Talking Scared

Send us a textFinally, she’s here!After months of waiting for schedules and book releases to align, Hailey Piper is on the show. She’s here to talk about both of her 2022 releases – each is a kidnapping experience. The novella Your Mind is a Terrible Thing takes us up into the void and into creepy inner space. Her forthcoming novel No Gods for Drowning transports us somewhere else entirely. Hailey lets me blather on about social commentary and metaphor before reminding me gently that sometimes it’s ok to enjoy the story. We talk about concise world-building (how!!), zombie capitalism, police brutality, anxiety and body autonomy, and why Queer characters don’t need an agenda to be worthy of inclusion.By the time this goes live Hailey has probably written another two books!! But for now, I’m just delighted to have her on the show to discuss these two.Enjoy!Your Mind is a Terrible Thing was released May 2022 by Off Limits Press; No Gods for Drowning is published September 7th, 2022 by Polis Books.Other books mentioned in the episode include:  Crime Scene (forthcoming 2022), by Cynthia Pelayo The Possession of Natalie Glagow (2018), by Hailey Piper Benny Rose the Cannibal King (2020), by Hailey Piper  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 textTime to get weird and wiggy and wondrous.Our guest this week is Zin E. Rocklyn, author of many short fictions, and her (very) recently award-winning novella Flowers for the Sea.It’s an afro-speculative blend of science fiction, horror, fantasy, myth, dystopia, pre-history and apocalypse – all confined to a single boat in a big, bad ocean, and all told within 100 pages.Phew – it’s dense!Zin and I cover a lot this week. We barrel through her the twin crises of reproductive rights and climate change – and look at how inequality is a huge component of both. We talk about writing the body, evoking smell and how pain has many uses.That sounds dark. It is. But there is also light, including an unexpected reference to an old British sitcom, the juxtaposition of Zin and Hyacinth Bouquet made me laugh!!Enjoy this one.Flowers for the Sea was released October 2021, by Tor Other books mentioned in the episode include: We Are Here to Hurt Each Other (2022), by Paula D. Ashe Spectral Hue (2019), by Craig L. Gidney No Gods for Drowning (2022), by Hailey Piper “My Genre Makes a Monster of Me”, by Zin E. Rocklyn (2018) in Uncanny Magazine, 24  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 textGet your bell bottoms, your peace sign, your tie dye and your … crucifix!This week’s guest is Gwendolyn Kiste and her new novel, Reluctant Immortals, transports us to San Francisco in 1968, the summer after the Summer of Love, when the sun is setting on the hippie movement. Into this chaos comes a quarter of iconic Gothic characters, ready to fight it out all over again.Like the book, the surface of this conversation belies its inner darkness. Yes we talk hippies. Yes we talk Haunted Hollywood. Yes we talk cheesy movies. But we also get into the horrific implications of vampires for sexual consent, the true hideous power of the patriarchy, and how women are weaponised against women.There is substantial conversation about domestic and sexual abuse in the second half of the conversation. Just a warning in case this is a problem for you. It’s a tough conversation, but a good one.Enjoy!Reluctant Immortals is released in North America on August 23rd by and in the UK on November 22nd by Titan.Other books discussed in this episode include: Something Borrowed, Something Blood-soaked (2018), by Christa Carmen To Be Devoured (2019), by Sarah Tantlinger The Rust Maidens (2018), by Gwendolyn Kiste “The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra’s Diary)”, by Gwendolyn Kiste, Nightmare Magazine, issue 86, (2019) “The Woman Out of the Attic, by Gwendolyn Kiste, in Haunted House Short Stories (2019) Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (1998), by Peter Biskind Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome 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 textThis week we’re crossing the podcast streams again – and broadening our reading at the same time.Agatha Andrews is the host of She Wore Black, a Texas-based podcast of Gothic, Mystery and Horror. She’s also my horror-podcasting buddy, the romantic yin to my dark, depraved yang. And she knows a thing or two about Gothic Romance.It turns out it’s not all virgins in nightgowns (though they do make an appearance). Agatha talks me through the complex, overlapping relationships between Romance, Gothic, horror and erotica. We talk about how love combines with fear, why happy endings are an ironclad rule and the joy of the Danger-Bang. She also helps me navigate some recent twitter beef that had me utterly confused.This is a little diversion for the show, a ramble down a different path for this week. But hey, give love a chance!(plus, we also talk about House of Leaves)Episodes of She Wore Black are released weekly and you can find Agatha at @sheworeblackpodOther books discussed in this episode include: The Haunting of Maddy Clare (2012), by Simone St. James Mexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno Garcia The Hacienda (2022), by Isabel Cañas Goddess of Filth (2021) by V. Castro  Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome 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 textAre your doors and windows locked? Good. ‘Cos this one is going to scare you!This week I’m joined by Michael J. Seidlinger, author of the new home-invasion nightmare, Anybody Home. You’ve read this scenario before – invasion, torture, death and suffering – but never like this.  We talk about why home invasion is so singularly frightening, about the role of movies and lenses in our hyper-surveillant culture, we disagree on the current state of experimental fiction, and Michael gives perhaps the most startling answer yet to the question of where did the idea for this book come from… All that, plus my rantings on the morality of torture porn, some really geeky video game chat, heavy metal metaphors, and an afterword containing some important questions for the future of this show.  Enjoy! Anybody Home is published August 16th by CLASH booksOther books discussed in this episode include: The Shards (2023), by Bret Easton Ellis Hoarders (2021), by Kate Durbin Frank (2002), by R. M. Berry “The Death of the Author” (1967), by John Barthes – read here  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

Middle-grade authors Ally Malinenko, Dan Poblocki, and Lora Senf discuss crafting spooky tales for young readers, balancing hope with horror, and preparing children to face challenges. They explore childhood fears, ghostly stories, and integrating real-life themes in middle-grade horror literature. The podcast delves into the importance of critical thinking in fiction, promoting inclusivity, and embracing failure to inspire young readers.

Send us a textDo you like scary movies? Yes, course you do – you’re listening to a horror podcast.Okay, cliched horror quote asides – this week is something a little different for the show. It’s been a minute since we’ve had some non-fiction, and how better to scratch that itch-for-facts than with a discussion of BRAINZZZZZ?Our guest is Nina Nesseth: scientist, researcher and author of Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films. It does what it says on the cover. Nina guides us through a century of horror cinema, looking at how we, as a species, react neurologically and physiologically to scenes of blood, violence and carnage. Think of it, perhaps, as a tour of the most haunted house of all, the human mind. We dissect everything ­– movies, culture, eyeballs (prepare yourself!), and the trailer for Rob Zombie’s The Munsters. We also talk about communicating science in the new age of anti-rationality, how our brains can tell screens and real life apart, the best ever decade for horror, and we mock the phrase elevated horror in all the ways that stupid term deserves. Enjoy!Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films was published on July 19th by Tor NightfireOther books discussed in this episode include: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), by Mary Roach Found Footage and The Appearance of Reality (2014), by Alexandra Heller-Nicholls  Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome 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 textWe’re heading into largely uncharted horror waters this week with our guest Nat Cassidy. Nat’s debut horror novel, Mary: An Awakening of Terror dares to confront one of the last true taboos of horror fiction. No, it’s not cannibalism, or necrophilia, or the bowel movements of Tucker Carlson … no… it’s the menopause. That’s right. Female physiology. The horror, the terror, think of the children!!!Nat and I talk about why horror shies away from the topic of middle age and menopause, and why he was inspired to tell this story when he was just thirteen years old. We talk about Stephen King and Carrie and their lasting influence. And we look back at the worse year of Nat’s life, and how it helped fuel the writing of Mary.We also promise (and fail) to talk about Bruce Springsteen, our shared north star. Watch this space for more on that in the future.Enjoy!Mary: An Awakening of Terror is published on July 19thth by Tor NightfireOther books discussed in this episode include: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (1998), by Philip Gourevitch Carrie (1974), by Stephen King Parasite (1980), by Ramsey Campbell Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome 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 textDUM DUM DUM!!! 100 episodes!! We did it. We reached an utterly abstract threshold together guys and we are DELIGHTED to be here. I’m also delighted to welcome Paul Tremblay back to the show for a neat bit of circularity (as he was the one to kick things off way back in episode 1). Paul’s new novel, The Pallbearer’s Club came out just at the right time to make him the 100th guest. I’m convinced he planned it that way.It’s a tale of weird adolescence, New England folklore, Punk Rock and loneliness. Sounds typically bleak right? Well it is, but it also has jokes, a heartwarming friendship and argumentative notes in the margins – so it’s both a homecoming and a departure for Paul.We talk about his early desire to be a musician, his obsessions with misinformation, the art of fictionalising the truth, and the fear that inspires his uniquely uncanny set-pieces.Oh, and we also mention a certain film adaptation that may be in the works.Enjoy!The Pallbearers Club was published on July 5th by William Morrow and Titan BooksOther books discussed in this episode include:  The Bus on Thursday (2018), by Shirley Barrett Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), by John Kennedy Toole House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski Our Share of Night (2023), by Mariana Enriquez Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome 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 textIt’s been a rough couple of weeks. So, let’s have a laugh: Poe-style!Our guest is T. Kingfisher. She’s an expert in taking dry, dark horror classics and investing them with newfound life. In What Moves the Dead she manages to find the gruesome joy in even the most dolorous of text. What Moves the Dead reconfigures and reapproaches Poe’s classic, “The Fall of the House of Usher.” It updates the year, introduces some gender fluidity, and even adds Beatrix Potter’s aunt. Yes, this is not your usual rewrite.It also involves mushrooms. Lots and lots of mushrooms.Consequently, we talk a lot about mycology – but we also get plenty of other fun stuff. Like whether we enjoy explanations in horror, how Albanian inheritance laws inspired her novella’s gender dynamics, and how her grandmother would have excelled at polygamy had it been invented.This episode is a sprinkle of zest into the rancid stew of life. Enjoy!What Moves the Dead is published on July 12th by Tor NightfireOther books discussed in this episode include:  The Twisted Ones (2019), by T. Kingfisher The Hollow Places (2020), by T. Kingfisher Perdido Street Station (2000), by China Mievelle Mexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno Garcia Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store.Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices