Talking Scared

Send us a textWelcome to Hallowe’en ’21. If ever a year required us to find the fun in all things grim, dark and depressing then this is the absolute best year since last year. Appropriately for the lead-in to Spooky Season, our guest this week wrote a book all about fear as an attraction. James Han Mattson is the author of Reprieve – a mouthwatering prospect of a novel set in an extreme, full-contact, haunted house escape room. What could go wrong, right?Well, as you’ll hear, James’ novel is less interested in fake blood and rubber axes than it is in the very real damage caused by prejudice and discrimination. That’s what Reprieve has been likened, in yawn-inducing fashion, to Get Out. In fact, it’s something much more interesting than just another social horror satire. James and I talk about a whole lot of heavy stuff, from racial fetishization to the psychology behind liking to be afraid. Meanwhile, I repeatedly seize the chance to put my foot in my mouth with some untypically (according to you guys) dumb questions.Happy October. The fun starts here.Enjoy!Reprieve was published October 5th by William Morrow in North American and Bloomsbury in the UK.Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPodCome 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

Send us a textVroom vroom! This week’s book is automatic, systematic, highly dramatic … it’s G…G…G…G… Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo.That painful Grease reference is due to the fact that this book marries teenage angst with fast cars and hot boys – with or without the quiffs. In reality though, it’s closer to a Springsteen Song – all tortured youth, broken hearts, racing the in the street and darkness on the edge of town.It tells the tale of Andrew – a sexually confused young man who relocates to a Tennessee University town in the wake of his friend’s death. What, and who, he finds there changes his life and his understanding of who, exactly, he is. And it’s all haunted by a fearsomely possessive phantom that just won’t leave Andrew alone. Ghosts aside though, Summer Sons still packs a punch. Lee blends the two sides of southern gothic fiction. On one hand, there’s the supernatural, on the other the very real drama of history and violence that permeates the genre. It also showcases modern masculinity in all its ugliness, with a few strands of beauty, and refracts the whole thing through a dark version of the campus novel.Lee and I talk about how white masculinity often escapes critical appraisal, how academia is the perfect setting for horror, the thrill of living lives that span the class barrier, and we try to pin down exactly what we mean by ‘Southern Gothic’.Oh, and we both complain bitterly about the nightmare that is postgraduate study. Enjoy!Summer Sons was published September 28th by Tor. Other books mentioned in this episode include:  The Secret History (1992), by Donna Tartt The Lecturer’s Tale (2001), by James Hynes Black Chalk (2013), by Christopher Yates The Devil All the Time (2011), by Donald Ray Pollock The Blade Between (2020), by Sam J. Miller Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come 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

Send us a textOh eck! This week I get very northern and my working class roots come to the fore.It’s all my guest’s fault. Tina Baker, the author of Call Me Mummy, is an infectious presence. My typical transatlantic restraint falls away and I follow Tina down endless rabbit-holes – her time as a TV presenter, her childhood mishaps, her cats!Thankfully, her book is fantastic, and gives us something to focus on at least a little.Call Me Mummy is a dark psychological tale of stolen children, toxic media, mental illness and class warfare. That’s a lot to fit into one book but, as you’ll hear, I think Tina pulls it off with aplomb, and delightful black humour. A warning, this episode does feature discussion of infertility and miscarriage. Tina, of course, delivers her own personal experiences with typical good humour, but it is worth mentioning. We also talk about ideals of parenthood, social media trolls, alcoholism, welsh nuns, babies with horns, and the particular British disdain for the middle classEnjoy!Call Me Mummy was published in paperback on 2nd September by ViperOther books mentioned in this episode include: The Last House on Needless Street (2021), by Catriona Ward Shuggie Bain (2020), by Douglas Stuart Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPodCome 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

