily ever after. Saraciea J. Fennell, Desiree S. Evans, Monica Brashears & Eden Royce talk to me about the vision (and necessity) of the project and where their stories came from? We discuss the role of urban and family legend, authentic dialogue, writing for younger readers and how horror’s treatment of Black writers and characters has changed. Enjoy! The Black Girl Survives in This One was published on April 2nd by Flatiron Books Other books mentioned: Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison 60 Black Women in Horror Fiction (2014), by Sumiko Saulson Of One Blood (1903), by Pauline Hopkins Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (2023), ed, by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams The Vampire Huntress Legends Series (2003-2009), by L.A. Banks Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text I’m in literary hero territory again … at least this time it’s sunny! My guest is Scarlett Thomas, the groundbreaking writer of PopCo, Oligarchy, The Seed Collectors and the (post)modern speculative classic, The End of Mr Y. She’s one of my favourite writers, who has never seen five or six separate genres she can’t mash together. This time around we are talking “Hot Gothic” in The Sleepwalkers, a darkly playful tale of a vacation–and a marriage–gone horribly wrong. We cover accidentally arriving at a structure, the many ways to build characters from scratch, the dark consequences of sex and desire taken too far – and we agree on how hotels are just inherently creepy. Great book. Great guest. Enjoy! The Sleepwalkers was published on April 9th by Simon and Schuster Other books mentioned: The End of Mr Y (2006), by Scarlett Thomas The Seed Collectors (2015), by Scarlett Thomas Oligarchy (2019), by Scarlett Thomas Open: An Autobiography (2009), by Andre Agassi The Woman in White (1860), by Wilkie Collins The Moonstone (1868), by Wilkie Collins Gone Girl (2012), by Gillian Flynn The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), by Patricia Highsmith Hangsaman (1951), by Shirley Jackson Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Carrie White turns 50 years old today! April 5th, 1974 – the day King’s debut came out, and the world of horror we know live in changed forever. To celebrate such an auspicious anniversary, there are only two people I could invite to this party. Step up Nat Cassidy and Ally Malinenko – writers who understand King and that bitter, brutal world between childhood and adulthood. We talk about empathy and monsters, about the horror of high school, the abject and the menstruation taboo and about how we are all living in Margaret White’s America now… Raise a glass to the prom queen of horror. She can light her own candles. Enjoy! Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Alas, we come to the end! Stephen Graham Jones’s The Angel of Indian Lake brings the most important horror trilogy of the century to its conclusion. For one last time we return to Proofrock, Idaho – to watch Jade Daniels do battle with monsters in the wood and the demons in her head. SGJ also comes back to Talking Scared to finish our adjacent trilogy of conversations about these books. We talk about slashers and final girls for sure, but as ever with Stephen, these are windows onto something more profound – and he gives us his insight into how horror, justice, violence and luck operate in fiction. This all sounds very profound. It is. But in the coolest way possible. The man is a rock star…. … but I STILL manage to freak him out with a ghost story. Enjoy – it’s been a ride! The Angel of Indian Lake was published on March 26thth by Saga Press and Titan Books Other books mentioned: Where the Red Fern Grows (1961), by Wilson Rawls Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars #10 (1984), by Jim Shooter In Cold Blood (1965), by Truman Capote Morphology of the Folktale (1928), by Vladimir Propp The Red Badge of Courage (1895), by Stephen Crane The Gulf War Did Not Take Place (1991), by Jean Baudrillard The Name of the Rose (1980), by Umberto Eco The Hollow Kind (2022), by Andy Davidson Piranesi (2021), by Susannah Clarke A Tale of Two Cities (1859), by Charles Dickens The Art of the Ridiculous Sublime: On David Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ (2000), by Slavoj Žižek The Warm Hands of Ghosts (2024), by Katherine Arden The Bear and the Nightingale (2017), by Katherine Arden The Others of Edenwell (2023), by Verity Holloway “A Fish Story” (2002), by Gene Wolfe Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Chi-Town!! We’re heading to the midwestern metropolis this week, for a conversation with Cina Pelayo – all about murder, mystery, history and strange things in the water. Her new novel, Forgotten Sisters is a heady, dreamlike concoction of Chicago lore and much older horrors. It features a pair of very wyrd sisters and a house by a river that holds nothing good. As well as all of that, we talk about Cina’s personal journey with the paranormal, mermaid sightings, writing law enforcement, and wrestling with weird voices in fiction. Oh, and the abject horror of social media!! Enjoy! Forgotten Sisters was published on March 19th by Thomas & Mercer Other