Talking Scared

Neil McRobert
  • 4.9 (311)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

  1. 2D AGO

    [From the Vault] Tananarive Due & Black Girls Doing Magical Things

    Time for a classic haunted house.   I’m on a short break from the show, to recoup, read without pressure and generally try not to implode. So we’re heading into the vault for some older conversations that new listeners may have missed and long-termers may enjoy anew.   Where better to start that in a haunted house with a Queen of 21st century horror – Ms Tananarive Due!   This was our first conversation together, back in May of 2021 – and we explored her bad-place archetype, The Good House, the elegiac horror of her collection, Ghost Summer, plus forays into her scholarship, film and TV work, and her relationships with Stephen King and Jordan Peele.   It’s a lot of fun.   Enjoy!   Other books mentioned:   Dark Dreams (2004), edited by Brandon Massey “The Comet” (1920),  by W.E. Dubois   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

    1h 8m

  2. OCT 28

    260 – Joe Hill & The One About the Dragon

    Here be dragons!   I’m celebrating Halloween week on Talking Scared with the very cream of the bucket list. Joe Hill is finally on the show!   The author of Heart Shaped Box, NOS4A2, “The Black Phone” and Lock & Key is back with his first novel in nearly a decade, and it’s a beast!   King Sorrow is an epic of dragons, diabolical deals, decade-spanning friendships, love and hate and everything in between. It’s bloody brilliant!   Joe talks about the triple inspiration of The Hobbit, The Secret History and Friends. We tackle tech-bros and trolls (literally), and the formidable role of his mother, Tabitha King. And if we disagree on certain characters in King Sorrow, we’re certainly on the same page when it comes to the role of love in life and writing.   This is a special one for me. A special book and a special conversation.   Enjoy!   Other books mentioned: 20th Century Ghosts (2005), by Joe Hill Heart Shaped Box (2007), by Joe Hill The Fireman (2016), by Joe Hill The Hobbit (1937), by J.R.R. Tolkien The Secret History (1992), by Donna Tartt The Dead Zone (1979), by Stephen King Cloud Atlas (2004), by David Mitchell Old Soul (2025), by Susan Barker The Trap (1985), by Tabitha King “The Jewbird” (1963), by Bernard Malamud Coffin Moon (2025), by Keith Rosson   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

    1h 21m

  3. OCT 24

    Let Us Palaver #5 – ‘Salem’s Lot Debrief

    In our fifth Let Us Palaver, Nat and I dally a little longer in ‘Salem’s Lot to hunt down a few more vamps and follow up some threads mentioned in the main episode.   This is where we get spoilery, so this is just for those who have been to the Tower already. But we talk about Chris’s predictions for Father Callaghan, discuss the moral arc of King’s entire fictional project (no big thing right!) and even congratulate the man on his steadfast marriage.   Also, my wife makes an appearance bearing tea.   Enjoy.   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

    33 min

  4. OCT 21

    The Dark Tower Deep Dive #5 – ‘Salem’s Lot

    ‘Salem’s Lot is FIFTY years old this month. Hellfire, how did that happen? We’re gonna celebrate the bloodsucking and small town shenanigans for all they are worth!!   But some of you know that the Lot sits just to one side of the Path of the Beam – so this is also a key zig in our endless zagging towards The Dark Tower. You may just not know why yet? And neither does Chris, so no one tell him.   So in this two-fer episode we honour a true horror classic of 20th century literature, and we inch one step closer to the nexus of all things. Efficient!   Enjoy.   Other books mentioned: “Jerusalem’s Lot” and “One For the Road,” both in Night Shift (1978), by Stephen King Shitshow (2025), by Chris Panatier The Rats (1974), by James Herbert Dracula (1898), by Bram Stoker The Great Gatsby (1925), by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Harvest Home (1973), by Thomas Tryon   As mentioned – here is my Vulture list of the Best Horror Books of 2025 (so far).   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

    2h 28m

  5. OCT 14

    259 – Joe Lansdale & Our Desperate Need to Be Less Dumb

    Joe Lansdale is here to give us all a smack upside the head.   We are talking about The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale – his brand new career-retrospective, collecting the stories that have defined him for decades as one of the most edgy, provocative writers of the grim and grotesque.   We cover some of the classics, like “Bubba Ho Tep,” “Mr Weed Eater” and “On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks” – asking where the craziness came from, and finding the roots in Joe’s colourful life.   But we also discuss more serious matters, such as the hatred depicted in “The Night They Missed the Horror Show,” and what it means in our current puritanical, easily-outraged era.   Enjoy! Beware!   Other books mentioned: The Thicket (2013), by Joe R. Lansdale Paradise Sky (2015), by Joe R. Lansdale The Nightrunners (1987), by Joe R. Lansdale “A Rose For Emily” (1930), by William Faulkner “Cannibalism in the Cars” (1868), by Mark Twain “Duel” (1971), by Richard Matheson Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), by Mark Twain Neither Beg Nor Yield: Stories With an S&S Attitude (2024), edited by Jason M. Waltz Swords in the Shadows (2025), edited by Cullen Bunn The Only Good Indians (2020), by Stephen Graham Jones The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025), by Stephen Graham Jones The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild (2025), by Bryan Burrough Lonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtry   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

    1h 21m

  6. OCT 10

    Off Book #12 – Ben Leonberg and Good Boy

    Mine isn’t the only Good Boy released into the world this week. You may have heard of a little film that shares my books name.   I joke – Ben Leonberger’s Good Boy is everywhere, and rightly so. It’s a haunted house movie told from the POV of Ben’s dog Indy (playing himself). It’s a magic trick of filmmaking and puppy eyes.   Ben came on the show for a generous chat about making the movie. He tells us about the technical hurdles to be jumped, the mammoth 400 day shoot, the portrayal of fear through a dog’s eyes… but mostly we talk about his bond with Indy and why we both believe dogs are the ultimate horror movie heroes.   This is a dog-lover’s delight. Happy Friday!   Enjoy   Support Talking Scared on Patreon   Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch   Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1 hr

  7. OCT 9

    258 – Neil McRobert & My Four-Legged Ode to Bravery & Joy

    Ah the arrogance of writers. Now I am one, officially, I thought I’d better do something fitting.   So I set up a whole episode of my podcast to talk about my own book – Good Boy! My debut novella about small English towns, the bonds between men and dogs, and a battle between bravery and monsters.   Thankfully, I have friends who will facilitate this type of nonsense, so thanks to Nat Cassidy and Rachel Harrison for asking me questions and flattering my ego.   We talk about literary and personal inspirations, about what I’ve learned from 5 years of interviewing authors, about local folklore and the composition of monsters… and of course, about dogs!   This was the greatest pleasure for me. I hope you enjoy it half as much.   Other books mentioned: IT (1986), by Stephen King From a Buick 8 (2002), by Stephen King The Fisherman (2016), by John Langan Any Human Heart (2002), by William Boyd The October Film Haunt (2025), by Michael Wehunt   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

    1h 31m

  8. OCT 8

    257 – Northern Weird (Part Two), with Matt Wesolowski, Jodie Robins & Stephen Howard

    Another day, another episode about the weird-arse end of nowhere!   We remain in the North of England for this second part of a weeklong celebration of the Northern Weird Project – six novellas published by Wild Hunt Books (including one by yours truly!).   This time it’s conversation with Matt Wesolowski, about his train-bound folkloric horror, Don’t Call Mum, Jodie Robins, with her magical seaside lament for lost youth, The Off Season, and Stephen Howard, who has sent the uncanny home into a whole new paroxysm of sorrow, withThis House is Not Haunted But We Are.   We moan about the weather. About trains. About southerners. It’s all very northern and grim.   But there are also ghosts, monsters, mad circuses and VAMPIRE RABBITS!!!   Other books mentioned: Wuthering Heights (1847), by Emily Brönte “Rawhead Rex”, in Books of Blood Volume 3 (1986), by Clive Barker Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), by Ray Bradbury The Iceman Cometh (1940), by Eugene O’Neill White is for Witching (2009), by Helen Oyeyemi Mr Fox (2011), by Helen Oyeyemi Skin Thief: Stories (2023), by Suzan Palumbo Nowhere Burning (2026), by Catriona Ward Quest for the Hexham Heads (2012), by Paul Screeton   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

    1h 9m
See All (290)

4.9
out of 5
311 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Neil McRobert
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    290
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Talking Scared
  • Show Website
    Talking Scared

You Might Also Like