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Talking Scared

Neil McRobert

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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  • 28 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 21 min
  • English

Episodes 28

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  • June 9 · 1 hr 19 min

    282 – CJ Leede & Peeling Back the Skin of the World

    Horror’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

  • June 2 · 1 hr 16 min

    281 – Melissa Albert & The Howling Strangeness

    Melissa 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

  • May 29 · 1 hr 10 min

    Off Book #20 – Petrified, with Peter Dunne

    Off 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

  • May 26 · 1 hr 16 min

    280 – Neena Viel & Go Heinous or Go Home

    Disgust, 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

  • May 22 · 36 min

    Let Us Palaver #9 – The Wind Through the Keyhole Debrief

    A 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

  • May 19 · 2 hr 19 min

    The Dark Tower Deep Dive #9 – The Wind Through the Keyhole

    Whilst 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

  • May 12 · 1 hr 17 min

    279 – Sarah Langan & The Mask Eats the Face

    Trad 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

  • May 8 · 1 hr 35 min

    Off Book #19 – Dark Documentaries, with Kaelyn from Heart Starts Pounding

    Kaelyn 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

Showing 21–28 of 28 episodes