Talking Scared 65 – Mark Stay and Cosy Pagan Dread
This week I’m feeling warm and fuzzy (don’t worry it won’t last). Halloween is over, the weather has turned dark, we’ve all got the central heating on and are hunkering down for the end of the year. What better time for a slightly more cosy read?
Our guest this week is Mark Stay, author, screenwriter, and one half of the quite wonderful Bestseller Experiment podcast. Usually Mark is in my chair, asking author’s all about how to be a successful writer – but this week I’ve literally turned the table on him.
Mark’s latest novel – Babes in the Wood – is the second in his Witches of Woodville series. It continues the small village exploits of Faye, magical ingenue, budding witch, and all-round take-no-nonsense-from-nobody heroine. As the second world war rages over the sea, the tiny village of Woodville comes under attack once more from dark, sorcerous forces (this time it’s NAZIS!!)
Told you it sounded cosy!
No worries though. Aside from the inherent darkness beneath Mark’s whimsy, we also pack in enough nightmare fuel with a lengthy discussion of the most horrifying 80s kids’ TV characters, the all-too-real horrors of nostalgic nationalism, and I ask Mark for some gossip about the author’s he’s spoken to.
There’s a lot to enjoy here. Get the kettle on!
Babes in the Wood was published on October 28th by Simon & Schuster
Other books mentioned in this episode include:
- Jack’s Game (2021), by Andrew Chapman
- Nella Last’s War: The Second World War Diaries of ‘Housewife 49’ (2006), by Nella Last, edited by Richard Broad and Suzi Fleming
Trailer for Mark’s new horror-movie Unwelcome
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