Talking Scared

Send us a textI like my ghosts like I like my podcasts – weird and slightly furious. Thankfully, this week delivers on both counts – with Johnny Compton’s The Spite House delivering more ghosts than you think you could fit into 250-pages … and none of them are anything less than fuming! Johnny talks us through the odd, off-kilter history of spite houses, we trace the legacy of the American haunted house novel, discuss ghost lore and dismiss orbs. We talk about complex father figures and I have my smuggest ever moment of being accidentally right about something.  It’s a blast. Johnny is a joy to talk to and his book gives great ghostliness.Enjoy!The Spite House was published by on February 7th by Tor Nightfire.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 a Valentine’s day episode and what better to celebrate today than a conversation about cruelty, brutal folklore, political terror and black magic? Don’t tell me I don’t understand my audience.I’m beyond delighted to welcome Mariana Enriquez to the show to talk about her massive novel, Our Share of Night. It features all of the above ingredients, in a 700+ page roam through decades of Argentinian history, demonic misconduct.This ranks amongst the most unstructured conversations I’ve had on this show. I just say some words and then let Mariana let rip. But to give you a taster – we cover her current boredom with the short story, the double standard of harming kids in fiction, houses that eat people, Freddie Krueger and Heathclife and why horror is inevitable in Argentinian fictionEnjoy!Our Share of Night was published by Granta in the UK in October, 2022 and in the US on 7th February, 2023 by HogarthOther books mentioned in this episode: The Black Maybe: Liminal Tales (2022), by Attila Veres The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (2009), by Mariana Enriquez Things We Lost in the Fire (2017), by Mariana Enriquez Shuggie Bain (2020), by Douglas Stuart In Patagonia (1977), by Bruce Chatwin Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy READ: Smithsonian article about Chiloe and the imbuncheSupport 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 you ready for another bloody confrontation? Same rules, different setting (actually still my attic bedroom) and more gore?Stephen Graham Jones AKA Professor Slasher, returns to Talking Scared to discuss Don’t Fear the Reaper, the sequel to his zeitgeist-blasting slasher-ode, My Heart is a Chainsaw. Reaper takes us back to Proofrock, Idaho for a freezing night of rage and bloodshed, with returning favourites and a whole new killer who reads like the distillation of American carnage.That all sounds suitably epic. Hopefully this conversation matches. Stephen and I talk about favourite slasher sequels, minority monsters in fiction, getting to know Jade Daniels even better, and the importance of writing yourself into a corner.This is an episode a lot of you have been waiting for. Enjoy. And watch out for hook-handed men.Enjoy! Don’t Fear the Reaper was published by Saga and Titan Books on 7th February, 2023 Other books mentioned in this episode: Maeve Fly (2023), by C.J. Leade My Heart is a Chainsaw (2021), by Stephen Graham Jones The Final Girl Support Group (2021), by Grady Hendrix Moon of the Crusted Snow (2018), by Waubgeshig Rice 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 textIt’s not even the end of January and we’re already dealing with the second apocalypse of the year.This one is written by CJ Tudor, whose new novel, The Drift, moves her out of the crime chillers she is best-known for, into a whole other world of horror.It’s a series of locked room mysteries, occurring in the hideous aftermath of global pandemic. And if you are a little sick of global pandemics (who isn’t?) then at least this one has rage zombies and lots of murder.CJ and I talk about many things, from genre expectations, to failed novels, grief to TV adaptation – but the pandemic is a dominant theme. We talk about about some personal loss, so if that would be a trigger for you, go in pre-warned.But mostly, it’s a lovely chat with “Britain’s answer to Stephen King.”Enjoy!The Drift was published by Penguin on Jan 19th in the UK and Jan 31st in the US. Other books mentioned in this episode:The Burning Girls (2021), by C.J. TudorThe Chalk Man (2018), by C.J. TudorSign Here (2022), by Claudia LuxTo contribute to Laird Barron’s GoFundMe, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/laird-barron-hospital-costs-medication-costs.