Horror from the High Desert

Scotty talks to author and editor Rebecca Rowland about her upcoming collection "White Trash and Recycled Nightmares," available Oct. 10 from Dead Sky Publishing . The conversation covers their mutual fear of flying, what makes a good audiobook narrator , how "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" is the best "Halloween" Film, and more. They also discuss the upcoming Cr...

Scotty and Boston-bestie Mandy Connor dive into two films: the 2015 mock-documentary horror movie "Hell House LLC," and the recent Slash-produced adaptation of Nick Cutter's novel "The Breach." They also set some time aside for some hardcore Nick Cutter appreciation (including Scotty's story about how his first experience with Cutter's writing literally almost killed him), and-...

Scotty talks to author Daniel Braum about the glories of "The Twilight Zone" (both the show and the magazine), writing "on the borderline" and the use of "night-time logic" in weird fiction, using generational trauma as a bridge to another culture in fiction, trusting your own vision vs. the market, and not being afraid of ambiguity. They also discuss Braum's short st...

Scotty talks to author N.J Gallegos about their overlapping experiences in Southern Colorado's the alien-infested San Luis Valley, N.J.'s experience as an emergency-room doctor and how that has informed her writing, the concept of "limits" in extreme horror, revenge in fiction, and they reminisce fondly about the unexpected Venn-diagram of horror fans and Swifties at this year's StokerCo...

Scotty talks to author Rae Wilde about the concept of "gaslighting"--both in the flawed but powerful 1944 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, as well as in Rae's discomfiting new novel "The Stradivarius" (Brigid's Gate Press). We also talk about her background as a social worker, therapist, and mental health advocate, and how that training has informed her writing....

Scotty talks to author Tamika Thompson about her upbringing in Detroit, her journey from broadcast journalism to writing horror, balancing the political with the psychological in her work, the importance of the revision to the creative process, and the impact of the 1995 classic anthology horror film "Tales from the Hood" on her artistic point of view. In the process, we discuss her mast...

Scotty talks to author Richard Beauchamp about his short fiction, their shared love of heavy metal, how to push past the anxieties of being a new writer, the value of working with good editors, Richard's recent sci-fi horror novella "AUTONOMOUS," and the implications of A.I. on the genre. They also spend a few minutes talking about the 1999 western horror film "Ravenous," and the "man vs. nature"...

Scotty and author Bridgett Nelson talk about extreme horror, trigger warnings, their shared experience at the 2022 Gross-out Contest at Austin's KillerCon, self vs. traditional publishing, and more. They also discuss Bridgett's debut, Splatterpunk award-nominated collection "A Bouquet of Viscera," as well as her new collections "What the Fuck Was That?" and "Sweet, Sour, & Spicy." If you want...

Scotty has two guests this week on Horror from the High Desert. First, he sits down with author Holly Rae Garcia to discuss her short fiction, her novels "Parachute" and "Come Join the Murder," their mutual love of "Sons of Anarchy," and the Korean horror movie "I Saw the Devil." They also talk about "Table for 3," the new charity collection that Holly edited, which features three horror novellas...

Scotty and author Douglas Ford have a wide-ranging conversation, covering everything from their writing's connection to the land, anyone's ability to buy a leech, and the films of Spanish actor/writer Paul Naschy. In the process they also talk about Ford's short fiction, his recent novellas "Babble" and "Little Lugosi," and his novel "The Beasts of Vissaria County." Find Douglas Ford on Goodreads:...

Welcome to the very first episode of Horror from the High Desert! This week Scotty has his good friend Mandy Connor on to help him sort through his complicated feelings about Shudder's experimental feature "Skinamarink" (2022). They also do a deep dive into the new Brandon Cronenberg film "Infinity Pool," wax poetic about their mutual love for Mia Goth, and touch briefly on the movies "X," "Pearl"...