Talking Scared
Neil McRobert
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Top 10 Talking Scared Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Talking Scared episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Talking Scared for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Talking Scared episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
47 – Grady Hendrix and Final Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Talking Scared
07/13/21 • 62 min
Hello fellow horror-fiends. This week we’re going retro, to the heyday of horror, when men wore masks and women checked basements in their negligee.
Our guest is Grady Hendrix, a writer perpetually interested in taking tropes, only to stab them, kill them, and resurrect them as something new. He’s done it with exorcisms, vampires, the devil and ... erm .. IKEA.
Now he’s taking on the slasher and his counterpart, in The Final Girl Support Group. A novel that takes the bloody, weary body of the female heroine, and gives her the chance to kick the hell out of the monster chasing her. It’s meta, funny, wry and ironic – but it’s also a story with heart. I enjoyed it immensely.
Grady and I talk about our favourite slashers (and final girls), why we’re obsessed with nostalgia, what it means that we enjoy films about killing women, and I – once again – give away too much of my own psychological frailty. This time it’s my all-consuming terror of Freddy Kruger.
This is a book and conversation that will REALLY please the true horror lovers.
Enjoy!
The Final Girl Support Group is published July 13th by Berkley in North American and Titan in the UK.
Books mentioned in this episode include:
- Paperbacks From Hell (2017), by Grady Hendrix
- We Sold Our Souls (2018), by Grady Hendrix
- The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (2020), by Grady Hendrix
- Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (1992), by Carol J. Clover
- The Last Final Girl (2012), by Stephen Graham Jones
- Final Girls (2017), by Riley Sager
- The Tribe (1981), by Bari Wood
- When Darkness Loves Us (1985), by Elizabeth Engstrom
Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected].
Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.
41 – Max Brooks and Harry Eats the Hendersons
Talking Scared
06/01/21 • 63 min
It’s not often you speak to the author of a book that EVERYONE has heard of. This week I got the chance.
Max Brooks. Max-freaking-Brooks, author of global bestseller World War Z is here. But rather than the undead, we’re talking hairy things in the woods, technological dependence and woke hipsters being eaten.
Max’s latest novel, Devolution, regales us with the lives (and deaths) of an eco-community living deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Stranded by a disaster, they fall prey first to their own inadequacy and then to the very adequate hunger of roaming sasquatch,
We’ve talked Bigfoot and cryptozoology a lot on this show in recent weeks. But this is the big bad daddy of them all. A satire, a found-footage document, an adventure story, but also a blood, guts and claw-filled horror novel. It’s much grimmer than you may expect.
As well as monsters, Max and I discuss hokey documentaries, primate research, driverless cars, the cursed legacy of Steve Jobs and skewering our own liberal echo chamber. But it all centres on how patently unprepared our society really is for crisis.
Enjoy.
Devolution is published in paperback on June 10th by Del Rey.
Other books and documentaries discussed in this episode include:
- Bigfoot: The Mysterious Monsters (1976) directed by Robert Guenette
- Night of the Crabs (1976), by Guy N. Smith
- World War Z (2006), by Max Brooks
- The Harlem Hellfighters (2014), by Max Brooks
My review of Devolution in the UK Guardian can be found HERE.
Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected].
Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.
81 – Tyler Jones and Old Eyes in Young Faces
Talking Scared
03/01/22 • 69 min
Tyler Jones’ Burn the Plans reminds me of the first time I picked up Stephen King’s Night Shift. I didn’t know who this King guy was, only that his stories were varied, scary, funny, awful and sweet and sweetly awful. In short, a great time.
Burn the Plans is the same.
The collection dashes from an ever-so-American-Gothic farm to a bloodsoaked art gallery, CIA psychic experimentation to invisible Frankensteinian limb-monsters. Tyler’s imagination runs amok and breaks the crockery.
We talk about small presses and self-publishing, the discipline of being your own editor, the writing from the POV of kids and the problems with perfect prose.
We also discuss the collection’s theme – that life isn’t safe, that we should learn to expect the unexpected, be ready to live with (and survive crisis).
That message has never been so clear as in recent news ... and if you listen to this episode, please stick around for my outro as I have something to say, and dedications to make.
Enjoy!
Burn the Plans was published February 28th by Cemetary Gates Media
Other books mentioned in this conversation include:
- Criterium (2020), by Tyler Jones
- Almost Ruth (2021), by Tyler Jones
- The Bone Clocks (2014), by David Mitchell
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (2010), by David Mitchell
- Consider This (2020), by Chuck Palahniuk
- From a Buick 8 (2002), by Stephen King
Support Talking Scared on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, and TikTok or email direct to [email protected]
Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store.
03/30/21 • 63 min
Does your child draw pentagrams? Have you noticed the neighbours hanging their robes over the washing line? Worst of all, have they started listening to .... HEAVY METAL??
You may be experiencing a satanic panic. Worry not, our guest, Clay McLeod Chapman can diagnose this for you. Clay’s new novel, Whisper Down the Lane is both a homage to the horror of the 80s, and an exploration of how that decade's battle with truth, memory and Satan(!!) lives on today. His story riffs on the very real scandal at the McMartin Preschool, as well as the wider hysteria that led to people being sacked, vilified and even imprisoned based upon absolute bulls*t.
As you’ll hear, it’s a darker tale than I had imagined, but it’s also jam-packed with references, easter-eggs and allusions to the horror that made the decade. Along the way Clay talks to me about how the satanic panic never really went away, how it ties into our very modern sense of ‘truth’ and he tells me why he never wants his kids to read his stories.
On my part, I tell him the world is ok and other unconscionably optimistic things!
Oh, and I’m convinced that Clay orchestrated Lil Nas X’s ’Satan Shoes’ to help him sell more copies.
Enjoy!
Whisper Down the Lane is published by Quirk Books on April 6th 2021.
Other books we discussed this week include:
- Rosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin
- Geek Love (1989), by Katherine Dunn
- Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021), by Cassandra Khaw
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected].
Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.
29 – Angela Slatter and Kelpies not Selkies!!
Talking Scared
03/10/21 • 57 min
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there was a young woman, bad men, and some homicidal mermaids. It’s fairy tale time.
Our guest is Angela Slatter, who’s new novel All the Murmuring Bones turns the fairy stories that comforted you as a child, into a horrid tale of murder, inheritance, death, sex and entrapment. In this world Hansel and Gretel would be a very tasty pie-filling.
Angela has spent years studying the fairy tale tradition and turning it against her readers. All the Murmuring Bones is her first full length novel taking place in the dark world he has created. This conversation is half about her book, and half about the tradition as a whole. Think of it as a compact university course without the fees, the homework or the risk of STIs.
We talk about the darker versions of old tales, why all fairytales seem inherently feminist, and why they are coming back into force. I also make a big mistake about mythical creatures that makes me sound more than a little creepy, until rectified.
Enjoy!
All the Murmuring Bones is published by Titan Books on March 9th in Australia and North America, and on March 29th in the UK.
Other books mentioned in this episode include:
- Sourdough and other Stories (2010), by Angela Slatter
- The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (2014), by Angela Slatter
- The Once and Future Witches (2020), by Alex Harrow
- Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins (1993), by Emma Donoghue
- The Bloody Chamber (1979), by Angela Carter
- The Faery Handbag (2004), by Kelly Link
- From the Beast to the Blond: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers (1994), by Marina Warner
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected].
Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.
80 – Gretchen Felker-Martin and Bustin’ Everyone’s Balls
Talking Scared
02/22/22 • 65 min
Have you ever wondered what fresh testicles taste like? No? I don’t believe you.
Our guest this week wants to get you thinking about it ... well, that and many more important things. Gretchen Felker-Martin is the author of Manhunt – potentially the most buzzed-about horror novel of 2022. The story follows a pair of trans- protagonists through a blighted landscape of monstrous men and militant feminists – with the prized scrotal orbs being the key to continued life, and the pursuit of happiness.
Quite a lot to chew on, right (I’ll stop!). On top of that pulpy set up, the book goes deep, turning the end-of-the-world into the perfect allegory for anti-trans thinking, but also sparing much empathy for the confused, the ignorant and the self-loathing. It’s an angry book, but a thoughtful one.
Gretchen and I talk about love and hate, about the fear of involuntary transitioning, about victimhood and caring and fighting back against facism. I went in expecting a polemic but ended the conversation feeling strangely better about the world.
I hope you do too.
Enjoy!
Manhunt is published February 22nd by Tor Nightfire
Other books mentioned in this conversation include:
- Tell Me I’m Worthless (2021), by Alison Rumfitt
- “The Screwfly Solution” (1977), by Alice Sheldon
- IT (1986), by Stephen King
Gretchen’s interview with Heat Death can be found here.
Support Talking Scared on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, and TikTok or email direct to [email protected]
Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store.
48 – Chuck Wendig and the Comforting Embrace of Horror
Talking Scared
07/20/21 • 65 min
Weather this hot demands the cool balm of a book, and do I have one for you.
The Book of Accidents is the latest horror-epic from Chuck Wendig – the seeming literary successor to King, Straub, McCammon and Barker. Wendig’s books take you in their embrace and say “you’re mine now” or maybe “we all float down here.” Here, in this case, being a mineshaft in the rural vacancy of Pennsylvania.
There is plenty of hype around The Book of Accidents and I’m delighted to say it’s all earned. This is quite simply the kind of big, bombastic storytelling you don’t get much of anymore, a steak-and-lobster-with-ice-cream for after sort of novel that fills you up and leaves you satisfied.
The book is so big, and the ideas so grand, that Chuck and I end up forgetting to talk much about the actual story. Instead we discuss what it has to say about society – good and bad – about kindness, and love and the comfort of horror that we all-too often ignore in favour of the viscera. In short, it’s a wholesome conversation about a wholesome book, about a very unwholesome scenario.
Oh – and Chuck tells us all about the very real haunted house that inspired it. A house he happens to have grown up in.
Enjoy!
The Book of Accidents was published by Del Rey on 20th July.
Other books mentioned in the show include:
- Blackbirds: Miriam Black #1 (2012), by Chuck Wendig
- Wanderers (2018), by Chuck Wendig
- The Three (2014), by Sarah Lotz
- Road of Bones (coming 2022), by Christopher Golden
Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected].
Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design.
01/11/22 • 89 min
Kicking off the New Year right, by interviewing one of my favourite living writers.
John Connolly is the author of the bestselling Charlie Parker series, a 19 book odyssey that takes us from the Maine coast to the darkest corners of the USA (and elsewhere), in the process, transmuting hardboiled detective noir into cosmic horror.
After two decades of reading about Parker, you can be sure I have plenty to ask John – about writing American horror as an Irishman, Maine’s hostile spaces, the thrilling allure of literary violence, and whether he has an end in sight.
But John is also here to talk about a whole other beast. Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction is his mammoth attempt to map the contours of his native literature, and expose the snobbery that has suppressed it. We talk a lot about how genre works (and doesn’t work), and how Irish fiction is at the very bedrock of this horror thing we all love.
I’m a fanboy this week, no point denying it. I just did my best not to embarrass myself – especially as we were both enjoying a festive drink!
Enjoy!!
Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction was published October 2021 by Hodder and Stoughton.
Other books mentioned in this episode include:
- Every Dead Thing (1999), by John Connolly – the first Charlie Parker book.
