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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

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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148:14

The Dark Tower Deep Dive #5 – ‘Salem’s Lot

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/21

‘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

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80:57

259 – Joe Lansdale & Our Desperate Need to Be Less Dumb

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/14

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

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60:00

Off Book #12 – Ben Leonberg and Good Boy

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/10

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

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90:51

258 – Neil McRobert & My Four-Legged Ode to Bravery &...

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/09

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

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69:02

257 – Northern Weird (Part Two), with Matt...

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/08

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

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80:03

256 – Northern Weird (Part One), with Gemma...

Talking Scared ·

2025/10/07

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

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77:37

255 – Michael Wehunt & What If A Horror Film Broke...

Talking Scared ·

2025/09/30

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

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127:47

254 – Philip Fracassi & The Fresh Young Heart of...

Talking Scared ·

2025/09/23

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

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66:55

Episode 253 – Keith Rosson & The Real V-Word

Talking Scared ·

2025/09/16

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

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298 results

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