Send us a textGrowth is good, right? That’s what they tell us.Our guest this week might have other ideas. Aliya Whiteley’s is a novelist, short story writer and poet, whose writing is all about growth. In her strange worlds people, plants, entire worlds sprawl and mutate, but often the change is anything but wholesome. In her new collection, From the Neck Up she introduces us to disembodied heads, fleshy scarecrows, parasitical towns, dark ecology and violent agricultural rites. These stories sit on the cusp of a world gone sour, and peel back the curtain to show us how the past and the present may (ahem) grow into an awful future.Before you go thinking these are just run-of-the-mill apocalypses though, be warned and reassured that Aliya’s writing is anything but normal. She blends horror, science-fiction, fantasy, the surreal and absurd and even a sprinkling of dark comedy – all transmuted into something she calls the strange.We try (and fail) to pin her stories down. We talk about how she crafts her stories, where they start and why the often end where we least expect. Along the way we take in the climate crisis, ecology and evolving change, the history of science fiction, the future of folk horror, and the legends of her native Devon. Enjoy!From the Neck Up was published by Titan Books on 14th SeptemberOther books mentioned in this episode include: The Beauty (2014), by Aliya Whiteley Memoirs of a Survivor (1974), by Doris Lessing Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell (2021), by Brian Evenson Day of the Triffids (1951), by John Wyndha The Bloody Chamber (1979), by Angela Carter Rebecca (1938), by Daphne du Maurier Lorna Doone (1869), by R. D. Blackmore  Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPodCome 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

Send us a textOur show this week is part interview, part homage, all zombie!Daniel Kraus, the author of zombie magnum opus, The Living Dead is in the hotseat. But he isn’t alone. Both he and his novel are accompanied by the spectral presence of the master himself, George Romero. When Romero passed in 2017, he left behind years of work and ambition in telling the whole story of his zombie uprising in novel form. It’s a project that was passed on to Daniel, and he joins us to talk about that book, how it came to be, and what it was like collaborating posthumously with his idol.We also get DEEP into zombie ethics. What they are, how they work, and what they mean! We talk about the pleasure and pressure of playing in Romero’s sandbox, how to integrate detailed research without ruining the flow of story, and I start to sound a bit paranoid in my theories on zombie’s as cultural propaganda.It’s a great chat. Insightful as hell. And I think George would be delighted with how Daniel talks about their work. Enjoy! The Living Dead was published September 7th by Tor NightfireOther books mentioned in this episode include: The Plague Dogs (1977), by Richard Adams The Cipher (1991), by Kathe Koja  Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come 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

Send us a textTalking Scared is a whole year old today, and to celebrate I’ve brought you one of the brightest stars in the horror sky, someone who is getting bigger, better and badder with each book he releases. It’s Stephen Graham Jones!Stephen is here to discuss My Heart is a Chainsaw – his oh-so-meta revision of the slasher movie and the final girl. The book starts dark and gets darker, with references to every single slasher that you’ve seen, as well as plenty you haven’t. If you say you’ve seen them all, you’re lying. This isn’t just a rehash of Wes Craven’s Scream, though. As well as the tricks and references, My Heart is a Chainsaw has… well … HEART. Plenty of it. Just as Stephen says in this conversation: sincerity matters. The story matters. Stephen and I talk about our favourite slashers, the joy of childhood horror viewing, the pros and cons of the final girl trope and how you blend irony and sincerity in a work of fiction. I take him to task for always killing animals in his stories and he DOES not make it better by telling me why.Oh, and we both spend a bit of time idolising Joe R. Lansdale. Thanks to everyone who has listened this past year. I can’t believe how far we’ve come and this show wouldn’t be what it is without you. Thanks so much. Ok, sweetness over with. On with the bloodshed!Enjoy.My Heart is a Chainsaw was published August 31st by Gallery / Saga in North America and Titan in the UK. Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPodCome 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

Send us a textMorning campers! This week we’re off to the great outdoors for a hike, a night under the stars and a spot of psychological terror. Our guest is Zoje Stage. In her previous novels, Babyteeth and Wonderland she took us to dark houses and interior spaces. Her new novel, Getaway, does the opposite, dragging us   on the adventure of a lifetime. A week hiking in the Grand Canyon. Just the ticket to blow away the covid claustrophobia.Shame it all goes so horribly wrong!We talk a lot about characters in this conversation – how to build them, how to make them interesting, and why no-one ever thinks they are the villain of the story. Zoje also relates the eerie incident in the Great Outdoors that inspires her novel, and I go on a rant about Thanos and Negan from the Walking Dead (keeping it highbrow!)What we learn, most of all, is that a tent is only a psychological barrier against whatever else is roaming the wilds. Enjoy! Getaway was published August 17th by Mulholland BooksOther books mentioned in this episode include: Babyteeth (2018), by Zoje Stage Wonderland (2020), by Zoje Stage Jaws (1974), by Peter Benchley Deliverance (1970), by James Dickey The Ritual (2011) by Adam Nevill The Road (2006), by Cormac McCarthy  Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come 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

