Sisters Are Reading

Lindsay and Barbara talk about Kathe Koja's "punk existentialist horror novel" about a mysterious hole and the people obsessed with it. Featuring: Exploding mouse skulls, scary porn, art weirdo cult followers, goo cocoon, and an antidote to happiness.

Lindsay and Barbara discuss Matt Shaw's badly written but excellently recappable tale of a dad gone wild. Featuring: Twirly hands, Father Time, how Barbara would rewrite this book, and dogs that talk with buttons.

Lindsay and Barbara recap Clive Barker's iconic novella about a dissolute dude who tries to claw his way out of hell and the sister-in-law who helps him. Featuring: Super scary cenobites, a trip to the mall, sad-sack friends, and more.

Lindsay and Barbara talk about Gillian Flynn's twisted short story about a fake psychic pulled into a dangerous family haunting. Featuring: a chilly-holdie, hand jobs, creepy teens, and more.

Lindsay and Barbara discuss Victor LaValle's discomfiting tale of a man wrongly held in a mental hospital terrorized by "the devil." Featuring: Seahawks training camp, mental diagnoses, and all the pronunciations of the word "woman."

Lindsay and Barbara recap Gerardo Sámano Córdova's magical realist tale of grieving parents growing a new creature from a piece of their son's dead body. Featuring: Light cannibalism, fluid sexualities, barking dogs, and more.

Lindsay and Barbara are joined by infamous cousin-friends Matt & Tyler to dissect Stephen Graham Jones' genre-film-inspired novella. Featuring: Return to the creepy boathouse, decidedly non-magical mental illness, high school friend dynamics, and much much more!

Lindsay and Barbara catch up after weeks and weeks of not recording and briefly recap Algernon Blackwood's iconic proto-Lovecraftian tale The Willows. Featuring: Diana Krall! Therapy! Indescribable cosmic creatures!

Lindsay and Barbara chat about Elizbeth Hand's acid-folk-fuelled oral history of a 70s band's pagan breakdown. Featuring: Wren witch faeries, grimoires, a neolithic mound shaped like half an egg, doggie-horsie-this-book, and our mother singing Arlo Guthrie.

Lindsay and Barbara discuss Ronald Malfi's super scary tale of a man searching for his lost brother in the dark and dangerous realm of monsters/serial-killers (aka Alaska). Featuring: Eyelash lift vs extensions, the difference between shrews and voles and mice, identical twin magic, scary animal head masks, and more.

Lindsay and Barbara talk through Guy Adams & AK Benedict's confusingly plotted multi-character Lovecraftian homage. Featuring: Mom's pickleball drama, Stanley Tucci, squid brothers, and a lot on top of a lot.

Lindsay and Barbara recap Laurel Hightower's almost-good novella about a mother who'll sacrifice anything to bring back her dead son. Featuring: A hot neighbor, baby sign language, and notes about how the book should have ended.

READ THIS BOOK. Lindsay and Barbara dig into the terrifying depths of Stephen King's iconic novel about a romance author and his utterly unhinged number one fan. Featuring: Slug sister, amateur amputation, and a book in the book.

READ THIS BOOK. Lindsay and Barbara recap Victor LaValle's scary awesome book about homesteading women in 1800s Montana. Featuring: Italian vacation travel plans, second-grade concerts, sisters-as-monsters, blood baths, and more!

Lindsay and Barbara chitchat for 17 minutes before digging into Trang Thanh Tran's novel about an anxious teen living with her dad for the summer in a super-haunted manor in Vietnam. Featuring: Our mother's awards sweep at the senior center art show, French-colonialism-as-cringey-hobby, zombie-ant fungus, and buying bras at Costco.

Lindsay and Barbara discuss Edgar Allen Poe's iconic short story about a perfectly sane not at all wackadoo murderer. Featuring: Uncomfortable Poe facts, the taste of stone fruits, wild speculation, and how Lindsay's dog is "a whore for cheese."

Sorry! We've been taking our time getting back into the swing of the pod. To make up for it, Lindsay and Barbara describe their recent trip to France. Featuring: How Lindsay and her spouse got trapped in Charles De Gaulle Airport, our mom's new car, train wine, Barbara's abandonment trauma, and more.

Lindsay and Barbara chat about Anne Rice's iconic vampire novel. Featuring: Childhood trauma, shroom-level sensory fascination, confusing vampire mysteries, a prelude to our sister trip in France!

Lindsay and Barbara talk through Claire Kohda's not-at-all-scary "literary vampire novel." Featuring: A Baba Yaga puppet, the crushing hierarchies or working in a contemporary art gallery, and overcoming indoctrinated shame about the fact that you crave human blood.

READ THIS BOOK — if you dare! Lindsay and Barbara recap Nick Cutter's totally terrifying tale of a scout troop stuck on a camping trip with PARASITES. GAH! Featuring: The best (worst?) body horror we've ever read.

Skip it. Lindsay and Barbara discuss Rachel Harrison's too-cute-n-cozy book about a woman who gets dumped by her boyfriend, moves upstate, and befriends a witch. Featuring: Cute spiders, chicken-bone-pretzels, and Napoleon's height (5'2").

Maaaybe read this book? Lindsay and Barbara talk through Sarah Gailey's super dark and twisted tale of a woman returning to the childhood home she used to love, a home infamous for being the torture chamber of her dad's serial killing spree. Featuring: What to wear in France, six-fingered flesh monsters, and inspo for a sitcom concept.

READ THIS BOOK! Lindsay and Barbara gush over the mind-bending magic of Catriona Ward's story about a serial killer and the people in their orbit. Featuring: The thing about the rug, Olivia the religious cat who won't swear, whirly-dos, and what-the-fucks.

Lindsay and Barbara discuss Max Booth III's engaging novelette about a troubled Texas family waiting out a storm in their bathroom. Featuring: getting drunk on mouthwash, eye-roll-worthy fart humor, high school magic, and whether or not our Mom knows what Reddit is.

Sisters divided! Lindsay and Barbara can't agree on whether Clay McLeod Chapman's tale of drug-induced haunting is hella great or totally meh. Featuring: a nothingburger-turned-cult-leader, a faceless mushroom baby crawling in the walls, tech unions, and whether it's more terrifying to imagine being late for your first day on the job OR eating your own eyeball.