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 textWhen it comes to stress, they say selling a house is up there with divorce and death. Now imagine that house is haunted… by demonic puppets. Yeah – that’s the premise of Grady Hendrix’s brand-new horror novel, How to Sell a Haunted House. It combines Grady’s trademark humour, genre-knowledge and playfulness, with a genuinely frightening story about homes, and all the things they contain, both comforting and downright nasty.Grady and I dive into the economics of haunting, the value of earnestness in a world of irony, and we discover the difference between marionettes and hand puppets … which is more frightening that you would expect.It’s a fun conversation, about a joyfully creepy book.  Enjoy!How To Sell A Haunted House was published by Berkley on Jan 17th 2003. Other books mentioned in this episode:  The Final Girl Support Group (2020), by Grady Hendrix Horrorstör (2014), by Grady Hendrix We Sold Our Souls (2018), by Grady Hendrix My Heart is a Chainsaw (2020), by Stephen Graham Jones The Pallbearer’s Club (2022), by Paul Tremblay Moth Manor (1978), by Martha Sherman Bacon To donate to the fundraiser for Laird Barron, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/laird-barron-hospital-costs-medication-costs, and thanks SO much.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 text…AAAND WE’RE BACK! I hope you’re slipping into 2023 like it’s a warm bath, but either way this week’s episode will be a cold, sharp system shock. The guest is Stephen Markley; the book is The Deluge – a 900-page beast of ecological and societal disintegration, and the best book I have read in decades. Imagine The Stand was based on rigorous scientific research and was, y’know, about to happen to us all for real. Yeah! This is a scary one, even if it would never be listed in the horror part of the bookshop.Stephen and I talk about (re)considering apocalyptic fiction, choosing characters, how real events outpaced the writing of the book, and how the climate crisis forces us to ask some uncomfortable questions about social issues.  Like the book I question, this episode is heavy and challenging and frightening, but maybe… just maybe… it will give you some hope.Enjoy!The Deluge was published by Simon & Schuster on Jan 10th 2003.Other books mentioned in this episode: The Big Fix: Seven Practical Steps to Save Our Planet (2022) by Hal Harvey and Justin Gillis World War Z (2006), by Max Brooks Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet (2021), by Thich Nhat Hanh The Stand (1990), by Stephen King 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 textThe year is almost over. What is left to do except offer you my last-minute ranking of the best books I’ve read and enjoyed in 2022.I will warn you – I am poorly and my voice sounds like ten miles of bad gravel. This sounds like the Reba McIntyre book club. I am HUSKY!!Hang around for the afterword when my voice finally gives out as I labour over a long and elaborate thank-you for listening and supporting the show this year. At times 2022 has felt like a waking nightmare, but here in Spookybooklandia, we’ve kept things ironically nice.  Love to you all.Happy New Year. Here’s to the next.Books mentioned:  A Child Alone With Strangers (2022), by Philip Fracassi All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes  Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy  Burn the Plans (2022), by Tyler Jones  The Hollow Kind (2022), by Andy Davidson Screams from the Dark (2022), ed. Ellen Datlow House of Hunger (2022), by Alexis Henderson Reluctant Immortals (2022), by Gwendolyne Kiste Then I Woke Up (2022), by Malcolm Devlin The Clackity (2022), by Lora Senf  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 that time of year again. A time to reflect, to look back over a tumultuous twelve months, and to talk about the horror books that helped us survive them.2022 has been a helluva year for the good kind of horror. Far too much for one man to cover. So I’ve drafted in some highly qualified friends – Emily Hughes and Janelle Janson. They have their fingers right on the arterial spurt of the genre – and they have each read far more than me.Together we deliver this year's State of the Horror Nation – talking about big issues in horror, the key books we’ve adored…and the dozens and dozens of titles we’re looking forward to in 2023.We raise a glass to a late and beloved horror icon, we make some new year’s resolutions, and Janelle and Emily get a bit squeaky about their big horror crush. Bet you can guess who (it’s not me!)Thanks for all your support this year.Books picked: Ghost Eaters (2022), by Clay McLeod Chapman – ep. 110 A Child Alone With Strangers (2022), by Philip Fracassi – ep. 120 Echo (2022), by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – ep. 78 Our Share of Night (2022), by Mariana Enriquez All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes – ep. 76 We Are Here to Hurt Each Other (2022), by Paula D. Ashe Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy – ep. 101 Burn the Plans (2022), by Tyler Jones – ep. 81 Just Like Home (2022), by Sarah Gailey  Books anticipated:  Don’t Fear the Reaper (2023), by Stephen Graham Jones  Silver Nitrate (2023), by Silvia Moreno Garcia Vampires of el Norte (2023), by Isabel Cañas Pinata (2023), by Leopoldo Gout Tell Me I’m Worthless (2023), by Alison Rumfitt (already out in UK) Spite House (2023), by Jonny Compton Lone Women (2023), by Victor Lavelle Everything Darkness Eats (2023), by Eric LaRocca Episode 13 (2023), by Craig Dilouie House of Good Bones (2023), by T. Kingfisher Nights Edge (2023), by Liz Kerin The Edge of Sleep (2023), by Jake Emmanuel The Drift (2023), by C. J. Tudor Bad Cree (2023), by Jessica Johns Maeve Fly (2023), by C.J. Leade A Light Most Hateful (2023), by Hailey Piper Looking Glass Sound (2023), by Catriona Ward The Beast You Are (2023), by Paul Tremblay The Salt Grows Heavy (2023), by Cassandra Khaw Burn the Negative (2023), by Josh Winning How to Sell a Haunted House (2023), by Grady Hendrix Abnormal Statistics (2023), by Max Booth III The Insatiable Volt Sisters (2023), by Rachel Eve Moulton Camp Damascus (2023), by Chuck Tingle Extended Stay (2023), by Juan Martinez House of Cotton (2023), by Monica Brashears  Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textIt’s the Christmas Special and with the obligatory requirement to do something different – we’re turning the tables.Yes, I’m the one being interviewed this week.To make that a palatable offering for listeners, the guest interviewers are none other than Rachel Harrison and Josh Malerman. Friends of the show and horror superstars who, out of the goodness of their hearts, devoted an evening to asking me questions. Don’t listen for me; listen for them. Amongst other parts of my odd life, we cover my early gorilla terrors, my unhealthy relationship with running, and my time as an alpaca farmer. Oh and of course, Stephen King comes up a time or two.What have we learned in this self-important project – 1) the hubris of the male podcaster knows no bounds and 2) I become a lot less articulate when talking aboiut myself.Oh …  and also, I have an idea that you may, or may not like. Enjoy, and merry Christmas. 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 you ready for some learnin’?This week rather than focusing on any single book, or any single author – I thought we’d have a little look at … y’know … the entire friggin’ history of Horror and Gothic across the centuries. After all, what’s a Christmas break from podcasting if you aren’t doubling the length of your episodes and making the scope infinite? Thankfully, I’m joined by a bona fide expert. Professor Roger Luckhurst, from Birkbeck College, London comes with me to talk about the history of dark culture. We use his great new book, Gothic: An Illustrated History as a guide. We cover everything we can in a couple of hours – from the birth of the genre in the 1700s, through Shelley and Stoker and all the way across the Atlantic to pick up with Poe and Lovecraft and Jackson. And as we get into the modern era we see the genre split and fracture in fascinating ways. I hope you enjoy this immensely. Prof Rog is the best guide an eager Goth or horror nerd could hope for.**Note – this episode was originally released on Talking Scared Patreon as a series of 3 shorter episodes. Gothic: An Illustrated is out now from Palgrave.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