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It’s that time of year again. When I celebrate the winter solstice by getting some horror authors to come and talk in deep, emotional detail about a scary book that we like.

This time the Christmas Special Deep Dive kicks the tires and looks under the hood of Stephen King’s most underrated novel: From a Buick 8. My friends on this weird-ass-road trip are Ally Malinenko and Nat Cassidy. I asked them to do it for a coupla reasons. 1) They are lovely 2) hey really get King, and 3) they can speak to this book’s focus on grief and loss.

And oh boy do we talk grief, loss, afterlives and everything else. Turns out it’s not just a book about a car after all.

Don’t worry though, Ally is charming, Nat is snarky and together we’ll make you laugh.

And Christmas is supposed to be tinged with melancholy isn’t it…

Enjoy!

Other Books Mentioned

• Matterhorn (2009), by Karl Marlantes
• Hearts in Atlantis (1999), by Stephen King
• The Colorado Kid (2005), by Stephen King
• “The Night Flyer” and “Popsy,” in Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993), by Stephen King
• Nestlings (2023), by Nat Cassidy
• This Appearing House (2022), by Ally Malinenko

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… and we’re back! Just in time for this seasonal tradition. The State of the Horror Nation 2024 – our expert-led review of the best that the year had to offer in terms of horror writing and pen-and-ink nightmares.

I’m joined, as ever by my stalwart co-host for this gig, Emily Hughes, author of Horror For Weenies (go check her mammoth 2025 anticipated horror book list at ReadJumpScares.com)

Our special correspondents are Anna Dupre, reviewer and interviewer at Anna Rose Reads, and Stephani Gagnon of the landmark, can’t-be-beaten horror podcast, Books In the Freezer

They pick their books of 2024, and we talk about the things that have defined the year, whilst also looking forward to what’s next.

Enjoy!

Anna's Essay on IT

https://filmfreakcentral.net/2024/10/terrifier-3-2024/

Books Picked

The Eyes Are the Best Part (2024), by Monika Kim

Cuckoo (2024), by Gretchen Felker-Martin

American Rapture (2024), by C.J. Leede

Woodworm (2024), by Layla Martinez

Horror Movie (2024) by Paul Tremblay

Night’s Edge (2024), by Liz Kerin

So Thirsty (2024), by Rachel Harrison

Model Home (2024), by Rivers Solomon

I Was a Teenage Slasher (2024), by Stephen Graham Jones

Books Anticipated

Victorian Psycho (2025), by Virginia Feito

The Poorly Made (2025), by Sam Rebelein

The Unworthy (2025), by Augustina Bazterrica

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025), by Stephen Graham Jones

Bat Eater (2025), by Kylie Lee Baker

Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread (2025), by Leila Taylor

The Haunting of Room 904 (2025), by Erika T. Wurth

8114 (2025),by Joshua Hull

When the Wolf Comes Home (2025), by Nat Cassidy

Senseless (2025), by Ronald Malfi

King Sorrow (2025), by Joe Hill

And He Shall Appear (2025), by Kate van der Borgh

Nowhere Burning (2025), by Catriona Ward

Girl in the Creek (2025), by Wendy Wagner

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre (2025), by Philip Fracassi

The End of the World As We Know It: Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand (2025), edited by Brian Keene and Christopher Golden

Old Soul (2025), by Susan Barker

rekt (2025), by Alex Gonzalez

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes (2025), by Clay McLeod Chapman

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This is the last way-back episode before the show returns with a scream next week.

But this is an episode worth remembering – my first ever conversation with Catriona Ward, about her game-changing The Last House on Needless Street too!

This was a big ask for a novice interviewer. How the hell do you talk about a book that hinges on such a huge secret. Somehow we managed to walk that tightrope, whilst also talking about cats (feline) serial killers, and the haunted bedroom of Cat’s (author) girlhood.

It’s fun to retread this grim path.

Enjoy!

Other books mentioned:

• Rawblood (2015), by Catriona Ward
• Little Eve (2018), by Catriona Ward
• The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (2019), by Hallie Rubenhold
• Spider (1990), by Patrick McGrath

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com

Support the show