Talking Scared

• 239 – Sarah Pinborough & What Are Ghosts But Lies Persevering?

  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 [email protected]   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• 238 – The Frozen Frontier: Ally Wilkes and Michelle Paver, Live at the Oxford Literary Festival

  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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Off Book #9 – Eli Craig & Clown in a Cornfield

  Send in the clowns!   In this Off Book episode I talk to Eli Craig, director of cult-classic Tucker and Dale vs Evil, and the man who put Clown in a Cornfield up on the big screen.   After crowbarring my way into his press day, I asked him what drew him to the project, what else there is to ‘do’ with scary clowns and slashers in cinema, and what this movie has to say about Middle America right now.   We go deeper than you’d expect for a movie about clowns chasing kids with chainsaws.   Enjoy   Clown in a Cornfield is in cinemas from May 9th.   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 [email protected]   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• 237 – Joe Abercrombie & The International Brotherhood of the Blade

  Let’s get grim and dark with Lord Grimdark!   Perhaps the greatest benefit of having a book podcast like mine is the opportunity to speak to my very favourite authors. I’ve been reading Joe Abercrombie’s violent, world-weary dark fantasy for TWENTY years! And now he’s on the show.   Consider me excited.   His new book may be called The Devils, and it may contain werewolves, vampires, necromancers and oceans of blood – but it’s quite a cheery affair for Joe. I have never laughed so much in preparation for an interview.   We talk writing the most anti of antiheroes, gender-flipping the catholic church, and why you shouldn’t sleep with people who own swords.   It’s a lot of fun.   Enjoy!   Other books mentioned:   A Game of Thrones (1996), by George R. R. Martin Wizard of Earthsea (1968), by Usula K. Le Guin LA Confidential (1990) by James Ellroy Blood Meridian (1995), by Cormac McCarthy   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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• 236 – Brian Keene & Living in the Splatter

  Brian Keene has written so many damn books! …and I had never read any of them.   This absolute horror faux-pas (and my embarrassment) is the reason that it’s taken so long to get Brian on the show. But I set a week aside and read as many Keene books as I could and here we are… on a leisurely stroll through Brian’s life and career,both of which he has devoted to stories of really nasty s*** happening to undeserving people. We talk abouthis bleak coming-of-age novel, Ghoul, his story of a homicidal nightfrom hell, The Complex, and his sombre study of mortality and writing inthe 21st century, The End of the Road. And between all that we cover hope and nihilism, we ask if horror could help shore up the failing centre, and Brian talks me through all the great writers I missed when I wasn’t paying enough attention to horror. Enjoy!   Other books mentioned: The Rising (2003), by Brian Keene Entombed (2011), by Brian Keene Ghoul (2007), by Brian Keene End of the Road (2020), by Brian Keene The Cellar (1980), by Richard Laymon The Beast House (1986), by Richard Laymon The Island (1995), by Richard Laymon A Writer’s Tale (1998), by Richard Laymon The Girl Next Door (1989), by Jack Ketchum Survivor (2002), by J.F. Gonzalez A Choir of Ill Children (2007) by Tom Piccirilli “Sticks” (1974), by Karl Edward Wagner “West Of Matamoros, South of Hell” (2017), by Brian Hodge (in Best Horror of the Year, Volume 10, edited by Ellen Datlow) The Day of the Door (2024), by Laurel Hightower The Better To Eat You With (2024), by Wesley Southard   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 [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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