- Dark Matter (2010), by Michelle Paver
- All the White Spaces (2022), by Ally Wilkes
- The Art of the Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories (2020), by Sinéad Gleeson
- American Gods (2001), by Neil Gaiman
- The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), by Robert B. Parker (first appearance of Spenser)
Support Talking Scared on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, and TikTok or email direct to [email protected]
Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store.
56 – Aliya Whiteley and Strange Growths
Talking Scared
09/14/21 • 66 min
Growth is good, right? That’s what they tell us.
Our guest this week might have other ideas. Aliya Whiteley’s is a novelist, short story writer and poet, whose writing is all about growth. In her strange worlds people, plants, entire worlds sprawl and mutate, but often the change is anything but wholesome.
In her new collection, From the Neck Up she introduces us to disembodied heads, fleshy scarecrows, parasitical towns, dark ecology and violent agricultural rites. These stories sit on the cusp of a world gone sour, and peel back the curtain to show us how the past and the present may (ahem) grow into an awful future.
Before you go thinking these are just run-of-the-mill apocalypses though, be warned and reassured that Aliya’s writing is anything but normal. She blends horror, science-fiction, fantasy, the surreal and absurd and even a sprinkling of dark comedy – all transmuted into something she calls the strange.
We try (and fail) to pin her stories down. We talk about how she crafts her stories, where they start and why the often end where we least expect. Along the way we take in the climate crisis, ecology and evolving change, the history of science fiction, the future of folk horror, and the legends of her native Devon.
Enjoy!
From the Neck Up was published by Titan Books on 14th September
Other books mentioned in this episode include:
- The Beauty (2014), by Aliya Whiteley
- Memoirs of a Survivor (1974), by Doris Lessing
- Annihilation (2014), by Jeff VanderMeer
- The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell (2021), by Brian Evenson
- Day of the Triffids (1951), by John Wyndha
- The Bloody Chamber (1979), by Angela Carter
- Rebecca (1938), by Daphne du Maurier
- Lorna Doone (1869), by R. D. Blackmore
Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected].
Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store.
204 – Adam Nevill & Watch For the Freak Wave
Talking Scared
07/23/24 • 77 min
Why is Adam Nevill so scary?
I don’t know. Do you? He’s a nice guy – as you’ll hear in this episode. Yet he tells stories that crawl under your skin and stay there. Stories that squat in your subconscious.
His latest novel, All the Fiends of Hell is no exception. Same elusive nightmare mystery, but expanded to a whole epic end-of-the-world canvas. And when Adam says end of the world, he means it.
In this conversation we talk about apocalyptic fantasy, about angels and demons, about the sea and its endless hope, and about his own unique style when it comes to fear and monsters.
Oh... and about a certain prog-rock masterpiece that plays a big part in this story and in each of our childhoods.
Enjoy.
- The War of the Worlds (1898), by H.G. Wells
- The Road (2006), by Cormac McCarthy
- Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024), by Annie Jacobsen
- Apartment 16 (2010), by Adam Nevill
- Last Days (2012), by Adam Nevill
- Banquet for the Damned (2004), by Adam Nevill
- Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival (2022), by Luke Harding
- The Turn of The Screw (1898), by Henry James
- The Exorcist (1971), by William Peter Blatty
Here is the link for Adam’s story - “Where Angels Come In” at Nightmare Magazine
And the link to the Shadows at the Door Kickstarter for EARWORM
Support Talking Scared on Patreon
Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected]
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FAQ
How many episodes does Talking Scared have?
Talking Scared currently has 226 episodes available.
What topics does Talking Scared cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture, Podcasts, Books and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Talking Scared?
The episode title '111 – Alexis Henderson and Hot Marxist Bloodletting' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Talking Scared?
The average episode length on Talking Scared is 72 minutes.
How often are episodes of Talking Scared released?
Episodes of Talking Scared are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Talking Scared?
The first episode of Talking Scared was released on Sep 1, 2020.
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