About Us

Neil is a writer, podcaster and recovering academic. After completing a PhD in Contemporary Gothic Fiction (useful!) He fled the ivory halls to live a quiet life amidst the moors and dark satanic mills of northern England. Here he dwells, writing words, talking to famous writers and doting upon his dog. And yes, that is Stephen King’s front gate in the photo.

Want me to write for you? Get in touch.

The reason i’m a freelance podcaster (who could leave that face at home?). My own personal Cujo. He gets more likes than me on Instagram.

THINGS I HAVE WRITTEN

Look upon my works and despair…

The Best Horror Books of 2024 – Esquire (ongoing)
Why Carrie is Still Scary as Shit! – Esquire (April 2024)
11 Books That Scratch the 3-Body Itch – Vulture (March 2024)
12 Books to Read if You Can’t Move on From Night Country – Vulture (February 2024)
The Best Horror Books of 2023 – Esquire (December 2023)
My Macabre Weekend at StokerCon – Esquire (October 2023)
The Scariest Sci-Fi Horror Movies for Halloween – New Scientist (Oct 2023)
Shock of the New: Jordan Peele, Mariana Enriquez and More on the Horror Fiction Renaissance – Guardian (October 2023)
The Long Tale (Tail?) of Dogs in Fiction – Esquire (August 2023)
Whalefall Review – New Scientist (August 2023)
Interview with Lauren Beukes – Elle (August 2023)
Generation H: Meet the Writer’s Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age – Esquire (July 2023)
Black Mirror Season 6: The Good, The Bad and The Existentially Harrowing – Elle (June 2023)
The Deluge, review – Guardian (March 2023)
How Black Filmmakers Reinvented the Horror Genre – Esquire (Feb 2023)
The 22 Best Horror Books of 2022 – Esquire (Nov 2022)
What to Read this Halloween and Beyond – Guardian (Oct 2022)
Where to Start with Stephen King – Guardian (Aug 2022)
The Fifty Best Horror Books of All Time Will Scare You Sh*tless – Esquire (May 2022)
All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked – Esquire (Sept 2022)
The Final Girl Breaks Out –Slate (Sept 2021)
Billy Summers, review – Guardian (August 2021)
Project Fear: What Will Brexit Gothic Look Like? – Guardian (Feb 2019)

183 – Gwendolyn Kiste & Working Through Your Ghosts

Gwendolyn Kiste returns for another high-concept twist on the Gothic. In The Haunting of Velkwood an entire street turns ghostly overnight. Trauma and laughter ensues.

182 – Tim Lebbon & Running Towards What Scares You

Tim Lebbon writes riotously good adventure-horror novels. He also likes running outrageous distances up big hills. What a pleasure it was to speak to him.

181 – Haunting Hill House, with Catriona Ward, Johnny Compton & Paul Tremblay

Finally, i’m ready to delve into the greatest haunted house of them all! Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. The place where the scary things walk alone.

180 – Chuck Palahniuk & What Kind of Sex Do You Want?

Chuck Palahniuk – a writer who helped shape the nihilism and extremity of contemporary fiction. Who makes people faint with his short stories. He’s here.

179 – Ally Wilkes & The Ethics of Eating Your Friends

Ally Wilkes returns to Talking Scared to discuss the icebound horrors of Where the Dead Wait. It’s a tale of Arctic exploration gone wrong, haunting,

178 – Jenny Kiefer & A Solid Foothold in Horror

This Wretched Valley brings the famous Dyatlov Pass Mystery to the Kentucky woods. We talk about wilderness, adventure, brutality and bookshops!

177 – John Langan & Fishing For Mythologies

In this special episode, we talk at length about The Fisherman – about the classic books and legends that inspired the building of a whole

176 – The Best Horror Novels of 2023

Another year over. The only thing left is to run through my very favourite books of the year. The Best Horror Novels of 2023, as

175 – The Ghost Story Deep Dive, with Alan Baxter, Lauren Bolger & John Langan

We celebrate this Christmas Eve with a Ghost Story – Peter Straub’s classic novel of the supernatural. And I bring friends to help…

174 – State of the Horror Nation 2023, with Emily Hughes, Victor Lavalle & C.J. Leede

And so we come to the end of another year. Time to look back at the best that 2023 offered, as determined by three of

173 – Michelle Paver & Long Nights of the Body & Soul

We’re going up in the world this week – longitudinally and latitudinally, with the GOAT of adventure Gothic, Michelle Paver.

