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192 episodes
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Talking Scared Neil McRobert
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4.9 • 196 Ratings
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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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192 – Robert Ottone & Raising Kids in Langan Country
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Opinions are like assholes, they say. Everybody has one.
The subtext of that, is that you shouldn’t show them to people.
Well my guest and I don’t hold back on ours this week. Robert Ottone joins me for a conversation about his debut novel for adults, The Vile Thing We Created, which is almost exactly one year old.
I loved it, which is more than either of us can say for the one-year old little boy that it is about. This novel skewers the impulse to procreation – presenting a horror story of parenthood that will make the child-free sweat and the happily en-familied nod sagely (though hopefully your child isn’t a cosmic-horror menace.
Robert and I wade into the controversy over not having children? We ask, how people summoj the courage to do it in such a frightening world, and we also hold forth on other topics, such as why most colleagues are boring and some ill-advised movie opinions. I blame Robert, I’m usually so shy and retiring.
Seriously though, this is a great conversation. More disorganised and discursive than usual. Though for once, that is no bad thing.
Enjoy!
The Vile Thing We Created was published on April 18th 2023, by Hydra.
Other books mentioned:
The Triangle (2022), by Robert Ottone
Less Than Zero (1985), by Bret Easton Ellis
Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis
Imperial Bedrooms (2010), by Bret Easton Ellis
Sefira and Other Betrayals (2019), by John Langan
Watchmen (1987), by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Filthy Creation (2023), by Caroline Hagood
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191 – Chris Panatier & The Goo of Human Nature
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Ah the madhouse. The loony bin. The ASYLUM!!
A classic horror location. One of my favourites, but problematic as hell in the wrong hands.
Thankfully, I have the right author for the topic. Christ Panatier has the talent and the sensitivity to ensure that his novel, The Redemption of Morgan Bright can engage with the tropes without perpetuating them. He brings something as old-as-time but very new to asylum horror, and the results are dizzying, terrifying, awful.
We talk about the perils of research for an empathetic horror writer, we discuss some hideous medical practices from the past, and we look hard at the desecration of rights that we all grew up assuming were here to stay.
Plus, the way to make friends in the horror community...
Enjoy!
The Redemption of Morgan Bright was published on April 23rd by Angry Robot Books
Other books mentioned:
The Phlebotomist (2020), by Chris PanatierStringer (2022), by Chris PanatierAnnihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeerThe Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley JacksonNever Let Me Go (2005), by Kazuo IshiguroMad Wives: Schizophrenic Women in the 1950s (1988), by Carol A. B. WarrenFull Immersion (2022), by Gemma AmorThe Grip of It (2017), by Jac JemcThe House at the End of Lacelean Street (2024), by Catherine McCarthyThe Spite House (2023), by Johnny ComptonThe Day of the Door (2024), by Laurel Hightower
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Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
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190 – Kaaron Warren & The Un-Cosy House
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We all love a good spooky house. And most of us enjoy a terrifying home-invasion ordeal (or at least, I know I do).
What happens when you put them together? Kaaron Warren’s The Underhistory is the answer, but it’s nothing at all like what you’d expect.
This new novel by the award-winning Australian writer is a story of memory, of rooms and architecture, of violence and misogyny, and of a very unusual old lady. We talk about all of that and more. It’s a great conversation, one in which we go hunting for the secrets of her book together.
Enjoy!
The Underhistory was published on April 11th by Viper
Other books mentioned:
Slights (2009), by Kaaron WarrenThe Grief Hole (2016), by Kaaron WarrenAny Human Heart (2002), by William BoydThe Measure of Sorrow (2023), by J. Ashley-Smith
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Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
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189 – The Black Girl Survives in This One, with Saraciea J. Fennell, Desiree S. Evans, Monica Brashears & Eden Royce
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I bite off a lot this week, in a five-way conversation with editors and contributors to the ever-so-of-the-moment anthology The Black Girl Survives in This One. That’s a promise right there on the title page, but as you will find out, survival is not always the same thing as living happily ever after.
