This week on Talking Scared we are joining hands with Chuck Wendig to take the fight to Big Fruit. They have been lying to us about apples all our lives. Chuck’s new novel, Black River Orchard is all about apples. Tasty, evil, corruptive. The book grows from the fertile soil of American small-town horror, and we talk about some texts in that storytelling style, as well as how Chuck himself approaches writing such big books with so many character arcs. We also cover apple-lore, how politics fits into horror fiction, the appeal of violent characters and a whole lot of books we think you should read.  Enjoy. This book is a great way to say goodbye to summer. Black River Orchard was published on September 26th by Del Rey Books mentioned: Fever House (2023), by Keith RossonRing Shout (2020), by P. Djèlí ClarkThe Fisherman (2017), by John LanganThe Tommyknockers (1987), by Stephen King‘Salem’s Lot (1975), by Stephen KingMary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat CassidySwan Song (1987), by Robert R. McCammonMaeve Fly (2023), by C.J. Leede Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

Clay McLeod Chapman returns to Talking Scared to answer some serious questions, the first being what the holy f**k Clay?! Clay has never been a writer to shy away from a high concept challenge (haunted mushrooms, anyone?) but his latest novel, What Kind of Mother goes into the uncharted regions of the mind and soul, dredging the craziest of horrors from the murky waters of his native Chesapeake Bay. We talk the terrors of both adolescence and parenthood, the terrible power of imagination, why Virginia still beckons his storytelling home … and crabs. Ohhhh we’ll get to the crabs! Clay is a great writer, a wonderful person and a good friend of the show. I hope you enjoy this episode.  What Kind of Mother was published on September 12hth by Quirk Books Books mentioned:Spin a Black Yarn (2023), by Josh MalermanThey Lurk (2023), by Ronald MalfiGraveyard of Lost Children (2023), by Katrina MonroeDelicate Condition (2023), by Danielle ValentineJust Like Mother (2022), by Anne HeltzelPet Sematary (1983), by Stephen KingThe Return (2020), by Rachel HarrisonRazorblade Tears (2021), by S. A. CosbyConjuring Up Philip: An Adventure in Psychokinesis (1976), by Iris M. Owen and Margaret SparrowSuperstition (1997), by David Ambrose Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

I’m back, partially rested and with some romance lingering in my soul. Good timing, cos this week’s episode focuses on the heart as well as the blood that it pumps.  Isabel Cañas returns to the show to talk about her second novel, Vampires of El Norte – a sweeping historical love-story set against a backdrop of class tumult, war and … yeah… vampires. It’s not a spoiler guys – it’s in the title! Isabel speaks so eloquently about the relationship between vampirism and cultural legacy, about how it isn’t only the undead who invade your space and drain your essence. She describes the intense, insane schedule of writing the book, how landscape invites the supernatural, Mexican boogeymen and boogeywomen, and historical fiction as feminist conundrum. Enjoy. With heart, soul and viscera.  Vampires of El Norte was published on August 15hth by Berkley Books mentioned: The Hacienda(2022), by Isabel CañasMexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno GarciaLone Women (2023), by Victor LavalleIsland Witch (forthcoming 2024), by Amanda Jayatissa Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

Why do we keep heading back to the woods? WHY?? Nothing good ever happens there.Alexander James would argue otherwise, but he’s clearly made of sterner stuff than me. In his debut novel, The Woodkin, Alex parlays his love of the wild outdoors into a story that heads toward a familiar backwoods nightmares, before veering far off the beaten trail into something stranger and even scarier. In this episode we talk about his love for the woods of the Pacific Northwest (and yes! I ask him about Bigfoot of course). We cover the controversy surrounding an earlier title choice, the influence of D&D on his writing and the trick to realistically depicting fear in fiction.It’s a happy hike into darkness. EnjoyThe Woodkin was published August 22nd by CamCat BooksOther books mentioned in this episode include:Dark Mountain (1992), by Richard LaymonOffseason (1980), by Jack KetchumMexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe Hacienda (2022), by Isabel CañasI'm a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service, I Have Some Stories to TellCritStupid Podcast (Alex's D&D podcast)Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

If you thought The Last House on Needless Street was tricksy, just wait until you hear about Looking Glass Sound. This is Cat’s ode to the Maine of Stephen King, the enigmatic narrators of Shirley Jackson and… well, a host of other comparisons that I foist upon her in the next hour.Above all that though – the book is so typically, inimitably Catriona Ward. It’s a destined Gothic classic that takes the genre, crumples it into a ball before rewriting the whole thing. We cover the purpose of metafiction in horror, how writing a book is like falling in love, the eeriness of the Maine coast and her fascination with the Neverland Ranch. If that isn’t enough Cat also tells us a ghost story that happened to her just the night before.Tricksy, very tricksy…as Gollum would say.EnjoyLooking Glass Sound was published April 20th by Viper Books in the UK and 22nd August by Tor Nightfire in the US.Other books mentioned in this episode include: Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton EllisThe Rules of Attraction (1987), by Bret Easton EllisThe Secret History (1992), by Donna TarttMy Other Life (1996) by Paul TherouxAny Human Heart (2002), by William BoydThe Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley JacksonDeath of a Bookseller (2023), by Alice SlaterMrs March (2021), by Virgina Feito Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

We’re off to La La Land this week, to talk cursed films, 90s horror nostalgia and Winona Ryder(!!) Our guest is Josh Winning – who has parlayed his years of writing from and about film sets into a horror novel. Burn the Negative is set in the backlots, soundstages, cutting rooms and dank motel rooms of Hollywood. It features a film with a fatal jinx and a whole lotta love for the 90s teen slasher. Amongst all of that, Josh and I also tick off the uncanny creepiness of child stars, the validity of fun in horror and the power of the silhouette in making a really scary horror villain. EnjoyBurn the Negative was published on July 11th by Penguin Random HouseOther books mentioned in this episode include:The Shadow Glass (2022), by Josh WinningThe Final Girl Support Group (2021), by Grady HendrixMy Heart is a Chainsaw (2021), by Stephen Graham JonesHouse of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski“N”– in Just After Sunset (2008), by Stephen KingSupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

Sorry not sorry this week. Yes I’m going to destroy your wallet and your bookshelves…but you LOVE IT!!Our guest is Sadie Hartmann, AKA Mother Horror to the likes of us. One of the most influential horror reviewers in the world. The editor in chief of Dark Hart Books and the co-owner of the Night Worms horror subscription service. She knows a thing or two about this haunted library.And she’s written a book to guide the unwary, or the just-plain curious. Or anyone who wants a new book to read. 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered is Sadie’s guide to the horrid books that she loves – the ones that chill her blood, warm her heart and turn her stomach. We talk about her selection process, her blogging origin story, the gatekeeper problem in horror, our shared fear of certain kinds of book and the joy of scary stories featuring kids on bikes. Renew your library card or get ready to buy some books!101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered was published on August 8th by Page Street PublishingOther books mentioned in this episode include:The Devil All the Time (2012), by Donald Ray PollockKnockemstiff (2008), by Donald Ray PollockCome Closer (2003), by Sara GranLord of the Flies (1954), by William GoldingBoys in the Valley (2023), by Philip FracassiThe Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore (2018), by Kim FuDevil’s Creek (2020), by Todd KieslingGather the Daughters (2017), by Jennie MelamedThe Girl Next Door (1989), by Jack KetchumAlong the Path of Torment (2020), by Chandler MorrisonApartment 16 (2010), by Adam NevilleLast Days (2012), by Adam NevilleThe Reddening (2019), by Adam NevilleLonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtryA House with Good Bones (2023), by T. KingfisherNumber One Fan (2020), by Meg EllisonHouse of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. DanielewskiLet the Right One In (2004), by John Ajvide LindqvistBetty (2020), by Tiffany McDanielOn the Savage Side (2023), by Tiffany McDanielWhalefall (2023), by Daniel Kraus Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

Our guest this week is Stephen King.That’s it. That’s the intro.Stephen King. The architect of modern horror and the creative north star of my life, and many of yours. He’s on the show, talking about his new book, Holly and why the central character just won’t let him go. We cover his attitude to academia, horror and hope, how his worldview sits with a fractured reality, and we even hear some exciting, exclusive details about some upcoming books.I lack the words to convey my delight.EnjoyOther books mentioned in this episode include:The Boy on the Bridge (2017), by M.R. CareyDMV (2023), by Bentley LittleMary: An Awakening of Terror (2022), by Nat CassidyThe Clackity (2022), by Lora SenfThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), by Agatha Christie“Beyond the Wall of Sleep,” (1919), by H.P. LovecraftThe Passenger (2023), by Cormac McCarthyLight Perpetual (2021), by Francis SpuffordThe Deluge (2023), by Stephen Markley Holly is published on September 5th by Hodder and Scribner Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

We’re off on a Goth pilgrimage this week folks, to the motherland, Transylvania, to talk folk-horror and more with Alex Woodroe.Alex is a Romanian writer of dark fictions, the Editor in Chief of Tenebrous Press, and the debut author of Whisperwood. The book brings the monsters of Romanian myth and legend to the fore in a battle of wills with an isolated village. There isn’t a vampire in sight. Bram Stoker didn’t know what he was talking about.Alex does! And we get into lots of things, from the difference between fantasy and folk-legend, political allegory and the recent history of dictatorship, to the very real undead myths in her own family tree.I learned a lot from this conversation.Enjoy!Whisperwood was published by Flame Tree Press on July 11th Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

This week we’re joined by the man, the myth, the mystery that is Chuck Tingle. Who knows the truth of this enigmatic figure? What visage lies beneath the pink bag that forever encases his face? Does he really have a PhD in massage? Puzzles abound…The one thing that’s certain is the brilliance of his new novel. Camp Damascus is a full-bloodied horror novel set in that most hideous of environs: a religious community and a gay conversion camp. Sounds triggering. It may well be … but Chuck has also invested this story with such hope and joy and yes, LOVE, that it more than salves all the human horror and demonic jump scares.We cover tons in this episode – the stoic seriousness of fictional sex, the maligned trinity of genres, rattling the religious right, the simple trick to writing effective jumpscares and the final, full declaration of why love is real. Enjoy!Camp Damascus was published by Tor Nightfire on July 18th and Titan Books on July 27th An article about Chuck – worth readingOther books mentioned in this episode include:Straight (2021), by Chuck TingleRevival (2014), by Stephen KingDark Matter (2010), by Michelle PaverSupport Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

This week I’m recording very close to home with Andrew Michael Hurley. Andrew burst onto the folk-horror scene with subtle aplomb (can one burst subtly?) back in 2014, with The Loney. That slice of weirdness was set in the very town in which I spent my wet, dismal childhood holidays. It conjured shivers in more ways than one. Now he is here to talk about the reissue of his 2019 novel, Starve Acre. It’s a bleak, bitter, wintery tale of isolation, grief and ritual, set in the Yorkshire Dales. Where I also spent some holidays – does Andrew know something I don’t? Hmmmm?We talk about his relationship with folk horror, and how it helps us express our communal British angst. We make comparisons to some unexpected movies, discuss authorial freedom, and talk about deep knowledge, invented lore and horror as replacement for spirituality. It’s all a good excuse to yell about the government. Enjoy!Starve Acre was re-issued by Penguin on July 4th.Other books mentioned in this episode include:The Loney (2014), by Andrew Michael HurleyElmet (2017), by Fiona MozleyThe Gallows Pole (2017), by Benjamin MyersWaterland (1983), by Graham SwiftCold Hand in Mine (1975), by Robert AickmanSupport Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

War, what is it good for? Absolutely noth…. well actually, it is quite good for horror stories.Our guest this week doesn’t plumb the usual horrors-of-war route, though. Verity Holloway’s The Others of Edenwell is a supremely subtle, slow-burning excavation of trauma and national nightmares, set in a (supposedly) idyllic spa-cum-convalescent-hospital as battle rages elsewhere.Of course, there are horrors much closer to home.It’s possibly my first foray into the First World War on this podcast and Verity and I talk about her family connection to the story, her physical connection to the hospital setting, and her inspirations in the literature of the time. We also discuss cryptozoology, ghost stories, and why German helmets have such a creepy design. Enjoy!The Others of Edenwell was published by Titan on July 4th.Other books mentioned in this episode include:All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes“Still Falls the Rain” (1944), by Edith SitwellNegative Space (2020), by B.R. YeagerGhost Eaters (2022), by Clay McLeod ChapmanSupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

This week Danielle Trussoni arrives at Talking Scared in a rush. She has a meeting to get to, and we have LOTS of things to talk about in less than an hour. Her new novel, The Puzzle Master crams in enough for a whole Discovery Channel series on conspiracy, mysticism and esoteric history, plus dolls, Golems, quantum computing and a cute little Dachshund named Conundrum. How is a host supposed to cover all that at a rush. The answer, drink more coffee and don’t pause to breathe!We manage it. We talk about all of the above, plus depictions of altered mental states, the curse of a Dan Brown comparison, and Danielle’s search for the perfect haunted house.  Enjoy!The Puzzle Master was published by Penguin Random House on June 13th.Other books mentioned in this episode include:Angelology (2010) by Danielle TrussoniNestlings (2023), by Nat CassidyThe Long Shalom (2023), by Zach RosenbergSupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

Thrust your fists against the post and still insist you see the… …oh hello. You came back. Thank Gan. We have a monster to defeat this week. Yes, this is the second part of the Talking Scared dive into Stephen King’s IT. This time we are getting weird. Joined by stalwart friends, Ally Malinenko (Ghost Girl, This Appearing House) and Nat Cassidy (Mary: An Awakening of Terror), I’m delving below ground and into the cosmic tangle that underpins all of King’s fiction. We’re asking what is Pennywise? Where did he come from? What does he want and what the hell is that giant turtle doing? It has been a labour of love, talking for hours with friends about my favourite book. Thank you so much for listening, and remember… we’re stronger together. Enjoy!Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

Come get a balloon, bring your slingshot, let’s float…it’s here!!!Yes, finally we’re off to Derry, to do battle with that goddamn clown. But as everyone knows, we can’t fight Pennywise alone. That’s why I’m taking my trusty, loyal, brave band of Losers with me. Nat Cassidy (Mary: An Awakening of Terror) and Ally Malinenko (This Appearing House) are joining me for a tour of the sewers, subtext and sociological horrors at the heart of King’s IT. Halfway through we realised this would to be a two-parter, ‘cos there is just too much to say. The horrors will follow in Part Two, this time we focus mainly on the heart. We talk about the characters, the depictions of childhood… and yes we get into that  scene (with possibly surprising opinions). I so hope you like this episode gang. I want to finally take the chance to explain what this book means to my enduring boyish heart. Enjoy!Read Grady Hendrix's essay HERESupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

I’ve rarely been more excited about an episode – for you to hear it or, indeed, about its very contents.We’re joined this week by Mike Flanagan. Yes, that Mike Flanagan. The genius loci of modern visual horror, the writer and director behind Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, The Midnight Club and Oculus. Our most literary horror director and a man who understand that horror is where the heart is. If you think my praise is too gushing then… we’ll just have to disagree.He may be a filmmaker, but he sure does love books. In this conversation we talk about Mike’s deep love for horror stories, how his childhood reading continues to influence his career, and what he’s still loving about the genre. We discuss his upcoming take on Fall of the House of Usher, his next Stephen King adaptation, and a certain tower that looms in the distance.Yes, Mike’s career – like all great things – follows the Beam.   The Fall of the House of Usher is out on Netflix later this year. Other books mentioned in this episode include:The House with a Clock in its Walls (1973), by John BellairsIt (1986), by Stephen KingGerald’s Game (1992), by Stephen King“The Life of Chuck,” in If it Bleeds (2020), by Stephen KingEcho (2022), by Thomas Olde HeuveltBlackwater (1983), by Michael McDowellIf You See Her (2019), by Ania AhlbornThis Appearing House (2022), by Ally MalinenkoThe Clackity (2022), by Lora Senf Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

If horror is indeed a broad church, then our guest this week is preaching from the darkest of pulpits. Paula D. Ashe is the author of We Are Here To Hurt Each Other – a collection of short stories that has accrued infamy and acclaim in equal measure over the last 12 months. Her stories are cruel. They present a depraved world of man (and woman’s) direst excesses, a world that rubs against the numinous and the cosmically amoral. Can you say ‘trigger warnings needed’!We talk at length about the allure of extreme horror, about whether an author can truly consider their readers’ feelings, about horrendous crimes and the difference between the horror of imagery and action. We also give a lot of love to Clive Barker and his influence on Paula’s own mythos-building.This may be the most extreme episode of Talking Scared ever recorded.Enjoy (whatever that means!) We Are Here To Hurt Each Other was published on 21st Feb 2022, by Nictitating Books Other books mentioned in this episode include:Where I End (2022), by Sophie WhiteStephen (1991), by Elizabeth MassieThe Hellbound Heart (1986), by Clive BarkerSupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

What if the house that shaped you was a broken, haunted place?That’s one of many questions we explore this week, in the company of Sarah Gailey. Their 2022 hit, Just Like Home is out in paperback and … hell … do we get our fingers right into its dusty, cobwebbed corners! We talk about serial-killing fathers and monstrous mothers, the power and pitfalls of descriptive prose. We discuss Freudian metaphors and the profound fears of childhood, offer a fresh take on the thorny question of unlikeable female protagonists, and I present my ‘possession’ theory on the crimes of Ted Bundy (it’s bullsh*t.)This is a lovely conversation about dark things.Enjoy!Just Like Home was published in paperback on May 30th by Tor and Hodder & StoughtonOther books mentioned in this episode include:River of Teeth (2017), by Sarah GaileyThe Echo Wife (2021), by Sarah GaileyMaw (2022), by Jude DoyleMonstrilio (2023), by Gerardo Sámano CórdovaThe Sickness (2023 –), by Jenna Cha and Lonnie NadlerSupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

In the immortal words of Creed’s Scott Stapp, “can you take me HIIIGHER?”Yes, I can.Our guest this week is Nicholas Binge, author the new buzzy, horror-sci-fi novel, Ascension. It’s about a very weird, very big mountain that appears out of nowhere to lure the unwary upwards. Nothing good occurs, of course. Again…much like a Creed concert.This is where the comparison’s to terrible post-grunge rock ends (thankfully) cos Nick and I have much more fun making comparisons to the likes of Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and H.P. Lovecraft… to the classic Gothic and Adventure stories that Nick mixes with his oh-so-modern science-fiction themes. Ascension is a treat for fans of both traditions.We also talk about the place of mountains in our literature, the shattering chaos of quantum mechanics, recontextualising neurodiverse characters and the occasional shoggoth!Enjoy!Ascension was published on April 25th by HarperVoyager and Riverhead Books.Other books mentioned in this episode include:Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeerThe Lost World (1912), by Arthur Conan DoyleAt the Mountains of Madness (1936), by H.P. LovecraftHouse of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. DanielewskiFever Dream (2014), by Samanta SchweblinSupport Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

We are paying tribute to the best of us this week. The booksellers. Keepers of the flame, beacons in the night, purveyors of meaning in a cold, dark universe … usually.Alice Slater used to be a member of that celebrated guild, now she’s written about the light and dark side of the trade in her debut smash, Death of a Bookseller. It pulls back the curtain on an industry we all care deeply about, to reveal the obsession, madness and … murder(?) behind the chai lattes and instagram posts.In this conversation we cover a lot of ground… from the problems inherent in True Crime, book-fetishization, and the weird empathy we feel for serial killers’ pets. Plus, I get to talk about my favourite things (see: everything mentioned so far) with someone who genuinely once worked in my local bookshop.This was a blast.Enjoy! Death of a Bookseller was published on April 25th by Hodder and ScarletOther books mentioned in this episode include:Savage Appetites: True Stories of Women, Crime and Obsession (2019), by Rachel MonroeThe Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (2019), by Hallie RubenholdYou (2014), by Caroline KepnesGone Girl (2012), by Gillian FlynnThe Last House on Needless Street (2021), by Catriona WardThe Sluts (2004), by Dennis CooperThings Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021), by Eric LaRoccaEcho (2022), by Thomas Olde Heuvelt Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show