Talking Scared

Send us a textThe first new book coverage of 2024 – and it starts us off on suitably horrific footing. Jenny Kiefer’s debut novel, This Wretched Valley, has been getting a huge amount of early buzz in horror circles. It’s the story of four unlucky adventurers, who head into the Kentucky woods and meet all manner of nasty sh*t.  It’s a tightly wound tale of misadventure, that takes at least some inspiration from the Dyatlov Pass mystery. And if you don’t know what that is… boy have you got a wiki hole to disappear down. Jenny and I talk about writing and selling a brutal debut, arthouse horror influences, the terror of climbing and research serendipity… plus, what she thinks happened to those poor Russian hikers over 60 years ago. Enjoy! Other books mentioned:  The Ruins (2006), by Scott Smith The Laws of the Skies (2019), by Grégoire Courtois Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (2013), by Donnie Eichar The Marigold (2023), by Andre F. Sullivan  Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site 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 textTo kick off a new year of Talking Scared, I’ve gone and hooked us a big guest, with a whopper of a story. John Langan is the author of The Fisherman. It’s one of the great works of supernatural fiction written this century, but its story doesn’t end at its back-cover. The strange mythology of The Fisherman extends beyond, swimming further downstream, to pop its monstrous head above the surface in John’s wider universe of short stories and novellas. In this special episode, we talk at length about The Fisherman – about the classic books, real-world legends and cultural beliefs that inspired it, and about the process of building a  whole new mythos. John is the poet-scholar of horror. This is the class you wish you’d taken in college.  Enjoy! Other books mentioned: House of Windows (2009), by John Langan“Mother of Stone”, in The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies (2013), by John Langan“Bor Urus”, in Sefira and Other Betrayals (2019), by John LanganOur Share of Night (2023), by Mariana EnriquezThe Croning (2012), by Laird BarronThe Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013), by Laird BarronPet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King“The Monkey’s Paw” (1902), by W. W. JacobsAbsolom, Absolom (1951), by William Faulkner“The Call of Cthulhu” (1928), by H.P. LovecraftThe Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988), by Roberto Calasso“Development” (1889), by Robert BrowningIronweed (1983), by William KennedyCome Closer (2003), by Sara GranMotherless Child (2012), by Glen HirshbergScreams From the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous (2022), edited by Ellen Datlow (contains “Glen Hirshberg’s “Devil” and John Langan’s “Bludzuger”)Furnace (2016), by Livia Llewelyn Join the Laird Barron Readalong Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site 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 textAnother year done. We squeaked through without another plague or a nuclear apocalypse (don’t tempt fate Neil!!) and along the way, oh the stories we read!  The only thing left to do after mopping away the chalk pentagrams, is to run you through my very favourite books of the year. The so-called Best Horror Novels of 2023, as chosen by me. Ten of them to be precise, cos humans are obsessed with round numbers. Mwaha, in fact I talk about thirteen!! Thanks again for listening and supporting the show. You give my addled rants a semblance of purpose, and it’s appreciated. Onward into 2024 and its multitude of horrors!!! Enjoy. Support Talking Scared on Patreon Visit the Talking Scared site 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

Authors Alan Baxter, Lauren Bolger, and John Langan dive deep into Peter Straub's 'Ghost Story', discussing its monsters, politics, and ghosts. They unravel the complexity of the narrative, explore character dynamics, and analyze themes of fear, wisdom, and hidden secrets within the classic horror novel.

Send us a textAnd so we come to the end of another year in horror. Time to look back at the best that 2023 has had to offer, as determined by three of the best in the business.My trusted horror chancellor, Emily Hughes joins me ­– alongside C.J. Leede, the author of this year’s gloriously transgressive Maeve Fly, and the maestro of the macabre himself, Victor Lavalle. Together we cover the year’s freshest nightmares in the macro and the micro, looking at wider trends and picking our own favourite horror fiction from this year’s epic crop. This is a blast. We laugh, we yell, and we declare that the nation is strong, and good, and frightening.  Enjoy! Books Picked: Our Share of Night (2023), by Mariana Enriquez Boys Weekend (2023), by Mattie Lubchansky Black Sheep (2023), by Rachel Harrison The Reformatory (2023), by Tananarive Due  Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (2023), ed. Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams Fever House (2023), by Keith Rosson Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (2023) ed. Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. Red Rabbit (2023), by Alex Grecian Whalefall (2023), by Daniel Kraus  Books Anticipated: Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch (2024), by Emily Hughes American Rapture (2024), by C.J. Leede Ghost Roots (2024), by Pemi Aguda A Mask of Flies (2024), by Matthew Lyons The Z Word (2024), by Lindsay King-Miller Your Shadow Half Remains (2024), by Sunny Moraine First Light (2024), by Liz Kerin Bury Your Gays (2024), by Chuck Tingle I Was a Teenage Slasher (2024), by Stephen Graham Jones The House of Last Resort (2024), by Christopher Golden The Book of Love (2024), by Kelly Link King Nyx (2024), by Kirsten Bakis Moon of the Turning Leaves (2024), by Waubgeshig Rice In the Valley of the Headless Men (2024), by L.P. Hernandez Island Witch (2024), by Amanda Jayatissa The Haunting of Velkwood (2024), Gwendolyne Kiste The Redemption of Morgan Bright (2024), by Chris Panatier Horror Movie (2024), by Paul Tremblay You Like It Darker (2024), by Stephen King  Support Talking Scared on PatreonVisit the Talking Scared siteCome 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 going up in the world this week – longitudinally and latitudinally, with the GOAT of endurance, adventure Gothic, Michelle Paver. Michelle joins me for a big conversation about her novels Dark Matter and Thin Air – two of the most effective ghost stories of the 21st century. One takes us to the Arctic, the other to a Himalayan peak, both places littered with the dead… who may still be around. We talk about how ghost stories work, their tradition and what perhaps differentiates them from horror. We consider the challenge of writing heroes with imperial perspectives, and Michelle relates her own, eerie, dangerous experiences out in the frozen wilds. This is perfect winter listening, even if we did record it in July.  Enjoy! Books mentioned: Wolf Brother (2004), by Michelle PaverThe Abominable (2013), by Dan Simmons30 Days of Night (2002), by Steve Niles and Ben TemplesmithThe Others of Edenwell (2023), by Verity Holloway“The Kit Bag” (1908), by Algernon Blackwood Cold Earth (2009), by Sarah MossNumber 90 and Other Ghost Stories (2000 rpt) B.M. CrokerA Beleaguered City (1871), by Margaret Oliphant The Long Tale (Tail) of Dogs in Fiction (Esquire) 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 textLast time Gemma Amor came on the show we had a good ol’ chinwag about our haunted brains. This time around we get to some other ghosts, in her new novel, The Folly. It’s a sharp slice of coastal Gothic; Cornwall’s answer to The Shining if you will. The story follows Morgan and her aging father to the weird structure of the tital, where they find hauntings of many stripes, some uncannily familiar.  It wouldn’t be a Gemma Amor episode if things didn’t get personal – and we talk about anxieties of identity, father/daughter dynamics and the trauma of the Covid years. But it doesn’t get too real or heavy, cos we the nature of cursed buildings and twists on possession to deal with. Enjoy our rural Britishness. I think we hide our inner yokel well.  The Folly was published by Polis Books on in December 2023 (US) and January 2024 (UK) Books mentioned:  Full Immersion (2022), by Gemma Amor Six Rooms (2021), by Gemma Amor Rebecca (1938), by Daphne du Maurier My Cousin Rachel (1951), by Daphne du Maurier “The Birds,” (1952), by Daphne du Maurier Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer The Lamplighters (2021), by Emma Stonex The Dark Between the Trees (2022), by Fiona Barnett  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 textWe’ve had Cowboys versus Aliens but have you ever considered a threeway fight between gunslingers, vampires and weird cosmic cultists to an Elder God?  If not why not? What do you even think about when you are washing the dishes? But fear not, C.S. Humble has you covered. His weird western trilogy, That Light Sublime is packed with all of the above and more. In The Massacre at Yellow Hill and  A Red Winter in the West Seth introduces a cast of lovable rogues and the stakes of their battle against the worst that this and other worlds can offer. Now, in the concluding volume, The Light of Black Star, he brings it all home, with honour, humour and shattering heartbreak. We talk about broadening the scope of the western, how That Light Sublime links with Seth’s Black Wells series, and he explains his fundamental disagreement with the tenets of cosmic horror. We cover what Mister Rogers has to oteach us about horror writing…and how to write stories that, in Seth’s words… “attain the high romance that the human heart is reaching for.” He’s a poet and a raconteur. I’m also present. Enjoy! The Massacre at Yellow Hill, A Red Winter in the West and The Light of Black Star were all published in 2023 by Cemetery Dance. Books mentioned: East of Eden (1952), by John Steinbeck Lonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtry Merciless Waters (2023), by Rae Knowles Midas (2023), by Tyler Jones Lone Women (2023), by Victor Lavalle Red Rabbit (2023), by Alex Grecian The Legend of Charlie Fish (2023), by Josh Rountree The Demon of Devil’s Canyon (coming 2024), by Brenna LeFaro “Pigeons From Hell” (1938), by Robert E. Howard The Thicket (2013), by Joe R. Lansdale Cold in July (1989), by Joe R. Lansdale The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013), by Laird Barron Moby Dick (1851), by Herman Melville Fevre Dream (1982), by George R. R. Martin 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 textSometimes two words can make a jaded horror reader sit up straight.  Ghost is one, Dinosaur is another. Ghost. Dinosaur. Have you ever heard a more beautiful combination, a sweeter symphony of syllables. If “Ghost Dinosaur” doesn’t make you go squeeee and shake your fists in excitement, I don’t know how to help you. Anyway, that’s the focus of Luke Dumas delightful new novel, The Paleontologist. It’s a story about a haunted man, a creepy museum, institutional intrigue, murder and GHOST GODDAMN DINOSAURS!! We talk about all of that and lots more, including humour in horror, how far a book can stretch a reader’s empathy, and why privilege is such a complex issue to tackle.  But yeah. Also Ghost Dinosaurs. Enjoy! The Paleontologist was published 31st October by Atria Books  Books mentioned:  A History of Fear (2022), by Luke Dumas Children of the Fang, and Other Genealogies (2020), by John Langan The Lost World (1912), by Arthur Conan Doyle Jurassic Park (1990), by Michael Crichton Tyrannosaur Canyon (2005), by Douglas Preston The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr Spencer Black (2013), by E.B. Hudspeth The Bonus Room (AKA Bedbugs) (2023) by Ben H. Winters Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy  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 textHorror is about finding light in darkness. That’s the mission statement of this podcast, at least. And it’s never been truer than in this week’s episode. Tyler Jones re-joins us on Talking Scared to talk about his new novel, Midas. We cover its original mix of western tropes, Gothic fantasy and cult horror, but it’s family that lies at the heart of both the book and the conversation. Tyler talks us through the real life emotional rollercoaster that inspired this story. It’s a personal conversation. Upsetting in parts, but lit through with love and life and all the good stuff.  And if I’m sounding a little pompous and portentous here, don’t worry – we also slide seamlessly into some nerdy chat about biblical mysteries and ancient alien nonsense. This is an important episode, for me and for Tyler. I hope you enjoy it. p.s – here’s to Goliath the horse! Enjoy! Midas  was published in October by Earthlings Publications  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