Saraciea J. Fennell, Desiree S. Evans, Monica Brashears & Eden Royce talk to me about the vision (and necessity) of the project and where their stories came from? We discuss the role of urban and family legend, authentic dialogue, writing for younger readers and how horror’s treatment of Black writers and characters has changed.
Enjoy!
The Black Girl Survives in This One was published on April 2nd by Flatiron Books
Other books mentioned:
Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison60 Black Women in Horror Fiction (2014), by Sumiko SaulsonOf One Blood (1903), by Pauline HopkinsOut There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (2023), ed, by Jordan Peele and John Joseph AdamsThe Vampire Huntress Legends Series (2003-2009), by L.A. Banks
Support Talking Scared on Patreon
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
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188 – Scarlett Thomas & Hot Gothic
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I’m in literary hero territory again … at least this time it’s sunny!
My guest is Scarlett Thomas, the groundbreaking writer of PopCo, Oligarchy, The Seed Collectors and the (post)modern speculative classic, The End of Mr Y. She’s one of my favourite writers, who has never seen five or six separate genres she can’t mash together.
This time around we are talking “Hot Gothic” in The Sleepwalkers, a darkly playful tale of a vacation–and a marriage–gone horribly wrong.
We cover accidentally arriving at a structure, the many ways to build characters from scratch, the dark consequences of sex and desire taken too far – and we agree on how hotels are just inherently creepy.
Great book. Great guest.
Enjoy!
The Sleepwalkers was published on April 9th by Simon and Schuster
Other books mentioned:
The End of Mr Y (2006), by Scarlett ThomasThe Seed Collectors (2015), by Scarlett ThomasOligarchy (2019), by Scarlett ThomasOpen: An Autobiography (2009), by Andre AgassiThe Woman in White (1860), by Wilkie CollinsThe Moonstone (1868), by Wilkie CollinsGone Girl (2012), by Gillian FlynnThe Talented Mr Ripley (1955), by Patricia HighsmithHangsaman (1951), by Shirley Jackson
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187 – The Carrie 50th Anniversary Deep Dive, with Nat Cassidy & Ally Malinenko
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Carrie White turns 50 years old today!
April 5th, 1974 – the day King’s debut came out, and the world of horror we know live in changed forever.
To celebrate such an auspicious anniversary, there are only two people I could invite to this party. Step up Nat Cassidy and Ally Malinenko – writers who understand King and that bitter, brutal world between childhood and adulthood.
We talk about empathy and monsters, about the horror of high school, the abject and the menstruation taboo and about how we are all living in Margaret White’s America now…
Raise a glass to the prom queen of horror. She can light her own candles.
Enjoy!
Support Talking Scared on Patreon
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
Support the Show.
Customer Reviews
My Favorite Bookish Podcast!
These episodes are a true treasure trove for any lover of bookish horror! I find myself reading books only to find that the most recent episode is an interview with the author! My TBR pile is getting out of control, thanks to Talking Scared! I love, love, love this podcast! Keep up the incredible work!
Into The Mind of a Horror Writer
It’s an interesting place to go. Into the darkest parts of human nature, but it’s there where we are entertained when we pick up a book or a pen and stroll on in.
As a writer who has just produced a ghost story, this podcast is rich with ideas and inspiration. Than you!!!
A Treasure for Readers of Horror Fiction
Host Neil McRobert leads an in-depth and wide ranging discussion with some of the biggest and/or most interesting authors on the horror and dark fiction scene. Neil, while having some questionable opinions about film, has an infectious enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the genre and has created an excellent podcast for other horror fiction enthusiasts to either learn about authors and/or novels that they might not have been immediately familiar or to get greater insight into novels they have already read and enjoyed. I’m slowly but steadily making my way through the back catalogue but I highly recommend it.