Talking Scared

Send us a textIt’s not only vampires that drink blood. That’s what we find out on this week’s episode. Our guest is Alexis Henderson – author of The Year of the Witching and now, her sophomore novel, House of Hunger. It’s a luscious, lurid tale of dark fantasy, blood and sex. Y’know … all the good stuff.Oh, and it’s one of my favourite books of the year.Alexis and I discuss the collision of horror and fantasy, the erotics and politics of blood, and the double standards when it comes to female perversion. We also talk a little about a certain Bloody Countess, who plays a big part in the background of House of Hunger. Enjoy!House of Hunger is released September 27th by Ace Books   Other books mentioned in this episode include: A Dowry of Blood  (2022), by S.T. Gibson  The Year of the Witching (2021), by Alexis Henderson 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 textWanna get haunted?That’s the delightful proposition offered by Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters – a novel of ghosts, grief and ghastly narcotics. Just take one pill and you can sell all the phantoms that surround you. What a premise! It’s Clay’s second time on Talking Scared and he’s always welcome. There are few more honest, open, and thoughtful writers out there. This time around we go deep, into the real emotional core of Ghost Eaters, talking about lost friends and long-ago dreams. We discuss 90s indie art, postmodernism’s pains-in-the-ass, and our drug experiences (turns out we’re lame).Oh, and there are Machine Elves. What are Machine Elves, you ask? Listen to find out. Enjoy!Ghost Eaters is released September 20th by Quirk Books  Other books mentioned in this episode include:  Between Two Fires (2012), by Christopher Buehlman  Whisper Down the Lane (2021), by Clay McLeod Chapman – (episode 32) The Secret History (1992), by Donna Tartt Infinite Jest (19960, by David Foster Wallace 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 time has finally come to go to the scariest place imaginable – the inside of the human mind. Thankfully, we have a friend to accompany us on this most hideous of trips. I’m joined this week by Gemma Amor, author of the brand-new techno-horror FULL IMMERSION. It’s a book that deals with trauma, psychosis and experimental treatment, and it’s the perfect springboard for an epic conversation about mental health in horror.Gemma and I cover the autobiographical elements of her novel and how it helped her recovery. I lay bare my own neurosis and explain why this genre is not necessarily a safe space. And Gemma explains the dangerous reality of being a woman in the horror game. If that all sounds a tad sombre, don’t worry – there is also chat about the Uncanny Valley, Men in Black, Creepypasta and Black Mirror. As well as the pros and cons of pushing over racist statues.It’s a long episode this one. You won’t get this level of self-indulgence every week. But it was just too good a conversation to cut short.Let’s head into my head, it’s scary there!!Enjoy!Full Immersion is released September 13th by Angry Robot Read Gemma’s essay - The Female Experience of FearSupport 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 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