Talking Scared

Latest Episodes:

261 — The State of the Horror Nation 2025, with Emily Hughes, Anna Dupre & George Dunn Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to the now sixth annual State of the Horror Nation.

This is the mega-episode, in which I gather a darkly-inclined supergroup of horror fans and commentators—a horror cabinet, if you will—to cast their informed eyes and minds over the year’s best horror.

We talk trends, generation gaps, terrifying moments, and pick what they consider to be their favourite scary books of 2025.

I am just a bystander and the man with the edit button. Bringing the talent and the opinion are Emily Hughes, Anna Dupre and George Dunn. Together they present a tapestry of horror in red and black and other hideous colours.

Suffer your TBR piles.

Enjoy.

Books Picked

Angel Down (2025), by Daniel Kraus

Black Flame (2025), by Gretchen Felker Martin

Futility (2025), Nuzo Ozoh

One Yellow Eye (2025), by Leigh Radford

Play Nice (2025), by Rachel Harrison

Spread Me (2025), by Sarah Gailey

Veil (2025), by Jonathan Janz

When the Wolf Comes Home (2025), by Nat Cassidy

What Hunger (2025), by Catherine Dang

Books Anticipated

Cruelty Free (2026), by Caroline Glenn

Daytide (2026), by Chris Panatier

Femme Feral (2026), by Sam Bessinger

For Human Use (2026), by Sarah G. Pierce

Headlights (2026), by C.J. Leede

Itch (2025), by Gemma Amor

Japanese Gothic (2026), by Kylie Lee Baker

Kiss Slay Replay (2026), by Rachel Harrison

I Know a Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours (2026), by Nat Cassidy

Molka (2026), by Monika Kim

Nothing Tastes as Good (2026), by Luke Dumas

Nowhere Burning (2026), by Catriona Ward

On Sunday’s She Picked Flowers (2026), by Yah Yah Schofield

Our Cut of Salt (2026), by Deena Helm

Persona (2026), by Aiofe Josie Clements

The Children (2026), by Melissa Albert

The Curse of Hester Gardens (2026), by Tamika Thompson

The Fourth Wife (2026), by Linda Hamilton

The Hive (2026), by Ronald Malfi

The Last Story of Jamie Gunn (TBC), by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

The Red Sacrament (2026), by Sara Hinkley

Spoiled Milk (2026), by Avery Curran

Trad Wife (2026), by Sarah Langan

Worry Box (2026), by Chris Panatier

Wretch (2026), by Eric LaRocca

Other Books Mentioned

Come Knocking (2025), by Mike Bockoven

Old Soul (2025), by Susan Barker

Rekt (2025), by Alex Gonzalez

The Lamb (2025), by Lucy Rose

The Starving Saints (2025), by Caitlin Starling

Bat Eater, and Other Names for Cora Zeng (2025), by Kylie Lee Baker

Greedy (2026) by Callie Kazumi

The Eyes Are the Best Part (2024), by Monika Kim

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes (2025), by Clay McLeod Chapman

The Unworthy (2025), by Augustina Bazterrica

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Emily Hughes Patreon link is here

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[From the Vault] Carmen Maria Machado & Passing Literary Kidney Stones Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

It’s all about memory this week.

Remember that time literary superstar Carmen Maria Machado came on the show? No? Well here’s your chance to catch up on what you missed.

Carmen spoke to me about Her Body and Other Parties and In the Dream House – the former a collection of folktale and fable, spun to hideous effect; the latter a piercing fictionalised memoir of abuse and haunted relationships.

This was a daunting interview – we went deep into life, love and all the horrors they can bring. But we came up smiling.

It’s a happy memory.

Enjoy.

The Argonauts (2015), by Maggie Nelson

The Ghost Variations (2021), by Kevin Brockmeier

A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip: A Memoir of Seventh Grade (2014), by Kevin Brockmeier

Proxies: Essays Near Knowing (2016), by Brian Blanchfield

Monster Portraits (2018), by Sofia Samatar

The Hot Zone (1994), by Richard Preston

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

The Bloody Chamber (1979), by Angela Carter

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[From the Vault] Jeff VanderMeer and Our First On-Air Murder Nov 25, 2025

Show notes

Jeff VanderMeer and I did not fall out!!

This is a myth that has arisen since Jeff came on the show back in 2021, to discuss his eco-espionage crisis thriller, Hummingbird Salamander.

Well, this trip back to the Vault will hopefully dispel that rumour.

Instead what you’ll hear is a conversation with the Emperor of Weird fiction, talking about conservation and climate catastrophe, about plans to save the world and the villainy of tech – and about the furthest (Southern) reaches of a mad imagination.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer
Borne (2017), by Jeff VanderMeer
The Rain Heron (2020), by Robbie Arnaut

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[From the Vault] Will Dean & The Two Faces of Off-Grid Living Nov 18, 2025

Show notes

Revisiting a true highlight this week!

Will Dean’s The Last Thing to Burn is one of very few 10/10 books i've ever featured on this podcast. It’s a flawless study of isolation, survival, exploitation and the most toxic of masculinities – all about a Vietnamese immigrant, trapped in the home of her ‘husband,’ the monstrous Leonard.

Will is an amazing writer, with an amazing life. He’s creating classics like this, as well as the ongoing Tuva Moodyson series, all from the depths of a Scandinavian forest. We talk about his journey from small town UK to his fairytale present, the role of landscape and isolation in his work, broken psyches and much more…

Trust me, this book will stay with you!

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

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

Tickets for the Northern Weird event at Blackwells, Manchester.

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[From the Vault] Courtney Summers & The Master of the Bitch Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

This flashback episode takes us to early 2021, when I was joined by Courtney Summers – the boundary-pushing author of dark YA fictions for a corrective lesson.

Courtney came on the show to discuss The Project, a novel of sinister elite cults, evil charisma and radicalisation. At the time Trump had just been kicked out of office, so those things seemed safe to talk about.

Alas… they are maybe scarier now.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

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

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[From the Vault] Tananarive Due & Black Girls Doing Magical Things Nov 04, 2025

Show notes

Time for a classic haunted house.

I’m on a short break from the show, to recoup, read without pressure and generally try not to implode. So we’re heading into the vault for some older conversations that new listeners may have missed and long-termers may enjoy anew.

Where better to start that in a haunted house with a Queen of 21st century horror – Ms Tananarive Due!

This was our first conversation together, back in May of 2021 – and we explored her bad-place archetype, The Good House, the elegiac horror of her collection, Ghost Summer, plus forays into her scholarship, film and TV work, and her relationships with Stephen King and Jordan Peele.

It’s a lot of fun.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

Dark Dreams (2004), edited by Brandon Massey

“The Comet” (1920), by W.E. Dubois

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260 – Joe Hill & The One About the Dragon Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Here be dragons!

I’m celebrating Halloween week on Talking Scared with the very cream of the bucket list. Joe Hill is finally on the show!

The author of Heart Shaped Box, NOS4A2, “The Black Phone” and Lock & Key is back with his first novel in nearly a decade, and it’s a beast!

King Sorrow is an epic of dragons, diabolical deals, decade-spanning friendships, love and hate and everything in between. It’s bloody brilliant!

Joe talks about the triple inspiration of The Hobbit, The Secret History and Friends. We tackle tech-bros and trolls (literally), and the formidable role of his mother, Tabitha King. And if we disagree on certain characters in King Sorrow, we’re certainly on the same page when it comes to the role of love in life and writing.

This is a special one for me. A special book and a special conversation.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

20th Century Ghosts (2005), by Joe Hill
Heart Shaped Box (2007), by Joe Hill
The Fireman (2016), by Joe Hill
The Hobbit (1937), by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Secret History (1992), by Donna Tartt
The Dead Zone (1979), by Stephen King
Cloud Atlas (2004), by David Mitchell
Old Soul (2025), by Susan Barker
The Trap (1985), by Tabitha King
“The Jewbird” (1963), by Bernard Malamud
Coffin Moon (2025), by Keith Rosson

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Let Us Palaver #5 – ‘Salem’s Lot Debrief Oct 24, 2025

Show notes

In our fifth Let Us Palaver, Nat and I dally a little longer in ‘Salem’s Lot to hunt down a few more vamps and follow up some threads mentioned in the main episode.

This is where we get spoilery, so this is just for those who have been to the Tower already. But we talk about Chris’s predictions for Father Callaghan, discuss the moral arc of King’s entire fictional project (no big thing right!) and even congratulate the man on his steadfast marriage.

Also, my wife makes an appearance bearing tea.

Enjoy.

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The Dark Tower Deep Dive #5 – ‘Salem’s Lot Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

‘Salem’s Lot is FIFTY years old this month. Hellfire, how did that happen? We’re gonna celebrate the bloodsucking and small town shenanigans for all they are worth!!

But some of you know that the Lot sits just to one side of the Path of the Beam – so this is also a key zig in our endless zagging towards The Dark Tower. You may just not know why yet? And neither does Chris, so no one tell him.

So in this two-fer episode we honour a true horror classic of 20th century literature, and we inch one step closer to the nexus of all things. Efficient!

Enjoy.

Other books mentioned:

“Jerusalem’s Lot” and “One For the Road,” both in Night Shift (1978), by Stephen King
Shitshow (2025), by Chris Panatier
The Rats (1974), by James Herbert
Dracula (1898), by Bram Stoker
The Great Gatsby (1925), by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Harvest Home (1973), by Thomas Tryon

As mentioned – here is my Vulture list of the Best Horror Books of 2025 (so far).

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

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259 – Joe Lansdale & Our Desperate Need to Be Less Dumb Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

Joe Lansdale is here to give us all a smack upside the head.

We are talking about The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale – his brand new career-retrospective, collecting the stories that have defined him for decades as one of the most edgy, provocative writers of the grim and grotesque.

We cover some of the classics, like “Bubba Ho Tep,” “Mr Weed Eater” and “On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks” – asking where the craziness came from, and finding the roots in Joe’s colourful life.

But we also discuss more serious matters, such as the hatred depicted in “The Night They Missed the Horror Show,” and what it means in our current puritanical, easily-outraged era.

Enjoy! Beware!

Other books mentioned:

The Thicket (2013), by Joe R. Lansdale
Paradise Sky (2015), by Joe R. Lansdale
The Nightrunners (1987),by Joe R. Lansdale
“A Rose For Emily” (1930), by William Faulkner
“Cannibalism in the Cars” (1868), by Mark Twain
“Duel” (1971), by Richard Matheson
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), by Mark Twain
Neither Beg Nor Yield: Stories With an S&S Attitude (2024), edited by Jason M. Waltz
Swords in the Shadows (2025), edited by Cullen Bunn
The Only Good Indians (2020), by Stephen Graham Jones
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025), by Stephen Graham Jones
The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild (2025), by Bryan Burrough
Lonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtry