Dog-eared Nightmares: A Horror Fiction Podcast

A live edition of Dog-eared Nightmares where I interview Josh Rountree about his newest release, The Unkillable Frank Lightning. If you enjoyed The Legend of Charlie Fish there is so much for you to love with this book. It has the same fantastic writing, leap-off-the-page characters, and a fast paced but thoughtful story at its core. Thank you to Ghoulish Books for hosting, and be sure to check ou...

Josh Rountree joins me to discuss his Creature From the Black Lagoon-weird Western-crime-witchy novel, The Legend of Charlie Fish. For a shorter novel, it covers a lot of territory and hops genres like a frog on a skillet. We also talk about the ultimate Texas road trip, interesting Galveston hurricane facts, and whether or not Buccee's is worth it. Josh's companion novel, The Unkillable F...

Apologies for the audio quality on my end. My default microphone swapped to the computer. On this episode of Dog-eared Nightmares, Michael David Wilson of This is Horror joins me to discuss his dark, comedy-action novel, Daddy's Boy. WE talk about utilizing dialogue to move a story forward, dick jokes, and the cultural significance of Naked Attraction.

Becky LeJeune, yes, the Becky LeJeune. Becky is an agent with the Bond Literary Agency. She's been around the industry for a couple decades and brings a world of knowledge to our conversation. We discuss the function of an agent, pitching an agent, doing social media well, and why I'm her favorite client.

Jon Bassoff joined me to discuss his excellent new novel, The Memory Ward. This was my first attempt at live recording at an event and, well, I got part of it. Jon was kind enough to come back onto the show to recreate the magic with me. We talk about how to write "things are not what they seem" fiction, and how The Sixth Sense ruined twist endings for everyone. https://www.jonbassoff.co...

This week I am joined by Clay McLeod Chapman. Both in this interview and out of it, Clay has always been a genuine person. We discuss Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, our discomfort with the state of the world, taking big swings in writing, and how sometimes the stories we are proudest of create the smallest ripples in the proverbial pond. Catch up with everything Clay at his website: https://www.claym...

I welcome Chris DiLeo to the podcast this week, my second returning guest. We talk about the inspiration for his novella, Empty Devils, creating story from real tragedy, and the brilliance of Clay McLeod Chapman. You can order a copy of Empty Devils directly from the publisher at https://sobelobooks.com/shop/p/empty-devils You can also follow Chris at: authordileo.substack.com/ and as @authordileo...

R.A. Busby is the Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of short stories and two novellas releasing this year. We discuss both in this episode, Words Made of Flesh and You Will Speak for the Dead. The former is available from Cemetery Gates Media and the latter will release from Stelliform Press in October. These works are so distinct, the voice so strong and unique. R.A. is truly an author to lear...

On this episode I welcome my first ever returning guest, Laurel Hightower, to discuss her recent Ghoulish Books release, The Day of the Door. We discuss Laurel's passion for indie horror, generational trauma cycles, and ghosts getting kneed in the balls. She's a good person in horror, reliably, authentically, and she deserves your support and money. Today's episode is sponsored by MyLo...

On this episode, I preview Whatever Happened to Jo Rose with author Chris DiLeo. We talk about his lifelong journey with horror, redefining word count success, and students as story inspiration. Chris was a fantastic guest and the novel sounds like a crazy, genre-crossing adventure! DiLeo loves to talk horror on social media @authordileo. Website: authordileo.com Substack: authordileo.substack.com...

On this week's episode of Dog-eared Nightmares, I welcome talented author and cheerful goth, Angela Sylvaine, to discuss her debut novel through Dark Matter Ink, Frost Bite. It's a YA horror, sci-fi, comedy story that punches like a full grown man. We also chat about 90s nostalgia, discovering your talent for writing later in life, and good reasons for visiting North Dakota. Thank you Ange...

Emmett Nahil joins the podcast to discuss his debut novel From the Belly, releasing with Tenebrous Press May 2024. We chat about his journey into horror, his writing process, (attempting) to write 10K words in one day, and I confess I never finished his favorite video game of all time. You can find Emmett online at the links below. https://www.emmettnahil.com/ https://www.instagram.com/_emnays/

Mark Towse is a fellow NoSleep Podcast veteran. He is also a great guy with a supremely interesting story, coming to writing in his forties, finding it was a better escape than alcohol. He made up for lost time quickly, as mentioned in the show. Have fun with this...every time I say the word "prolific" take a shot. Mark's debut novel is titled Chasing the Dragon, and I hope you will...

On today's episode I am joined by Jessica McHugh. We preview her forthcoming book from Ghoulish Books, Witches in the Warren, the third in the Gardening Guidebooks trilogy. We also talk about her writing process, defining success as an indie author, blackout poetry, and tattoo regret. Be on the lookout for her next project, the Wuthering Heights inspired FEAST, which we discuss toward the end...

Welcome to Dog-eared Nightmares, a podcast about horror books I have figuratively dog-eared because I love them so much. In actuality, I underline my books. Yes, even hardcover. My guest is V. Castro and we discuss The Haunting of Alejandra. V is someone I look up to in the horror writing world. She is a writer with a Spanish last name, like me, something that wasn’t common even a decade ago. It’s...

You know Sadie Hartmann. You know this book. In this episode we talk about 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered, how many books were left on the cutting room floor, and Sadie's ambition in publishing it. We talk about the perils of social media, the importance of a good cover, and the next big thing in horror. You can find Sadie as mother.horror on Instagram, and if you aren&#39...

Alexander James is a new-to-me author whose debut novel, The Woodkin, was released earlier this summer. He is also a chef hailing from the Pacific Northwest, the setting for this wilderness survival horror story, centered around Josh Mallory, a man whose dueling trauma threads begin to unravel as his get away from it all trek along the Pacific Coast Trail attracts unexpected guests. The Woodkin. I...

Kelsea Yu is the Shirley Jackson nominated author of My Dark Library's Bound Feet. In this episode we talk about the role of grief in fiction, discovering horror later in life, and the art of making meaning in shorter works. Bound Feet is a powerhouse of a novella. Kelsea juggles so much with so few pages. Truly deserving of its award nomination. Catch up with Kelsea via the links below: Websi...

For this episode I did something completely different. I put a call out on Twitter for authors to come onto my show and do an impromptu interview. Five authors are featured in the first version of Podcast Chaos. It will not be the last. First was Lauren Bolger promoting Kill Radio. Second was O.F. Cieri promoting Backmask and the forthcoming Hellarkey. Third was Ryan Bradley promoting Saint's...

Gemma Amor is the Bram Stoker nominated author of Dear Laura. Her first traditionally published novel, Full Immersion, was released last year. Gemma is a regular contributor to The NoSleep Podcast. She is also a voice actor and painter. In this episode we discuss her epistolary novel from Cemetery Gates Media, The Once Yellow House. We also talk about her introduction to horror, the freedom of wri...

Todd Keisling is a Bram Stoker nominated author of Devil's Creek. In this episode we discuss his 2020 novella, rereleased in 2021, Scanlines. We talk about writing as therapy and trauma as a haunting. Todd has a new collection of short stories coming out this September from Cemetery Dance. You can find more information about that release, Cold, Dark & Infinite, at his website in the show n...

Jessica Leonard is a Kentucky-based author of Antioch. In this episode, we discuss her recent release through Ghoulish Books, Conjuring the Witch. As you'll hear, this was my first exposure to Jessica's writing, and I was very impressed. My copy of Conjuring the Witch is officially dog-eared. Jessica puts in work with her characters. For writers looking to learn how to make moments meaning...

Danger Slater is a bizzaro fiction and horror author. In this episode we discuss two of his books, Impossible James and Moonfellows. I recommend both and either if you're in a reading rut, if you want a story that will hit some horror notes but not pound you over the head with them. Impossible James is laugh out loud funny and delightfully gross. Moonfellows is fascinating and tragic, with sur...

Laurel Hightower is my guest and we had an enlightening discussion on the space we occupy in the world, driven by the stories in her first collection, Every Woman Knows This. We agree that plotting does not have to be extensive and that we would all be better off with a portable Max Booth III. For her Dog-eared selection, Laurel introduces me to a new author who's really going places. Preorder...

C.B. Jones released his wonderful novel, The Rules of the Road, in 2021. It was on the preliminary ballot for the Stoker Award for best first novel, and, most importantly, has led to dozens of strangers sending him pictures of shoes on the side of the road. C.B. has stories on The NoSleep Podcast as well as several anthologies, including Howls from the Wreckage and, The World Belongs to Us. In our...