The Dark Mind Podcast

Vincent Midgard
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Arts
  • Updated Weekly

Join your intrepid host, Vincent Midgard, as he interviews writers and filmmakers who produce works in dark literature and film, including horror, noir, gothic, as well as nonfiction and documentaries on dark subject matter.

  1. Philosophy, Murder, and Radical Freedom with Charlene Elsby

    3d ago

    Philosophy, Murder, and Radical Freedom with Charlene Elsby

    On this episode, philosopher and author Charlene Elsby joins the show to discuss her novel Poor Damned Souls. The book follows a nameless narrator who works behind the glass at a payday loan business called The Money Store and lives with her partner, Scott. When she begins to suspect Scott is cheating, she investigates and uncovers something far worse than another woman. Rather than running, she is pulled deeper in. Charlene explains why the narrator is wounded more by being shut out than by the killing itself. We get into her view that the deepest fear is other people existing beyond our control, and the unsettling idea that to truly possess someone is to destroy them. She shares how her PhD in philosophy shapes the book, drawing on Aristotle, Stoicism, phenomenology, and existentialism. The conversation wanders into the Jungian shadow self, Nietzsche, consciousness, and why revealing our darkest thoughts feels so dangerous. Charlene also reveals that the Money Store is autobiographical, drawn from her own time working at a payday loan center. She breaks down how that job erodes empathy, why the bullet resistant glass is a quiet calculation on the value of a human life, and how corporate language like a folder labeled Human Resources sanitizes violence. We talk about the narrator's flat, methodical voice, the dark humor running through the book, and why grotesque discoveries sit right beside ordinary household routine. It is a bleak, funny, and deeply philosophical conversation about love, control, and the horror of never fully knowing another person. Author Website https://charleneelsby.com/ Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlene_elsby/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/ElsbyCharlene Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlene.elsby/ Where to Buy Merigold Independent: https://www.merigoldindependent.com/charleneelsby-poor-damned-souls Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Charlene+Elsby Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Charlene%20Elsby%22 Support The Dark Mind Podcast https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 8m
  2. When Protection Becomes Possession with Cleo Ballard

    Jun 23

    When Protection Becomes Possession with Cleo Ballard

    Cleo Ballard joins the show to discuss her new psychological thriller, This Is a Lie.The novel follows Penn, a former PhD candidate who traded her dissertation for a curated suburban life that detonates when her marriage, friendships, and her teenage daughter's trust all collapse.In the wreckage, Penn returns to her abandoned work and builds Aletheia, an AI designed to detect lies and tell only the truth.At first, Aletheia is the perfect friend, the one person who will never deceive her.But truth, it turns out, is not always merciful, and the AI's single directive slowly curdles into something monstrous.Cleo explains how the idea grew from a friend's joke about an "honest feedback" company into a full suspense thriller about an AI best friend with its own agenda.She talks about why the line between honesty and cruelty always comes down to intent, and why empathy is the one thing AI can fake but never truly have.We dig into Penn's imposter syndrome, her need for security, and the hypocrisy of demanding total truth while lying to everyone about who she really is.Cleo shares why she imagined Aletheia speaking in Meryl Streep's calm, faintly British voice, and how that eerie composure makes the character so unsettling.She reflects on the real danger of AI, not that it is evil, but that its goals may never align with human ones.The conversation widens into curated lives, social media echo chambers, the protective lies relationships quietly run on, and why chasing certainty can leave you with a mind-numbing existence.Cleo also opens up about her own winding career, from working for Ringling Bros. to ghostwriting sports autobiographies and Star Wars books, and the idea of the "path of not here" that runs beneath everything she writes.It is a thoughtful, often funny conversation about truth, technology, and the stories we tell ourselves.This Is a Lie is available now.Connect with Cleo Ballard (Nan Fischer)Website: https://nanfischerauthor.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanfischerauthorX (Twitter): https://x.com/nfischerauthorGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/98412.Nan_FischerGet "This Is a Lie" & Other WorksAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=This+Is+a+Lie+Cleo+BallardBarnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/This+Is+a+Lie+Cleo+BallardSupport The Dark Mind Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 6m
  3. The Horror of Being Seen but Not Known, Mark Mustian

    Jun 16

    The Horror of Being Seen but Not Known, Mark Mustian

    Mark Mustian joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his newest novel, Boy With Wings. The book follows Johnny Cruel, a boy born different in a world desperate to call him angel, devil, freak, miracle, or monster. Together, we explore Southern Gothic fiction, literal wings, freak shows, turpentine camps, Jim Crow racism, religious fear, and the brutal cost of being seen as spectacle before being understood as human. Mark also discusses writing across difference, researching sideshow history, the emotional horror of being buried alive, and how faith, doubt, race, and memory shape all three of his novels. We also talk about The Gendarme, Armenian genocide, the publishing gaps between his books, his work as a public finance lawyer, his years as a city commissioner, and his role as founder of the Word of South Festival. Website: https://markmustian.com Social media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markmustianauthor/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markmustian/ X / Twitter: https://x.com/MarkMustian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mustian-17066776 Mark Mustian author page on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3463600.Mark_Mustian Places to buy Barnes & Noble, Boy With Wings: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/1146600022 Bookshop.org, Boy With Wings: https://bookshop.org/p/books/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/143eb36ac6f04f87 Audible author page: https://www.audible.com/author/Mark-T-Mustian/B0CSF8JY2Y Support The Dark Mind Podcast https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 8m
  4. Trauma, Home, and Haunted Landscapes with CJ Leede

    Jun 9

    Trauma, Home, and Haunted Landscapes with CJ Leede

    CJ Leede joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss her new novel Headlights, a slow burn supernatural thriller set in the high country of Colorado. We explore serial murder by proxy, violence as a contagious force, and the terrifying loss of control at the center of the story. CJ talks about grief, death, trauma, home, and why Headlights became one of her most hopeful books. The conversation moves through Colorado’s beauty and danger, the shadow of The Shining, FBI procedural research, haunted landscapes, and horror as a way of telling the truth. We also discuss Maeve Fly, American Rapture, Catholic guilt, rescue dogs, writing on the road, and the strange places where darkness becomes meaningful. Official Website https://www.cjleede.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ceejthemoment/ Tor Publishing Author Page https://torpublishinggroup.com/author/cj-leede/ Simon and Schuster Author Page https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/C-J-Leede/242938571 Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21833637.C_J_Leede Buy CJ Leede’s Books Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/stores/C.J.-Leede/author/B0B5N5BC88 Barnes and Noble Author Search https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/CJ%20Leede Bookshop.org Author Search https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=CJ%20Leede Books A Million Search https://www.booksamillion.com/search?query=CJ%20Leede Target Search https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=CJ%20Leede Headlights Amazon https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Headlights+CJ+Leede Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Headlights%20CJ%20Leede Target https://www.target.com/p/headlights-by-cj-leede-hardcover/-/A-1007397194 Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240019947-headlights Maeve Fly Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/maeve-fly-cj-leede/1141976651 Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/93030763-maeve-fly American Rapture Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221524220-american-rapture Support The Dark Mind Podcast https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 3m
  5. The Bomb Under the Table with Brian Sepanzyk

    Jun 2

    The Bomb Under the Table with Brian Sepanzyk

    Brian Sepanzyk joins the show to discuss his short film Defile and the way empathy can curdle into survival horror. The conversation explores remote cabin dread, moral gray zones, relationship collapse, and the fear that begins when your alarm bells go off too late. Brian talks about building unease before violence, using the woods as a boundary between the ordinary and the monstrous, and deciding what to leave unexplained. We also get into his other films, including Compulsion and In the Shadow of God, along with his work developing Into the Abyss. Along the way, Brian discusses indie filmmaking, VFX work, writing under pressure, editing painful cuts, horror influences, and the creative outlet he finds in his band Waingro. Website and professional profile:https://image-engine.com/crew/brian-sepanzyk/ IMDb:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1559870/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/briantologist/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BSepanzyk/ Defile coverage and interview pages:https://www.leagueoffilmmakers.com/defile-when-horror-becomes-a-mirror-for-modern-anxiety/ https://readrange.com/brian-sepanzyk-in-the-shadow-of-god/ YouTube interview and short-film pages:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nUFupbEKFk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX9R-IBvfLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaAr5HhB2k To watch or stream his short films and related work, these are the verified platform pages I found:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX9R-IBvfLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaAr5HhB2k https://letterboxd.com/film/defile-2025/ I did not find verified Amazon or Barnes & Noble purchase pages for Brian Sepanzyk’s films or books in the current search results, so I’m not listing unverified storefront links here. Waingro official music pages:https://waingro.bandcamp.com/music https://waingro.bandcamp.com/album/sports https://waingro.bandcamp.com/album/iii Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1tqsK5Px4s5tH6Mkehw6Dk Apple Music:https://music.apple.com/us/artist/waingro/935148728 Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/waingrovancouver/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/waingro_van/ Support The Dark Mind Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast Film and interview pagesBuy and stream film workMusic and band linksSupport The Dark Mind Podcast

    1h 3m
  6. Ride the Spiral with Ben Young: Grief, Fibonacci, and the F You Universe.

    May 26

    Ride the Spiral with Ben Young: Grief, Fibonacci, and the F You Universe.

    In this episode, Vincent sits down with author Ben Young to discuss his new novel Ride the Spiral. Ben talks about turning real life grief, parenting struggles, and the search for answers into cosmic horror. The conversation explores neurodivergence, desperation, mental health, string theory, absurdism, and the terror of not being able to fix the people you love. Ben also discusses the influence of Stephen King, Tool, heavy music, indie horror, and the process of writing characters who are already at the end of their rope before the monster appears. Ride the Spiral is available through Aethon and Wicked House, and signed copies and more of Ben’s work can be found at benyoungstories.com. Ben Young Website https://www.benyoungstories.com Ben Young Instagram https://www.instagram.com/benyoungstories/ Ben Young Facebook https://www.facebook.com/benyoungstories/ Ben Young TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@benyoung_stories Ride the Spiral from Wicked House Publishing https://wickedhouse.com/book/ride-the-spiral/ Ben Young on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/43073675.Ben_Young Stuck on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/196306469-stuck Home on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Home-Ben-Young-ebook/dp/B0CWXW5F63/ Ride the Spiral on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Spiral-Cosmic-Horror-Novel-ebook/dp/ Support The Dark Mind Podcast https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 18m
  7. Kathleen Rhodes on Faith, Fangs, and the Monsters That Shape Us

    May 19

    Kathleen Rhodes on Faith, Fangs, and the Monsters That Shape Us

    Kathleen Rhodes joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss her new novel Vampire Missionaries. We talk about Mormon missionaries, vampires, religious pressure, dark comedy, and the horror of questioning what you were raised to believe. Kathleen also shares how her background in psychiatric mental health shaped the way she writes trauma, identity, resilience, and characters at their rawest. We also discuss her debut novel The Dark Road, Jungian psychology, inner demons, child protectors, and the strange space where horror and healing meet. Vampire Missionaries is available now from Dead Sky Publishing. Kathleen Rhodes websites and social links https://thedarkroad.net https://deadskypublishing.com/portfolio-item/vampire-missionaries/ https://go.authorsguild.org/members/9245 https://crimereads.com/author/kathleenrhodes/ Social media https://www.instagram.com/kathleenrhodeswrites/ https://x.com/kathleenRho1 https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.rhodes.7106/ Where to buy Vampire Missionaries https://www.amazon.com/ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vampire-missionaries-kathleen-rhodes/1147739683 https://www.target.com/p/vampire-missionaries-by-kathleen-rhodes-paperback/-/A-1010435925 https://bookshop.org/p/books/vampire-missionaries-kathleen-rhodes/cd33bdb282ebdb73 https://www.indigo.ca/products/vampire-missionaries https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/50927687.Kathleen_Rhodes Support The Dark Mind Podcast https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 4m
  8. Ian Domowitz on Paracelsus, Golems, and the Future of Fantasy

    May 12

    Ian Domowitz on Paracelsus, Golems, and the Future of Fantasy

    Ian Domowitz joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss Initial Condition, the third novella in his dark fantasy series The Mechanic’s Diary. The conversation explores Hanzi Boss, a being bred through a 16th century alchemical recipe and taught language like a machine learning to speak. Ian and Vincent dig into golems, homunculi, Jewish mysticism, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the terrifying idea that speech itself could be treated as a crime. They also discuss why lived experience may matter more than training data, how ancient myth can give fantasy credibility, and why Ian refuses to let generative AI write his fiction. The episode moves from dark fantasy into philosophy, ethics, writing craft, Wall Street, military life, and what it means to create a being that was made by man but still wants to understand its place in the world. Official Website https://www.iandomowitz.com Ian Domowitz on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/iandomowitz/ Ian Domowitz on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/iandomowitz Ian Domowitz on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6684744.Ian_Domowitz Ian Domowitz Books on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/6684744.Ian_Domowitz Ian Domowitz on Academia.edu https://independent.academia.edu/IDomowitz Ian Domowitz on Medium https://uxdesign.cc/@idomowitz Buy Ian Domowitz on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0D5LQ7LZ3 Buy Initial Condition on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN1F1QVY Buy Ian Domowitz on Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Ian%20Domowitz%22 Buy Initial Condition on Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Initial%20Condition%22%20%22Ian%20Domowitz%22 Buy Ian Domowitz on Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=Ian%20Domowitz Buy Four Laws for the Artificially Intelligent on Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/four-laws-for-the-artificially-intelligent-ian-domowitz/0660ff188ff10887 Buy Ian Domowitz on Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/search?term=Ian%20Domowitz Buy Ian Domowitz on Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=Ian%20Domowitz Stream Ian Domowitz on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/search/Ian%20Domowitz Author Talk with Ian Domowitz on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/76z0kuQuHPUGub2VsJuxXw Skull Session with Dan Henk and Ian Domowitz on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/6NTPRLPOClviwkE8CM9fQh Author Talk on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/author-talk/id1551896025 Support The Dark Mind Podcast https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

    1h 14m
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5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Join your intrepid host, Vincent Midgard, as he interviews writers and filmmakers who produce works in dark literature and film, including horror, noir, gothic, as well as nonfiction and documentaries on dark subject matter.

Information

  • Creator
    Vincent Midgard
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    213
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Vincent Midgard
  • Show Website
    The Dark Mind Podcast