Talking Scared

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165 – Josh Malerman & Ronald Malfi & The Rock N Roll Rhythm of the Novella Oct 17, 2023

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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 publishedwas 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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164 – Out There Screaming Roundtable, with Nnedi Okorafor, Lesley Nneka Arimah & Maurice Broaddus Oct 10, 2023

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This week is a special roundtable episode. An exciting, challenging and very very thought-provoking tour of contemporary Black horror, in the company of three writers at the bleeding edge.

Nnedi Okorafor, Maurice Broaddus and Lesley Nneka Arimah are just three of the contributors to Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror. It’s curated by Jordan Peele, who knows a thing or two about that particular landscape, and these three authors present a fantastic cross-section of how versatile Black horror is right now.

We talk about their stories, about the anthology as a whole and the broader topic of Black horror. What does that even mean? What is the role of history? Of trauma? And of the future? At times, these guests turn the interview around on me, asking me to reflect on my own presumptions and the baggage I bring to these stories.

Like I said, challenging and exciting. Hope you enjoy it.

Out There Screaming was published on October 3rd by Picador and Random House

Books mentioned:

Dark Dreams: A Collection of Horror and Suspense by Black Writers 92004), ed. Brandon Massey
King Maker (2010), by Maurice Broaddus
How High We Go in the Dark (2022), by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Demon Copperhead (2022), by Barbara Kingsolver
The Changeling (2017), by Victor LaValle
No Gods, No Monsters (2021), by Cadwell Turnbull
The Nesting (2020), by C.J. Cooke
Leech (2022), by Hiron Ennes

“Africanfuturism Defined.” (2019), by Nnedi Okorafor

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163 – Liz Hand & Visiting the Thing That Walks Alone Oct 03, 2023

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Come home!! We have to come home!! The House is calling us.

Yep, this week we are going back to the most haunted house of all. Hill House. Shirley Jackson’s classic bad place. And we’re going in the company of three-time Shirley Jackson Award Winner, Elizabeth Hand, whose new novel is the first ever sanctioned sequel to Jackson’s classic.

A Haunting on the Hill submits four new unwitting victims to the horrors of Hill House. But that’s where the stories diverge. Liz’s take on this soured ground is a whole different thing, full of witchcraft, theatre-drama and weirdness even Jackson didn’t dream up.

We talk about Jackson’s huge legacy, the pressures and pleasures of playing in her sandbox, treating Hill House as a character and murder ballads.

Enjoy! Welcome home.

A Haunting on the Hill was published on October 3rd by Mulholland Books and Sphere

Books mentioned:

When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), ed. by Ellen Datlow
The Shining (1977), by Stephen King
Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music (2011), by Rob Young
The Magic Box: Viewing Britain through the Rectangular Window (2021), by Rob Young

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162 – Chuck Wendig & American as Evil Apple Pie Sep 26, 2023

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This week on Talking Scared we are joining hands with Chuck Wendig to take the fight to Big Fruit. They have been lying to us about apples all our lives.

Chuck’s new novel, Black River Orchard is all about apples. Tasty, evil, corruptive. The book grows from the fertile soil of American small-town horror, and we talk about some texts in that storytelling style, as well as how Chuck himself approaches writing such big books with so many character arcs. We also cover apple-lore, how politics fits into horror fiction, the appeal of violent characters and a whole lot of books we think you should read.

Enjoy. This book is a great way to say goodbye to summer.

Black River Orchard was published on September 26th by Del Rey

Books mentioned:

Fever House (2023), by Keith Rosson
Ring Shout (2020), by P. Djèlí Clark
The Fisherman (2017), by John Langan
The Tommyknockers (1987), by Stephen King
‘Salem’s Lot (1975), by Stephen King
Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy
Swan Song (1987), by Robert R. McCammon
Maeve Fly (2023), by C.J. Leede

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161 – Clay McLeod Chapman & The Chesapeake Softshell Shuffle Sep 19, 2023

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Clay McLeod Chapman returns to Talking Scared to answer some serious questions, the first being what the holy f**k Clay?!

Clay has never been a writer to shy away from a high concept challenge (haunted mushrooms, anyone?) but his latest novel, What Kind of Mother goes into the uncharted regions of the mind and soul, dredging the craziest of horrors from the murky waters of his native Chesapeake Bay.

We talk the terrors of both adolescence and parenthood, the terrible power of imagination, why Virginia still beckons his storytelling home … and crabs. Ohhhh we’ll get to the crabs!

Clay is a great writer, a wonderful person and a good friend of the show. I hope you enjoy this episode.

What Kind of Mother was published on September 12hth by Quirk Books

Books mentioned:

Spin a Black Yarn (2023), by Josh Malerman
They Lurk (2023), by Ronald Malfi
Graveyard of Lost Children (2023), by Katrina Monroe
Delicate Condition (2023), by Danielle Valentine
Just Like Mother (2022), by Anne Heltzel
Pet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King
The Return (2020), by Rachel Harrison
Razorblade Tears (2021), by S. A. Cosby
Conjuring Up Philip: An Adventure in Psychokinesis (1976), by Iris M. Owen and Margaret Sparrow
Superstition (1997), by David Ambrose

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160 – Isabel Cañas & Many Types of Bloodsucker Sep 12, 2023

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I’m back, partially rested and with some romance lingering in my soul. Good timing, cos this week’s episode focuses on the heart as well as the blood that it pumps.

Isabel Cañas returns to the show to talk about her second novel, Vampires of El Norte – a sweeping historical love-story set against a backdrop of class tumult, war and … yeah… vampires. It’s not a spoiler guys – it’s in the title!

Isabel speaks so eloquently about the relationship between vampirism and cultural legacy, about how it isn’t only the undead who invade your space and drain your essence. She describes the intense, insane schedule of writing the book, how landscape invites the supernatural, Mexican boogeymen and boogeywomen, and historical fiction as feminist conundrum.

Enjoy. With heart, soul and viscera.

Vampires of El Norte was published on August 15hth by Berkley

Books mentioned:

The Hacienda(2022), by Isabel Cañas
Mexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Lone Women (2023), by Victor Lavalle
Island Witch (forthcoming 2024), by Amanda Jayatissa

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159 – Alexander James & An Encounter in the Woods Sep 05, 2023

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Why do we keep heading back to the woods? WHY?? Nothing good ever happens there.

Alexander James would argue otherwise, but he’s clearly made of sterner stuff than me. In his debut novel, The Woodkin, Alex parlays his love of the wild outdoors into a story that heads toward a familiar backwoods nightmares, before veering far off the beaten trail into something stranger and even scarier.

In this episode we talk about his love for the woods of the Pacific Northwest (and yes! I ask him about Bigfoot of course). We cover the controversy surrounding an earlier title choice, the influence of D&D on his writing and the trick to realistically depicting fear in fiction.

It’s a happy hike into darkness.

Enjoy

The Woodkin was published August 22nd by CamCat Books

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Dark Mountain (1992), by Richard Laymon
Offseason (1980), by Jack Ketchum
Mexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Hacienda (2022), by Isabel Cañas

I'm a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service, I Have Some Stories to Tell

CritStupid Podcast (Alex's D&D podcast)

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158 – Catriona Ward & Rewriting the American Gothic (Like, Literally) Aug 29, 2023

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If you thought The Last House on Needless Street was tricksy, just wait until you hear about Looking Glass Sound. This is Cat’s ode to the Maine of Stephen King, the enigmatic narrators of Shirley Jackson and… well, a host of other comparisons that I foist upon her in the next hour.

Above all that though – the book is so typically, inimitably Catriona Ward. It’s a destined Gothic classic that takes the genre, crumples it into a ball before rewriting the whole thing.

We cover the purpose of metafiction in horror, how writing a book is like falling in love, the eeriness of the Maine coast and her fascination with the Neverland Ranch. If that isn’t enough Cat also tells us a ghost story that happened to her just the night before.

Tricksy, very tricksy…as Gollum would say.

Enjoy

Looking Glass Sound was published April 20th by Viper Books in the UK and 22nd August by Tor Nightfire in the US.

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis
The Rules of Attraction (1987), by Bret Easton Ellis
The Secret History (1992), by Donna Tartt
My Other Life (1996) by Paul Theroux
Any Human Heart (2002), by William Boyd
The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson
Death of a Bookseller (2023), by Alice Slater
Mrs March (2021), by Virgina Feito

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157 – Josh Winning & The World Through Blood-Tinted Glasses Aug 22, 2023

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We’re off to La La Land this week, to talk cursed films, 90s horror nostalgia and Winona Ryder(!!)

Our guest is Josh Winning – who has parlayed his years of writing from and about film sets into a horror novel. Burn the Negative is set in the backlots, soundstages, cutting rooms and dank motel rooms of Hollywood. It features a film with a fatal jinx and a whole lotta love for the 90s teen slasher.

Amongst all of that, Josh and I also tick off the uncanny creepiness of child stars, the validity of fun in horror and the power of the silhouette in making a really scary horror villain.

Enjoy

Burn the Negative was published on July 11th by Penguin Random House

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

The Shadow Glass (2022), by Josh Winning
The Final Girl Support Group (2021), by Grady Hendrix
My Heart is a Chainsaw (2021), by Stephen Graham Jones
House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski
“N”– in Just After Sunset (2008), by Stephen King

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156 – Sadie Hartmann & The Books of Our Horrid Hearts Aug 15, 2023

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Sorry not sorry this week. Yes I’m going to destroy your wallet and your bookshelves…but you LOVE IT!!

Our guest is Sadie Hartmann, AKA Mother Horror to the likes of us. One of the most influential horror reviewers in the world. The editor in chief of Dark Hart Books and the co-owner of the Night Worms horror subscription service. She knows a thing or two about this haunted library.

And she’s written a book to guide the unwary, or the just-plain curious. Or anyone who wants a new book to read. 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered is Sadie’s guide to the horrid books that she loves – the ones that chill her blood, warm her heart and turn her stomach.

We talk about her selection process, her blogging origin story, the gatekeeper problem in horror, our shared fear of certain kinds of book and the joy of scary stories featuring kids on bikes.

Renew your library card or get ready to buy some books!

101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered was published on August 8th by Page Street Publishing

Other books mentioned in this episode include: