Talking Scared
Neil McRobert
0
Talking Scared features in-depth conversations with the biggest names in horror fiction. The show digs into where their most famous stories came from and what genuinely frightens the authors themselves. It's a compelling listen for horror readers who want to understand the real-life fears behind the fiction.
Epizode
-
289 – Annie Jacobsen & Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid 04.08.2026 1h 14minThis may be my scariest episode ever! We’ve covered non-fiction before, but rarely is the truth more frightening than the stories we tell. This week it just might be… cos Annie Jacobsen is here with Biological War: A Scenario. It unveils a narrative of speculative reality, in which an engineered pathogen escapes a lab, and runs rampant through our civilisation. Cities fall, millions die, the lights go out. I dared myself to read it. I dare you to listen to Annie tell us about her research, and the stuff she found that scares the hell out of her. Enjoy (sort of!) Other books mentioned: Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024), by Annie Jacobsen “A Modest Proposal” (1729), by Jonathan Swift World War Z (2006), by Max Brooks The Deluge (2023), by Stephen Markley A Brief History of the Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters (2021), by Andrew H. Knoll 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Let Us Palaver #10 – Wolves of the Calla Debrief 31.07.2026 41minIn our main Wolves of the Calla Deep Dive, we came within touching distance of the Dark Tower’s biggest secret yet. Chris doesn’t know what to think, which is just where Nat and I want him. So we stuck around to talk in full-spoiler terms about all the stuff Chris is yet to discover, and our own thoughts on books to come, on choice lines from Calla, and just what that reveal in the final pages really means for the nature of Roland’s world. Enjoy. But for your father’s sake Do Not Listen if you haven’t read the entire Dark Tower saga!! 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Dark Tower Deep Dive #10 – Wolves of the Calla 28.07.2026 2h 30minHallelujah, come commala, we’re back together! Finally, after stopping for side missions with Jack Sawyer, and a pair of stories of Roland’s younger days, we’re back in Midworld’s here-and-now to push on towards the Dark Tower. It’s time for Wolves of the Calla, a novel of old friends, new enemies…and a quite surprising amount of boobs. This is also where certain things start to get REAL!! We’re on the precipice of great discovery and you can hear Chris Panatier try to deal with it. Enjoy folken! Support Talking Scared on Patreon (say thankya!) Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
288 – Danielle Giles & A Spoonful of Skulldust (Makes the Medicine Go Down) 21.07.2026 1h 11minTime for a horrid history lesson. Daniell Giles is the author of medieval gothic Mere (2025), and the brand-new Restoration horror-show, Gentle Things. In this episode she talks about the nightmare of research, the similarities between the 1660s and our own sh**ty decade, and how much we both love Sarah Waters. But mostly it’s a guided tour of a dirty period in history, of murder, misogyny and… medicinal cannibalism! Yes, it’s a thing, and it’s nasty. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
287 – Megan Bontrager & The Cave of Cosmic Narcissism 14.07.2026 1h 15minI hope you have your headtorch this week – cos we’re going to some deep, dark places. Megan Bontrager’s debut novel, The Sea Hides its Dead, is a story of a mysterious cave, an unprepared expedition, and the monstrous secrets they find within. It’s shadowed by Lovecraft, it has big freaky monsters, and a whole deep mythology to unpick. In short it’s my kinda story. The exact level of geekery I like to discuss. Discuss we do. Meghan and I talk about video game inspirations, global sea cults, monsters and mysteries in The Bible, and worst of all – sleazy academics. Plus, I give my honest opinion on spelunking! (It’s not favourable) Enjoy Other books mentioned: The Eye of Ouroboros (2024), by Megan Bontrager The Caretaker (2026), by Marcus Kliewer The Fisherman (2017), by John Langan The Ruins (2006), by Scott Smith Babylon, South Dakota (2026), by Tom Lin The Faceless Thing We Adore (2025), by Hester Steel 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
286 – Chuck Tingle & Kill the Vegan Rockstars 07.07.2026 1h 21minLove is very very real on this week’s episode. The man, the myth, Chuck Tingle returns for a conversation about his latest novel, Fabulous Bodies – a story of body horror, influencer culture, artistic integrity and glam rock graverobbing. We talk about all of that, as well as the different rules for famous people, combining humour and extreme violence, we get some nuggets of info about Chuck’s youth, and I rant about how I hate Coldplay. Chuck is a force for good in the world. Hear his words. Read his books. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
285 – Paul Tremblay & Eternity at Bernie’s 30.06.2026 1h 11minThis week we’re putting the boot right into the ribs of the AI Industry, but doing it in horrific style, with Paul Tremblay and Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep. It’s a story of a young gamer, tasked with piloting a man’s comatose body across the United States using AI tech. But deep inside, the man is still conscious, and what he’s experiencing is nightmarish. Dark stuff, but surprisingly fun, maybe even funny. Paul and I talk about the humour and the human indignity of his story. He discusses the challenges of writing such a bodily novel, the horrific potential of endless virtual suffering, and we hear notes from the frontline of his legal case against ChatGPT. Always a joy to have Paul on the show! Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Sister’s Brothers (2011), by Patrick DeWitt “No, Artificial Intelligence is Not Conscious” (2026), by Ted Chiang – in The Atlantic Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), by Mary Roach The Deluge (2023), by Stephen Markley The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread But Can't Be Computed (2019), by Christof Koch “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967), by Harlan Ellison The Loop (2020), by Jeremy Robert Johnson A Short Stay in Hell (2009), by Stephen L. Peck The Flayed Man (2026), by Chloe Lauter Tillinghast (2026), by Clare Cavenagh Trad Wife (2026), by Sarah Langan Babylon, South Dakota (2026), by Tom Lin The Rouse (2026), by China Mieville Desert Radio (2026), by Pamela Durgin 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Off Book #22 – Scaredy Boys & The Coward’s Guide to Horror Movies (Part 2) 26.06.2026 1h 36minPart Two of my Scaredy Boy special, in which I quiz my friends in fear, Damo, Sean and To—AKA the Scaredy Boys themselves—about what they’ve seen and suffered through in their podcasting mission to conquer horror movies. We talk number one examples of dread, disgust and despair. We pick our favourite horror villains. We talk about the films we’ll never watch again and those we’re too scared to watch in the first place. Consider this a viewing guide for the brave and the frightened alike. Enjoy! Support Talking Scared and get become a Patreon subscriber. Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
284 – Tom Lin & Who Wants to Live Forever? 23.06.2026 1h 25minWould you rather die or live on and on and on and on… That’s one of the questions at the heart of Tom Lin’s Babylon, South Dakota. It’s a novel about a Chinese family who inherit an American farm, and whose lives are forever changed when the US military build strange missile silos on their land. It’s weird, inexplicable, deep, epic, sad and joyful and all the other things that make a good book. But it’s also dark. It prompts questions that might keep you awake in the warm depths of the summer night. And Tom and I talk about all of it. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu (2021), by Tom Lin “On Exactitude in Science” (1947), by Jorge Luis Borges “The Library of Babel,” (1941), by Jorge Luis Borges Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (1990), by James Tiptree Jr. End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse and the Unmaking of America (2026), by Chris Jennings 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Off Book #21 – Scaredy Boys & The Coward’s Guide to Horror Movies (Part 1) 19.06.2026 1h 20minThe first of a two-part special with the Scaredy Boys, my brothers-in-cowardice from Down Under. Damo, Tom and Sean are famously and unashamedly terrified of horror movies, and started a podcast to face their fears. Since 2020 they’ve been watching and analysing a horror movie every week – so now they’ve probably seen more than most of us. I got them onto Talking Scared to discuss their insane project, their changing attitudes to horror, and ask them some specific questions about what they’ve learned to love and fear along the way. Episode Two is out next Friday, or available right now for Patreon subscribers Enjoy! Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
283 – Naomi Kritzer & It Could Happen Anywhere 16.06.2026 1h 5minI dunno if this week’s episode is a dystopian nightmare or just a realist thriller. Naomi Krtizer, multi-award winning author of sci-fi and horror, join me for a conversation about her new novella, Obstetrix. It follows the struggles of doctor, kidnapped by a cult to work as their in-house OBGYN. What follows is a balance between personal survival and the obligation to the women in her care. Naomi and I talk about the state of healthcare and reproductive rights in America, which is never not a serious conversation. But we try to lighten the mood with some chat about the respite of reading (and re-reading), and the working definition of cults. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: “Monster” (2020), by Naomi Kritzer American War (2017), Omar El Akkad The Midnight Shift (2025), by Cheon Seon-Ran Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy The God of Endings (2023), by Jacqueline Holland 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
282 – CJ Leede & Peeling Back the Skin of the World 09.06.2026 1h 19minHorror’s reigning Queen of Extreme returns to the show! CJ Leede is the author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture, and if you’re abreast of contemporary horror you’ve heard of her twisted take on Americana. She’s back to talk about her third novel, Headlights, in which people are waking up from fugue-like states, to find themselves draped in the flayed skins of other people. What’s going on? Who’s doing it? Is it human or supernatural? Does it have anything at all to do with Stephen King’s The Shining? And where does the songwriting magic of John Denver come into things? CJ answers these and many other similarly weird questions. There’s so much to cover, we barely even talk about the act of skinning someone alive. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Shining (1977), by Stephen King Doctor Sleep (2013), by Stephen King How to Disappear Completely (2027), by Liz Kerin 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
281 – Melissa Albert & The Howling Strangeness 02.06.2026 1h 16minMelissa Albert’s novel may be called The Children, but it’s certainly not for kids. This is a story about the dark creativity behind bright make-believe, about the pretty lies of childhood and the brutal truths of growing up. It’s about writers and writing and as you’ll hear me point out, it does for fantasy fiction what Stephen King’s Misery did for Gothic romance. And by god do we talk about all of that. As well as celebrating a character that I believe to be one of the best “bad-mothers” in recent fiction (and the secret hero of the book!) But maybe that’s just me. I’m twisted. Enjoy. Other books mentioned: The Hazel Wood (2018), by Melissa Albert The Magicians (2009), by Lev Grossman Daytide (2026), by Chris Panatier When You Reach Me (2009) by Rebecca Stead Fangirl (2013), by Rainbow Rowell This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (2026), by Ilona Andrews 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Off Book #20 – Petrified, with Peter Dunne 29.05.2026 1h 10minOff to Old Dublin Town to have creepy tales pumped direct into our earholes this week. I’m joined by Peter Dunne, the writer and director of Petrified — Ireland’s premier horror drama podcast. It’s a horror show with a vein of Irish humour, but it’s not afraid to get really nasty when the chance arises. Across dozens of episodes, Peter and the team have offered serial killing parents, haunted lighthouses, doomed housing estates and possessed call centres. And now and then they shatter the fourth wall to curse the audience! And despite being surely the busiest man in podcasting, Peter talks to me all about it. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
280 – Neena Viel & Go Heinous or Go Home 26.05.2026 1h 16minDisgust, despair and belly laughs on the show this week – with Neena Viel and her new novel, I’ll Watch Your Baby. It’s a dense, troubling tale of child theft, social horror and demons, with plenty of putrid feet to give you a summertime ick! But if the book is a sickener, the author is a delight. Neena makes me do a proper full-on guffaw (has anyone EVER guffawed?), whilst we talk about urban-vs-rural horror, reprehensible acts and problematic protagonists, and the abiding lie of the Welfare Queen trope. Enjoy. Laugh. Even learn (up to you!) Other books mentioned: Listen to Your Sister (2025), by Neena Viel The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth (2019), by Josh Levin On Sundays She Picked Flowers (2026), by Yah Yah Schofield The Night Pool (2026), by Lauren Lee Smith 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Let Us Palaver #9 – The Wind Through the Keyhole Debrief 22.05.2026 36minA little more chat as the last of the starkblast fades. In this bonus Palaver episode, Nat and I stick around to dissect Chris’s disproportionate love for The Wind Through the Keyhole. We talk about what, if any conclusions can be drawn from this book, and then we get onto King’s intersections with Lovecraft and Tolkien – and some deep cut Dark Tower references elsewhere in the canon. Enjoy. But Do Not Listen if you haven’t read the entire Dark Tower saga!! 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The Dark Tower Deep Dive #9 – The Wind Through the Keyhole 19.05.2026 2h 19minWhilst the wind and world howls outside, we can all hunker indoors for the latest Dark Tower Deep Dive into King’s 2012 novel-of-stories, The Wind Through the Keyhole. To some, this could be an inessential pitstop, a mere nostalgic coda, written long after the climax of the main saga. To others it’s a testament to Stephen King’s raw storytelling chops, which shed a little more purpling light on Roland’s failing, fading world. You’ll have to listen to find out where we each stand. But I promise there will be talk of story structure, and Billy Bumblers, and certain Randall Flagg. And you’ll also hear how Chris Panatier has been trolling kind old uncle Stevie on social media. Boo Hiss!! Enjoy folks! 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 talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
279 – Sarah Langan & The Mask Eats the Face 12.05.2026 1h 17minTrad wives are taking over horror in 2026 – but I predict none will be more frightening and more gorgeously WEIRD than Sarah Langan’s novel. It’s the tale of a young woman in the dying era of journalism and the YouTube influencer who offers her hope, and much worse things…. I absolutely loved it. Sarah and I talk about the trad wife phenomenon, where it comes from, what it means, and how it’s all really based in cold hard capitalism. We talk about literary influences, about sustaining extreme weirdness in fiction, and why establishing character properly is so important. And we even recall the time we bonded over the gift of a mutant duck! Enjoy! Other books mentioned: Pet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King Trad Wife (2026), by Saratoga Schafer Yesteryear (2026), by Caro Claire Burke “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892), by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The King in Yellow (1985), Robert W. Chambers Rosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin The Ceremonies (1984), by T. E. D. Klein Room (2010), by Emma Donaghue Station Eleven (2014), by Hilary St. John Mandel 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Off Book #19 – Dark Documentaries, with Kaelyn from Heart Starts Pounding 08.05.2026 1h 35minKaelyn Moore returns to talk scared, straight from the helm of Heart Starts Pounding – her mega podcast of mysteries, murder and the macabre. She watches a lot of dark documentaries for research. I asked her to come talk about a few that recently inspired her (or disturbed her). We cover serial killers, cursed objects and a relationship that will give you serious ICK! But of course, this being Talking Scared, we also spin off into a conversation about ethics, belief and the justice system. ** I apologise to you as well as Kaelyn for my terrible suggestion of a documentary to watch. Hopefully my anger and self-loathing is funny. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
278 – Daisy Pearce & Bog Witches of the World Unite! 05.05.2026 1h 19minThis week is full of muck and murk and mushrooms. We flit amongst the trees, we bed on moss, we howl at the moon. Daisy Pearce is entering her bog witch era! The author takes us to her native Cornwall, for a story of haunting and imprisonment, small town baggage and creepy houses in the woods. We talk about the oppressive landscape and the mythical texture of the place. We ask whether anyone in a small town can ever really leave high school behind… and we really look at the fine art of trepanation AKA – having a hole drilled in your head (and what it would feel like!) Enjoy! Other books mentioned: Something in the Walls (2025), by Daisy Pearce Water Shall Refuse Them (2019), by Lucy McKnight Hardy A Head Full of Ghosts (2015), by Paul Tremblay Itch (2025), by Gemma Amor The Man From the Train : The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery (2017), by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James A Simple Plan (1993), by Scott Smith From Hell (1999), by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Slični podcasti
Popularan u
Ovaj podcast pojavljuje se i na podcast ljestvicama ovih zemalja.