172 – Gemma Amor & The Haunted Penis-Replacement Structure

The Folly is a coastal tale of haunting and cursed architecture. Cornwall’s answer to The Shining. We talk possession, Covid and awkward families.

171 – C.S. Humble & Come For the Horror, Stay for the Horses

We’ve had Cowboys versus Aliens but have you ever considered a 3-way fight between gunslingers, vampires and cosmic cultists to an Elder God? C.S. Humble

170 – Luke Dumas & The Ghosts That Time Forgot

Sometimes two words can make a jaded horror reader sit up straight. Ghost. Dinosaur. Have you ever heard a more beautiful combination, a sweeter symphony

169 – Tyler Jones & Journeys Without Maps

Horror is about finding light in darkness. And that’s never been truer than in this week’s episode.

168 – Tananarive Due & Locked in With the Monsters

Ghosts are injustice persevering.

So many horror stories hinge on that idea, but for Tananarive Due it’s more personal.

167 – Nat Cassidy & A New York State of Death

Nat Cassidy returns to guide us through the haunted hallways and avenues of his New York, vamp-adjacent novel, Nestlings.

166 – Sam Rebelein & You Had Me At Tongue-Monster!

Sam Rebelein’s Edenville is a LOT of story. Scary academia, a cosmic framework, and enough monsters to fill Guillermo del Toro’s minibus.

165 – Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi & The Rock ‘n’ Roll Rhythm of the Novella

I’m joined by Josh Malerman and Ronald Malfi for a freewheeling masterclass in writing an effective novella.

164 – Out There Screaming Roundtable, with Nnedi Okorafor, Lesley Nneka Arimah & Maurice Broaddus

This week is a special roundtable episode. An exciting, challenging and very thought-provoking tour of contemporary Black horror.

163 – Liz Hand & Visiting the Thing That Walks Alone

We’re heading back to the most haunted house of all. Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. For a sequel!

162 – Chuck Wendig & American as Evil Apple Pie

Chuck’s new novel, Black River Orchard is all about apples. Tasty, evil, corruptive. And great fun!

161 – Clay McLeod Chapman & The Chesapeake Softshell Shuffle

Clay McLeod Chapman returns to answer questions, about What Kind of Mother, the first being what the f**k Clay?!

160 – Isabel Cañas & Many Types of Bloodsucker

Isabel Cañas returns to the show to talk about her second novel, Vampires of El Norte – a sweeping historical love-story… with bloodsuckers.

159 – Alexander James & An Encounter in the Woods

Alexander James loves the woods. Who knows why? Nothing good ever happens there, as his debut, The Woodkin, makes clear.

158 – Catriona Ward & Rewriting American Gothic (Like, Literally)

If you thought The Last House on Needless Street was tricksy, just wait until you hear about Looking Glass Sound. It’s a destined Gothic classic

157 – Josh Winning & The World Through Blood-Tinted Glasses

Josh Winning has parlayed years of writing about film sets into a horror novel full of 90s retro slasher love.

156 – Sadie Hartmann & The Books of Our Horrid Hearts

Sadie Hartmann, AKA Mother Horror to the likes of us. She knows a thing or two about this haunted library we love to browse.

155 – Stephen King & Writing From the Nerve Endings

The architect of modern horror. The creative North Star of my life, and probably yours. Here’s here to talk about a life lived in books.

154 – Alex Woodroe & The Sweet Science of Folk Horror

Alex is a Romanian writer of dark fictions. Her debut, Whisperwood, is full of Transylvanian myth and legend without a vampire in sight.

A Special Thanks to my Patrons

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