We're back! For our newest episode Pete and Dan are joined by Aparna Verna, the author of the breakout fantasy novel The Phoenix King, published by Orbit. Originally Aparna was invited onto the show to talk about Neil Gaiman's 1996 hit novel and TV show Neverwhere, but in light of the recent allegations against Gaiman, we've decided not to release that episode, though we may do so in the future as events play out.

In this interview we talk to Aparna about how the Phoenix King came to be, about its evolution, its fusion of western fantasy structures and Indian mythological frameworks, and it crosses romance, adventure and fantasy to create a new angle on centuries-old storytelling conventions. We talk about Aparna's excellent social media game, one of the contributing factors to her book's success, and her successful leveraging of crowdfunding to self-publish the original novel on which The Phoenix King is based.

Aparna Verma was born in Rajasthan, India, and grew up in the United States. She graduated from Stanford University with Honors in the Arts and a B.A. in English. In 2021, she self-published The Boy with Fire, which quickly went viral on TikTok, and was later republished by Orbit Books as The Phoenix King in 2023.

When she is not writing, Aparna likes to lift heavy (arm days are her favorite), dance to Bollywood music, and find cozy cafes to read myths from ancient worlds. You can connect with Aparna on TikTok at @aparnawrites, and Twitter and Instagram at @spirited_gal.

We're joined once more by filmmakers Gregg Hale and Eduardo Sanchez, the brains behind The Blair Witch Project, V/H/S, Lovely Molly, and many more.

Gregg and Hale talk to us about their new podcast-based audio drama Black Velvet Fairies. It's a tour de force meta narrative that plays with the found footage medium that gave them their big break, but also features real-world interviews with paranormal experts, dissections of EVP phenomena, and a descent into family history that reveals dark creatures and ancient secrets waiting to be let into the light.

We also discuss where BVF sits in the wider dark fantasy universe they're creating, known as Emerald Anvil, set in the world of Hada. This is a multimedia beast, featuring novels, board games, podcasts, and online interactions. The world was born out of Gregg and Ed's passion for storytelling, but also their frustration at the Hollywood studio system, which is becoming more innovative in terms of visual effects, but also more risk-averse and conservative.

Lastly, we discuss the pair's plans for the 25th Anniversary of The Blair With Project, still one of the most innovative and disruptive horror films of all time, and which has spawned a lucrative franchise of its own.

You can listen to Black Velvet Fairies from all your favourite podcast provides, and if you want to support Ed and Gregg in the construction of their Emerald Anvil universe, you can do at https://emeraldanvil.com/

You might be forgiven for thinking that us saying we had two of the horror genre's most distinguished filmmakers on the show would be an April Fool's joke, but you should know by now we never, ever joke about our guests (except for RJ Barker, who will forever be known as the Goth King of Leeds). Today we're joined by Gregg Hale and Eduardo Sanchez, who burst onto the moviemaking scene in 1999 with one of the most audacious, innovative and greatest horror movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project.

Gregg and Ed have chosen to talk about one of their favourite movies, Jonathan Glazer's 2013 science-fiction horror sleeper Under The Skin. It stars Scarlett Johansson as a mysterious visitor to Earth who inhabits the body of a beautiful young woman, who then drives around Glasgow in a ratty old white van looking for young men to seduce and prey upon. The movie flopped upon release but quickly won a reputation for being one of the great arthouse science-fiction films of this century.

We discuss the difference between male and female predation (and the excessive/ monstrous versions of the male and female), chaos versus order, the strange similarities with Snow White, the black goo, and ask who exactly is the bloke on the motorcycle? Plus, Gregg and Ed give their admiration and opinions on how Glazer made such a great-looking film on a shoestring budget, something they know quite a bit about.

Elsewhere, Lieutenant Bungalow visits Earth to investigate ghosts. Or was it phantoms? Or was it John Jarrold? It's definitely something to do with spooky goings on in forests...

Join us next time for the second part to the interview, where we discuss Gregg and Ed's forthcoming epic multimedia fantasy project Emerald Anvil, consisting of a novel, an audio drama, a video game and even NFT artwork, and they'll be talking to us about their plans for the 25th Anniversary of The Blair Witch Project.

Find out more at https://emeraldanvil.com/