The Scares That Shaped Us

Todd Keisling, author of Devil's Creek and Scanlines , joins the show this week to talk about his new novel, The Sundowner's Dance , and to take on our third Clive Barker story! This time we're talking a complete novel as Todd and Matthew dig into the dark strangeness of The Great and Secret Show ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to Todd's website for links to everything he's got going on,...

Joshua Chaplinsky joins the show this week to talk about his latest book, Letters to the Purple Satin Killer , writing a different kind of serial killer story, his horror journey, and the infamous Faces of Death ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Joshua's website  for links to everything he's got going on, and go pick up Letters to the Purple Satin Killer ! - Follow the show on  BlueSky  and  Facebo...

Chuck Wendig, author of horror hits like The Book of Accidents and Black River Orchard , stops by the show this week! We talk about his latest novel, The Staircase in the Woods , and dive deep into the apocalypse of Robert McCammon's epic genre classic, Swan Song ! Can stories about nuclear devastation actually be comforting? We're gonna find out! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Chuck's website...

It's our 25th episode and we're taking on one of the most influential horror movies ever, Poltergeist . Ronald Malfi joins the show to talk about the film's influence on his work, his new novel Senseless , and more! SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Ronald's website for links to everything he's got going on! - Follow the show on  BlueSky  and  Facebook ! - Want to ask Matthew a question?...

The author of In The Valley of the Headless Men and No Gods Only Chaos L.P. Hernandez stopped by the show this week to talk about his writing, his new publishing venture Sobelo Books, and the sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon ! We talk about the movie's gore, visual effects, cosmic horror, and how the ideas at the core of this film changed L.P.'s imagination forever. We also talk about...

When The Wolf Comes Home author Nat Cassidy stops by the show this week to talk about his new book, monsters, the genius of Terminator 2 , and a very creepy story from his childhood called "The Burr Woman." It's a good time, including some fun (and not so fun) stories from our childhood. SHOW NOTES: - Head to Nat's website for more on his books and everything he's got going on!...

Erika T. Wurth joins the show this week to talk about her amazing new novel The Haunting of Room 904 and Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark ! We talk about ghost stories, haunted objects, horror in academia, writing process, and much more. It's a good time! SHOW NOTES: - Head to   Erika's website for more on her books and everything she's got going on! - Follow the show on  BlueSky ,  T...

Stephen Graham Jones makes his triumphant return to the show this week to talk about his amazing new novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter , and Kathryn Bigelow's vampire classic, Near Dark . We discuss how Stephen crafted his own approach to vampires, how Near Dark holds up, what the vampire means in a contemporary fiction context, and much more. SHOW NOTES: - Head to  Stephen's website for li...

Bram Stoker Award-winning author Cynthia Pelayo joins the show this week to talk about her latest book, fairy tales, true crime, and Joyce Carol Oates' legendary short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" It's one of the most formative horror (yes, it's horror) stories of the 20th century, and we get deep into its meaning and power. Enjoy! SHOW NOTES: - Head to Cyn...

Ghoulish Books founder, author, and Ghoulish Book Festival host Max Booth stops by the show this week to talk about their books, editing a new trans horror anthology, writing about bones, and much more as we tackle a classic of 1980s kid horror, The Gate ! SHOW NOTES: - Head to the Ghoulish Books website for info on everything Max has going on, including Ghoulish Book Festival on March 14 & 15...

Johnny Compton, the author of novels like The Spite House and Devils Kill Devils , joins us for our first-ever dive into the wicked imagination of Robert Bloch! We talk about Johnny's books, vampire lore, horror for kids, and of course Bloch's legendary short story "Sweets to the Sweet." SHOW NOTES: - Visit  Johnny's website for links to everything he's got going on, and fi...

The author of Clown in a Cornfield and Influencer , Adam Cesare, joins the show this week for our first-ever Wes Craven episode! We talk about Adam's books, writing for young readers, watching your creations come to life on film, and more as we dig into New Nightmare ! SHOW NOTES: - Visit  Adam's website for places to buy his books, links to social media, and more! - Follow the show on  Bl...

Virginia Feito joins the show to kick off our February and promote her new novel, the much buzzed-about Victorian Psycho . We talk about the origins of the book, its inevitable comparisons, adapting the book to film, and Virginia's chosen story, the Amazing Stories episode "Mirror, Mirror," directed by Martin Scorsese. Mirrors: They're Scary! SHOW NOTES: -  Victorian Psycho is avai...

Kailee Pedersen, author of one of the best horror debuts I've ever read, joins the show this week to talk about her incredible book, Sacrificial Animals , and her love of Junji Ito's early horror manga classic Tomie ! Plus, Matthew recommends Horror in the High Desert and The Lady and Her Monsters ! SHOW NOTES: -  Sacrificial Animals is available now , and Pastorale is coming soon from Bur...

Comics writer Zac Thompson joins us this week for our second consecutive episode devoted to the work of Clive Barker! We talk about Zac's comics, particularly his current eco-horror series Into the Unbeing , and tackle Barker's "In The Hills, The Cities," the impact of The Books of Blood , climate change, writing through the darkness, and much more. SHOW NOTES: -  Into the Unbeing...

It's our first-ever Clive Barker episode, and we can't think of a better guest for that than Eric LaRocca. In this episode, we discuss Eric's new book At Dark, I Become Loathsome , the impact Barker had on his life and work, the secret knowledge of The Hellbound Heart and Hellraiser , writing about depraved humans with sensitivity and care, and much more! SHOW NOTES: -  Pre-order At Da...

For our first regular interview episode of 2025, the great Grady Hendrix is here to talk about one of his favorite formative horror stories, Margaret St. Clair's 1951 short weird tale "The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles." Along the way we talk about his new novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls , the importance of backstory in his fiction, the emotional content behind big concepts, and...

Happy New Year! In this special double-sized episode of the show, Matthew is diving in to the best horror stories of 2024 with two very special guests. First, Gabino Iglesias joins us to talk the best horror books of the year, and then Russell Falcon stops by to talk about the best horror movies of 2024. So, if you're trying to catch up on the year in horror, this is a fantastic place to get t...

Merry (Black) Christmas! The great Clay McLeod Chapman returns this week as our first-ever second-time to guess, to fulfill a promise he made in our very first episode and discuss the immortal Black Christmas on this, its 50th anniversary. We talk about Clay's new book Wake Up and Open Your Eyes , the film's very upsetting phone calls, Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, that ending, Halloween ,...

Sofia Ajram joins the show this week to talk about her fantastic debut novella Coup de Grace , and to have a millennial blast with 1999's House on Haunted Hill . We cover everything from our love of tiny coffins to Geoffrey Rush's impossibly thin mustache to Sofia's first experience with the film as part of his school-age movie nights. It's a blast! SHOW NOTES: - Coup de Grace is a...

One of the finest horror writers alive, Gemma Files, is on the show this week! We talk about the inspirations for her short fiction, her latest collection Blood from the Air , and Arthur Machen's legendary story "The White People," an essential piece of weird fiction. It all comes together for a long chat about influences, inspiration, feeling like you're part of a secret world, an...

It's a super-sized episode as Josh Malerman joins the show to talk about Incidents Around the House , 10 years of publishing horror, the unique way he promotes his books, and of course, Twilight Zone: The Movie . It's the first anthology we've covered on the show, and it's a hell of a chat about a fascinating project. SHOW NOTES: - Get Incidents Around the House now! - Follow Josh...

Happy Halloween! It's a special Halloween edition of the show this week, as we're joined by writer/director/producer/critic/podcaster/awesome person BJ Colangelo to talk about a cornerstone of kid horror in the 1980s and 1990s: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark . In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about what these classic tales taught BJ about horror storytelling, the value of expo...

Big episode this week! The great Stephen Graham Jones stopped by to do what you always hope you'll get to do with Stephen Graham Jones: Talk about slashers. We tackled Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood , how it shaped Stephen's approach to slashers and horror storytelling in general, how he'd teach this movie in a writing class, and of course, snakes. Because we're country bo...

The great Hailey Piper joins The Scares That Shaped Us! We talked about her amazing new vampire novel, All The Hearts You Eat , writing about coastal towns, the influence of Twin Peaks , and more. Then, we turn to Hailey's chosen story, Joel Schumacher's 1987 vampire classic The Lost Boys ! What role does sincerity play in horror media? How do you figure out vampire rules in the '80s?...