“When you're writing a children's book, it shares much relation with horror, because it has to be usually very immediate and very visceral and gripping. Because otherwise the kids are gonna get bored. And your window of opportunity to grab the reader is … longer with horror, you can do the slow creeping dread better, but you have to grab the reader, metaphorically, by the throat.”

Whether you know her as Ursula Vernon or T. Kingfisher, one thing is for sure—this Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author always pulls us in with her captivating fantasies and chilling thrillers—which remains true of her two new books, Nettle & Bone and What Moves the Dead, both releasing this year. Ursula joins us on the show to talk about the fine line between writing children’s books and writing horror and her love for gothic stories, the artwork that inspired this stunning cover, mycology, the lesser-known life of Beatrix Potter, what she’s working on next and what games she’s playing, and much more with guest host, Kat Sarfas. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Becky.

Featured Books (Episode):

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings by Edgar Allen Poe

The White People and Other Weird Stories by Arthur Machen

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis

The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

This episode of Poured Over is produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this show is available here.

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