Dark Minds : Horror & Dark Fantasy Writers

Alan Warren
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Books
  • Updated Daily

For the best in Horror listen to our newest podcast series 'Dark Minds' Here we talk with the creators of some of the most ingenious suspense, horror, and dark fantasy writing to find out how they get there. We will go through their process and what influenced them to get into writing and keeps them interested. From the makers of the House of Mystery radio show Alan R Warren. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 4d ago

    Megan Mostyn-Brown - The Need

    Every family has its secrets. But in this electric, provocative, and dizzyingly fast-paced horror debut, some families have The Need. “An instant contender for horror novel of the year.”—Joe Hill “This one gets stuck between your teeth, in the best way.”—Stephen Graham Jones “You need to read The Need.”—S.A. Cosby “A thrilling and surprisingly tender exploration of our most essential, primal fears.”—Riley Keough The Need is a rare genetic disorder. Those who have it must consume human flesh or die. For some, The Need is power. For others, it is a curse. Talia has been on the run with her two teenagers since the kids were babies, changing names and identities every time someone gets close to discovering her familyʼs tragic secret. Sam is her son, tormented by The Need, unable to stop giving in to his darkest desires, much to his mother’s chagrin. Rosie, his twin sister, whoʼs escaped her mom’s and brotherʼs genetic curse, is desperate for a life of normalcy—like a TikTok account, Homecoming, or a kiss with her mysterious new friend Naomi. But her brother keeps eating people and, frankly, itʼs ruining her life. Vera, a former supermodel and member of New York City’s elite Armstrong family, lives a life of luxury, haute couture, and eating people. Yes, unlike Talia, the Armstrongs secretly pride themselves on their genetic abnormality. But beneath Veraʼs opulent lifestyle is a woman whoʼs ruthlessly haunted by a mistake from her past. It has corrupted her standing with the Armstrongs, ruined her relationship with her kids, and is slowly unraveling her sanity. Vera will do whatever it takes to correct it. On the surface, these two families have nothing in common. But Talia is harboring a secret from the twins—one that will bring them crashing into the Armstrongs. And when the truth comes out, no one will ever be the same. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Megan Mostyn-Brown - The Need

  2. Aug 12

    Hank Schwaeble - Normal for the Spider

    From Bram Stoker Award winning author Hank Schwaeble, Normal for the Spider is a spine-tingling thriller that will keep readers hooked to the very last page. Sienna Shaw is an apex predator. She kills without remorse when it suits her purposes, steals from those she judges undeserving of what they have, lives by her own set of rules. Just don't call her a serial killer. She knows what she is and what she always will be--a survivor whose governing creed is simple: Trust No One. Or so Sienna believes, until the day she encounters a shadowy group that calls itself the Book Club. A small, well-funded, highly secret society united by their shared taste for the macabre and a desire to instill fear among entrepreneurs, industrialists, politicians--any who imagine themselves in charge of civilization--to remind them who is really at the top of the food chain. Sienna soon finds herself as a reluctant guest on a remote and supposedly haunted island where the Book Club plans to unleash hell upon its next target and usher in a new chapter of its terroristic mission. But not even Sienna is prepared for the tangled web of betrayal and horror that awaits, or the very real monsters that will be let loose--including ones that may have been present all along. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Hank Schwaeble - Normal for the Spider

  3. Jul 22

    W.H. Chizmar - Them : A Novel

    The solo debut from the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Widow's Point: The Complete Haunting, a post-apocalyptic/survival horror novel written in the bestselling traditions of Stephen King’s The Mist and Josh Malerman’s Bird Box. A top-secret government project hits upon a revolutionary idea for transporting matter across the vast reaches of the universe, and it succeeds in bringing something back. Something alive. Soon, mankind’s reign comes to an abrupt halt when a truck hauling a very special shipping container overturns and rolls off the highway, unleashing an otherworldly horror upon an unsuspecting New England countryside, where it cannot be contained… Several years later, an unidentified man emerges from the rubble of humanity, seeking other survivors and a shred of hope amid an eerie and lonely landscape. He travels by night up the rural East Coast, discovering Americana ruins and encountering monsters the likes of which no one has survived. Scarred and molded by the cruel horrors of this new natural order, he must face his own dwindling humanity and pray that any others out there have not become monsters themselves… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    W.H. Chizmar - Them : A Novel

  4. Jul 18

    Bill Gauthier - The Monster in the Closet

    What if the monster in your child’s closet is real? Tim Beaulieu’s daughter, Cleo, says that the monster is also her invisible friend, whom she blames for innocuous trouble. The whole thing makes Tim uneasy as he tries to remember a part of his childhood that is missing. Surely nothing can be wrong. Can it? When the boy in the apartment upstairs goes missing after hurting Cleo, horrific memories begin to resurface as Tim finds himself under suspicion for the unthinkable. His daughter and those around him are in danger. Tim must face his past to save Cleo but can they survive the monster in the closet? **************** “Stephen King fans will be enthralled.” — Publishers Weekly “At first, Bill Gauthier’s The Monster in the Closet feels like a traditional love letter to iconic horror authors like Stephen King, Michael McDowell, Peter Straub, etc. However, this marvelously unique, terrifyingly unpredictable tale suddenly goes off the rails in an unexpected direction that quite surprised me, shocked me even. Imaginative, tense, and deeply heartfelt, this novel moved me and chilled me in equal measure with unforgettable twists and flawed, richly textured characters. Highly recommended!” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke “I have watched Bill Gauthier’s career from the very beginning, and he never fails to impress. Steadily and consistently he has become one of the finest up-and-coming writers at work in the horror genre today. And he’s done it the right way, through years of hard work, determination, perseverance, and a focus on constantly honing and improving his craft. There are a lot of pretenders out there. Bill Gauthier isn’t one of them. He’s the real deal. Do NOT miss his work.” —Greg F. Gifune, author of Pack Animals and The Standing Dead Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Bill Gauthier - The Monster in the Closet

  5. Jun 10

    Nick Cutter - The Dorians

    The all-new novel of terror from “one of the hottest horror authors on the planet” (Paste) and writer of the #HorrorBookTok sensation The Troop! On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth. The chance to put death on pause—forever, perhaps. The remarkable secret lies in the high-tech harnessing of an ancient and extraordinary biological agent…one with no conscience, yet possessed with a single-minded purpose that has helped it persist for eons: the will to survive. The dark heart of unbridled human ambition finds its apex in an unholy experiment that now tests the limits of both creator and subject, eclipsing all bounds of morality and sanity…. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Nick Cutter - The Dorians

  6. Jun 3

    John Skipp - This is Splatterpunk

    WHAT IS SPLATTERPUNK?If you want to understand what makes splatterpunk so different from the horror that came both before and after, your best bet is to read the authors who pioneered the form. It wasn’t just the visceral intensity of their literary assaults on convention. All the key writers – Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, David J. Schow, and John Skipp and Craig Spector – were ferocious stylists, with original voices that completely stood out from the crowd. In THIS IS SPLATTERPUNK: THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER, you’ll find 15 of Skipp’s most powerful, passionate, unbridled, and influential splatterpunkian short stories, from his early years in Twilight Zone magazine to the present day. Skipp also includes a definitive essay on the history and core elements of the movement – which he defines more as a “spontaneous eruption of the arts” – with additional notes on each story, for context. But mostly, it’s about Skipp’s unflinching empathy – his ability to put you inside the skins of his characters, make you feel what they feel every speck of the way – that makes THIS IS SPLATTERPUNK: THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER an essential read for lovers of fearless fiction, and the perfect companion piece to his film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    John Skipp - This is Splatterpunk

  7. May 15

    Christopher Golden - Carry Me To My Grave

    From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden comes a high concept horror novel about a man trying to protect his dead mother's body from the evil that is hunting them. Maggie Wise will take your eyes. When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside. But they’re not as alone as they think they are. A dark figure waits and watches from beneath the willow tree across the street. Hundreds of miles away, an ancient evil stirs in its burrow under a farmer’s cornfield. Across the country, other buried things begin to dream in anticipation of Maggie’s demise. On her deathbed, the old woman elicits a promise from Malcolm, her youngest child―when she dies, he and Violet must return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine. From the moment she takes her last breath, before her remains are even loaded aboard the baggage car of the Imperial Limited, there are forces trying to stop Malcolm from fulfilling that promise. Violence erupts on the train, evil preys on its passengers, and once the sun goes down, those long-buried things are coming to make Maggie Wise pay for her past. God help anyone who stands in their way Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Christopher Golden - Carry Me To My Grave

  8. May 9

    Chris McAuley - Ink, Blood and Imagination

    Chris is a writer of prose novels, magazine short stories, video and tabletop games and audio dramas. Together with Bram Stoker’s Great-Grand nephew Dacre Stoker, he has created the StokerVerse franchise. He has written the sequel to Dracula which will be released by Scar comics later this year. He has also created a science fiction universe with Babylon 5 actress Claudia Christian. This is coming to fruition in a series of games, novels and comic books. In addition to this he has worked on Doctor Who, Star Wars and most recently the Terminator franchise. Chris has been given the Reggie Bannister award for excellence in Horror writing and is nominated for a similar award in science fiction. He has greatly enjoyed the experience of working with Jeff and Dan, this is his first foray into the world of Lovecraftian poetry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Chris McAuley - Ink, Blood and Imagination
See All (133)

About

For the best in Horror listen to our newest podcast series 'Dark Minds' Here we talk with the creators of some of the most ingenious suspense, horror, and dark fantasy writing to find out how they get there. We will go through their process and what influenced them to get into writing and keeps them interested. From the makers of the House of Mystery radio show Alan R Warren. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information