Talking Scared

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125 – The Best Horror Books of 2022 Dec 30, 2022

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The year is almost over. What is left to do except offer you my last-minute ranking of the best books I’ve read and enjoyed in 2022.

I will warn you – I am poorly and my voice sounds like ten miles of bad gravel. This sounds like the Reba McIntyre book club. I am HUSKY!!

Hang around for the afterword when my voice finally gives out as I labour over a long and elaborate thank-you for listening and supporting the show this year. At times 2022 has felt like a waking nightmare, but here in Spookybooklandia, we’ve kept things ironically nice.

Love to you all.

Happy New Year. Here’s to the next.

Books mentioned:

A Child Alone With Strangers (2022), by Philip Fracassi
All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes
Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy
Burn the Plans (2022), by Tyler Jones
The Hollow Kind (2022), by Andy Davidson
Screams from the Dark (2022), ed. Ellen Datlow
House of Hunger (2022), by Alexis Henderson
Reluctant Immortals (2022), by Gwendolyne Kiste
Then I Woke Up (2022), by Malcolm Devlin
The Clackity (2022), by Lora Senf

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124 – State of the Horror Nation 2022, with Emily Hughes & Janelle Janson Dec 27, 2022

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It’s that time of year again. A time to reflect, to look back over a tumultuous twelve months, and to talk about the horror books that helped us survive them.

2022 has been a helluva year for the good kind of horror. Far too much for one man to cover. So I’ve drafted in some highly qualified friends – Emily Hughes and Janelle Janson. They have their fingers right on the arterial spurt of the genre – and they have each read far more than me.

Together we deliver this year's State of the Horror Nation – talking about big issues in horror, the key books we’ve adored…and the dozens and dozens of titles we’re looking forward to in 2023.

We raise a glass to a late and beloved horror icon, we make some new year’s resolutions, and Janelle and Emily get a bit squeaky about their big horror crush. Bet you can guess who (it’s not me!)

Thanks for all your support this year.

Books picked:

Ghost Eaters (2022), by Clay McLeod Chapman – ep. 110
A Child Alone With Strangers (2022), by Philip Fracassi – ep. 120
Echo (2022), by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – ep. 78
Our Share of Night (2022), by Mariana Enriquez
All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes – ep. 76
We Are Here to Hurt Each Other (2022), by Paula D. Ashe
Mary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat Cassidy – ep. 101
Burn the Plans (2022), by Tyler Jones – ep. 81
Just Like Home (2022), by Sarah Gailey

Books anticipated:

Don’t Fear the Reaper (2023), by Stephen Graham Jones
Silver Nitrate (2023), by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Vampires of el Norte (2023), by Isabel Cañas
Pinata (2023), by Leopoldo Gout
Tell Me I’m Worthless (2023), by Alison Rumfitt (already out in UK)
Spite House (2023), by Jonny Compton
Lone Women (2023), by Victor Lavelle
Everything Darkness Eats (2023), by Eric LaRocca
Episode 13 (2023), by Craig Dilouie
House of Good Bones (2023), by T. Kingfisher
Nights Edge (2023), by Liz Kerin
The Edge of Sleep (2023), by Jake Emmanuel
The Drift (2023), by C. J. Tudor
Bad Cree (2023), by Jessica Johns
Maeve Fly (2023), by C.J. Leade
A Light Most Hateful (2023), by Hailey Piper
Looking Glass Sound (2023), by Catriona Ward
The Beast You Are (2023), by Paul Tremblay
The Salt Grows Heavy (2023), by Cassandra Khaw
Burn the Negative (2023), by Josh Winning
How to Sell a Haunted House (2023), by Grady Hendrix
Abnormal Statistics (2023), by Max Booth III
The Insatiable Volt Sisters (2023), by Rachel Eve Moulton
Camp Damascus (2023), by Chuck Tingle
Extended Stay (2023), by Juan Martinez
House of Cotton (2023), by Monica Brashears

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123 – Rachel Harrison, Josh Malerman & A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Self-Indulgence Dec 20, 2022

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It’s the Christmas Special and with the obligatory requirement to do something different – we’re turning the tables.

Yes, I’m the one being interviewed this week.

To make that a palatable offering for listeners, the guest interviewers are none other than Rachel Harrison and Josh Malerman. Friends of the show and horror superstars who, out of the goodness of their hearts, devoted an evening to asking me questions. Don’t listen for me; listen for them.

Amongst other parts of my odd life, we cover my early gorilla terrors, my unhealthy relationship with running, and my time as an alpaca farmer. Oh and of course, Stephen King comes up a time or two.

What have we learned in this self-important project – 1) the hubris of the male podcaster knows no bounds and 2) I become a lot less articulate when talking aboiut myself.

Oh … and also, I have an idea that you may, or may not like.

Enjoy, and merry Christmas.

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122 – A History of Gothic Horror, with Professor Roger Luckhurst Dec 13, 2022

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Are you ready for some learnin’?

This week rather than focusing on any single book, or any single author – I thought we’d have a little look at … y’know … the entire friggin’ history of Horror and Gothic across the centuries. After all, what’s a Christmas break from podcasting if you aren’t doubling the length of your episodes and making the scope infinite?

Thankfully, I’m joined by a bona fide expert. Professor Roger Luckhurst, from Birkbeck College, London comes with me to talk about the history of dark culture. We use his great new book, Gothic: An Illustrated History as a guide.

We cover everything we can in a couple of hours – from the birth of the genre in the 1700s, through Shelley and Stoker and all the way across the Atlantic to pick up with Poe and Lovecraft and Jackson. And as we get into the modern era we see the genre split and fracture in fascinating ways.

I hope you enjoy this immensely. Prof Rog is the best guide an eager Goth or horror nerd could hope for.

**Note – this episode was originally released on Talking Scared Patreon as a series of 3 shorter episodes.

Gothic: An Illustrated is out now from Palgrave.

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121 – Craig Engler & What Makes a Shudder Movie? Dec 06, 2022

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This week I’m beginning my supposed ‘break’ from reading.

There is still an episode, however, and it’s a doozy. You may be glad to hear I’ve put down the books for a short while, ‘cos my guest is a huge name from the cinematic aisle of the horror world – Craig Engler, GM of Shudder is in the house!!

He joined me for a conversation back in October, when we were both in the throes of the Halloween build up. Now, listening to this weeks later, you can hardly hear the strain in our voices at all.

We talk about Craig’s creative life and work – from his role in the show, Z-nation, to the helm of Shudder. We debate dream book-to-movie adaptations and, of course, I ask him which films he thinks are the scariest on Shudder. Most of them I’m too afraid to watch.

Oh, and I may use this interview to apply for a non-existent job.

Enjoy – this will have your Christmas TV binge covered.

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

The Library at Mount Char (2015), by Scott Hawkins (episode 94)
House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski
Night Film (2013), by Marisha Pessl
The String Diaries (2013), by Stephen Lloyd George

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120 – Philip Fracassi & A Screaming Inferno of Chaos and Emotion Nov 29, 2022

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Get ready to be sickened by my praise.

My guest this week is Philip Fracassi. Last year his historical horror, The Boys in the Valley got the Stephen King endorsement. He’s already following up with A Child Alone With Strangers - his second novel (or is it his first, or his third – as you’ll hear it’s complicated).

This book is an all-timer. It blends the relaxed, character driven storytelling of the best 80s horror, with a contemporary cross-genre style that keeps you shocked … and shook. I tell you now, this book will take your heart, put it in a velvet box – and then stamp on that box until it’s mush.

We talk about a lot of things in this 70-minute conversation. Writing believable children, creating great villains, and conceiving original monsters and true otherness. We explore insectile horror, empathy overloads and setcking to your guns on word-length.

This is my last author-interview of the year and I couldn’t have hoped for a better book to discuss.

Enjoy!

A Child Alone With Strangers was released on October 25th by Talos Press

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

The Boys in the Valley (2021), by Philip Fracassi
Gothic (2023), by Philip Fracassi
The Stand (1990), by Stephen King
The Magus (1965/1977), by John Fowles
Let it Come Down (1952), by Paul Bowles
The Delicate Prey and Other Stories (1950), by Paul Bowles

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119 – Charlotte Northedge & Houses Full of Haunted People Nov 22, 2022

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Are you a city mouse or a country mouse?

That’s the question at the heart of my conversation with Charlotte Northedge. Her new novel, The People Before argues that though the city may be a hassle, it’s a lot less scary than what waits out there in the fields and farmhouses of this pleasant land.

Charlotte is very much a city mouse. She’s also the Head of Books for The Guardian Newspaper, which makes her superbly well-euipped to talk about fiction in general, and this is an episode that really gets into the Gothic tradition of which The People Before is part.

We talk about the unique nature of the female gothic, domestic loads and mortgage terror, the economics of haunted houses, and I stand by my argument that rural axe-murders are fairly rare.

Enjoy!

The People Before was released on November 10th by HarperCollins

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

The House Guests (2021), by Charlotte Northedge
The Last House on Needless Street (2021), by Catriona Ward
Sundial (2022), by Catriona Ward
The Fell (2021), by Sarah Moss
The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson
Rebecca (1938), by Daphne Du Maurier
The Turn of the Screw (1898), by Henry James

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118 – Fiona Barnett & If You Go Down to the Woods Today Nov 15, 2022

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It’s coming home, it’s coming … horror’s coming home!

Alright, no one panic – this isn’t about football. We’ll avoid that particular nightmare of human corruption and talk about something much more nourishing – the delights of British Folk Horror.

Our guest is Fiona Barnett, and these days it’s seems like a mini-celebration everytime I have a fellow Brit on the show. Her debut novel The Dark Between the Trees is also quintessentially British, mired in the myth and lore and landscape of these sceptic isles. Her novel follows two groups into the cursed Moresby Woods. One is a group of soldiers from the 16th Century; the other is a research group in the present day. Neither expedition goes at all well…

Amongst many things, Fiona and I talk about writing female groups, about propelling the plot in the face of paralysis weirdness, we discuss the nature of folktale and truth, and we look into the abyss of Deep Time.

And in case that all sounds awfully hifalutin – I make sure to talk about monsters as much as I can. Though this week, I promise, there is no Bigfoot.

Enjoy!

The Dark Between the Trees was released on October 11th by Solaris

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer
Mythago Wood (1984), by Robert Holdstock
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967), by Joan Lindsey
Deep Time: A Literary History (2023), by Noah Heringman
Begars Abbey (2022), by V.L. Valentine
Lolly Willowes, or the Loving Huntsman (1926), by Sylvia Townsend Warner

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117 – Erika T. Wurth & Bigfoot in Your Dreams Nov 08, 2022

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I don’t always talk about Bigfoot … but when I do it’s with the BEST people.

Our guest this week is Erika T. Wurth, author, narrative artist and creative writing guru. She is of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent and she pours all of that skill and heritage into her new novel White Horse. It’s a tale of haunting, hard-living and violence, with a certain hairy indigenous monster that pops up in your dreams.

This is NOT the Bigfoot that you expect, or want to meet.

As well as that brief foray into hairy hominid lore (I restrained myself; you’re welcome), Erika and I also talk about the dreaded dream sequence, the German phenomenon of Sonder, the real Overlook hotel and Jack Kerouac, of all people.

Enjoy!

White Horse was released on November 1st by Flatiron Books

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Buckskin Cocaine (2017), by Erika T. Wurth
Black Sun (2021), by Rebecca Roanhorse
Ghost Eaters (2022), by Clay McLeod Chapman

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116 – Brian McAuley & The Delights of Human Evisceration Nov 01, 2022

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Halloween may be over but I trust you aren’t tired of horror?

No? Good. ‘Cos this week’s guest packs a double-whammy – horror novels and horror movies all in one. Brian McAuley is a screenwriter and debut novelist. His first book, Curse of the Reaper is a behind-the-scenes look at how the horror movie sausage gets made, featuring the greatest slasher icon never to actually exist, and some of the best ‘bad’ scriptwriting you’ll ever read.

Brian and I talk about Hollywood as a place of both cinematic and spiritual horror. We compare our favourite franchises and our love for Robert Englund. We discuss why the genre needs to remember to be fun, and how you can judge a lot from someone’s reaction to the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

All in all, it’s the perfect book for the day after Halloween – when we just need to keep the horror train rollin’

Enjoy!

Curse of the Reaper was released on October 4th by Talos Press.

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Rootwork (2022), by Tracy Cross
Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street With the Man of Your Dreams (2009), by Robert Englund and Alan Goldsher
The Dark Half (1989), by Stephen King

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