Talking Scared

Would you rather die or live on and on and on and on…

 

That’s one of the questions at the heart of Tom Lin’s Babylon, South Dakota. It’s a novel about a Chinese family who inherit an American farm, and whose lives are forever changed when the US military build strange missile silos on their land. It’s weird, inexplicable, deep, epic, sad and joyful and all the other things that make a good book.

 

But it’s also dark. It prompts questions that might keep you awake in the warm depths of the summer night. And Tom and I talk about all of it.

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:


The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu (2021), by Tom Lin

“On Exactitude in Science” (1947), by Jorge Luis Borges

“The Library of Babel,” (1941), by Jorge Luis Borges


Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (1990), by James Tiptree Jr.


End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse and the Unmaking of America (2026), by Chris Jennings

 

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The first of a two-part special with the Scaredy Boys, my
brothers-in-cowardice from Down Under. Damo, Tom and Sean are famously and unashamedly terrified of horror movies, and started a podcast to face their fears. Since 2020 they’ve been watching and analysing a horror movie every week – so now they’ve probably seen more than most of us.

 

I got them onto Talking Scared to discuss their insane project, their changing attitudes to horror, and ask them some specific questions about what they’ve learned to love and fear along the way.

 

Episode Two is out next Friday, or available right now for Patreon subscribers

 

Enjoy!

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com
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I dunno if this week’s episode is a dystopian nightmare or just a realist thriller.

 

Naomi Krtizer, multi-award winning author of sci-fi and horror, join me for a conversation about her new novella, Obstetrix. It follows the struggles of doctor, kidnapped by a cult to work as their in-house OBGYN. What follows is a balance between personal survival and the obligation to the women in her care.

 

Naomi and I talk about the state of healthcare and reproductive rights in America, which is never not a serious conversation. But we try to lighten the mood with some chat about the respite of reading (and re-reading), and the working definition of cults.

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:

 


“Monster” (2020), by Naomi Kritzer


American War (2017), Omar El Akkad


The Midnight Shift (2025), by Cheon Seon-Ran


Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy


The God of Endings (2023), by Jacqueline Holland

 

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
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Horror’s reigning Queen of Extreme returns to the show!

 

CJ Leede is the author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture, and if you’re abreast of contemporary horror you’ve heard of her twisted take on Americana.

 

She’s back to talk about her third novel, Headlights, in which people are waking up from fugue-like states, to find themselves draped in the flayed skins of other people. What’s going on? Who’s doing it? Is it human or supernatural? Does it have anything at all to do with Stephen King’s The
Shining? And where does the songwriting magic of John Denver come into
things?

 

CJ answers these and many other similarly weird questions. There’s so much to cover, we barely even talk about the act of skinning someone
alive.

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:


The Shining (1977), by Stephen King


Doctor Sleep (2013), by Stephen King


How to Disappear Completely (2027), by Liz Kerin

 

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

Melissa Albert’s novel may be called The Children, but it’s certainly not for kids.

 

This is a story about the dark creativity behind bright make-believe,
about the pretty lies of childhood and the brutal truths of growing up. It’s
about writers and writing and as you’ll hear me point out, it does for fantasy
fiction what Stephen King’s Misery did for Gothic romance.

 

And by god do we talk about all of that. As well as celebrating a character that I believe to be one of the best “bad-mothers” in recent fiction (and the secret hero of the book!)

 

But maybe that’s just me. I’m twisted.

 

Enjoy.

 

Other books mentioned:


The Hazel Wood (2018), by Melissa Albert


The Magicians (2009), by Lev Grossman


Daytide (2026), by Chris Panatier


When You Reach Me (2009) by Rebecca Stead


Fangirl (2013), by Rainbow Rowell


This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (2026), by Ilona Andrews

 

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