Send us a textThis week the walls between reality and fiction begin to break down. What is truth, what is a lie? Can a story be both?These are the kinds of questions my guest, Richard Chizmar, has become an expert at answering. His new novel (if we can call it that) is Chasing the Boogeyman and it’s a unique beast. Part memoir, part true-crime, part horror fiction – it takes the streets of Rich’s boyhood home, colours them sepia and then lets a serial killer run loose. We talk about the illusion of storytelling, about true-crime and false memories, and the golden-hued horror that we both love. Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and others loom in the background, but Chasing the Boogeyman is uniquely Chizmar, in all the ways a book can be. If that all sounds gorge-risingly poetic then, well, first of all, sod-off, it’s my podcast and I’ll rhapsodise if I want to. Secondly, don’t worry we also talk about monsters and mayhem and the time Rich’s friend crapped in his own hand. In short, something for everyone.Enjoy!! (I really did!)Chasing the Boogeyman was published August 17th by Gallery Books in North America and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. Other books mentioned include: Gwendy’s Button Box (2017), by Richard Chizmar and Stephen King Gwendy’s Magic Feather (2019) by Richard Chizmar I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2018) by Michelle McNamara True Crime Addict (2016), by James Renner Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis From a Buick Eight (2002), by Stephen King It (1986), by Stephen King Boy’s Life (1991), by Robert McCammon  Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPodCome 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

Send us a textThis week’s guest couldn’t be better timed. In a week when we find out the world is not only screwed, it’s REALLY screwed, our guest is Brian Evenson, with his new collection, The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell – which could be a description of many places on the globe right now.These stories transport the reader to strange, deformed, blasted landscapes. Like the worlds they depict, Brian’s tales are harsh and dark and frightening but, as you’ll hear me say, they are also a surprising amount of fun. As well as the end of all things, there are also cults, flying cities, terrifying feathered men, and a murderous leg.So read them and enjoy them – but heed the wakeup call. These monstrous worlds could all too easily be our own(if you want some light relief, here’s the wiki on the Human Interference Task Force – cats and cults and wizards-a-plenty)Enjoy.Other books mentioned in this episode include: “Solution” (2020), by Brian Evenson - Read it Here Altmann’s Tongue (1994) by Brian Evenson Father of Lies (1998) by Brian Evenson The Open Curtain (2006) by Brian Evenson Last Days (2009) by Brian Evenson The Turnip Princess and other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales (2015), by Franz Xaver von Schönwerth The Book of the New Sun (1980), by Gene Wolfe The Dying Earth (1950), by Jack Vance. Full series collected as The Compleat Dying Earth (2000) A Canticle for Liebowitz (1959), by Walter M. Miller Jr.  Thin Places (2020), by Kay Chronister Age of Blight (2016), by Kristine Ong Muslim  Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come 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

Send us a textSisters are doing it for themselves – literally! Our guest this week is Sara Flannery Murphy, author of Girl One – which is either a feminist dystopian nightmare or a superhero origin story, or both. It is an alternative history of genetic science that asks the question of what would happen if women no longer needed men to conceive a child. The answer is simultaneously complex and chilling.Sara and I talk about writing as a feminist in the time of Trump (and living in a Red State), and whether her characters are witches in any sense of the word. We discuss how pathogenesis has always had a home in the horror genre. And I demand to know why, if she was going to rewrite history, she didn’t save poor Kurt Cobain. Enjoy! Girl One was published by on 1st June by FSG in the US and on August 5th by Raven Books in the UK.Other books mentioned in the show include: Carrie (1974), by Stephen King Firestarter (1980), by Stephen King The Return (2020), by Rachel Harrison Marilou is Everywhere (2019), by Sarah Elaine Smith Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices