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PODCAST

Talking Scared

Conversations with the biggest names in horror fiction. A podcast for horror readers who want to know where their favourite stories came from . . . and what frightens the people who wrote them.

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All Episodes

94:18

267 – Wuthering Heights, with Agatha Andrews (from...

Talking Scared ·

2026/02/10

This Valentine’s week, come for a walk up on t’moors with me and Agatha Andrews. I’ve invited Agatha, my friend and sister-in-Gothic, host of She Wore Black podcast, for a conversation about Wuthering Heights. It’s known as “the greatest love story ever told,” but that’s such nonsense. Instead we talk about mania and melancholy, hate and power, cannibalism and necrophilia… and we also look ahead to the Hollywood adaptation with bated (but amused) breath. Enjoy! Other books

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68:57

– Mama Came Callin, with Ezra Claytan Daniels &...

Talking Scared ·

2026/02/06

A bit of chaos on the show for the weekend. We start with one guest and end with two. And there’s a dude with an alligator’s head running amok!Mama Came Callin’ is the slasher/cryptid/mystery/noir graphic novel written by Ezra Claytan Daniel and illustrated by Camilla Sucre. It’s set in the swamps of Florida, amongst murky waters and dirtier histories. The three of us (eventually) talk about the horrendous racist truth underpinning the story, we discuss how two creatives can bring their

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79:47

266 – Justin C. Key & Don’t Scroll Before Bed

Talking Scared ·

2026/02/03

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

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39:38

Let Us Palaver #7 – The Talisman Debrief

Talking Scared ·

2026/01/30

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. Support

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147:12

The Dark Tower Deep Dive #7 – The Talisman

Talking Scared ·

2026/01/27

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

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77:18

265 – Yah Yah Schofield & Pretty Words for Ugly Things

Talking Scared ·

2026/01/20

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

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78:52

Episode 264 – Courtney Summers & Dead Is Not Better

Talking Scared ·

2026/01/13

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

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71:09

263 – Kristi DeMeester & The Purity of Anger

Talking Scared ·

2026/01/08

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

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108:01

262 – The Best Horror Books of 2025

Talking Scared ·

2025/12/30

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. Support Talking Scared on Patreon Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

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47:24

Let Us Palaver #6 – Wizard & Glass Debrief

Talking Scared ·

2025/12/26

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. Support Talking Scared on Patreon Check out the Talking Scared

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150:33

The Dark Tower Deep Dive #6 – Wizard & Glass

Talking Scared ·

2025/12/23

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

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55:55

Off Book #13 – Welcome to Derry, with Andy & Barbara...

Talking Scared ·

2025/12/16

It: Welcome to Derry has just reached its Season One conclusion and thetheories 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

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168:48

261 — The State of the Horror Nation 2025, with Emily...

Talking Scared ·

2025/12/09

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

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70:36

[From the Vault] Carmen Maria Machado & Passing...

Talking Scared ·

2025/12/02

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

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67:02

[From the Vault] Jeff VanderMeer and Our First On-Air...

Talking Scared ·

2025/11/25

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

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55:44

[From the Vault] Will Dean & The Two Faces of...

Talking Scared ·

2025/11/18

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

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58:38

[From the Vault] Courtney Summers and The Master of...

Talking Scared ·

2025/11/11

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

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68:29

[From the Vault] Tananarive Due & Black Girls Doing...

Talking Scared ·

2025/11/04

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,

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80:31

260 – Joe Hill & The One About the Dragon

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/28

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

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33:10

Let Us Palaver #5 – ‘Salem’s Lot Debrief

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/24

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

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307 results

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