books mentioned: Children of Chicago (2021), by Cynthia Pelayo The Shoemaker’s Magician (2023), by Cynthia Pelayo Loteria (2023), by Cynthia Pelayo Into the Forest and All the Way Through (2020), by Cynthia Pelayo The Reformatory (2023), by Tananarive Due Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Never mind the floor is lava. This week the ground has teeth. Joshua Hull is our guest, to talk about his obsession with dangerous, weird holes. He wrote one into his hilarious, grisly horror movie, Glorious (on Shudder) and now he’s given a hole a whole personality in his debut novella, Mouth. It’s a grindhouse, b-movie celebrations, with larger than life characters, grisly death, and the most lovable monster of the year. We talk about writing endearing creature features, about forgotten American serial killers, about the difference between writing for books and writing screenplays and, yes, about HOLES! Enjoy! Mouth was published on March 15th by Tenebrous Press Other books mentioned: The Day of the Door (2024), by Laurel Hightower Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Time to get liminal and haunted. Gwendolyn Kiste comes back to Talking Scared for another high-concept twist on the Gothic. In The Haunting of Velkwood, and entire street turns ghostly overnight. Yeah, I can’t explain that any more clearly, we’ll leave it to Gwendolyn. Despite this being a book centered on trauma and angst, we do a whole lot of laughing. Amongst the chuckles we also sneak in conversation about the many meanings of the word haunted, child-free horror fiction televisual references, and just what makes the American suburbs so damn creepy! Enjoy! The Haunting of Velkwood was published on March 5th by Saga Press Other books mentioned: Reluctant Immortals (2022), by Gwendolyn Kiste Suburbia (1973), by Bill Owens Twilight: Photographs (2002), by Gregory Crewdson The Daughters of Block Island (2023), by Christa Carmen Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Sometimes you meet someone who just gets you. Like Tim Lebbon. A man who writes riotously good adventure-horror novels, and also likes running outrageous distances up big hills. What a pleasure it was to speak to him. The main topic of conversation is his new novel eco-horror novel, Among the Living. A story of ancient buried history and ‘intelligent’ infection, it blends the paranoia of The Thing with the ragtag group heroism and intensity of Aliens. In short, it’s good! Tim and I talk about eco-horror, about the biological menaces facing mankind in the future, we discuss how writing action helps with writing character, and I tell him why this book freaked me out so much. Oh, and we do spend some time talking about running up big hills. But we try and keep it relevant to the horror and the writing… Give me a break, how often do I meet a soul-brother like this? Enjoy! Among the Living was published on February 6th by Titan Books Other books mentioned: Eden (2020), by Tim Lebbon The Last Storm (2022), by Tim Lebbon The Hunt (2015), by Tim Lebbon Come Closer (2003), by Sara Gran The Bang Bang Sisters (2024), by Rio Yoeurs Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Back from a too-short break, but ready to delve into the greatest haunted house of them all! Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. The place where the scary things walk alone. Thankfully, I am not alone. I’m joined by my own group of creepy ghost-hunters: Paul Tremblay (A Head Full of Ghosts, Cabin at the End of the World), Johnny Compton (The Spite House) and Catriona Ward (Last House on Needless Street, Looking Glass Sound). I can think of no better collective to explore the corridors of this book and house. We get INTO it. The crafted magic of that infamous opening paragraph, the long legacy of creepy houses in American fiction, the choice between the haunted void and hideous, mundane reality. Plus, a raft of film recommendations, and a few brief forays into our favourite real haunted places. This one was necessary. Hope you enjoy it. Other books mentioned: House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski Carrie (1974), by Stephen King ‘Salem’s Lot (1975), by Stephen King The Shining (1977), by Stephen King The Spite House (2023), by Johnny Compton The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers (1983), by John Gardner The Letters of Shirley Jackson (2021), edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), ed. by Ellen Datlow “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” (1904), by M.R. James Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Yes I put sex in the title to make you download it. Did it work? It shouldn’t be necessary, ‘cos this week’s guest is an absolute literary icon. Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, Haunted, Lullaby, Choke, and last year’s Not Forever, But For Now – a writer who helped shape the nihilism and extremity of 90s and noughties fiction. The man who makes people faint with his short stories. He’s here, talking to us! In this conversation Chuck and I roam all over the blasted map of his fiction. We talk about transgression and provocation, about extremity in life and story, about bad reviews, toxic interviews and toxic masculinity. And yes, we talk about “Guts.” This was a privilege. I hope you are shocked and appalled. