Talking Scared

Latest Episodes:

284 – Tom Lin & Who Wants to Live Forever? Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Would you rather die or live on and on and on and on…

That’s one of the questions at the heart of Tom Lin’s Babylon, South Dakota. It’s a novel about a Chinese family who inherit an American farm, and whose lives are forever changed when the US military build strange missile silos on their land. It’s weird, inexplicable, deep, epic, sad and joyful and all the other things that make a good book.

But it’s also dark. It prompts questions that might keep you awake in the warm depths of the summer night. And Tom and I talk about all of it.

Enjoy.

Other books mentioned:

The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu (2021), by Tom Lin
“On Exactitude in Science” (1947), by Jorge Luis Borges
“The Library of Babel,” (1941), by Jorge Luis Borges
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (1990), by James Tiptree Jr.
End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse and the Unmaking of America (2026), by Chris Jennings

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Off Book #21 – Scaredy Boys & The Coward’s Guide to Horror Movies (Part 1) Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

The first of a two-part special with the Scaredy Boys, my brothers-in-cowardice from Down Under. Damo, Tom and Sean are famously and unashamedly terrified of horror movies, and started a podcast to face their fears. Since 2020 they’ve been watching and analysing a horror movie every week – so now they’ve probably seen more than most of us.

I got them onto Talking Scared to discuss their insane project, their changing attitudes to horror, and ask them some specific questions about what they’ve learned to love and fear along the way.

Episode Two is out next Friday, or available right now for Patreon subscribers

Enjoy!

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283 – Naomi Kritzer & It Could Happen Anywhere Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

I dunno if this week’s episode is a dystopian nightmare or just a realist thriller.

Naomi Krtizer, multi-award winning author of sci-fi and horror, join me for a conversation about her new novella, Obstetrix. It follows the struggles of doctor, kidnapped by a cult to work as their in-house OBGYN. What follows is a balance between personal survival and the obligation to the women in her care.

Naomi and I talk about the state of healthcare and reproductive rights in America, which is never not a serious conversation. But we try to lighten the mood with some chat about the respite of reading (and re-reading), and the working definition of cults.

Enjoy.

Other books mentioned:

“Monster” (2020), by Naomi Kritzer
American War (2017), Omar El Akkad
The Midnight Shift (2025), by Cheon Seon-Ran
Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy
The God of Endings (2023), by Jacqueline Holland

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Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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282 – CJ Leede & Peeling Back the Skin of the World Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Horror’s reigning Queen of Extreme returns to the show!

CJ Leede is the author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture, and if you’re abreast of contemporary horror you’ve heard of her twisted take on Americana.

She’s back to talk about her third novel, Headlights, in which people are waking up from fugue-like states, to find themselves draped in the flayed skins of other people. What’s going on? Who’s doing it? Is it human or supernatural? Does it have anything at all to do with Stephen King’s The Shining? And where does the songwriting magic of John Denver come into things?

CJ answers these and many other similarly weird questions. There’s so much to cover, we barely even talk about the act of skinning someone alive.

Enjoy.

Other books mentioned:

The Shining (1977), by Stephen King
Doctor Sleep (2013), by Stephen King
How to Disappear Completely (2027), by Liz Kerin

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Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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281 – Melissa Albert & The Howling Strangeness Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Melissa Albert’s novel may be called The Children, but it’s certainly not for kids.

This is a story about the dark creativity behind bright make-believe, about the pretty lies of childhood and the brutal truths of growing up. It’s about writers and writing and as you’ll hear me point out, it does for fantasy fiction what Stephen King’s Misery did for Gothic romance.

And by god do we talk about all of that. As well as celebrating a character that I believe to be one of the best “bad-mothers” in recent fiction (and the secret hero of the book!)

But maybe that’s just me. I’m twisted.

Enjoy.

Other books mentioned:

The Hazel Wood (2018), by Melissa Albert
The Magicians (2009), by Lev Grossman
Daytide (2026), by Chris Panatier
When You Reach Me (2009) by Rebecca Stead
Fangirl (2013), by Rainbow Rowell
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (2026), by Ilona Andrews

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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Off Book #20 – Petrified, with Peter Dunne May 29, 2026

Show notes

Off to Old Dublin Town to have creepy tales pumped direct into our earholes this week. I’m joined by Peter Dunne, the writer and director of Petrified — Ireland’s premier horror drama podcast.

It’s a horror show with a vein of Irish humour, but it’s not afraid to get really nasty when the chance arises. Across dozens of episodes, Peter and the team have offered serial killing parents, haunted lighthouses, doomed housing estates and possessed call centres. And now and then they shatter the fourth wall to curse the audience!

And despite being surely the busiest man in podcasting, Peter talks to me all about it.

Enjoy!

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

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Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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280 – Neena Viel & Go Heinous or Go Home May 26, 2026

Show notes

Disgust, despair and belly laughs on the show this week – with Neena Viel and her new novel, I’ll Watch Your Baby.

It’s a dense, troubling tale of child theft, social horror and demons, with plenty of putrid feet to give you a summertime ick! But if the book is a sickener, the author is a delight. Neena makes me do a proper full-on guffaw (has anyone EVER guffawed?), whilst we talk about urban-vs-rural horror, reprehensible acts and problematic protagonists, and the abiding lie of the Welfare Queen trope.

Enjoy. Laugh. Even learn (up to you!)

Other books mentioned:

Listen to Your Sister (2025), by Neena Viel
The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth (2019), by Josh Levin
On Sundays She Picked Flowers (2026), by Yah Yah Schofield
The Night Pool (2026), by Lauren Lee Smith

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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Let Us Palaver #9 – The Wind Through the Keyhole Debrief May 22, 2026

Show notes

A little more chat as the last of the starkblast fades.

In this bonus Palaver episode, Nat and I stick around to dissect Chris’s disproportionate love for The Wind Through the Keyhole. We talk about what, if any conclusions can be drawn from this book, and then we get onto King’s intersections with Lovecraft and Tolkien – and some deep cut Dark Tower references elsewhere in the canon.

Enjoy. But Do Not Listen if you haven’t read the entire Dark Tower saga!!

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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The Dark Tower Deep Dive #9 – The Wind Through the Keyhole May 19, 2026

Show notes

Whilst the wind and world howls outside, we can all hunker indoors for the latest Dark Tower Deep Dive into King’s 2012 novel-of-stories, The Wind Through the Keyhole.

To some, this could be an inessential pitstop, a mere nostalgic coda, written long after the climax of the main saga. To others it’s a testament to Stephen King’s raw storytelling chops, which shed a little more purpling light on Roland’s failing, fading world.

You’ll have to listen to find out where we each stand. But I promise there will be talk of story structure, and Billy Bumblers, and certain Randall Flagg. And you’ll also hear how Chris Panatier has been trolling kind old uncle Stevie on social media. Boo Hiss!!

Enjoy folks!

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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279 – Sarah Langan & The Mask Eats the Face May 12, 2026

Show notes

Trad wives are taking over horror in 2026 – but I predict none will be more frightening and more gorgeously WEIRD than Sarah Langan’s novel.

It’s the tale of a young woman in the dying era of journalism and the YouTube influencer who offers her hope, and much worse things…. I absolutely loved it.

Sarah and I talk about the trad wife phenomenon, where it comes from, what it means, and how it’s all really based in cold hard capitalism. We talk about literary influences, about sustaining extreme weirdness in fiction, and why establishing character properly is so important.

And we even recall the time we bonded over the gift of a mutant duck!

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned: