Talking Scared

Latest Episodes:

25 - Gemma Files and the Witch in Her True Ornaments Feb 10, 2021

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Have you ever had a book scare you so much that part of you wishes you hadn’t read it? That’s the experience I had reading Gemma Files’ latest collection, In That Endlessness, Our End. I don’t know how Gemma does it, but with each story she finds a psychological pressure point that feels specifically mine, and the presses down on it hard with her pen.

On more than one occasion I had to stop reading this book because it freaked me out too much. And I mean that as the highest praise. In That Endlessness, Our End is full of stories of multimedia gone mad, sensory overload, mad gods and strange houses, and an alleyway that may take your child and give you something else in return.

Gemma is a wealth of fact and opinion on horror. In our conversation we go deep, into the mechanics of horror writing as well as the inspiration behind some of the tales. We get into night terrors, how you evoke panic on the page, and how neurodiversity informs her unique brand of horror. But despite all this fear and intensity, we also have a good laugh. Gemma even takes the time to tell us as fairytale!!

Enjoy!

In That Endlessness, Our End is published by Grimscribe Press on 15th February 2021.

Other books we mention include:

The Elementals (1981), by Michael McDowell
Ancient Images (1989), by Ramsey Campbell
Every House is Haunted (2013), by Ian Rogers
Burnt Black Suns (2014), by Simon Strantzas
Grotesquerie (2020), by Richard Gavin

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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24 - Courtney Summers and Writing for Spite Feb 03, 2021

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When your guest calls herself the “Master of the Bitch” you do wonder what you’re getting into. Courtney Summers, by her own admission, wants to upset people.

Yet she’s a delight! To kick of Women in Horror week we discuss her new novel, The Project, which follows a young woman as she investigates the New York based cult that has swallowed up her sister.

This is FAR from your standard cult novel. As Courtney explains, she wanted to get away from the exploitation and the obvious horrors and instead consider why people search for belonging in such dark places, and whether we would be impervious to The Project’s allure.

We also talk about her penchant for ‘unlikeable’ female protagonists, and whether there’s a double standard in how fiction treats challenging women. We celebrate Biden’s inauguration, I tell her about my worst ever spider encounter, and she takes me to school for dissing YA fiction.

Enjoy!

The Project was published by Wednesday Books on February 2nd 2021.

Other books mentioned include:

Sadie (2018), by Courtney Summers
Redder Days (2021), by Sue Rainsford
The Children of Red Peak (2020), by Craig Di Louie
The Need (2019), by Helen Phillips

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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23 - Laura Purcell and the Art of Darkness Jan 27, 2021

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Let’s get Gothic! Our guest this week is Laura Purcell, doyenne of the dark, heiress of historical fiction (and other alliterative titles). Laura blew away the cobwebs wrapped around spooky period fiction with her breakout smash, The Silent Companions in 2017. She followed up with The Corset and Bone China and now she’s back with her newest Gothic novel, The Shape of Darkness.

The novel examines all the wrinkles and crannies in the Victorian underbelly, from spirit mediums, to mesmerism, and the uncanny art of silhouette portraits. Trust me, you’ll want one for yourself.

We talk about the line between gothic and horror, why writing historical fiction can be a way to sneak your horror under the radar, and whether the stereotypes of the period make it frustrating to write about Victorian women. After all, how many times a day can a woman swoon?

In an unrelated anecdote, Laura also divulges her secret terror of sloths.

Oh, and I waffle on about the history of gothic fiction cos I just can’t resist lecturing people.

Other books discussed include:

The Residence (2020), by Andrew Pyper
The Haunting of Alma Fielding (2020), by Andrew Pyper
Shadowland, or Light From the Other Side (1897), by Elizabeth d’Esperance
“The Blue Lenses,” in The Breaking Point (1959), by Daphne du Maurier
“The Mezzotint”, “A View From A Hill” and “Oh Whistle and I’ll Come To You My Lad”, found in The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James

Enjoy!

The Shape of Darkness was published by Raven Books on January 21st 2021.

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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22 – C.J. Tudor and the Lure of the Oddball Loners Jan 20, 2021

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In a week in which the White House becomes a little less orange, it’s hard to dwell on the nasty side of life. But this is Talking Scared and we can find the grim and creepy on even the most optimistic days.

Our guest is C.J. Tudor – the current queen of the British thriller. She sits quite comfortably on the cusp of horror and crime, and we get into the subject of exactly where that borderline is. Her new novel, The Burning Girls continues her blending of the fast-paced American thriller, with the folk-tradition of the British horror story. A tale about a vicar, who moves with her daughter to a small Sussex town, with a terrible history of child sacrifice, and a more recent taste for murder and suicide – what’s not to like?

C.J and I talk in depth about the perils of causing offence in your fiction, how to write a vicar protagonist, and what it felt like when Stephen King said he liked her book! Oh, and I may cause a bit of controversy when I give Kubrick’s adaption of The Shining a good kicking.

The Burning Girls is published by Michael Joseph Books on January 21st 2021.

Other books discussed include:

The Chalk Man (2018), by CJ Tudor
The Other People (2020), by CJ Tudor
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018), by Stuart Turton
The Last (2019), by Hanna Jameson
If It Bleeds (2020), by Stephen King
The Shining (1977), by Stephen King

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

Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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21 - Will Dean & The Horror of the Fens Jan 13, 2021

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Ready for the first GREAT book you’ll read this year? Our guest this week is Will Dean, calling all the way from the middle of a Scandinavian forest to talk about his new novel, The Last Thing To Burn.

I’ve been banging on about this book since I read it in December. It’s a latter-day masterpiece, a read-in-one-sitting, this-has-to-be-a-movie kind of book. Think Misery, think Room and then think how much worse could the horrors be. The truth, a lot worse.

Will and I talk about off-grid living, both his bucolic existence and his protagonist’s torment. We talk about the difference between writing the English and Swedish landscapes, and why the English fens are much scarier than the Scandi woods.We also talk about how you capture a monster’s voice, and whether you know you are going too far in a novel. It’s a great conversation, and you’ll end up inspired you to quit your job, build a house, and live in it! If you want advice on how to do it, or just to peer into his idyllic life, you can find Will on Youtube @ Will Dean Forest Author

Along the way we discuss a range of classic novels, including:

Misery (1987), by Stephen King
On Writing (2000), by Stephen King
Room (2010),by Emma Donaghue
The Collector (1963), by John Fowles
The Road (2006), by Cormac McCarthy
Asylum (1996), by Patrick McGrath

Enjoy!

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

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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20 - The Big 2021 Horror Preview AKA Another Annus Horribilis Jan 06, 2021

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I like this year better than last year already. Ok, we may be plunged back into lockdown 3.0 and it may be cold, and the cinemas may still be shut. But we have a vaccine, Trump looks like he’s got nappy rash … and there’s a whole year of horror fiction to look forward to.

Unfortunately for you, there’s no guest this week. Instead, you’re stuck with me as I talk you through the highlights and predicted hits of horror fiction 2021. I’ve already read two books that are fighting their way into my ALL TIME BEST HORROR list, could there be more.

We have new books from the likes of Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, Christina Henry, Cassandra Khaw, Laura Purcell, Catriona Ward, Richard Chizmar, Zoje Stage, Zakiya Dalalila Harris, Chuck Wendig and more.

Listen, consider, argue, rant, email me and tell me I’m wrong. But get ready to take the horror out of the nightly news and back into your bedtime reading.

Enjoy!

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

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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19 - Michael Marshall Smith and Goodbye to 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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2020 is nearly behind us (woohoo!) but we have time for one more interview with a master of horror. Our guest this week is Michael Marshall Smith the genre polymath and man of a thousand pseudonyms (all of them involving ‘Michael’.)

He is joining me to discuss his new career retrospective, The Best of Michael Marshall Smith, published in a beautiful volume by Subterranean Press. It’s a huge collection of stories, covering Michael’s 30 years of writing, from his recent work, all the way back to his debut story “The Man Who Drew Cats” – which won the British Fantasy Award.

Along the way we talk about living and writing on both sides of the Atlantic, our shared love of Stephen King and why Michael writes about cats so much. We also establish that I’m a dog person. And just to make sure we cover all the bases, we also devote a few minutes to discussing the orange baby currently tantrum-ing his way out of the White House, cos it is 2020 still, after all.

Lastly, if that isn’t enough for you, I run through the first “Talking Scared Top-Ten Horror of the Year” list. Next year there might be prizes, who knows. It’s been an astonishing year for horror and the first few months of this show have exposed me to writing and thinking that I may otherwise have missed. I can only hope it’s done the same for some of you.

So, see you in 2021, when the skies will be blue, the birds singing, and the ghosts moaning a bit more cheerfully.

Enjoy!

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

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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18 - Gabriel Bergmoser and It's Only a Joke Mate! Dec 23, 2020

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Merry Christmas and/or time-off-work-week! For all of you currently freezing your asses off in cold climes, this week’s episode may make you feel a little too warm under the collar. Our guest is Gabriel Bergmoser, an author who exploded onto the horror scene in early 2020 with The Hunted, a pulpy, violent, visceral hell ride through the Australian wilderness in the company of very human prey and predators.

Considering the amount of people hanging from hooks and suffering violent deaths in his fiction, Gabriel proves to be a thoroughly charming guest. We talk at length about the problem of masculinity down under (and, as it turns out, everywhere else!). Gabe’s thesis includes anecdotes from Australian history and the time that he was personally chased down the street by a kid with a nail-studded cricket bat.

The Hunted is an EXCEPTIONAL horror novel. It flaunts its genre credentials, allowing us to get back to the blood and guts basics of the genre. At the same time, though, it’s got a lot to say about a lot of things. You’ll read it in one night and still think about it months later.

The Hunted was published in May by Faber and Faber

Oh, and a listener asked me to finally flesh out the list of my top-ten horror novels of all time. You don’t have to ask me twice, so at the end of this episode you’ll get some extra bonus content (whether you want it or not) whilst I indulge myself in banging on about books I love. I get quite pretentious in parts.

Red Dragon (1981), by Thomas Harris

The Golden Age (1985), by Louis Nowra

Soon (2017), by Lois Murphy

A Head Full of Ghosts (2015), by Paul Tremblay

The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson

Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis

The Terror (2007), by Dan Simmons

Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison

Ghost Story (1971), by Peter Straub

The Little Stranger (2009), by Sarah Waters

Swan Song (1987), by Robert R. McCammon

The Stand (1978), by Stephen Kind

House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski

IT (1986), by Stephen King

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

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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17 - Rachel Harrison and Knowing Who Your Friends Are Dec 16, 2020

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This late into 2020 we are all craving a) a holiday and b) time with friends. Our guest this week may cast a slightly different perspective on both.

Rachel Harrison is the author of The Return, a novel that looks into the dark heart of friendship and asks “do you REALLY know who your friends are?” The book was published all the way back in March, by Berkley in the US and Hodder in the UK. I finally found time to catch up with Rachel and to tell her why this book scared me so badly.

Yep, this may be the single most unnerving novel I’ve read in 2020 (and that includes a couple of fictional pandemics in the middle of our real pandemic). The Return presents female friendship in all its complexity, compassion and cruelty. As you’ll hear, I didn’t always get on with the women in this book, but they left a lasting impression on me (and on Rachel). Plus, it prompts Rachel to tell me hew own personal ghost story. It’s a lot more benign than the one in her story.

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

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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16 – Christopher Golden and Extreme Social Distancing Dec 09, 2020

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Stand back! Our Guest this week is Christopher Golden, author of all manner of horror, adventure and generally freaky fiction. His latest book is Red Hands, the third featuring Ben Walker, action-hero and expert in the batsh*t weird!

I have used the words ‘relevant’ and ‘prescient’ more than ever in 2020 – this being, after all, the year that all our horror stories became true. Even by that standard Red Hands is creepily on the money though. It’s the story of a plague that is transmitted by simple touch, and kills in seconds. That may sound like grim reading right now, but trust me, it’s a hell of a good time. Action-packed and surprisingly philosophical in approach, it also features a KILLER first chapter.

Christopher and I talk about our shared love of historical mystery and folklore, the pros and cons of writing series fiction, and how you balance pace and character in a book that wants to raise your pulse and make you care.

Red Hands would have been too horrible to bear a few months ago. Now, with a vaccine on the way, it is the propulsive popcorn read that may perfectly pair with your holiday.

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

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.

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