Episodi

  • Let Us Palaver #11 – Hearts in Atlantis Debrief

    Let Us Palaver #11 – Hearts in Atlantis Debrief
    Nov 6 2026
    Following the debate and disagreements of the main deep dive into Hearts in Atlantis, Nat stuck around to discuss some more spoiler-laden details. We talk about the wider impact of the Low Men, and how this book is starting to hint at a major secret that Chris can’t yet know. We also make plans for how to bring this project home – and spend a fair bit of time just calling Chris names! 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
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    35 min
  • The Dark Tower Deep Dive #11 – Hearts in Atlantis

    The Dark Tower Deep Dive #11 – Hearts in Atlantis
    Nov 3 2026
    Deep dives don’t go any deeper than lost Atlantis! In this latest station of the Dark Tower readalong, we head back to the 1960s for Stephen King’s Hearts in Atlantis – a book closer to my heart than almost anything King has ever written. As such, this gets a little contentious and arguments ensue. I will not back down!! We talk about how this capsule of the USA’s most turbulent decade links directly to the Dark Tower. We spot hints of Randall Flagg. We talk peace and love, cynicism and hope, and we celebrate one of King’s greatest ever pieces of character work. Chris meets Low Men for the first time (or is it!?) and Nat gives us his take on the anti-boomer despair at the fulcrum of this novel. It’s a lot. Hence the 2.45 running time. Hope you enjoy it. Koko (1988), by Peter Straub First Blood (1972), by David Morrell From a Buick 8 (2002), by Stephen King Matterhorn (2009), by Karl Marlantes The Sorrow of War (1987), by Bảo Ninh 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
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    2 ore e 48 min
  • 301 – Jane Schoenbrun & Trapped by the Goonies?

    301 – Jane Schoenbrun & Trapped by the Goonies?
    Oct 27 2026
    You may know Jane Schoenbrun as the genius behind I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasm, but I’m telling you that you HAVE to check out their debut novel. Public Access Afterworld is an epic of the inbetween. It’s about a mysterious TV signal that reveals ruptures in reality, and how all of existence is so much stranger than we know. It’s an extension of Jane’s creative obsessions and their work to date, but also entirely it’s own insane thing. Jane and I talk about the big themes. Media and reality, identity and transformation, horror and love. We give no spoilers, we just invite you in. Come join us between the static and the signal. Enjoy – and thanks for listening. 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
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    53 min
  • 300 – Dorian Ravenscroft & Finding Love in a Hopeless Place

    300 – Dorian Ravenscroft & Finding Love in a Hopeless Place
    Oct 20 2026
    The 300th author interview is here. And I’m delighted it’s with a debut author, about a truly wonderful book. Dorian Ravenscroft’s The White North Has Thy Bones is a supreme slice of Polar Gothic and Queer Horror alike. It’s the story of a disastrous 1860 expedition to the Arctic, and the competing stories of brutality and survival told by the few who make it home. Despite all the bloodshed and … strange meat… it’s also, somehow, a moving love story. We talk about all of those elements, as well as the weirder parts of Arctic naval history and just why the great frozen north is such a good backdrop for Queer stories. And I give my advice for how to survive being starvation on the ice. Enjoy – and thanks for listening. The Terror (2007), by Dan Simmons The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2025), by David Grann Where the Dead Wait (2023), by Ally Wilkes Coffin Moon (2025), by Keith Rosson An Immaculate Deception (2026) by Isabela Livino 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
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    1 ora e 19 min
  • Off Book #24 – Whalefall, with Brian Duffield & Daniel Kraus

    Off Book #24 – Whalefall, with Brian Duffield & Daniel Kraus
    Oct 16 2026
    Happy Whalefall Weekend! Brian Duffield’s incredible adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ novel is now in cinemas. I was lucky enough to see an early screening and even luckier to get time with Brian and Daniel to talk about how the hell they made something so audacious. We talk daddy issues aplenty, whale stomach sets, practical FX and the toll they took on the star, Austin Abrams. And I get lost in my own rapture over a certain scene that almost made me feel a real, authentic human emotion. Unbelievable. 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
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    55 min
  • 299 – Will Maclean & Uneasy Islands in Time

    299 – Will Maclean & Uneasy Islands in Time
    Oct 13 2026
    In Solace House, Will Maclean takes us back to the 90s for a drug-fuelled trip through some mindbending architecture. It’s a chance to get nostalgic for a more innocent time, when the clothes were baggy, the music was better, and you could spend a summer spent renovating an old asylum without needing to put in on TikTok. It’s all fun and games until the existential terror kicks in and the fabric of reality comes unwoven. Enjoy. This one was a good laugh. The Apparition Phase (2020), by Will Maclean And He Shall Appear (2025), by Kate van der Borgh The Modern Antiquarian (1998), by Julian Cope The Prisonhouse of Language (1972), by Fredric Jameson The Human Evasion (1969), by Celia Green Starmaker (1937), by Olaf Stapledon A Short Stay in Hell (2009), by Steven L. Peck “The Jaunt,” in Night Shift (1978), by Stephen King The Divine Farce (2009), by Michael Graziano 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
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    1 ora e 25 min
  • 298 – Stephen King & The Final Turn of the Big Combination

    298 – Stephen King & The Final Turn of the Big Combination
    Oct 6 2026
    This episode needs no attempt at a witty introduction. Stephen King is back to talk about Other Worlds Than These – the concluding volume of The Talisman saga, begun with Peter Straub 45 years ago. We keep it spoiler-free, but we talk about Jack Sawyer’s journey and how it entwines with The Dark Tower. We reflect on The Talisman and Black House, on Wolf and my heartbreak. We discuss Peter’s inspiration for the story and how King summoned him to bring it to a close. And we even get some hints of what’s cooking in Steve’s brain for future projects. It seems he’s never slowing down, no matter what he say. I hope you enjoy this. Other books mentioned: Julia (1975), by Peter Straub Ghost Story (1979), by Peter Straub Redheaded Peckerwood (2010), by Christian Patterson King Sorrow (2025), by Joe Hill Sleeping Beauties (2017), by Stephen and Owen King Trad Wife (2026), by Sarah Langan 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
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    1 ora e 1 min
  • 297 – Kyle Winkler & Roll For Your “F**K You” Stats

    297 – Kyle Winkler & Roll For Your “F**K You” Stats
    Sep 29 2026
    Leaning into absolute high geekery this week – with Kyle Winkler’s novel of how family game night can go badly wrong! The Ship of Death is about a cursed (and I mean CURSED!) tabletop role-playing game and the unlucky couple who choose to play it. Or, as Kyle describes it “Dark Jumanji.” It prompts a conversation about games in life and fiction. Epistolary structure and found-fiction. We discuss his relationship with the bizarre, his love for mysteries without answers, we consider who is really responsible for the world-building in a story, and we pay a lot of respect to cosmic horror influences beyond Lovecraft. It’s was a delight to record. Hope you enjoy listening. Other books mentioned: Grasshands (2024), by Kyle Winkler Boris Says the Words (2022), by Kyle Winkler The Nothing That Is (2020), by Kyle Winkler Borne (2017), by Jeff VanderMeer Zothique (1970), by Clarke Ashton Smith The Dying Earth (1950), by Jack Vance Enduring Love (1997), by Ian McEwan Negative Space (2020), by B.R. Yeager True Crime (2020), by Samantha Kolesnik The House Next Door (1978), by Anne River Siddons My Dark Places (1996), by James Ellroy Penpal (2012), by Dathan Auerbach Mockingbird (1980), by Paul Tevis The Blacktongue Thief (2021), by Christopher Buehlman 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
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    1 ora e 29 min