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: Fight Club (1996) by Chuck Palahniuk Haunted (2005), by Chuck Palahniuk Lullaby (2002), by Chuck Palahniuk Diary (2003), by Chuck Palahniuk Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey (2005), by Chuck Palahniuk Adjustment Day (2018), by Chuck Palahniuk Cold Comfort Farm (1932), by Stella Gibbons Rosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin “The Lottery” (1948), by Shirley Jackson Interview with the Vampire (1976), by Anne Rice Geek Love (1989), by Katherine Dunn Most Delicious Poison: From Spice to Vices – The Story of Nature’s Toxins (2023), by Noah Whiteman Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021), by Eric LaRocca Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text Are you hungry? If so we have a chewy, salty, deeply flavoured feast for you this week. Ally Wilkes returns to Talking Scared to discuss the icebound horrors of her new novel, Where the Dead Wait. It’s a tale of Arctic exploration gone very wrong, complete with haunting, human suffering and the morbid fascination of cannibalism! Don’t pretend that hasn’t whet your appetite. Ally and I get into the raw details of consuming human meat, we talk about queerness in historical horror fiction, we discuss the nature of haunting and how a historical horror novel can have links to a sci-fi horror classic, and we talk reminisce about the time Ally nearly died on a Himalaya in an appalling coat. Jolly good fun wot wot! Enjoy! Other books mentioned: All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilke The Shining (1977), by Stephen King What Cares the Sea (1960), by Kenneth Cooke The Secret Sharer (1910), by Joseph Conrad Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley Ice Blink: The Tragic Fate of Sir John Franklin's Lost Polar Expedition (2000), by Scott Cookman Sundial (2022), by Catriona Ward Dead Silence (2022), by S.A. Barnes Ghost Station (2024), by S.A. Barnes Indianapolis: The True Story of the Greatest Naval Disaster in US History (2018), by Lynn Vincent and Sarah Vladic Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text The first new book coverage of 2024 – and it starts us off on suitably horrific footing. Jenny Kiefer’s debut novel, This Wretched Valley, has been getting a huge amount of early buzz in horror circles. It’s the story of four unlucky adventurers, who head into the Kentucky woods and meet all manner of nasty sh*t. It’s a tightly wound tale of misadventure, that takes at least some inspiration from the Dyatlov Pass mystery. And if you don’t know what that is… boy have you got a wiki hole to disappear down. Jenny and I talk about writing and selling a brutal debut, arthouse horror influences, the terror of climbing and research serendipity… plus, what she thinks happened to those poor Russian hikers over 60 years ago. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: The Ruins (2006), by Scott Smith The Laws of the Skies (2019), by Grégoire Courtois Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (2013), by Donnie Eichar The Marigold (2023), by Andre F. Sullivan Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a text To kick off a new year of Talking Scared, I’ve gone and hooked us a big guest, with a whopper of a story. John Langan is the author of The Fisherman. It’s one of the great works of supernatural fiction written this century, but its story doesn’t end at its back-cover. The strange mythology of The Fisherman extends beyond, swimming further downstream, to pop its monstrous head above the surface in John’s wider universe of short stories and novellas. In this special episode, we talk at length about The Fisherman – about the classic books, real-world legends and cultural beliefs that inspired it, and about the process of building a whole new mythos. John is the poet-scholar of horror. This is the class you wish you’d taken in college. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: House of Windows (2009), by John Langan “Mother of Stone”, in The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies (2013), by John Langan “Bor Urus”, in Sefira and Other Betrayals (2019), by John Langan Our Share of Night (2023), by Mariana Enriquez The Croning (2012), by Laird Barron The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013), by Laird Barron Pet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King “The Monkey’s Paw” (1902), by W. W. Jacobs Absolom, Absolom (1951), by William Faulkner “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928), by H.P. Lovecraft The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988), by Roberto Calasso “Development” (1889), by Robert Browning Ironweed (1983), by William Kennedy Come Closer (2003), by Sara Gran Motherless Child (2012), by Glen Hirshberg Screams From the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous (2022), edited by Ellen Datlow (contains “Glen Hirshberg’s “Devil” and John Langan’s “Bludzuger”) Furnace (2016), by Livia Llewelyn Join the Laird Barron Readalong Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices