Talking Scared

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35 – Christina Henry and the Monsters of the Subconscious Apr 20, 2021

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This week, I bring you MOAR monsters!!!

Our guest is Christina Henry, whose new novel, Near the Bone fits so nicely as the unofficial second part to a cryptozoology-inflected series that began with Danielle Trussoni last week. Don’t worry, I’m not talking about the Loch Ness Monster for an hour, but the novel does feature a monster, some cryptid hunters and the very violent evils of both man and beast.

Christina does manage to get me off the subject of monsters for a while, to give some insight into her surprisingly relaxed approach to writing, to her love of the outdoors and running (and how that provides a backdrop for her horror stories. And we even dip a toe into the pressing question of the age – CAN HORROR TAKE PLACE IN SPACE??

We ask who determines what a horror novel is, and whether YouTube and the discovery channel have changed monsters forever. Oh, and I get the chance to reminisce about the time I nearly got eaten by a bear (sort of. It looked at me at least!)

Enjoy!

Near the Bone was published by Titan Books on April 13th.

Other books discussed in this episode include:

Ghost Tree (2020), by Christina Henry
The Girl in Red (2019), by Christina Henry
Leave the World Behind (2020), by Rumaan Alam
Earthlings (2018), by Sayaka Murata
The Girl With All the Gifts (2014),by M.R. Carey
Christine (1983), by Stephen King
Eyes of the Dragon (1984), by Stephen King

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34 - Danielle Trussoni and the Spectrum of Human Difference Apr 13, 2021

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When was the last time a story took you completely by surprise? Danielle Trussoni’s The Ancestor ambushed me into loving it. What seems a standard Gothic fiction turns into something wholly weirder … and wilder … as a young American woman inherits a creaky European castle, and the monstrous baggage that comes with it.

Dani came on the show – somehow finding time between writing her new novel and being the New York Times’ horror columnist – to talk about The Ancestor’s paperback release. We tiptoe around the book’s many, many secrets, and somehow find ourselves all the way to a discussion about Bigfoot. It’s that kind of chat.

We also discuss how her own roots and heritage inspired the novel, why there are so many double standards about women authors and horror, how she fits existing myth and lore into her stories so well … and I regale her with one of my favourite pieces of British legend. She’s kind enough to pretend that she doesn’t obviously know more about horror than me – and she also exposes me as someone who mentions that I have a degree a little too much.

It’s interesting, enlightening, and more than a little bit shocking.

Enjoy!

The Ancestor is out in paperback from Custom House on April 13th.

Other books we discussed include:

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places (2016), by Colin Dickey
The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters and our Obsession with the Unexplained (2020), by Colin Dickey
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011), by Yuval Noah Harari
Flowers in the Attic (1979), by V.C. Andrews
The Historian (2005), by Elizabeth Kostova

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Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

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33 - Jennifer McMahon and the Green Mountain State of Fear Apr 06, 2021

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Welcome to the Green Mountain State, lovely, liberal . . . haunted!!

Our guest is to ghost-stories what Ben and Jerry are to ice cream – Vermont’s resident ghost-writer-in-chief, Jennifer McMahon. Her new novel, The Drowning Kind takes us back to the small towns, local stores and eerie histories typical of her fiction, but with an added turning of the screw – it’s not the house that’s haunted, it’s the pool out back.

If that sounds cheesy, it ISN’T. The Drowning Kind is an alternative type of ghost story – how alternative, and whether what lurks in the pool is even a ghost – are both subjects we dive into. Jen tells me about why she finds such darkness in Vermont’s pleasant green hills, and I get very excited to talk to someone about the state’s folklore!

Oh, and there are index cards. Many, many index cards. For the technique-geek, or the aspiring novelist, this is some serious insight into the creative process of a master plotter. As promised in the show, here is some further detail on her system.

Enjoy!

The Drowning Kind is out from Gallery Books on April 6th.

Other books we discussed include:

The Invited (2019), by Jennifer McMahon
The House Next Door (1978), by Anne River Siddons
The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), by Shirley Jackson
“The Monkey’s Paw” (1902), by W. W. Jacobs
Come Closer (2003), by Sara Gran

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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32 - Clay McLeod Chapman and the Clenching Fist of Satan! Mar 30, 2021

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Does your child draw pentagrams? Have you noticed the neighbours hanging their robes over the washing line? Worst of all, have they started listening to …. HEAVY METAL??

You may be experiencing a satanic panic. Worry not, our guest, Clay McLeod Chapman can diagnose this for you. Clay’s new novel, Whisper Down the Lane is both a homage to the horror of the 80s, and an exploration of how that decade's battle with truth, memory and Satan(!!) lives on today. His story riffs on the very real scandal at the McMartin Preschool, as well as the wider hysteria that led to people being sacked, vilified and even imprisoned based upon absolute bulls*t.

As you’ll hear, it’s a darker tale than I had imagined, but it’s also jam-packed with references, easter-eggs and allusions to the horror that made the decade. Along the way Clay talks to me about how the satanic panic never really went away, how it ties into our very modern sense of ‘truth’ and he tells me why he never wants his kids to read his stories.

On my part, I tell him the world is ok and other unconscionably optimistic things!

Oh, and I’m convinced that Clay orchestrated Lil Nas X’s ’Satan Shoes’ to help him sell more copies.

Enjoy!

Whisper Down the Lane is published by Quirk Books on April 6th 2021.

Other books we discussed this week include:

Rosemary’s Baby (1967),by Ira Levin
Geek Love (1989), by Katherine Dunn
Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021), by Cassandra Khaw

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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31 – V.L. Valentine and Graphic Descriptions of Medical Maladies Mar 24, 2021

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We’ve covered our share of plagues on this show during our all-too-real year of sitting indoors and waiting for the pandemic to sod off. Do you have the guts for one more? You should, but you may empty them.

Our guest is V.L. Valentine and her debut novel The Plague Letters transports us to London in 1665. The Great Plague is scouring the population, with only the barest medical expertise to hold it at bay. Into this ghastly furnace comes a killer, hiding in plain sight.

It’s a fantastic premise for a novel and Vikki does the idea great service. In this episode you’ll hear my general dislike of historical detective fiction – and how The Plague Letters is a very different beast. We also talk Ebola, c-sections, lockdown ethics, and the problem with passive characters – as well as wondering what the serial killers are doing during social distancing. This is not for the faint-hearted, or the weak of stomach.

Enjoy!

The Plague Letters is published by Viper Books on April 1st, 2001.

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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30 – Catriona Ward and the All-Consuming Spoiler Warning Mar 17, 2021

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This is a big one.

The Last House on Needless Street may be the best pure horror novel I’ve read this decade. Okay, the decade is only 3 months old, but check back with me in 9 years and I may still be saying the same.

I’m delighted to speak to the author of this latter-day classic, Catriona Ward, about secrets and lies and how the hell you begin to describe a book that is one big spoiler!

Once Cat and I work out how to even talk about the novel without ruining for everyone, we then spend a happy hour navigating the nooks and crannies of the book and its titular house. We start with Ted Bundy, end with Ed Gein, and in between we cover why cats are inscrutable, how you write mental illness responsibly, and Cat tell us about the times a ghost pushed her out of bed.

It’s been a long wait to discuss this book, and I’m delighted I finally can. If you have read it get in touch. I’m dying to know what other’s think.

Enjoy!

The Last House on Needless Street is published by in the UK on Mrch 18th by Viper Books. It will be published in North America on Septmeber 28th by Tor Nightfire.

Other books discussed in this episode include:

Rawblood (2015), by Catriona Ward
Little Eve (2018), by Catriona Ward
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (2019), by Hallie Rubenhold
Spider (1990), by Patrick McGrath

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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29 – Angela Slatter and Kelpies not Selkies!! Mar 10, 2021

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Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there was a young woman, bad men, and some homicidal mermaids. It’s fairy tale time.

Our guest is Angela Slatter, who’s new novel All the Murmuring Bones turns the fairy stories that comforted you as a child, into a horrid tale of murder, inheritance, death, sex and entrapment. In this world Hansel and Gretel would be a very tasty pie-filling.

Angela has spent years studying the fairy tale tradition and turning it against her readers. All the Murmuring Bones is her first full length novel taking place in the dark world he has created. This conversation is half about her book, and half about the tradition as a whole. Think of it as a compact university course without the fees, the homework or the risk of STIs.

We talk about the darker versions of old tales, why all fairytales seem inherently feminist, and why they are coming back into force. I also make a big mistake about mythical creatures that makes me sound more than a little creepy, until rectified.

