The Scares That Shaped Us

Caitlin Starling returns! The author of The Starving Saints and The Graceview Patient is back to talk about her new vampire novel, Milkteeth , and we get even more vampiric with a discussion of Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive ! - Pre-order Milkteeth now ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of Matthew's writing! - Follow the show on BlueSky and Facebook ! - Want to ask Matthew a questi...

Madeline Blondeau joins the show this week! We talk about her excellent debut novel Penitents from Ghoulish Books, taking inspiration from New French Extremity films, writing multiple perspectives without breaking chapters, and much more. And of course, we dig into 1970s rape revenge classic I Spit On Your Grave ! - Penitents is available now ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of Matthew's wr...

Ito Romo, the writer behind the epic vampire novella Filth Eaters , joins the show this week! We talk about the ten-year process of writing the book, research, creating a fully realized world with a short page count, and more, all wrapped up in a discussion of Carlos Fuentes' haunting book Aura ! - Filth Eaters is available now ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of Matthew's writing! - Fo...

Chloe Lauter, author of the fierce debut The Flayed Man , joins the show this week! We talk about the genesis of the book, her take on vampires, and much more, all while we discuss the Twilight Zone classic "Time Enough At Last!" - The Flayed Man is available now ! - Check out Chloe's website ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of Matthew's writing! - Follow the show on BlueSky and...

It's a Scares That Shaped Us first: A guest discussing the work of another guest! This week, Hailey Piper returns to the show to talk about her new novel, This Movie Doesn't End The Way We Want . We discuss cursed movies, cosmic horror, and we dive into a deep breakdown of Stephen Graham Jones' amazing story "Broken Record!" - Read "Broken Record" for free at Lightspeed...

This week on the show, we're joined by editor and author Emma Cole! We talk about the blending of horror and romance, how they work to complement each other, Emma's new nonfiction book on romance in horror movies, and much more all wrapped up in a discussion of the legendary Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)! - Pre-order Love Never Dies! - Check out Emma's website! - Subscribe to Pop He...

Gwendolyn Kiste returns! The multi Stoker Award-winning author of Reluctant Immortals and The Haunting of Velkwood is back on the show this week to talk about her new novella In These Gilded Ghostly Hearts , how she came to write a horror sequel to The Great Gatsby , and more, all while we dive into '90s kid horror classic Eerie, Indiana ! - Pre-order In These Gilded Ghostly Hearts ! - Check o...

Jonathan Janz, author of Children of the Dark and Veil , joins the show this week! We talk about the re-release of his cult classic book Marla , the relationship between writing and coaching basketball, and we dig deep into one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Stephen King's IT ! - Pick up your copy of Marla ! - Check out Jonathan's website ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of...

Bram Stoker Award-winning author Cynthia Pelayo returns to the show this week! We caught up with her about her new novel, It Came From Neverland , talked about her upcoming anthology Something Followed Us Home , and dug into the Edgar Allan Poe classic "The Black Cat!" - Pre-order Something Followed Us Home ! - Check out Cynthia's website ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of Matthew&...

On August 6, we went live on a YouTube for a special episode with our original Friend of the Show, Clay McLeod Chapman! Now that episode's in the main feed! We talk about Clay's new book Devil Inside , dig into his five favorite possession horror movies ever, take listener questions, and much more! - Devil Inside is available now ! - We're doing a live show on YouTube on August 6! Subs...

Paul Tremblay returns! The Bram Stoker-winning author stops by the show this week to talk about his new book, Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep , and we dig into the work of Shirley Jackson with a discussion built around her short story "The Intoxicated." - Check out Paul's website to keep up with everything he's doing! - We're doing a live show on YouTube on August 6! Subscr...

Aoife Josie Clements, author of the stunning debut horror novel Persona , joins the show this week, and we're talking David Lynch! Join us for a conversation about Aoife's writing process, balancing her composing and music with writing prose, and of course, the enduring power and influence of Eraserhead . - Go buy Persona ! - We're doing a live show on YouTube on August 6! Subscribe to...

Rising horror star Sara Hinkley is on the show this week! We talk about her amazing debut novel The Red Sacrament , writing about vampires in revolutionary times, and much more, all while discussing the impact of Tim Burton's Gothic 1999 classic, Sleepy Hollow ! - Check out Sara's website ! - We're doing a live show on YouTube on August 6! Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don&#3...

David Demchuk stops by the show this week to talk about his astonishing novel Red X , writing queer horror, being a queer horror fan, and much more as we dig into the legacy and influence of the legendary horror soap opera Dark Shadows ! - Check out David's website ! - Subscribe to Pop Heist for more of Matthew's writing! - Sign up for our newsletter for even more horror goodness. - Follow...

Emily Hughes, Stoker-winning author of Horror for Weenies , joins the show this week! We talk about writing for new horror fans, her new horror site Darker Times , and dig deep into the formative horror experience that is Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist ! - Subscribe to Darker Times ! - Pick up a copy of Horror for Weenies ! - Follow CJ on Instagram ! - Sign up for our newslette...

CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture , joins the show this week! We talk about the writing of her new novel Headlights , digging into a mystery narrative, making Colorado a character, and of course, the influence of Stephen King's classic The Shining ! - Headlights is available now ! - Follow CJ on Instagram ! - Sign up for our newsletter for even more horror goodness. - Follow t...

Johanna van Veen, author of My Darling Dreadful Thing and Blood On Her Tongue , joins the show this week! We talk about her new novel, Bone of My Bone , historical horror, humanity's many ways of dealing with the dead, and of course we leap into the Gothic delights of 2012's The Woman in Black and its predecessors! - Bone of My Bone is available now ! - Check out Johanna's website for...

Cynthia Gomez, author of the wonderful new Gothic novel Muneca , joins the show this week! We talk about the real history behind the book, the Gothic themes, and Cynthia's own Gothic fiction touchstones, and then we dive into one of the biggest horror novels and films of the 20th century: Rosemary's Baby ! - Muneca is available now ! - Check out Cynthia's website for updates on everyth...

Sarah Gailey, the acclaimed author of books like Spread Me and Just Like Home , joins the show this week! We talk about their amazing new book Make Me Better , writing about grief, cult and wellness fiction, and much more, all wrapped up in a discussion of Clive Barker's all-ages classic, The Thief of Always ! - Make Me Better is available now ! - Check out Gailey's website for updates on...

This week, author, poet, editor, and teacher Leticia Urieta joins the show! We talk about her new collection The Remedy is the Disease , balancing writing and teaching, body horror, and much more, all wrapped up in our discussion of one of the greatest horror films of all time, John Carpenter's The Thing ! -  The Remedy is the Disease is available now ! - Check out  Leticia's website  for...

Daniel Kraus returns! The newly minted Pulitzer Prize Winner is back on the show to talk about his book Partially Devoured , a memoir and critical analysis of Night of the Living Dead , which we means we spend the whole conversation going deep on the most influential zombie film of all time! -  Partially Devoured is available now! - Check out  Daniel's website for updates on everything he'...

It's an Anne Rice episode! Author Lindy Ryan joins the show to talk about her latest novel, Dollface , writing about life as a horror author, crafting her own approach to slashers, and more, all while we dig into Rice's legendary debut novel, Interview with the Vampire ! - Dollface is available now! - Check out Lindy's website for updates on everything she's doing! -  Sign up for o...

This week on the show, Matthew's joined by Candice Bailey and Gavin Lees, editors of the new magazine Crossroads: Folk Horror in the United States! We talk about founding the magazine, their personal interest in folk horror, and of course, the folk horror film by which all others are measured, 1973's The Wicker Man ! - Pick up Issue One of Crossroads ! - Follow Crossroads on Instagram and...

Two great guests in one jam-packed episode! This week, Matthew's joined by authors Kailee Pedersen and Briana N. Cox to talk about their new books! We dig into Kailee's upcoming novel The Minimalist , Briana's new book Indigent , and then we dive deep into the emotional, haunting perfect of I Saw The TV Glow ! - Pick up Briana's book Indigent ! - Pre-order Kailee's second novel...

Max Booth is back! The author of We Need to Do Something , The Last Haunt and more joins us this week to talk about her work, her new Patreon, and much more, and we dig into one of the all-time great '80s horror films, The Hitcher ! - Check out Max's Patreon ! - Head over to Ghoulish Books and buy stuff! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness. - Follow the show on  Bl...