The Scares That Shaped Us

Trevor Henderson, legendary internet monster-maker and creator of the Scarewaves series, joins the show for our Halloween episode! We talk about Trevor's many creature designs, writing for a middle grade audience, and much more while digging into the classic syndicated TV series Monsters ! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness, including a new essay on John Carpenter&#39...

Ally Malinenko, author of middle-grade horror novels like Ghost Girl and This Appearing House , joins the show this week! We talk about her new novel Broken Dolls , writing for young readers, approaching horror as children, and of course, Edgar Allan Poe's legendary short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart"! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness, including a new essay o...

This Is Horror co-host Bob Pastorella joins the show this week to talk about his new vampire novel The Small Hours ! We talk Texas horror, Dracula , merging the crime and horror genres, and much more as we dive into Bob's work and its connection to a 1970s vampire classic, Let's Scare Jessica to Death ! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness, including a new essay on...

C. Robert Cargill, screenwriter behind movies like Sinister and The Black Phone and author of books like Sea of Rust and Day Zero , joins the show this week! We talk about his new movie Black Phone 2 , his collaboration with Scott Derrickson, and much more. Then, we dive into a very particular portion of Stephen King's The Stand , and how it shaped Cargill as a writer! -  Sign up for our newsl...

Neil McRobert, host of Talking Scared , joins us this week for a horror lit podcast crossover to talk about his debut novella, Good Boy ! We discuss Neil's writing process, our shared love for dogs, and more, then we dive into Wes Craven's legendary slasher classic A Nightmare on Elm Street ! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness, including a new essay on John Carpen...

Becky Spratford, librarian, critic, and all-around horror lit icon, joins the show this week! We talk about her new book Why I Love Horror , editing a wide array of bestselling genre authors, and more, and then we dive into a discussion of Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends ! Is it horror? Maybe. Does it serve as a springboard for young horror fans? Absolutely! -  Sign up for our newsl...

Keith Rosson, author of the Fever House duology, joins the show this week to talk about his new vampire novel, Coffin Moon ! We discuss his approach to vampire fiction, his writing process, and then we dig deep into a discussion of Stephen King's The Tommyknockers ! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness! - Check out Keith's website for his books and links to his soci...

Rachel Harrison returns! We talk about her amazing new novel, Play Nice , infamous houses, and of course, dive into all things The Amityville Horror ! We're talking about everything from the real events to the possible hoax to the pop culture franchise that's evolved from it all, and much more! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror goodness! - Check out Rachel's website a...

Bram Stoker Award-winning legend John Langan joins the show this week! We talk about his new collection, Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions , crafting short fiction, building a story over years, and more. We also dig deep into an excellent Jack Cady story, "The Night We Buried Road Dog." It's a great way to kick off Spooky Season! -  Sign up for our newsletter  for even more horror...

It's our one-year anniversary! To celebrate, we brought back our original guest, Clay McLeod Chapman, to talk about his new short story collection Acquired Taste ! We dig into why short fiction appeals to Clay, how he works to craft shorter works, and we dig into Stephen King's classic collection, Skeleton Crew ! Plus, Matthew makes an announcement! - Sign up for our newsletter for even mo...

Celebrated historical horror author Isabel Cañas joins the show this week to talk about her new novel, The Possession of Alba Diaz . We talk about the book's origins, Isabel's fascination with history, and more, and then we dive into an exploration of 2002's The Others ! - Check out Isabel's website and sign up for her newsletter! - Follow the show on  BlueSky  and  Facebook ! - Wa...

It's our first-ever double-bill on the podcast! Christopher Golden and Brian Keene are on the show this week to talk all things The Stand , from their first encounters with Stephen King's epic to their work editing the massive new anthology The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand ! Strap in, Constant Readers, it's a fun ride. - Be sure to find Chri...

Gretchen Felker-Martin, the celebrated author of Manhunt and Cuckoo , joins the show this week! We talk about her new novel Black Flame , suppressed film history, writing about fascism in a time of fascism, and more. Then, we dig into the influence of The Last Unicorn on Gretchen's life and work. What's a fantasy movie doing on a horror podcast? You're about to find out! - Be sure to f...

Daniel Kraus, celebrated author of books like Whalefall and much more, returns to the show this week in celebration of his new novel Angel Down ! We talk about the book's unique style, writing World War I, and much more before pivoting to a discussion of the classic collaboration between George A. Romero and Stephen King, 1982's Creepshow ! - Check out Daniel's website for updates on e...

Author and Nightmare magazine editor Wendy N. Wagner joins the show this week to talk about her new novel Girl in the Creek , and to dive into one of Stephen King's most famous short stories, "The Raft." We talk about what Wendy looks for in short fiction, our shared rural childhoods, the inherent spookiness of lakes, and much more! Plus, Matthew's got a story up at Fangoria! - Che...

Paul Tremblay, the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts , Horror Movie , and more, joins the show this week to talk about his new middle-grade horror novel, Another ! We discuss the horror of kids in crisis, why teaching during the pandemic drove this novel, and of course, we dive deep into the Hammer Horror classic Quatermass and the PIt ! - Check out Paul's website and b...

Stephen Graham Jones returns for his third visit to the show! We talk about Stephen's latest double-feature book release, Killer on the Road/The Babysitter Lives , along with writing short fiction, what Stephen does when he's stuck on a project, and of course, Gene Wolfe's haunting "A Fish Story." It's also possible that the Mothman interrupted our communications at one poi...

Valkyrie Loughcrewe, one of horror's most exciting rising voices, joins us this week to talk about their new books Decrepit Ritual and Puppet's Banquet , and to dig into Splatterhouse , an '80s arcade game with a surprising amount of lore attached. Plus, we talk about tarot, music, gore, and much more! SHOW NOTES: - Find Val on Instagram ! - Check out  Matthew's original short stor...

This week, Valentina Rojas joins the show to talk about her amazing debut novella, A Feast of Putrid Delights ! We talk about how the book came together, co-working on Twitch, co-editing a short story anthology, and more, before diving in to this week's story, Luca Guadagnino's 2018 re-imagining of Suspiria ! SHOW NOTES: - Find Valentina on Instagram ! - Pick up A Feast of Putrid Delights...

This week, Texas-based author Josh Rountree joins the show! We talk about his new book, The Unkillable Frank Lightning , and we take on the most famous Texas horror movie of all time, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to Josh's website ! - Check out  Matthew's original short story on Ko-fi , with all proceeds going to the Transgender Law Center! - Follow the show on  BlueSk...

This week, The Scares That Shaped Us takes on video games for the very first time. Sam Rebelein, celebrated author of Edenville , stops by to talk about his latest book, The Poorly Made and Other Things , and to dive into a somewhat forgotten piece of 1990s PC weirdness, Nightmare Ned ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Sam's website ! - Check out  Matthew's original short story on Ko-fi , with all p...

Bram Stoker Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste, author of Reluctant Immortals and The Haunting of Velkwood , joins the show this week! We talk about how The Haunting of Velkwood took shape, classic horror movies, and of course, an episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Masks"! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Gwendolyn's website ! - Check out Matthew's original short story on Ko-fi , wit...

Michael David Wilson, founder of This Is Horror, stops by the show to talk about his new novel Daddy's Boy , and we take a deep dive into Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's horror Western, From Dusk Till Dawn ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Michael's website for info on Daddy's Boy , and be sure to visit This Is Horror ! - Follow the show on  BlueSky  and  Facebook ! - Want to ask M...

Caitlin Starling, author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence , stops by the show this week to talk about her amazing new horror-fantasy novel, The Starving Saints ! We talk about how Caitlin wrote the book, how she blended genres, and of course, we take a deep dive into The Cell ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to Caitlin's website , and be sure to preorder The Starving Saints ! - Follow t...

Christopher Golden stops by the show this week to talk about his new novel, The Night Birds , and to dive into our first Stephen King title. Gather your corn children and your giant rats, we're talking about 1978's Night Shift ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Chris's website for links to everything he's got going on, and be sure to pick up The Night Birds ! - Follow the show on  BlueSky  a...