Episodes

  • Never mind the floor is lava. This week the ground has teeth.

    Joshua Hull is our guest, to talk about his obsession with dangerous, weird holes. He wrote one into his hilarious, grisly horror movie, Glorious (on Shudder) and now he’s given a hole a whole personality in his debut novella, Mouth.

    It’s a grindhouse, b-movie celebrations, with larger than life characters, grisly death, and the most lovable monster of the year.

    We talk about writing endearing creature features, about forgotten American serial killers, about the difference between writing for books and writing screenplays and, yes, about HOLES!

    Enjoy!

    Mouth was published on March 15th by Tenebrous Press

    Other books mentioned:

    The Day of the Door (2024), by Laurel Hightower

    Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley

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  • Time to get liminal and haunted.

    Gwendolyn Kiste comes back to Talking Scared for another high-concept twist on the Gothic. In The Haunting of Velkwood, and entire street turns ghostly overnight. Yeah, I can’t explain that any more clearly, we’ll leave it to Gwendolyn.

    Despite this being a book centered on trauma and angst, we do a whole lot of laughing. Amongst the chuckles we also sneak in conversation about the many meanings of the word haunted, child-free horror fiction televisual references, and just what makes the American suburbs so damn creepy!

    Enjoy!

    The Haunting of Velkwood was published on March 5th by Saga Press

    Other books mentioned:

    Reluctant Immortals (2022), by Gwendolyn KisteSuburbia (1973), by Bill OwensTwilight: Photographs (2002), by Gregory CrewdsonThe Daughters of Block Island (2023), by Christa Carmen

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  • Sometimes you meet someone who just gets you.

    Like Tim Lebbon. A man who writes riotously good adventure-horror novels, and also likes running outrageous distances up big hills. What a pleasure it was to speak to him.

    The main topic of conversation is his new novel eco-horror novel, Among the Living. A story of ancient buried history and ‘intelligent’ infection, it blends the paranoia of The Thing with the ragtag group heroism and intensity of Aliens. In short, it’s good!

    Tim and I talk about eco-horror, about the biological menaces facing mankind in the future, we discuss how writing action helps with writing character, and I tell him why this book freaked me out so much.

    Oh, and we do spend some time talking about running up big hills. But we try and keep it relevant to the horror and the writing… Give me a break, how often do I meet a soul-brother like this?

    Enjoy!

    Among the Living was published on February 6th by Titan Books

    Other books mentioned:

    Eden (2020), by Tim LebbonThe Last Storm (2022), by Tim LebbonThe Hunt (2015), by Tim LebbonCome Closer (2003), by Sara GranThe Bang Bang Sisters (2024), by Rio Yoeurs

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  • Back from a too-short break, but ready to delve into the greatest haunted house of them all! Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. The place where the scary things walk alone.

    Thankfully, I am not alone. I’m joined by my own group of creepy ghost-hunters: Paul Tremblay (A Head Full of Ghosts, Cabin at the End of the World), Johnny Compton (The Spite House) and Catriona Ward (Last House on Needless Street, Looking Glass Sound). I can think of no better collective to explore the corridors of this book and house.

    We get INTO it. The crafted magic of that infamous opening paragraph, the long legacy of creepy houses in American fiction, the choice between the haunted void and hideous, mundane reality. Plus, a raft of film recommendations, and a few brief forays into our favourite real haunted places.

    This one was necessary. Hope you enjoy it.

    Other books mentioned:

    House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski

    Carrie (1974), by Stephen King

    ‘Salem’s Lot (1975), by Stephen King

    The Shining (1977), by Stephen King

    The Spite House (2023), by Johnny Compton

    The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers (1983), by John Gardner

    The Letters of Shirley Jackson (2021), edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman

    When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), ed. by Ellen Datlow

    “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” (1904), by M.R. James

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  • Yes I put sex in the title to make you download it. Did it work?

    It shouldn’t be necessary, ‘cos this week’s guest is an absolute literary icon. Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, Haunted, Lullaby, Choke, and last year’s Not Forever, But For Now – a writer who helped shape the nihilism and extremity of 90s and noughties fiction. The man who makes people faint with his short stories.

    He’s here, talking to us!

    In this conversation Chuck and I roam all over the blasted map of his fiction. We talk about transgression and provocation, about extremity in life and story, about bad reviews, toxic interviews and toxic masculinity. And yes, we talk about “Guts.”

    This was a privilege. I hope you are shocked and appalled.

    Enjoy!

    Other books mentioned:

    Fight Club (1996) by Chuck PalahniukHaunted (2005), by Chuck PalahniukLullaby (2002), by Chuck PalahniukDiary (2003), by Chuck PalahniukRant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey (2005), by Chuck PalahniukAdjustment Day (2018), by Chuck PalahniukCold Comfort Farm (1932), by Stella GibbonsRosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin“The Lottery” (1948), by Shirley JacksonInterview with the Vampire (1976), by Anne RiceGeek Love (1989), by Katherine DunnMost Delicious Poison: From Spice to Vices – The Story of Nature’s Toxins (2023), by Noah WhitemanThings Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021), by Eric LaRocca

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  • Are you hungry?

    If so we have a chewy, salty, deeply flavoured feast for you this week. Ally Wilkes returns to Talking Scared to discuss the icebound horrors of her new novel, Where the Dead Wait. It’s a tale of Arctic exploration gone very wrong, complete with haunting, human suffering and the morbid fascination of cannibalism!

    Don’t pretend that hasn’t whet your appetite.

    Ally and I get into the raw details of consuming human meat, we talk about queerness in historical horror fiction, we discuss the nature of haunting and how a historical horror novel can have links to a sci-fi horror classic, and we talk reminisce about the time Ally nearly died on a Himalaya in an appalling coat.

    Jolly good fun wot wot!

    Enjoy!

    Other books mentioned:

    All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilke

    The Shining (1977), by Stephen King

    What Cares the Sea (1960), by Kenneth Cooke

    The Secret Sharer (1910), by Joseph Conrad

    Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley

    Ice Blink: The Tragic Fate of Sir John Franklin's Lost Polar Expedition (2000), by Scott Cookman

    Sundial (2022), by Catriona Ward

    Dead Silence (2022), by S.A. Barnes

    Ghost Station (2024), by S.A. Barnes

    Indianapolis: The True Story of the Greatest Naval Disaster in US History (2018), by Lynn Vincent and Sarah Vladic

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  • The 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 SmithThe Laws of the Skies (2019), by Grégoire CourtoisDead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (2013), by Donnie EicharThe Marigold (2023), by Andre F. Sullivan

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  • To 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 Langan

    Our Share of Night (2023), by Mariana Enriquez

    The Croning (2012), by Laird Barron

    The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013), by Laird Barron

    Pet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King

    “The Monkey’s Paw” (1902), by W. W. Jacobs

    Absolom, Absolom (1951), by William Faulkner

    “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928), by H.P. Lovecraft

    The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988), by Roberto Calasso

    “Development” (1889), by Robert Browning

    Ironweed (1983), by William Kennedy

    Come Closer (2003), by Sara Gran

    Motherless Child (2012), by Glen Hirshberg

    Screams 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

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  • Another 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.

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  • Dickens said that Christmas Eve was a time for ghost stories, and who am I to argue?

    It is my show though, so I get to pick the ghost story – and I picked Peter Straub’s classic novel of the name. A tale of old men with horror in their youths, seductive evil and a town besieged by winter and… worse things.

    It’s a slippery beast though, this novel. So to really help pin it down, I needed help. I called and help came, in the form of Alan Baxter (author of Sallow Bend, The Gulp and many more), Lauren Bolger (Kill Radio) and John Langan, whose novel, The Fisherman, continues what I think is Straub’s American gothic legacy.

