Talking Scared

Latest Episodes:

266 – Justin C. Key & Don’t Scroll Before Bed Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

We’re tiptoeing towards the sci-fi end of things this week, with Justin C. Key and The Hospital at the End of the World.

This is a techn-othriller about AI run amok in the medical establishment, and the junior doctor who must navigate a shadowy conspiracy, a fatal (and horrific) disease, all whilst making time for class at the sole human-led teaching hospital left in the country.

It’s a lot. And a lot of fun – when it’s not ambushing me with one of my greatest medical phobias!!!

Justin and I talk about the real horrors of his medical school experience, what he’s learned about human connection from his work in psychiatry, and we have that rare thing – a genuinely nuanced conversation about the role of AI in society.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

The World Wasn’t Ready for You (2023), by Justin C. Key
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000), by Stephen King
Insomnia (1994), by Stephen King
Ender’s Game (1985), by Orson Scott Card
Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming (1994), by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold
The Curse of Hester Gardens (2026), by Tamika Thompson
Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024), by Annie Jacobson

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Let Us Palaver #7 – The Talisman Debrief Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

After our loose, freeform chat about the high strangeness of The Talisman, Nat stuck around to Palaver a little more behind Chris’ innocent back.

In this spoiler-filled 35 minutes (do not listen if you haven’t finished The Dark Tower) we get into some firmer connections between King’s magical worlds, we look at the order of books to come, weigh our saddest deaths in King stories…and even after all these hours we’re forced to ask, “what the f*ck is the Talisman anyway?

Enjoy.

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The Dark Tower Deep Dive #7 – The Talisman Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

We’re on the road again with our Dark Tower journey, running through adjacent worlds, lighting out for the Territories.

Our latest side-quest takes us to The Talisman, the 1984 epic dark fantasy, co-authored by Stephen King and Peter Straub. It’s a wild, hallucinatory ride, that contains my favourite King character of them all!

Nat, Chris and I talk about that dude, as well as discussing where Jack Sawyer ranks in the league table of King’s childhood heroes. But mostly we try to pin down the connections between this mad story, and Roland’s great quest.

Do we succeed? Do we just make up all manner of wishful thinking nonsense? You decide.

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265 – Yah Yah Schofield & Pretty Words for Ugly Things Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

We're Southbound for monster-loving this week on Talking Scared.

Georgia writer, Yah Yah Schofield comes to discuss her Southern Gothic debut, On Sundays She Picked Flowers – a story of monsters, spirits, swamps, and generational trauma. There’s a very bad mama and a very haunted house.

Yah Yah and I talk about mother-daughter relationships, the difference between ghosts and haints, the influence of elders, and why the rules are different for Black ‘weird girls.’

Plus, in Yah Yah’s own words – we discuss tongue-kissing monsters.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson
Haints: American Ghosts, Millennial Passions and Contemporary Gothic Fictions (2011), by Arthur Redding
The Colour Purple (1982), by Alice Walker
Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison
Sula (1978), by Toni Morrison
In the Dream House: A Memoir (2019), by Carmen Maria Machado
The Lamb (2025), by Lucy Rose
We Are Here to Hurt Each Other (2022), by Paula D. Ashe
Between Two Fires (2012), by Christopher Buehlman

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264 – Courtney Summers & Dead Is Not Better Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

Imagine you’re back in high school – but worse! The shuffling idiots actually want to EAT you!

That’s the premise of Courtney Summers’ This is Not a Test, her 2012 zombie novel of teen despair amongst the undead, now reissued in a fresh ‘definitive’ version for 2026. When better than a time in which the mindless, greedy and brutal are running amok in the real world.

Courtney and I talk about zombies in 2012 and now, we discuss optimism versus despair, we track the challenges of writing a survival thriller with a suicidal protagonist, and she offers advice on rapid character building and writing teen dialogue.

It’s a good one.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

The Project (2021), by Courtney Summers
Room To Dream (2018), by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna
The Stand (1990), by Stephen King

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263 – Kristi DeMeester & The Purity of Anger Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

The year may have started with more real-world horrors from old white dudes, but here on Talking Scared they get their comeuppance – in the form of Kristi DeMeester’s Dark Sisters.

Kristi returns to the show for the first time since 2022, to talk about her novel of religious hypocrisy, patriarchal control and feminine revenge. It’s a three-timeline story of curses through the century and the dark magic that underpins everything.

She tells us about her own childhood in the fundamentalist church, we look back at the cruelty culture of the mid-noughties, and we revel in the wrath of witches with nothing to lose.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

Such a Pretty Smile (2022), by Kristi DeMeester
Itch (2025), by Gemma Amor
Gather the Daughters (2017), by Jennie Melamed
Grey Dog (2024), by Elliot Gish

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262 – The Best Horror Books of 2025 Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

No need for a big intro this week. You know what this is about.

The year is over, and it’s time to offer my thoughts on the best books that made it bearable. Here’s my top-10 favourite horror novels of 2025.

I invite comment and debate. The polite kind. Don’t make me set Ted on you.

Enjoy.

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Let Us Palaver #6 – Wizard & Glass Debrief Dec 26, 2025

Show notes

In our sixth Let Us Palaver, Nat and I try to clean things up a bit after the dirty deep dive into Wizard & Glass.

We get spoilery, so this is for Tower Junkie’s only. It will make no sense to anyone else anyway – as we get deep into the metatextual elements of what is to come, who WE think put those red shoes in the road, and we begin to question which books we should read next.

Not a dirty joke in sight.

Enjoy.

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The Dark Tower Deep Dive #6 – Wizard & Glass Dec 23, 2025

Show notes

After a summer of diversion and detour, we’re back with the main Ka-Tet for Christmas. What better time for a tale of heartbreak, lost love, and cabin-bound masturbation.

Yes, we’re covering Wizard & Glass.

Some would call this the high point of the Dark Tower series (for me, it’s certainly up there) – and it gives us chance to talk in depth about how Roland became the man is he, and how love made us the men we are!

Yeah… if you’re ready for 2+ hours of middle-aged male nostalgia and dick jokes, this is the episode for you. Thankfully, it also offers literary analysis, Stephen King lore, and the greatest love of all, between a witch and her snake.

Enjoy.

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Off Book #13 – Welcome to Derry, with Andy & Barbara Muschietti Dec 16, 2025

Show notes

It: Welcome to Derry has just reached its Season One conclusion and the theories are flying as to where the show will go next.

I have something like an answer for you. Maybe. Perhaps. Cos the creators, Andy and Barbara Muschietti, are on Talking Scared for a conversation about the show, the movies and how they work within King’s story.

They talk about their childhood relationship with the book, how they first came to adapt it, and know that there was more story to tell. We discuss some of the most shocking moments in the season, and they give some very tantalising details about what’s to come, and how deep into the wider, cosmic mythology they are going to delve.

I’ll just say… it sounds EXCITING!

Enjoy

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