LOTF 21: Mother Horror on Night Worms, Book Reviews, & the Symbiotic Relationship Between Readers & Writers

In this episode we chat with Sadie Hartmann, also known as “Mother Horror.” Sadie is a prolific reader and book reviewer, who is generous with her support of authors and passionate about the promotion of the horror genre. We also talk about how her involvement in the Bookstagram community evolved over time, the creation of the Night Worms, her work with Cemetery Dance and Scream Magazine, the importance of maintaining an honest voice when it comes to reviewing books, and a whole lot more.

Show Notes:

LOTF 20: Grady Hendrix on Satanic Panic, NPR Summer of Horror, & We Sold Our Souls

IMG_2619.JPG

In this episode, we reconvene with author Grady Hendrix to discuss his new novel We Sold Our Souls (out tomorrow, September 18!) We talk about his forthcoming movie The Satanic Panic (as well as the actual “Satanic Panic”,") what it was like to help choose the top 100 horror stories for NPR this past summer, and of course, conspiracy theories, the process of writing We Sold Our Souls, and the point where it’s okay to quit pursuing your dreams.

Show Notes:

  • The Satanic Panic

  • Fangoria

  • NPR 100 Favorite Horror Stories

    • Stephen Graham Jones

    • Ruthanna Emrys

      Tananarive Due

      • Stephen King

      • Joe Hill

        • Locke & Key

      • Neil Gaiman

        • Sandman

      • Charlotte Perkins Gilman

        • “The Yellow Wallpaper”

      • Joyce Carol Oates

        • “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

      • Ira Levin

        • The Stepford Wives

      • Margaret Atwood

        • The Handmaid’s Tale

      • Mary Shelley

        • Frankenstein

  • “Real people” and co-opting stories discussion

    • Beatrice Sparks

      • Go Ask Alice

      • Jay’s Journal

    • Truman Capote

      • In Cold Blood

    • Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry

      • Helter Skelter

    • Jack Ketchum

      • The Girl Next Door

    • Jay Anson

      • The Amityville Horror

  • We Sold Our Souls - OUT SEPTEMBER 18, 2018! (Pssst: that’s tomorrow)

    • Grady talks about horror recycling old tropes

    • Bruce Lee and pursuing dreams

    • When is it okay to stop pursuing your dreams? Grady has the answer for writers and dreamers everywhere.

LOTF 19: Husk by Rachel Autumn Deering

IMG_2527.PNG

In this episode we discuss Rachel Autumn Deering’s Husk, an “all-too-real work of horror fiction, Rachel Autumn Deering explores the mind of a young man who is struggling to cope with the effects of post-war stress, drug addiction, self-doubt, and loneliness as they manifest themselves into his deepest, darkest fears.”

In the story, “Kevin Brooks returns to his rural Kentucky hometown after a three-year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan. He has lost the grandparents who raised him, his lifelong best friend, and his trust in the government he once proudly served. When Kevin meets a kind, young girl named Samantha, he thinks his luck might have finally taken a turn for the better. But something else has its eye on Kevin. Something dark and brooding and mean. Something that knows Kevin better than he knows himself.”

Show Notes:

  • Initial impressions

  • Essential horror curriculum would include this book, plus

    • Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall

    • Shirley Jackson

    • Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

    • The House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman

  • Visceral, sexy sex-that-wasn't scenes

  • Monster as metaphor for PTSD

    • Vampire motif?

    • When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord

  • Skillful dialect

    • The Redwall series

  • Short length = perfect pacing

  • Key takeaways?

  • Favorite lines