    We talk about the book in granular detail – it’s monsters, it’s politics, it’s storytelling and, of course, it’s ghosts. It’s about as jolly a time as you can have talking about ancient evil visiting small towns. But enough about Santa.

    Light the fire, pour a drink, enjoy! You’ve earned it.

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  • And 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 EnriquezBoys Weekend (2023), by Mattie LubchanskyBlack Sheep (2023), by Rachel HarrisonThe Reformatory (2023), by Tananarive Due Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (2023), ed. Jordan Peele and John Joseph AdamsFever House (2023), by Keith RossonNever Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (2023) ed. Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.Red Rabbit (2023), by Alex GrecianWhalefall (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 HughesAmerican Rapture (2024), by C.J. LeedeGhost Roots (2024), by Pemi AgudaA Mask of Flies (2024), by Matthew LyonsThe Z Word (2024), by Lindsay King-MillerYour Shadow Half Remains (2024), by Sunny MoraineFirst Light (2024), by Liz KerinBury Your Gays (2024), by Chuck TingleI Was a Teenage Slasher (2024), by Stephen Graham JonesThe House of Last Resort (2024), by Christopher GoldenThe Book of Love (2024), by Kelly LinkKing Nyx (2024), by Kirsten BakisMoon of the Turning Leaves (2024), by Waubgeshig RiceIn the Valley of the Headless Men (2024), by L.P. HernandezIsland Witch (2024), by Amanda JayatissaThe Haunting of Velkwood (2024), Gwendolyne KisteThe Redemption of Morgan Bright (2024), by Chris PanatierHorror Movie (2024), by Paul TremblayYou Like It Darker (2024), by Stephen King


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  • We’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 Paver

    The Abominable (2013), by Dan Simmons

    30 Days of Night (2002), by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith

    The Others of Edenwell (2023), by Verity Holloway

    “The Kit Bag” (1908), by Algernon Blackwood

    Cold Earth (2009), by Sarah Moss

    Number 90 and Other Ghost Stories (2000 rpt) B.M. Croker

    A Beleaguered City (1871), by Margaret Oliphant

    The Long Tale (Tail) of Dogs in Fiction (Esquire)

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  • Last 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 AmorSix Rooms (2021), by Gemma AmorRebecca (1938), by Daphne du MaurierMy Cousin Rachel (1951), by Daphne du Maurier“The Birds,” (1952), by Daphne du MaurierAnnihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeerThe Lamplighters (2021), by Emma StonexThe Dark Between the Trees (2022), by Fiona Barnett

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  • We’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 SteinbeckLonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtryMerciless Waters (2023), by Rae KnowlesMidas (2023), by Tyler JonesLone Women (2023), by Victor LavalleRed Rabbit (2023), by Alex GrecianThe Legend of Charlie Fish (2023), by Josh RountreeThe Demon of Devil’s Canyon (coming 2024), by Brenna LeFaro“Pigeons From Hell” (1938), by Robert E. HowardThe Thicket (2013), by Joe R. LansdaleCold in July (1989), by Joe R. LansdaleThe Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013), by Laird BarronMoby Dick (1851), by Herman MelvilleFevre Dream (1982), by George R. R. Martin

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  • Sometimes 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 DumasChildren of the Fang, and Other Genealogies (2020), by John LanganThe Lost World (1912), by Arthur Conan DoyleJurassic Park (1990), by Michael CrichtonTyrannosaur Canyon (2005), by Douglas PrestonThe Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr Spencer Black (2013), by E.B. HudspethThe Bonus Room (AKA Bedbugs) (2023) by Ben H. WintersNestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy

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  • Horror 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

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  • History is haunted. Ghosts are injustice persevering.

    So many horror stories hinge on that idea, but for Tananarive Due it’s more personal than that. Her new novel, The Reformatory, is borne from the ghosts hidden in her own family history.

    The story takes place in a hideously cruel juvenile correction facility, in a racist town, in the 1950s. As you can imagine, very few good things happen to her child protagonist.

    We talk about the link between horror and history, about writing from her family tree, about the very real reformatories that persisted into the modern era, and about looking cruelty full in the face and wrestling it into story.

    This conversation is the perfect context for a near-perfect novel.

    Enjoy!

    The Reformatory was published October 31st by Saga and Titan Books

    Books mentioned:

    The Only Good Indians (2020), by Stephen Graham JonesThe Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America (2012), by Gilbert KingKindred (1979), by Octavia E. Butler

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  • Sometimes when you’re doing something scary good company can be a blessing.

    Nat Cassidy is good company. And this week he talks me through the haunted hallways and avenues of his New York horror ode, Nestlings – but he also helps me tackle the very real world horror that is turning our newspapers into nightmare-fodder and the Middle East into a tinderbox.

    But have no fear (well, always have a little fear!) this is no mere despairing, depressing look at reality. We also talk about gargoyles and vampire-adjacent things, about New York winters and longing for home … and of course, about Stephen King.

    Enjoy!

    Nestlings was published October 31st by Tor Nightfire

    Books mentioned:

    Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy

    Nightmares in the Sky (1988), by Stephen King and F-Stop Fitzgerald

    ‘Salem’s Lot (1975), by Stephen King

    The Shining (1977), by Stephen King

    From a Buick 8 (2002), by Stephen King

    Rosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin

    The Keep (1981), by F. Paul Wilson

    I, Claudius (1934) by Robert Graves

    The Guns of August (1962), by Barbara W. Tuchman

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  • Some stories are just too big for one podcast. Some stories should be too big for one book.

    Sam Rebelein’s Edenville is one such story. This 300-something page novel has more crammed into it than your average fantasy trilogy. There is backstory upon backstory, a cosmic framework, and enough different monsters to fill Guillermo del Toro’s minibus. Yet somehow Sam corrals it all into a whimsical horror romp – a well-organised riot.

    We talk about ideas… about thinking them up, letting them evolve and, most crucially, getting them on paper. We talk narcissistic writers, the power of dreams, the unique eeriness of the Hudson River Valley and the questionable nature of curses.

    This conversation is a call to arms for writers. It’s a weary acceptance that maybe, just maybe, sitting your arse in the chair is the most important thing you can do all day.

    Enjoy!

    Edenville was published October 3rd by Titan Books and HarperCollins

    Books mentioned:

    Echo (2022), by Thomas Olde HeuveltCamp Damascus (2023), by Chuck TingleHannibal (1999), by Thomas Harris

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  • Some stories are too short, some are too long, but some stories are just right. It’s the Goldilocks zone: the novella.

    What is the secret to crafting a longer story but not letting it run away from you? How do you sustain the terror beyond the shortest form? How do you know what to keep in and what to cut out?

    This is the art of the novella, and I’m joined by a pair of expert practitioners to talk it through. Josh Malerman and Ronald Malfi have both published novella collections this year – Ron’s They Lurk and Josh’s Spin a Black Yarn contain multitudes. From motel-lot self-mutilation to deathbed serial killer confessions, via the Oregon backwoods and the core of Saturn(!!), these stories take us to places without wasting a word.

    Josh and Ron provide a masterclass on the art of the novella, as well as ALL the enthusiasm you could ever pack into an hour of conversation. This one will put a smile on your face and inspiration in your typin’ fingers!

    Enjoy.

    They Lurk was published was published on July 18th by Titan; Spin a Black Yarn was published August 15th by Del Rey

    Books mentioned:

    Daphne (2022), by Josh Malerman

    Goblin (2021), by Josh Malerman

    Ghostwritten (2022), by Ronald Malfi

    Pet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King

    The Long Walk (1979), by Stephen King

    Mrs Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf

    Houses Without Doors (1990), by Peter Straub

    Bloom (2023), by Delilah S. Dawson

    The Turn of the Screw (1898), by Henry James

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