Postcards from a Dying World

The 3rd annual favorite reads of the year podcast with my oldest book nerd friend Judge Marc Rothenberg. We go through our favorite Retro Reads, Non-fiction, and new releases. Featuring books from Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, Sarah Langan, and many more. Two hours of book nerding. •You can find my books here: Amazon-https://www.amazon.com/David-Agranoff/e/B004FGT4ZW •And me here: Goodreads...

In 2024 I read 107 books and in this episode, I give a thumbnail review of each one. No guest, one take 48 minutes. I will go into more detail on my favorites during the Best Reads of the Year podcast coming out this Friday with Marc Rothenberg. Complete reviews can be found on my blog www.davidagranoff.blogspot.com

Returning after 67 episodes one of my favorite writers in the field James Reich returns to Postcards from a Dying World to talk about his new Science Fiction novel that I described as Silent Running directed by a young David Cronenberg with an unlimited budget. Reich’s novel Song My Enemies Sing was one of my top reads of 2018, and this new novel is even better. Skinship is a fantastic entry in th...

In 1970, Avon Books published a landmark anthology, “Science Fiction Hall of Fame,” featuring 26 classic short stories that represent landmark tales of the genre. The stories were voted on by the members of the new (at the time, in the late 1960s) organization Science Fiction Writers of America. In this series, I will be joined by a panel of guests to break down these stories and talk about the au...

Welcome to a new sub-series of the podcast devoted to screenplays for movies that never got made. There are tons of famous screenplays from Oliver Stone’s first draft of Conan to Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness. For each episode in this series, we will read and review a script that never got made. In this episode, I am joined by author Anthony Trevino and Musician/Filmmaker Issa Diao to dis...

We have many great writers in San Diego, perhaps one of the most respected is Jim Ruland. While he has made a name for himself writing books about punk rock, co-authoring Damaged the autobiography of Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris, telling the story of Bad Religion, and writing Corporate Rock Sucks THE BOOK on SST Records the pioneering punk record label. In town, we know Jim from his classic...

I was selling books at the San Diego Book Festival and my fellow tabling authors were Chad Stroup (Secrets of the Weird) and Brian Asman (Good Dogs). They talked about Mave Fly for a solid twenty minutes singing its praises. They hyped it so much, and I respect their opinions that I think the novel could not possibly meet the hype. For many readers, CJ Leede’s first novel Mave Fly more than met th...

SAN DIEGO HORROR REPRESENT! On this episode I welcome Brian Asman author of Man, Fuck That House and his debut novel Good Dogs. It is hard for me to think of this as being the first novel for Brian Asman. I suppose you could say this is the first proper novel, published with an established publisher, but Asman has been publishing for a few years, but those have been novellas published in a DIY pun...

Hey listeners I was on this panel “Must-Read Tales of Horror” at a new horror convention called Scream Diego. The audio is not the best but it was the best I could do. Dive into the chilling world of horror literature with local authors of the San Diego Horror Writers Association. Learn about the voices who shaped the genre, the rich variety within the indie horror community, and hidden gem recomm...

Two years ago we almost lost author Laird Barron to illness. Not only is he one of the best cosmic horror authors back, but he has returned with his strongest collection yet. In this episode we talk about Laird’s illness, the support of the horror community, and of course we get under the hood of Laird’s new collection “Not a Speck of Light.” Tricky titles, the power of influences, narrative trick...

I am very excited about this episode, author Johnny Compton joins me to talk about his Sophomore novel Devil Kills Devils from Tor Nightfire. I enjoyed coming into this novel cold, not knowing anything about the plot, but it is a supernatural horror novel that knocked my socks off. We talk about Compton’s influences, his background, and how he got into writing and start with a non-spoiler conversa...

Returning to Postcards from a Dying World is Three-time Bram Stoker award-winning author Sarah Langan. She joined me two years ago to discuss her amazing cli-fi re-telling of the Monsters Are Due on Maple Street – Good Neighbors. She is back for her full-blown science fiction follow-up A Better World. In this episode, we talk about the suburbs, world-building, science fiction, and everything in A...

In 1970, Avon Books published a landmark anthology, “Science Fiction Hall of Fame,” featuring 16 classic short stories that represent landmark tales of the genre. The stories were voted on by the members of the new (at the time, in the late 1960s) organization Science Fiction Writers of America. In this series, I will be joined by a panel of guests to break down these stories and talk about the au...

Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo is a two-time Bram Stoker award-winning writer, storyteller, and creator based in Chicago. Stephen King has Maine, Josh Malerman has Michigan and Cina is quickly becoming the voice of all this street-level crime and horror in Chicago. In this interview, we focus on her novel Forgotten Sisters. The novel combines horror, crime, and dark fairy tale vibes. We talk about Pelayo’s...

Welcome to a new sub-series of the podcast devoted to screenplays for movies that never got made. There are tons of famous screenplays from Oliver Stone’s first draft of Conan to Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness. For each episode in this series, we will read and review a script that never got made. In this episode, I am joined by author Anthony Trevino and Musician/Filmmaker Issa Diao to dis...

On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by microbiologist and science fiction author Joan Slonczewski. They are the author of the John W. Campbell award-winning eco-feminist classic A Door into Ocean. It was released in 1986, but Joan and I discussed it because we will soon be on a panel at the Speculative Fiction in Media conference in LA in October. So as a little preview, we go one-on-one a...

In 1970 Avon Books published a landmark anthology “Science Fiction Hall of Fame” featuring 16 classic short stories that represent landmark tales of the genre. The stories were voted on by the members of the new (at the time in the late 60s) organization Science Fiction Writers of America. In this series, I will be joined by a panel of different guests to break down these stories and talk about th...

After every season of Star Trek, I gather a panel of nerds and talk about the highs and lows of the season that just ended. This time we talk about the 2nd season of Star Trek Prodigy. Returning for our 11th episode breaking down a completed season of Trek. Joining me as always are my bridge crew vocal Star Trek fan Sara Lynn Michener, and Musician/ filmmaker Issa Diao. In this episode, we will br...

I am excited to welcome back author David James Keaton who wrote one of my favorite novels of last year Head Cleaner. I am sorry something went wrong with my microphone, I fixed it, I think. Sorry if it sounds funky. Keaton is the author of weird bizarro Sci-fi horror novels. Shallow Ends is exactly the story of a party bus built on a fire truck that ends up being a hybrid of Speed and the Twiligh...

Psychoactive is a collection of extreme horror novellas that collectively explore the themes of Transformation, all three novellas have different takes on horror tone . As a good anthology does, it highlights the strengths and skills of the authors represented. Featuring works by Ryan C. Thomas author of the Summer I Died, writing with Anthony Trevino my co-author on Nightmare City, Cody Goodfello...

In 1970 Avon Books published a landmark anthology “Science Fiction Hall of Fame” featuring 16 classic short stories that represent landmark tales of the genre. The stories were voted on by the members of the new (at the time in the late 60s) organization Science Fiction Writers of America. In this series, I will be joined by a panel of different guests to break down these stories and talk about th...

James Chambers is one of the bright examples of why I love the horror community. We first hung out at Borderlands Writers Boot Camp in 2011. It was way longer ago than I want to think about. Halloween people have kinship, and SF people have kinship, and I share both with Chambers. An active force in the HWA if you are a horror writer it is likely that James has impacted your work. In this episode,...

Hey folks – special audio-only episode. This is a live recording of the release party for my novel People’s Park. It was Recorded before 55 folks at the Monroe County History Center on April 5th 2024, part of solar eclipse weekend in Bloomington. Hosted by my Dickheads podcast Partner D. Harlan Wilson who interviews me about the book, we talk a little Philip K. Dick and I do a short reading from t...

In this episode, I welcome a local author, co-chair, and founder of our Horror Writers Association chapter and I got to work closely with Kristina on the Stokercon we hosted here in San Diego. It was at Stokercon when a copy of this book ended up in my bag of books. we talk about Kristina’s origins in writing, horror, and how she ended up a part of the flagship con in the genre. The main focus how...

Support the show here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/DavidAgranoff In 1970 Avon Books published a landmark anthology “Science Fiction Hall of Fame” featuring 16 classic short stories that represent landmark tales of the genre. The stories were voted on by the members of the new (at the time in the late 60s) organization Science Fiction Writers of America. In this series, I will be joined by a panel...