Episodios

  • 243 – S.A. Cosby & The Gospel of the Dispossessed

    243 – S.A. Cosby & The Gospel of the Dispossessed
    Jun 24 2025
    Time to talk righteous violence! S.A. Cosby is a writer on a meteoric rise. After the insane success of Razorblade Tears, and the Gothic horrors of All the Sinners Bleed, he’s back with a fresh crime epic of titanic brutality. King of Ashes is the tale of a family under threat from criminal forces, and the shocking depths they will go to in their fight back. It’s a challenging book, full of unexpected character arcs, Shakespearean intrigue, and a candid exploration of kink. It’s also bloody, very damn bloody. The crematorium at the story’s centre gets well fed!! We talk about all of that, as well as the strange commonalities of our small town lives, and the influence of violent men. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: All The Sinners Bleed (2023), by S.A. Cosby Razorblade Tears (2021), by S.A. Cosby Blacktop Wasteland (2020), by S.A. Cosby A Thousand Acres (1991), by Jane Smiley “The Dog Park,” (1983), by Dennis Etchinson Darkness, Take My Hand (1996), by Dennis Lehane Gone, Baby, Gone (1998) by Dennis Lehane Jar of Hearts (2018), by Jennifer Hillier 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
    Más Menos
    1 h y 25 m
  • 242 – Caroline Fraser & Masculinity Most Toxic

    242 – Caroline Fraser & Masculinity Most Toxic
    Jun 17 2025
    Sometimes monsters are real! This week’s episode is a foray into non-fiction, but no less scary for it. I’m talking to Pulitzer-winning Caroline Fraser about Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers This is no grotesque revelling in death and sadism,however. Murderland examines the extreme violence that plagued her native Pacific Northwest in the late 20th century – and posits a link with the environmental damage of heavy industry in the region. It’s a compelling argument, and a horribly fascinating book. I slip the jokes in where I can (mostly at BTK’s expense), but this one is a chiller! Enjoy! Other books mentioned: Praire Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2017), by Caroline Fraser God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church (1999), by Caroline Fraser The Balkan Trilogy (1960), by Olivia Manning 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
    Más Menos
    1 h y 10 m
  • 241 – V.E. Schwab & Women Just Taste Better

    241 – V.E. Schwab & Women Just Taste Better
    Jun 10 2025
    Vampirism is time travel. It’s also tragedy and freedom and Queerness, and sex and death. We talk about all of these thing with V.E. Schwab, when we sink our teeth into her new epic novel, Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil. It’s the story of three women who lead complicated, violent, sensual lives across the centuries. The interconnect. They love. They kill. It wasn’t the book I was expecting…and I loved it. I think you’ll love this conversation too. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020), by V.E. Schwab Vicious (2013), by V.E. Schwab Carmilla (1872), by Sheridan Le Fanu The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025), by Stephen Graham Jones The Vampire Lestat (1985), by Anne Rice The Time Traveller’s Wife (2003), by Audrey Niffenegger King of Ashes (2025), by S.A. Cosby Razorblade Tears (2021), by S.A. Cosby 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
    Más Menos
    1 h y 20 m
  • Let Us Palaver #3 – The Waste Lands Debrief

    Let Us Palaver #3 – The Waste Lands Debrief
    Jun 6 2025
    The third Let Us Palaver minisode (though this one is not so mini) – in which Nat and I reflect on The Waste Lands in full spoiler mode…and say REALLY mean things about Chris and his hurtful opinions. If you’ve been to the Tower before, I hope you dig this. Unless you agree with Chris about [redacted], in which case you’re dead to us. 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
    Más Menos
    43 m
  • The Dark Tower Deep Dive #3 – The Waste Lands

    The Dark Tower Deep Dive #3 – The Waste Lands
    Jun 3 2025
    We’re finally on the path of The Beam. The Dark Tower Readalong reaches the land of wonder and ruination, in Book 3, The Waste Lands. Accompanied by Nat and Chris, we battle the great bear, get dirty in the speaking ring, and brave the streets of Lud. But we also have the first quake in our Ka-tet, when Chris offers the most egregiously wrong opinion that anyone could offer on these books. You may agree with him… but if you do, we have a problem. I have never cursed or yelled so much on this show before!! Nonetheless, we have fun, we push on, and we’re still friends (just about). Enjoy! 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
    Más Menos
    2 h y 15 m
  • 240 – John Connolly & Detective Gothic: The Charlie Parker Deep Dive

    240 – John Connolly & Detective Gothic: The Charlie Parker Deep Dive
    May 27 2025
    John Connolly is, in my opinion, the greatest living writer working in the overlap of crime and horror. His long-running series of novels—focused on the Strange cases of his haunted detective, Charlie Parker—is now over twenty books strong. The latest, The Children of Eve is a pivotal instalment, so this seemed a good time to get John on the show, to grill him about this saga’s many mysteries, and hideous horrors. We talk about creating iconic villains, writing violence against the vulnerable, the monstrous feminine and the strange truth of Parker’s nature. There’s also some very exciting info on a possible TV adaptation! Enjoy! 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
    Más Menos
    1 h y 33 m
  • 239 – Sarah Pinborough & What Are Ghosts But Lies Persevering?

    239 – Sarah Pinborough & What Are Ghosts But Lies Persevering?
    May 20 2025
    It’s a week of sadness and hilarity on Talking Scared. The happy stuff comes courtesy of Sarah Pinborough, author of Weird domestic gothics, like Behind Her Eyes and the brand new ghost story (or is it?) We Live Here Now. We talk about confounding expectations, about the rules of the psychological thriller, about the British horror scene then and now, and about the dark truth that we all lie to each other. The sadness... well you’ll hear that in the outro if you want to stick around for it. If not, no worries at all. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: The Reckoning (2005), by Sarah Pinborough Breeding Ground (2006), by Sarah Pinborough Behind Her Eyes (2016), by Sarah Pinborough Every Dead Thing (1999), by John Connolly The Sleepwalkers (2024), by Scarlett Thomas The Woman in Black (1983), by Susan Hill The Shining (1977), by Stephen King The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson No One Gets Out Alive (2014), by Adam Nevill The Hamlet (2025), by Joanna Corrance 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
    Más Menos
    1 h y 15 m
  • 238 – The Frozen Frontier: Ally Wilkes and Michelle Paver, Live at the Oxford Literary Festival

    238 – The Frozen Frontier: Ally Wilkes and Michelle Paver, Live at the Oxford Literary Festival
    May 13 2025
    Talking Scared goes live! In April I was invited to chair a conversation between Michelle Paver and Ally Wilkes at the Oxford Literary Festival. I duly leapt on a train and bundled my way there – to ask the two survival horror queens about their stories of haunting and isolation in the coldest parts of the world. We talk about handling the Victorian attitudes of exploration horror, the unique properties of fear in the vast open, and how their law careers led them to write such wild stories. Also, we hear quite a lot of juicy info about their forthcoming jungle horror novels. Thanks to the Oxford Literary Festival for the invitation. Other books mentioned: The Worst Journey in the World (1922), by Apsley Cherry-Garrard Female Husbands: A Trans History (2020), by Jen Manion “The Man Whom The Trees Loved,” (1912), by Algernon Blackwood. 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
    Más Menos
    1 h y 5 m