Talking Scared

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75 – Kristi DeMeester and Misogynistic Little Paper Cuts Jan 18, 2022

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This week it’s time for good girls and bad girls to unite.

Our guest is Kristi DeMeester whose new novel, Such A Pretty Smile sinks its teeth deep into the raised hand of misogyny. It’s a tale of violence and viciousness and vivid nightmares – and a whole new apparatus to explore the evils that men do.

At this point I assume we’ve already weeded out the guys who roll their eyes at #metoo!?

That’s for the best cos this is a feminism-heavy week. We talk about how horror treats women, from monstering menstruation to imagining female puberty as a threshold into hell. Along the way we cover the awful concept of the ‘lesser’ dead, the question of whether pretty girl privilege is a thing, and whether men really think women are too delicate to write such awful things.

We also consider why dogs can be much scarier than wolves.

This book started my year off right. Ambiguous, though-provoking, and ANGRY. Kristi is not f*cking around here.

Enjoy!!

Such a Pretty Smile is released January 18th by St Martin’s Press.

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74 – John Connolly and the Many Faces of Metaphysical Mystery Jan 11, 2022

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Kicking off the New Year right, by interviewing one of my favourite living writers.

John Connolly is the author of the bestselling Charlie Parker series, a 19 book odyssey that takes us from the Maine coast to the darkest corners of the USA (and elsewhere), in the process, transmuting hardboiled detective noir into cosmic horror.

After two decades of reading about Parker, you can be sure I have plenty to ask John – about writing American horror as an Irishman, Maine’s hostile spaces, the thrilling allure of literary violence, and whether he has an end in sight.

But John is also here to talk about a whole other beast. Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction is his mammoth attempt to map the contours of his native literature, and expose the snobbery that has suppressed it. We talk a lot about how genre works (and doesn’t work), and how Irish fiction is at the very bedrock of this horror thing we all love.

I’m a fanboy this week, no point denying it. I just did my best not to embarrass myself – especially as we were both enjoying a festive drink!

Enjoy!!

Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction was published October 2021 by Hodder and Stoughton.

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Every Dead Thing (1999), by John Connolly – the first Charlie Parker book.
Dark Matter (2010), by Michelle Paver
All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes
The Art of the Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories (2020), by Sinéad Gleeson
American Gods (2001), by Neil Gaiman
The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), by Robert B. Parker (first appearance of Spenser)

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73 – The Best Horror-ish Books of 2021 Dec 30, 2021

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It’s just me this week – sneaking one last episode in to talk about my own personal top-10 horror novels (or horror-ish) from the last twelve months.

It’s been a stellar year, and picking just ten books was a nightmare all of it’s own. But these things must be done. The world MUST know what one more straight, white guy thinks about culture, or society will collapse.

I hope you enjoy this as I get more and more animated as things go on. It’s a good job I’m taking next week off – I’m starting to sound manic.

Have a great new year folks, and thanks for all your kindness and support this year.

Here’s to 2022… it surely can’t be any worse.

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72 – State of the Horror Nation II, with Emily Hughes and Sadie Hartmann Dec 28, 2021

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Well, we made it to the end of this nightmare of a year. And though there has been plenty of horrific stuff along the way – war, plague, corruption … literal armed insurrection, at least the fictional horror has been fun.

To commemorate a special year in horror, I’m getting the band back together. Sadie Hartmann, AKA Mother Horror, and Emily Hughes of Tor Nightfire (and various other parishes) join me to talk about the stuff they have loved from the second half** of 2021.

**if you missed our coverage of Jan-June, you can find it in episode 46.

We pick the books that really stood out for us, plus many more that we enjoyed. We discuss the TV and movies that have shaken and stirred us since July, and we look ahead to the bright (dead)lights of horror to come in the New Year.

We also pick apart some thorny issues plaguing the genre, like the ridiculousness of rating books by stars, and my own irritation at everything being compared to Get Out.

Each of the books we mention is listed below, including an episode number if it has been previously featured on Talking Scared. Don’t look at that yet though; it’ll spoil the surprise.

Enjoy, and well done for getting through the year.

Books picked

My Heart is a Chainsaw (2021), by Stephen Graham Jones **ep 54
Revelator (2021), by Daryl Gregory
When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), ed. by Ellen Datlow **ep 66
Cackle (2021), by Rachel Harrison
When the Reckoning Comes (2021), by Latanya McQueen
The Spirit Engineer (2021), by A.J West **ep 71
Come With Me (2021), by Ronald Malfi **ep 49
The Deer Kings (2021), by Wendy N. Wagner **ep 69
Chasing the Boogeyman (2021), by Richard Chizmar **ep 52

Coming soon

Manhunt (Feb 2022), by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Such a Pretty Smile (Jan 2022), by Krist DeMeester
All the White Spaces (Jan 2022), by Ally Wilkes

Other books mentioned

Reprieve (2021), by James Han Mattson
Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis
A Touch of Jen (2021), by Beth Morgan
Flowers for the Sea (2021) , by Zin E. Rocklyn
Nightbitch (2021), by Rachel Yoder
The Last House on Needless Street (2021), by Catriona Ward **ep30
Certain Dark Things (2021), by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021), by Cassandra Khaw **ep 61
The Death of Jane Lawrence (2021), by Caitlin Starling **ep 60
Queen of the Cicadas (2021), by V. Castro ** ep 42
The Book of Accidents (2021), by Chuck Wendig **ep 48
Rovers (2021), by Richard Lange
The Turnout (2021), by Megan Abbott
Comfort Me with Apples (2021), by Catherynne M. Valente ** ep 62
The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell (2021), by Brian Evenson **ep 51

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71 – A.J. West and Paranormal Foreplay Dec 21, 2021

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This week I bring you a ghost story, as befitting the season. Though it’s a little more lurid than Charles Dickens would have liked.

The guest is A.J. West; the book is The Spirit Engineer. It’s one of my very favourites of 2021.

Set in Belfast between the sinking of the Titanic and the outbreak of war, it’s a tale of science and the supernatural. Of William Crawford, a man who wants proof of the beyond, and will risk everything to grasp it. It’s actually based on real people and events, which I didn’t know, and still find incredible.

A.J and I talk about spiritualism and deceit, about the links between sex and seances, and about the rare appearance of a truly unlikeable male protagonist. We disagree a little, AJ thinks William’s he’s an antihero, I think he’s an asshole, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is the standout character of the year for me.

I hope you get chance to pour a drink, pull up a chair, and read this book over Christmas.

Enjoy

You can read more about the story behind The Spirit Engineer on A.J’s website, ajwestauthor.com

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70 – Ross Jeffery and Disturbing the Comfortable Dec 14, 2021

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This week I am going to utterly ruin your festive mood!

My guest is Ross Jeffery – author of Juniper, Tome (for which he was Bram Stoker nominated) and numerous short stories. His work is grim, gritty, gory and other words beginning with G - but they are nothing compared to the sheer horror of his latest work, Only the Stains Remain.

Yeah, this is one of those special episodes in which I feel duty-bound to roll out the trigger warnings. Only the Stains Remain is about child abuse, and it pulls no punches. Feeling festive yet, Ho Ho Ho, etc. The novella is a savage revenge-trip of blood and guts in which awful things happen – but thankfully – often to awful people.

So, you’ve been warned.

But also be reassured. Neither the conversation, nor Ross’s book goes into exploitative details – and we manage to talk about a surprising number of very jolly things - from why Ross is drawn to such extreme projects, why writing for shock alone never really works, what it was like to be Bram Stoker-ed out of the blue, and what the members of Ross’ church make of his writing.

It’s a mix of the horrific and the wholesome this week. Which could describe most of my Christmases.

Enjoy

Books discussed in this episode include:

Boys in the Valley (2021), by Philip Fracassi
The Girl Next Door (1989), by Jack Ketchum
Haunted (2005),by Chuck Palahniuk
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021), by Eric LaRocca
Ghoul n’ the Cape (2021), by Josh Malerman

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69 – Wendy N. Wagner and Nasty Shenanigans Dec 07, 2021

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I know it’s the middle of winter but this week the book in question is taking us back to summer. And not our current plague-summer – but the halcyon days of 1989. Think kids on bikes, running wild, fights and first loves, demonic deer gods … wait … what?

Our guest, Wendy N. Wagner is the editor-in-chief of the prestigious Nightmare Magazine, and the author of epic coming-of-age horror The Deer Kings, as well as the ‘Sawmill Gothic’, The Secret Skin. We talk about both books and how Wendy has transposed both the classic British Gothic and the traditional New England small-town horror story to a Pacific Northwest setting.

Bigfoot doesn’t even show his face.

We talk about the fervid popularity of coming-of-age horror right now, we plumb the dark, seamy underbelly of rural Oregon, we compare notes on the small towns of our childhoods, and I have the temerity to ask Wendy the best way to get published in Nightmare.

There is even doughnut chat.

Enjoy!

Books discussed in this episode include:

The Shadow Year (2008), by Jeffrey Ford
IT, by Stephen King (1986)
Boy’s Life, by Robert McCammon (1991)
Summer of Night, by Dan Simmons (1991)
Harvest Home (1973), by Thomas Tryon
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream (1990), by H.G. Bissinger

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68 – Josh Malerman and Putting the Awe in Awful Things Nov 30, 2021

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If you are feeling depressed, what with OMICRON emerging like the worst villain in some direct-to-streaming video game adaptation, then do I have the tonic for you.

Josh Malerman is back for his second bout of Talking Scared, only 6 months after he was last here. This time, more than ever, he brings joy, wonder, inspiration and a 700 page book that will work your triceps as well as your mind and soul.

Ghoul n’ the Cape is Josh’s magnum opus, so far. So far! It’s the truly epic tale of two men fleeing a unique evil across the entire landmass of the United States. It takes in politics, violence, spectacle, horror, friendship, a nation-eating star and a man made entirely of blood. This is not your average horror paperback.

Therefore, it gives us plenty to talk about. The Great American Novel™ and the quest narrative amongst much more. But again, and again we come back to the crucial, pivotal role of awe and wonder in our lives. And we talk about how horror, of all things, can help us achieve that.

Oh, and at one point I make Josh teary. Win!

Enjoy!

Books discussed in this episode include:

Yours Cruelly, Elvira (2021), by Cassandra Peterson
Pearl (2021), by Josh Malerman (previously published as The Day of the Pig)
Visions of Kody (1972), by Jack Kerouac and Brice Matthieussent
The Talisman (1984), by Peter Straub and Stephen King

Ghoul n’ the Cape is published in a limited run in December by Earthling Press. You can buy one of the remaining copies here.

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67 – Richard Maclean Smith and the Ledge of Reason Nov 23, 2021

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And now for something a little different.

This is a show about scary stories and writing horror… but that doesn’t mean everything has to be on the page. Our guest this week is Richard Maclean Smith, host and producer of Unexplained Podcast, the best show out there on the creepy, mysterious and mystifying events that people like me spend hours reading about on Wikipedia.
There is everything from true crime to strange disappearances, ghosts and demons, monsters and UFOs, as well as some more unique oddities, like a woman killed by the ‘little folk’ and a computer that may have communicated through time.

God I love me some High Strangeness.

Ok, I’ll throw you a bone, he also has a book to complement the podcast. That book – Unexplained: Real Life Supernatural Stories for Uncertain Times delves deeper into a selection of particularly weird events, whilst also giving Richard more room to expand beyond the mystery, into the areas of philosophy, psychology and humanism that really fascinates him. Cos that’s what set’s Unexplained apart – that reflection and interrogation of the human condition.

We talk about all that, but I’m a mystery nerd, and I insist on simpler questions like, “what’s your favourite mystery” too, and we talk about vanishing hikers, cursed boxes and possessed murderers, as well as fear of the dark and dreams about Mikhail Gorbachev.

I’m always there for you listeners, ready to dumb it down.

Enjoy!

Follow the link for Richard’s horror fiction podcast, The Fountain Road Files

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66 – Ellen Datlow and What Does ‘Scared’ Mean Anyhow? Nov 16, 2021

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For over three decades Ellen Datlow has been at the centre of the horror community. She is the queen of editors, the doyenne of anthologisers, the person who gets to declare what is the Best Horror of the Year.

And she has come back to talk to me after I lost the conversation file the first time around…!

That major mishap may have been a blessing in disguise, as since then she has published two standout anthologies, dealing with very different branches of horror. Body Shocks is a bumper collection of extremely nasty body horror; When It Gets Dark is a collection of stories inspired by the life and work of Shirley Jackson. One is icky, one is spooky, one makes you cringe, the other makes you shiver. And both are packed with stellar names.

As well as discussing these anthologies, we talk about Ellen’s career in horror, how she does what she does, and what words like ‘horror’ and ‘scary’ mean to her. She talks about big names she worked with, and gives us some ideas on who the big names of tomorrow will be.

Oh, and she also lets slip that she collects doll limbs … a perfect little nugget to season this mix.

Enjoy.

Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror is out now from Tachyon Press

When Things Gets Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson is out now from Titan Press

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

“Shit Happens” (2018), by Michael Marshall Smith, in The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, edited by Ellen Datlow
Nothing but Blackened Teeth (2021),by Cassandra Khaw
Flyaway (2020), by Kathleen Jennings
The Only Good Indians (2020), by Stephen Graham Jones
My Heart is a Chainsaw (2021), by Stephen Graham Jones
And Then I Woke Up (2022), by Malcolm Devlin
Echo (2022), by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Reporter (2022), by Daniela Tomova

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