Enjoy!

All the Murmuring Bones is published by Titan Books on March 9th in Australia and North America, and on March 29th in the UK.

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

Sourdough and other Stories (2010), by Angela Slatter
The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (2014), by Angela Slatter
The Once and Future Witches (2020), by Alex Harrow
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins (1993), by Emma Donoghue
The Bloody Chamber (1979), by Angela Carter
The Faery Handbag (2004), by Kelly Link
From the Beast to the Blond: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers (1994), by Marina Warner

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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28 – Bethany Clift and Judging an Apocalypse by its Cover Mar 03, 2021

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Isolation is a bitch, but it could be worse!

Our guest is Bethany Clift and her debut novel is Last One at the Party – a pandemic novel that reminds you that at least we have Netflix, facetime and the chance to call our friends.

Beth’s novel follows an unnamed woman, the last survivor of a global plague that has emptied out the world in just a few weeks. As she struggles through the ruins of a posta-apocalyptic Britain, she also confronts the wreckage of her life in the ‘before times’.

If that all sounds dreadfully grim, and not at all what you want to read in our current plight, then remember three things:

1) WE have a vaccine (and it’s working)

2) This book is also laugh out loud hilarious

3) There is a dog called Lucky that you will love with all your heart.

Beth and I have a bit of laugh on this one – perhaps inappropriately so considering we’re discussing the end of the world – but we also cover what it’s like to actually write about Covid-19 in retrospect, why ‘stroking the dog’ is not a euphemism, but a very clever trick, and whether we still have space for apocalyptic glee in our reading.

Forgive the title of the episode, all will make sense when you listen … and read the book.

Enjoy!

Last One at the Party was published in the UK by Hodder on 4th Feb 2021 and will be published in other territories soon.

Other books discussed include:

The Stand (1978), by Stephen King
The Long Walk (1979), by Stephen King
I Am Legend (1954), by Richard Matheson
The Road (2006), by Cormac McCarthy

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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27 - Julia Fine and the Postmodern Postpartum Feb 24, 2021

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If you’ve been homeschooling, in labour, or generally responsible for the life of a small human during lockdown, then this episode is for you. There are people out there, writers with great skill and empathy, who share your pain, and know how you feel.

This week’s guest is Julia Fine, the author of Bram Stoker Award Nominated What Should Be Wild, and now the postpartum nightmare, The Upstairs House.

Julia’s novel is about new motherhood, societal expectation, the horror of lost self, and ghosts. Really weird ghosts, of literary figures who demand she write their story, or else they may take her child.

During our conversation we cover a whole host of things, from the lack of literary representation for postpartum sufferers, to the haunting legacy of famous children’s authors … oh, and I also inadvertently compare Julia’s child to my puppy – and I await the rage of any listeners with a new baby.

But yeah, this is a good book that raises a lot of questions, and a good chat that answers some of them really well.

Enjoy!
The Upstairs House is published on February 23rd by Harper.

Other books discussed in this episode include:

The Bloody Chamber (1979), by Angela Carter
The Yellow Wallpaper (1892), by Charlotte Perkings Gilman
House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski
Fever Dream (2014), by Samantha Schweblin

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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26 - Sarah Pearse and the Hills are Alive with the Sound of Murder Feb 17, 2021

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Hands up who wants a holiday!

Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium could be just the thing to purge your lockdown travel desires. It will either transport you to the ice-white peaks of the Swiss Alps, to luxuriate in the views inside your mind. Or, it’ll make you never ever want to stay in a hotel again.

The Sanatorium is Sarah’s debut thriller, a novel that sits uncomfortably (in the best possible way) between crime, mystery and horror – with a hospital-cum-hotel that would rank VERY low on TripAdvisor.

Cleanliness = 5*

Location = 5*

Facilities = 5*

Chance of survival = 1*

Sarah and I discuss the tussle to define a debut novel, we share stories of living in Switzerland and ponder what it is about all that beauty that chills the bone, and we pick apart the comparisons to Stephen King and Agatha Christie.

The Sanatorium is published Feb 2nd in North America by Pamela Dorman and Feb 18th 2021 in the UK, by Bantam Press.

Stick around after the interview to hear all the big news about what’s coming to Talked Scared later this year. I’m excited, I hope you are.

Enjoy!

Books discussed in this episode include: