Talking Scared

Latest Episodes:

Off Book #12 – Ben Leonberg and Good Boy Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

Mine isn’t the only Good Boy released into the world this week. You may have heard of a little film that shares my books name.

I joke – Ben Leonberger’s Good Boy is everywhere, and rightly so. It’s a haunted house movie told from the POV of Ben’s dog Indy (playing himself). It’s a magic trick of filmmaking and puppy eyes.

Ben came on the show for a generous chat about making the movie. He tells us about the technical hurdles to be jumped, the mammoth 400 day shoot, the portrayal of fear through a dog’s eyes… but mostly we talk about his bond with Indy and why we both believe dogs are the ultimate horror movie heroes.

This is a dog-lover’s delight. Happy Friday!

Enjoy

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258 – Neil McRobert & My Four-Legged Ode to Bravery & Joy Oct 09, 2025

Show notes

Ah the arrogance of writers. Now I am one, officially, I thought I’d better do something fitting.

So I set up a whole episode of my podcast to talk about my own book – Good Boy! My debut novella about small English towns, the bonds between men and dogs, and a battle between bravery and monsters.

Thankfully, I have friends who will facilitate this type of nonsense, so thanks to Nat Cassidy and Rachel Harrison for asking me questions and flattering my ego.

We talk about literary and personal inspirations, about what I’ve learned from 5 years of interviewing authors, about local folklore and the composition of monsters… and of course, about dogs!

This was the greatest pleasure for me. I hope you enjoy it half as much.

Other books mentioned:

IT (1986), by Stephen King
From a Buick 8 (2002), by Stephen King
The Fisherman (2016), by John Langan
Any Human Heart (2002), by William Boyd
The October Film Haunt (2025), by Michael Wehunt

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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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257 – Northern Weird (Part Two), with Matt Wesolowski, Jodie Robins & Stephen Howard Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

Another day, another episode about the weird-arse end of nowhere!

We remain in the North of England for this second part of a weeklong celebration of the Northern Weird Project – six novellas published by Wild Hunt Books (including one by yours truly!).

This time it’s conversation with Matt Wesolowski, about his train-bound folkloric horror, Don’t Call Mum, Jodie Robins, with her magical seaside lament for lost youth, The Off Season, and Stephen Howard, who has sent the uncanny home into a whole new paroxysm of sorrow, withThis House is Not Haunted But We Are.

We moan about the weather. About trains. About southerners. It’s all very northern and grim.

But there are also ghosts, monsters, mad circuses and VAMPIRE RABBITS!!!

Other books mentioned:

Wuthering Heights (1847), by Emily Brönte
“Rawhead Rex”, in Books of Blood Volume 3 (1986), by Clive Barker
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), by Ray Bradbury
The Iceman Cometh (1940), by Eugene O’Neill
White is for Witching (2009), by Helen Oyeyemi
Mr Fox (2011), by Helen Oyeyemi
Skin Thief: Stories (2023), by Suzan Palumbo
Nowhere Burning (2026), by Catriona Ward
Quest for the Hexham Heads (2012), by Paul Screeton

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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256 – Northern Weird (Part One), with Gemma Fairclough, Katherine Clements & Ariell Cacciola Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

It’s grim up North.

But thankfully, it’s also weird. Deliciously, darkly, disturbingly weird!

This week we are celebrating the Northern Weird Project – six novellas published by Wild Hunt Books (including one by yours truly!). In this first roundtable, I’ve gathered two of the writers and the genius behind the project, Ariell Cacciola, to talk about Northern literary culture in the North, haunted landscapes, isolated oddness, and the North/South divide.

Gemma Fairclough brings The Retreat, her story of creepy wellness culture in the Lake District, and Katherine Clements has written a psycho-geographic haunting of the Yorkshire moors in Turbine 34. Yet whilst displaying the diversity of northern weirdness, these two novellas are twinned and entwined in fascinating ways.

Enjoy – there’s more coming all week.

Other books mentioned:

Bear Season (2024), by Gemma Fairclough
The Coffin Path (2018), by Katherine Clements
Every Day is Mother’s Day (1985), by Hilary Mantel
Beyond Black (2005), by Hilary Mantel
A Place of Greater Safety (1992), by Hilary Mantel
Dark Matter (2010), by Michelle Paver
The Night Ocean (2017), by Paul LaFarge

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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255 – Michael Wehunt & What If A Horror Film Broke Into Your House? Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

What’s even real anymore?

Some of the best horror writer’s ask that question. Some, like Michael Wehunt, live in the spaces in between.

Michael’s new novel, The October Film Haunt bends reality in fascinating ways, in a story about online legend, digital demons and analog horror – all the stuff that keeps me awake at night.

We talk about all of it, as well as formative found-footage movies, and whether we need a new ethics for online storytelling. It’s a deep, intelligent chat (just like the book).

Enjoy. Don’t open strange emails or watch unmarked VHS tapes.

WhiteFace Explained - Bloody Disgusting

I'm A Search and Rescue Office For the US Forest Service...

Other books mentioned:

Greener Pastures (2016), by Michael Wehunt
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes (2025), by Clay McLeod Chapman
Last Days (2012), by Adam Nevill
Horror Movie (2024), by Paul Tremblay
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995), by Carl Sagan
If You Knew Me (2025), by S.P. Miskowksi

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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254 – Philip Fracassi & The Fresh Young Heart of Old-School Horror Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

This week brings a bumper episode, cos Philip Fracassi never stops.

Since he and I last spoke, in 2022, he’s published a wealth of amazing, terrifying, heartfelt horror, emerging as a major voice, and one of my favourite writers.

First we spend a good hour on Philips’ new novel, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre – talking about geriatric slashers, elderly protagonists and how Phil’s own loss transformed the novel. Then we take a tour through some of his other books, including the modern classic Boys in the Valley and the nasty demonic desk romp, Gothic.

Plus, a lot of info about future books and movie adaptations.

Enjoy! Phil is fantastic company.

Other books mentioned:

St Joseph's Orphanage - Buzzfeed Article

Boys in the Valley (2021), by Philip Fracassi
Gothic (2022), by Philip Fracassi
A Child Alone With Strangers (2022), by Philip Fracassi
No One Is Safe (2024), by Philip Fracassi
The Third Rule of Time Travel (2025), by Philip Fracassi
Serafina (2026), by Philip Fracassi
The Thursday Murder Club (2020), by Richard Osman
Fahrenheit-182 (2025), by Mark Hoppus
“The Veldt” (1950), by Ray Bradbury
Daytide (2026), by Chris Panatier
The Reformatory (2023), by Tananarive Due
Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror (2025), by Ashley Cullins

EVENT LINKS

Good Boy Book Launch, with Gemma Amor (October 10th) – Tickets

Powerhouse of Horror Party (October 24th) – Tickets

Creepaway Summer Camp (June 29th – July 3rd 2026) – Tickets

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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253 – Keith Rosson & The Real V-Word Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

Do you like your vampires slick and suave or rugged and raging?

If it’s the latter, you’ll very much enjoy KeithRosson’s Coffin Moon. It’s a 70s-set bareknuckle revenge road trip of a book, with some of the meanest vampires you’ll ever meet (and love).

Keith is back in the show for the second time in a year, to talk all about it. We get into his problem with ‘classic’ vampires aesthetics, the lure of backstory, taking hard advice from editors, and violence… a whole lotta violence!

This is a joy of a book, and a blast of a conversation.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

Fever House (2023), by Keith Rosson
The Devil By Name (2024), by Keith Rosson
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025), by V.E. Schwab
King Sorrow (2025), by Joe Hill

EVENT LINKS

Good Boy Book Launch, with Gemma Amor (October 10th) – Tickets

Powerhouse of Horror Party (October 24th) – Tickets

Creepaway Summer Camp (June 29th – July 3rd 2026) – Tickets

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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Off Book #11 – JT Mollner & The Long Walk Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

It’s walk or die this week on Talking Scared, as we’re joined by the screenwriter of The Long Walk.

JT wrote and directed 2024’s cult-hit Strange Darling, and now he’s brought his pen to bear, in finally bringing Stephen King’s beloved early novel to the screen. Along with director, Francis Lawrence, JT has created one of the best King adaptations EVER(!!) and he joins me to talk about exactly how they got this shuffling monster over the finish line.

JT tells us all about his journey from actor to writer and director and his feelings about creative control. We discuss the obvious structural hurdles that kept this film from being made for so many years. We acknowledge it’s strain of very dark humour, but also how seriously the movie contends with the threat of the gun in American life.

It’s a good conversation about an awesome movie.

Enjoy

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

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

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252 – John Langan & Water, Water Everywhere Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

School is back in session. Professor Langan is here!

No-one gives good literary conversation like John Langan – and this week he returns to Talking Scared to discuss the watery influences, metafictional experimentation, and snake-legged women in his new collection: Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions.

It’s my favourite collection of John’s so far, and as ever, he merely used it for a jumping-off point into a cosy fireside conversation about all the books and stories that he keeps in his Alexandrian Library of a head!

It’s the most accessible college course you’ll ever take.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

The Fisherman (2017), by John Langan
Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies (2022), by John Langan
Survivor Song (2020), by Paul Tremblay
Fever House (2023), by Keith Rosson
King Sorrow (2025), by Joe Hill
Great Expectations (1861), by Charles Dickens
Dombey and Son (1848), by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre (1847), by Charlotte Bronte
Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature (2025), edited by Becky Spratford
“Lamia” (1820), by John Keats
She Said Destroy (2017), by Nadia Bulkin
Issues With Authority (2025), by Nadia Bulkin
A Game in Yellow (2025), by Hailey Piper

EVENT LINKS

Powerhouse of Horror Party (October 24th, 2025) – Tickets

Creepaway Summer Camp (June 29th – July 3rd 2026) – Tickets

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

251 – Kailee Pedersen and The Silence of the Foxes Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

Ready for some rough rural Gothic?

Kailee Pederson’s Sacrifical Animals was one of my top horror novels of 2024. I missed Kailee first time round, but now the book is out in paperback, I jumped at the chance to speak to her.

I was NOT prepared for how highbrow this would go though. From a story about toxic families, American Gothic and Chinese mythology, we found our way to opera, classic Latin texts, and more.

But we also talk about violence and sex and evil. So it really does cover all the bases.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned: