Talking Scared

Send us a textIn 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 BerryA Bolt From the Blue: The Epic True Story of Danger, Daring ad Heroism at 15,000 Feet (2012), by Jennifer WoodliefThe Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), by Stephen KingWhere the Dead Wait (2023), by Ally WilkesFire 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textPaul 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textElle 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 DunnViolent Faculties (2024), by Charlene ElsbyFrisk (1991), by Dennis Cooper Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textTodd 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textSomething 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 SpiegelmanThe Talisman (1984), by Stephen King and Peter StraubThe Shape of Water (2018), by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel KrausWhalefall (2023), by Daniel Kraus Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Horror creative Phil Nobile Jr. from Fangoria talks about films, journalism, marketing horror, and books. They discuss the origins of Fangoria, editorial challenges, horror filmmakers' impact, and legacy. The conversation delves into audience engagement, horror writing, and the influence of family legacy on writers like Stephen King and Joe Hill. A must-listen for horror enthusiasts and aspiring journalists.

Send us a textWe 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 BaxterHidden 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 DatlowThe Fog (1975), by James HerbertThe Hunted (2021), by Gabriel BergmoserTerra Nullius (2017), by Claire G. ColemanDirty Heads (2021), by Aaron Dries Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textA 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 GamesNo Gods, Only Chaos is published on June 4th, by DarkLit Press Other books mentioned: Stargazers (2022), by L.P. HernandezThe Militia House (2023), by John MilasMr Shivers (2010), by Robert Jackson BennettBound Feet (2022), by Kelsea Yu Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textOpinions 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 OttoneLess Than Zero (1985), by Bret Easton EllisLunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton EllisImperial Bedrooms (2010), by Bret Easton EllisSefira and Other Betrayals (2019), by John LanganWatchmen (1987), by Alan Moore and Dave GibbonsFilthy Creation (2023), by Caroline Hagood Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textAh 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices