Talking Scared

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145 – Sarah Gailey & The Scariest Place in the House May 30, 2023

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What if the house that shaped you was a broken, haunted place?

That’s one of many questions we explore this week, in the company of Sarah Gailey. Their 2022 hit, Just Like Home is out in paperback and … hell … do we get our fingers right into its dusty, cobwebbed corners!

We talk about serial-killing fathers and monstrous mothers, the power and pitfalls of descriptive prose. We discuss Freudian metaphors and the profound fears of childhood, offer a fresh take on the thorny question of unlikeable female protagonists, and I present my ‘possession’ theory on the crimes of Ted Bundy (it’s bullsh*t.)

This is a lovely conversation about dark things.

Enjoy!

Just Like Home was published in paperback on May 30th by Tor and Hodder & Stoughton

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

River of Teeth (2017), by Sarah Gailey
The Echo Wife (2021), by Sarah Gailey
Maw (2022),by Jude Doyle
Monstrilio (2023), by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
The Sickness (2023 –), by Jenna Cha and Lonnie Nadler

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144 – Nicholas Binge & the Spookiest of Entanglements May 23, 2023

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In the immortal words of Creed’s Scott Stapp, “can you take me HIIIGHER?”

Yes, I can.

Our guest this week is Nicholas Binge, author the new buzzy, horror-sci-fi novel, Ascension. It’s about a very weird, very big mountain that appears out of nowhere to lure the unwary upwards. Nothing good occurs, of course. Again…much like a Creed concert.

This is where the comparison’s to terrible post-grunge rock ends (thankfully) cos Nick and I have much more fun making comparisons to the likes of Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and H.P. Lovecraft… to the classic Gothic and Adventure stories that Nick mixes with his oh-so-modern science-fiction themes. Ascension is a treat for fans of both traditions.

We also talk about the place of mountains in our literature, the shattering chaos of quantum mechanics, recontextualising neurodiverse characters and the occasional shoggoth!

Enjoy!

Ascension was published on April 25th by HarperVoyager and Riverhead Books.

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer
The Lost World (1912), by Arthur Conan Doyle
At the Mountains of Madness (1936), by H.P. Lovecraft
House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski
Fever Dream (2014), by Samanta Schweblin

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143 – Alice Slater & Bookish Murder Vibes May 16, 2023

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We are paying tribute to the best of us this week. The booksellers. Keepers of the flame, beacons in the night, purveyors of meaning in a cold, dark universe … usually.

Alice Slater used to be a member of that celebrated guild, now she’s written about the light and dark side of the trade in her debut smash, Death of a Bookseller. It pulls back the curtain on an industry we all care deeply about, to reveal the obsession, madness and … murder(?) behind the chai lattes and instagram posts.

In this conversation we cover a lot of ground… from the problems inherent in True Crime, book-fetishization, and the weird empathy we feel for serial killers’ pets. Plus, I get to talk about my favourite things (see: everything mentioned so far) with someone who genuinely once worked in my local bookshop.

This was a blast.

Enjoy!

Death of a Bookseller was published on April 25th by Hodder and Scarlet

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Savage Appetites: True Stories of Women, Crime and Obsession (2019), by Rachel Monroe
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (2019), by Hallie Rubenhold
You (2014), by Caroline Kepnes
Gone Girl (2012), by Gillian Flynn
The Last House on Needless Street (2021), by Catriona Ward
The Sluts (2004), by Dennis Cooper
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021), by Eric LaRocca
Echo (2022), by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

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142 – Katrina Monroe & Birthing the Ultimate Body Horror May 09, 2023

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No book has ever made me so painfully aware of my nipples as Katrina Monroe’s The Graveyard of Lost Children. And I won’t ever have to breastfeed.

Katrina’s novel is a full-treatment of the horrors involved in motherhood. Yes there is love, but there is also social pressure, paranoia, loneliness and chafing! And that’s before we even get to the spectral Black-Haired Woman who haunts the unlucky mothers of Katrina’s second novel. Parenting horror has seen a lot of great titles in recent years, but this may be my favourite.

In this episode we talk about changeling lore, about asylums, about the motif and metaphor of wells, and the creepiest mental health condition i’ve ever heard of.

And I guarantee this is the only horror lit podcast of the week to feature the phrase “stool sample.”

Enjoy!

The Graveyard of Lost Children was published on May 9th by Poison Pen Press

Link to The Burning of Bridget Cleary

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

They Drown our Daughters (2022), by Katrina Monroe
If We Were Villains (2017), by M. L. Rio
Such a Pretty Smile (2022), by Kristi DeMeester
The Good People (2016), by Hannah Kent
Last to Leave the Room (forthcoming 2023), by Caitlin Starling

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141 – Justin Cronin & Telling the Goat Joke May 02, 2023

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You will know Justin Cronin as the author of the landmark The Passage. That trilogy set the world of horror and science fiction (and all points in between) alight in the early 2000s and he’s back after eight long years, with The Ferryman. This time he’s swapping vampire plagues for something wholly more subtle … but no less terrifying. I can’t tell you what ‘cos that would ruin it for everyone, but it may shake the very building blocks of your reality.

Justin and I discuss all manner of existential worries, from the nature of reality to the malign impact of ‘wellbeing’ lifestyles. We talk about Kazuo Ishiguro, Planet of the Apes and myriad other influences that flow into the wonder, horror and awe of The Ferryman. Don’t worry, we cover The Passage too…

And he also explains how telling any story is just like telling a joke really, really well.

Enjoy!

The Ferryman was published on May 2nd by Ballantine Books and Orion

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

The Earth Abides (1948), by George Stewart
Lonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtry
Never Let Me Go (2005), by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Remains of the Day (1989), by Kazuo Ishiguro
Netherland (2008), by Joseph O’Neill
Planet of the Apes (1963), by Pierre Boulle
Shotgun Lovesongs (2013), by Nickolas Butler

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140 – Andrew F. Sullivan & The Cutest Mould in Fungus City Apr 25, 2023

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What if the world ended, not with a bang, but a slow squelch?

That’s sort-of the premise of The Marigold, the brand-new novel from Andrew F. Sullivan. In this book a slow apocalypse is corroding Toronto. Above ground, urban development is driving ecological disaster, whilst in the basements and dark places a new fungal menace is squirming from the shadow. You may never look at your own athlete’s foot the same way.

Andrew and I talk about many things, mushrooms and mycology, the weird ‘third life’ of fungus and the cosmic horror to be found in the soil and loam. We also look at how grimy 80s exploitation movies influenced his book, and I discover an awful lot about raccoons.

A great conversation about a unique book.

Enjoy!

The Marigold was published on April 18th by ECW Press

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer
What Moves the Dead (2022), by T. Kingfisher
The Deluge (2023), by Stephen Markley
Follow Me To Ground (2018), by Sue Rainsford
Night Terror: Troubled Sleep and the Stories We Tell About It (2023), by Alice Vernon

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139 – Ai Jiang & Home is Where the Haunt Is Apr 18, 2023

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This week we’re dissecting spectres and excavating the haunted house in Ai Jiang’s word-of-mouth smash, Linghun.

Ai’s novella is a blast. A read-in-one-sitting tale of grief and greed and ghosts and what the word HOME really means. We go deep, talking about different cultural iterations of the supernatural, the impact of location on writing style…and the horrors of the Edinburgh vaults.

Enjoy!

Linghun was published on April 4th by Dark Matter INK

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138 – Rachel Eve Moulton & The Bellybutton of the Beast Apr 11, 2023

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Back to the Island this week! With Rachel Eve Moulton and The Insatiable Volt Sisters.

Rachel sophomore novel is the weirdest island story since Lost, or Brexit. It features a strange family with a stranger secret, curses, killer quarry ponds and the wearing of other people’s skin. And yet you probably still want to visit Fowler Island (I did).

We talk about working with surrealism, about writing volatile sisters and gendered monsters, and about the wonderful horror-lure of island life.

It’s worth noting, we also spend time discussing famous suicide hotspots – this seems like something you should know in advance.

Enjoy!

The Insatiable Volt Sisters was published on April 4th by FSG

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Tinfoil Butterfly (2019), by Rachel Eve Moulton
Hurricane Girl (2022), by Marcy Dermansky
Diary (2003), by Chuck Palahniuk
The House of Dies Drear (1968), by Virginia Hamilton
“The Raft”, in Skeleton Crew (1985), by Stephen King

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137 – Kelly Link & Once Upon a Time in a Ghost Story Apr 04, 2023

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Fairy tales are the first horror stories, right? Kids being eaten by witches, narcissistic imps who steal your babies. That’s the good stuff.

Kelly Link knows a thing or two about the darkness inside fairy tales, and how to (re)tell them for maximum effect. She is a superstar of the short story, a Pultizer nominee and someone who just plain knows a lot of interesting stuff.

Her new collection, White Cat, Black Dog takes some of your favourite stories and twists them into new shapes. Some you’ll recognise, most you won’t (unless you have a degree in folklore or just run to Wikipedia to look smart). We talk about how and why she reinvents stories, why she wishes every story was a ghost story, and how she controls the extreme weirdness in her fiction.

Oh, and she also indulges me as I ask her lots of questions about my favourite story in years. One she wrote. You’ll be sick of me saying the title by the end.

Enjoy!

White Cat, Black Dog was published on March 28th

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

The Women Could Fly (2022), by Megan Giddings
Get In Trouble: Stories (2015), by Kelly Link
When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), ed. by Ellen Datlow
Our Share of Night (2022), by Mariana Enriquez

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136 – Max Booth III & Stories With Teeth Mar 28, 2023

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Terrible times and awful words await us this week. Thankfully, on this show that’s a good thing!

Our guest is Max Booth III, the wizard behind Ghoulish Books and the author of bathroom-set apocalypse, We Need to Do Something. He’s here to talk about his new collection of uber-dark stories, Abnormal Statistics.

These tales are pitch black, treacle-thick pieces of clotted nastiness. Bad things happen to lots of people, most frequently children (but never dogs). Many a mind is tortured and many a tooth is sucked (!!)

Max and I talk about how these stories reflect his own disjointed childhood. We talk about awful true crimes and why he’s addicted to information that is bad for him. We also try to pin down precisely what it is about human teeth that seem so universally unnerving… plus some references to my favourite creepypasta stories.

This is the best bad time you’ll have this week.

Enjoy!

Abnormal Statistics was published by Apocalypse Party on March 23rd

Other books mentioned in this episode include: