Every month (or so), Tenebrous Kate and Jack Guignol cover the weirdest, kinkiest, and most outrageous fiction we can unearth. The books discussed range from classics of gothic literature to startling works of new weird, from romantic potboilers to horror epics, from cult favorites to obscure pulp treasures. Join us for a smarter-than-average look at WAY-weirder-than-average books.
The podcast Bad Books for Bad People is created by Tenebrous Kate and J. Guignol. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
Algis Budrys’s 1960 novel Rogue Moon is a masterpiece of Sweaty Sci-Fi, a freshly-patented subgenre that will be revealed during the course of this episode. Jack and Kate take a trip to the dark side of the moon to ponder the meaning of life, love, the universe, and manly perspiration.
What happens when you get some Jim Thompson in your moon mystery? Are women more dangerous than a murderous labyrinth on the moon? And what, exactly, characterizes a work of Sweaty Sci-Fi? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
It's March, which can only mean one thing! We're really late with this episode.
Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2024 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind, regardless of when it was actually produced. A little bit new, a little bit old, and a whole lot of weirdness is in store!
Join your hosts for a discussion that ranges from wicked governesses to the relative merits of Italian heavy metal to gothic roadside attractions. Oh, and murder. So much murder.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is a 2021 graphic novel that pairs historical true crime author Harold Schechter and Eric Powell, writer and illustrator of the monster punch-up comic The Goon. Jack and Kate revisit the horrifying true tale of the Butcher of Plainfield–this time, in comic book style.
What impact did this case have on pop culture, and why does it continue to fascinate us? How were the ‘90s a different country, and why did that country smell like grunge? Is the true crime genre Horrible Exploitation or Cool Exploitation? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Christa Faust’s 2004 novel Hoodtown takes the reader to an alternate universe Los Angeles, where crime drama is brewing in an underground culture populated by masked wrestlers. Skulls will be cracked and butts will be fingered when Jack and Kate get in the ring with this pile-driving mix of murder mystery, romance, and action.
Why is it important to be nice to your local exotico? Does everyone from New Jersey have a gym membership? Is an especially skanky carpet the ultimate heel? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Outside of your hosts’ beloved Warhammer 40k novels, can tie-in game fiction be good? Jack and Kate aim to find out by discussing The Shadow on the Glass, a 2024 novel that pairs podcast-favorite author Jonathan L. Howard with the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game.
Where are all of London’s fanciest spiritualists and psychics disappearing to? Can an A-team still be an A-team if the “a” stands for accountants and academics? Is there a bit of rugose cone inside all of us, really? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Sex. Sacrilege. Murder. Tennis. This podcast is all about three out of those four things. Sudden Death, a 1978 novel by Peter Brennan (creator of TV shows Judge Judy and A Current Affair), marks the first time Jack and Kate are venturing into the world of sports thriller fiction. Buckle up, because underneath those tennis whites there’s a seething underbelly of drama and corruption.
What could go wrong with a little nun-flavored sex work? Why does every character in this book have the most outrageous backstory ever? Will Jack and Kate learn anything about the sport central to this book? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Russell Kirk is best known for his influential work of post-war political philosophy, The Conservative Mind. But his best-selling work–by far–was a 1961 gothic thriller The Old House of Fear. Jack and Kate wander through the mysterious isolated islands of Scotland on a hunt for Commie rabble-rousers, damsels in distress, and shaky real estate investments.
Does getting shot during the Spanish civil war give you psychic powers? Are Teddy Boys really that dangerous? Do Maltese people talk like that? What even are women? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Stephen King’s 2013 novel Joyland is the author’s second effort for publisher Hard Case Crime. Jack and Kate are ready to track the clues in this story of murder, romance, and amusement park professionals.
What happens when the King of Horror gets a chance to be the Crime Writer Guy? Can the main character of his book ever achieve full carny acceptance? Why doesn’t the magical child at the center of the mystery infuriate your hosts? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Ray Garton’s 1986 horror novel Live Girls may have the perfect bad book pitch: vampire hookers in seedy vintage Times Square. Jack and Kate travel back to a golden age of sleaze and encounter smokeshow bloodsucking strippers, donut-inspired dirty talk, and dancefloor remixes of “The Old Rugged Cross.”
What perverted compulsion makes a vampire turn the worst dudes in the world immortal? Why are nightclubs never, ever as cool as the ones in bad books? What do table tennis and the Anarchist’s Cookbook have in common? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Once again, Jack and Kate trade reviews of books from their archives. This time around, Jack explores the terrifying mystery and romance of Rae Foley’s Nightmare House (1968) and Kate plunges straight into disaster with Airport 77 (1977).
Why is dealing marijuana a worse crime than murder? Does a nightmare dude make a nightmare house into a nightmare home? Whose dick will be compared to a tiny airline bottle of booze? Is Airport 77 the disco era counterpart to Moby Dick? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2023 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind, regardless of when it was actually produced. A little bit new, a little bit old, and a whole lot of weirdness is in store!
Join your hosts for a discussion that ranges from a sinister girls’ school to a rogue AI (a court-mandated topic in 2023) to gratuitous comedy penises.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn is one of the great comics success stories of the 1990s, and yet… our hosts remain in semi-complete ignorance of this undead superhero. Jack and Kate decide to educate themselves by reading the first 18 issues of the series where they encounter a world of bedazzlement, from shape-shifting demons and mafia cyborgs to a controversial Neil Gaiman collab.
Other than fighting, killing, and baseball, what exactly is Spawn good at? Can anyone possibly care about the Youngbloods? Could there be a shared Spawn / Jess Franco’s “Erotic Rites of Frankenstein” shared universe? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
In a special, super-extended, spooky season episode, your hosts read a double feature of horror hostess biographies! Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi by Sandra Niemi and Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Peterson recount the drama-filled careers of two of the most iconic, goth-adjacent TV figures of all time. Jack and Kate take a candid look at the trials and triumphs of two real-life Halloween queens.
Does the appeal of late-night metaphysical diner talk span generations? How young is too young to launch your showgirl career? Why do the Red Hot Chili Peppers ruin everything? Is a decades-long goth girl beef even more odious than the Red Hot Chili Peppers? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
In this episode, your hosts dig deep into their collection of vintage paperbacks and share their thoughts on dusty, lurid tales from decades past. Kate reads The Priests of the Abomination, a cult-flavored 1970 crime conspiracy thriller from Ivor Drummond, and Jack selects three gruesome stories from the zombie horror anthology Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2.
Do rich people have a secret sixth sense that detects perverts? What is it with British pulp authors and their insistence on stopping the action for relaxing, fish-related interludes? Will Jack share the grossest story we’ve encountered yet? The Nineties - a different country or a whole ‘nother planet entirely? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Adam Mansbach brings on the two-fisted action in his 2013 novel The Dead Run, with the results capturing the exhilarating vibe of a vintage exploitation movie. When a series of crimes challenges the police on both sides of the US-Mexican border, the authorities learn that a shocking conspiracy may be afoot.
What’s the most outrageous self-defense weapon? How wise is it to attempt the pronunciation of an Aztec deity’s name? Do prairie dogs even have kitchens? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Edogawa Ranpo pioneered the Japanese-language mystery story, taking inspiration from his pseudo-namesake Edgar Allan Poe and ultimately developing his own unique–and deeply disturbing–authorial voice. Jack and Kate take a look at three short stories from the collection Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination and encounter a world of erotic, grotesque nonsense.
How do Ranpo’s original tales compare to the many film and manga adaptations of his work? Who’s got it worse: a pervert living inside of a chair, or the people who sit in the pervert’s chair? Have our hosts finally gotten to the darkest parts of the Summer of Bummer? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Brian Evenson’s 2006 novel The Open Curtain tracks the budding relationship between two Mormon teens… through the lens of mental illness, alienation, and ritual murder. Evenson’s novel takes Jack and Kate on a deeply uncomfortable journey into the darkest aspects of religion.
Which gym teacher should be on duty when you start a beef with another student? Why should you always display the most off-putting books in your collection? Is Mormonsploitation a thing, and what’s up with the true crime connection? And is the exploitation call coming from inside the house? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of the podcast.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
Ian Fleming’s 1954 novel Live and Let Die places household-name super-spy James Bond on the trail of Harlem kingpin (and likely Soviet spy) Mr. Big. Jack and Kate follow Bond from smoky jazz nightclubs to a Florida retirement community and on to the Caribbean as he relentlessly wanders directly in his enemies’ lines of fire.
What is it with British pulp authors and their diligent recording of their characters’ dietary choices? How does an enthusiasm for jazz become a life-saving trait? And what the hell is keelhauling anyway? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]
In this month’s episode, Jack and Kate set their literary dragon boat to sea with The Raven’s Table, author Christine Morgan’s 2017 collection of Viking stories. Spanning subgenres from grindhouse gore to reimagined fairy tales, this anthology will give fans of historical fiction and horror all the flavors they’re looking for.
What’s the worst thing that can happen if you piss on a troll stone? Who would win in a battle between vikings and bigfoots? What’s a great way to disturb the ghost of HP Lovecraft? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Robert Bloch is one of the best-known names in American horror fiction: a protege of HP Lovecraft and the author Psycho, which would be famously adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock. He was also heavily inspired by historical crime, as we’ll see in the subject of this podcast episode, American Gothic. Join Jack and Kate as they explore the murder castle of the nefarious G. Gordon Gregg.
Just how much like the historical HH Holmes is GG Gregg? What are the perils of being a lady reporter in late-19th century Chicago? Is every American gal just after a big, shiny wedding ring after all? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Guy Boothby’s 1899 novel Pharos the Egyptian is a gothic horror tale that finds a hapless British artist crossing paths with a sinister elderly man who seems to have some connection to ancient Egyptian culture. Join Jack and Kate on a globe-trotting adventure filled with intrigue, magic, romance, and Neapolitan loafers.
Is there a difference between magical Egyptian hypnotism and garden-variety gaslighting? Why are all German pharmacists so annoying? What are the unspoken dangers of weed? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2022 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind, regardless of when it was actually produced. Spoiler: very little of what’s discussed was actually produced in 2022.
Join your hosts for a discussion that ranges from tales of bloody revenge to swashbuckling action to CIA mind control experiments in the 1960s.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Agatha Christie’s clever and charming mystery novels have been loved by generations of readers, spawning PBS Mystery icons like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Jack and Kate discuss Christie’s 1935 novel Three Act Tragedy, which chronicles a series of cocktail party poisonings among Britain’s upper crust that draws the attention of quirky Belgian investigator Hercule Poirot.
Is it rude to turn down a party invitation that might lead to your untimely demise? Is there room for a meet-cute while a multiple murderer is on the loose? Did the butler, in fact, do it? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Peter Straub’s 1979 novel Ghost Story is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of American horror writing, boasting Stephen King as one of the book’s biggest fans. Jack and Kate dig into this tale of buried trauma and supernatural menace in a quest to see whether this classic of the genre meets their esoteric aesthetic expectations.
Who’s the asshole if your brother decides to marry your witchy ex-girlfriend? Why are women always preventing men from getting really comfy chairs? Is a sinus infection the secret hero of our tale? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
It’s no secret that 14th Century Europe was not a very fun place to be. Christopher Buehlman’s 2012 novel Between Two Fires leans all the way into the hideousness of plague, war, and famine while adding in a heaping helping of medieval horror. Jack and Kate jump into this apocalyptic landscape, which takes them from France to Hell and back again.
Does this book reveal the secret origin of the stag party? What even is grimdark? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Whitley Strieber may be best known for documenting his harrowing encounters with extraterrestrials, but before Communion, he wrote modern takes on classic monsters. In his debut novel Wolfen, he tells the story of two cops stalked by werewolves amidst the urban decay of 1970s New York City. Jack and Kate take a journey that they hope will give them the lycanthropic flavors that they crave.
Just how does a dog trainer acquire an encyclopedic knowledge of animal prints? What is the purpose of vampire sign language? Where does the New York Post fit into the food chain? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
George McDonald Fraser’s long-running Flashman series follows the adventures of Sir Harry Paget Flashman, a self-confessed scoundrel, as he navigates the landscape of the mid-nineteenth century. Jack and Kate jump in at the deep end with Flash for Freedom, the third book in the series that finds Flashman enmeshed in the North American slave trade. Buckle up for a tale that leans all the way into the permissive pulp style of the early 1970s!
Is the past really a different country? At what point does an antihero tip over into just plain old villain? Just how much atrocity can be forgiven if a dude has the right kind of facial hair? Find out the answers to these questions and many more in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
As promised, here’s a link to the Lady Klingon ad Kate mentions in the episode.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. In this bite-sized episode, Jack explains what he's learned about the world portrayed in Andrzej Sapkowski's The Lady of the Lake, the final novel in the epic saga of Geralt of Rivia and his various adventures and... not-so-adventures.
What does a meet-cute look like in fantasy France? Will drunk-flying vampire Regis make it out of the climactic battle alive? And what do our hosts think of the finale’s numerous shocking revelations?
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Gretchen Felker-Martin’s debut novel Manhunt drops the reader into a post-apocalyptic future where a hideous disease has turned men into cannibal rapists while pitting transwomen against radical feminists. Join Jack and Kate on this splattery suspense journey through the many ways that people are awful to other people.
Why are nail guns so viscerally gross? Is heroism conducted under cover of night really heroism at all? Was the real villain “internet culture” all along? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
F. Paul Wilson’s 1981 novel The Keep has one of the great pulp story setups: Nazis versus vampires … but it turns into something a little different. When Nazis occupy a castle in Romania, they unwittingly unleash an ancient evil and set the stage for an epic confrontation between supernatural powers that have clashed throughout the course of human history. Join Jack and Kate as they venture into this epic battlefield of historical horror!
Have you seen the Smith and Jones “Nazi Generals” sketch yet? What energy does the name “Glenn” exude? Who is cooler: Dracula’s friend or a wizard from Atlantis? And what does Donkey Kong have to do with all of this? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Tim Powers’ 1987 novel On Stranger Tides weaves a swashbuckling adventure combining buccaneers, voodoo, and romance set in the golden age of piracy. But fear not, because reading the words “avast matey” just now in this description is the only piratical talk you’ll encounter. Join Jack and Kate as they hit the high seas and discuss this rip-roaring slice of speculative fiction.
Why have your hosts encountered so many puppeteer protagonists? How does this book deftly avoid the pitfalls of other occult thrillers? What is the worst kind of metal that exists? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of the podcast.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. In this bite-sized episode, Jack explains what he's learned about the world portrayed in Andrzej Sapkowski's The Tower of the Swallow, the fourth novel in the ongoing saga of Geralt of Rivia and his various adventures and... not-so-adventures.
Who gets a really trashy tattoo? What's that vampire guy named Regis up to this time around? And how do winter sports come into the picture?
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Jack and Kate venture into the world of romance novels with Victoria Holt's 1988 novel The India Fan. When the daughter of a reverend in the English countryside is drawn under the influence of a wealthy family, she must balance her need for independence with the schemes and desires of the Framling clan. Your hosts will encounter ghost nuns, secret babies, blackmail, Orientalism, and pretty much all the other flavors found in historical romance along the way!
How do romance novels actually get made? What's the real lesson behind the Sepoy Rebellion? Does this book feature the least careful lady character in the history of fiction? All these questions and more will be explored on this episode of the podcast.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. In this bite-sized episode, Jack explains what he's learned about the world portrayed in Andrzej Sapkowski's Baptism of Fire, the third novel in the ongoing saga of Geralt of Rivia and his various adventures and... not-so-adventures.
What will we learn about vampire mythology in the Witcher universe? Are there any fantasy lawyers in this book? What if the real treasure was the soup we made along the way? All these questions will be answered in this episode of the podcast!
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2021 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind encountered during the first half of the year.
Join your hosts for a discussion that ranges from various ways to hunt supernatural creatures to cursed hunks to weird acting choices by 80s pop stars.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. In this bite-sized episode, Jack explains what he's learned about the world portrayed in Andrzej Sapkowski's Time of Contempt, the second novel in the ongoing saga of Geralt of Rivia and his various adventures and... not-so-adventures.
Where do Witchers go for professional advice? What is terrible about going to a wizard party? What is a sound investment in this fantasy universe? All these questions will be answered in this episode of the podcast!
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
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Jack and Kate venture into the grimdark future of Warhammer 40K with this exploration of Requiem Infernal by author Peter Fehervari. Put aside your preconceptions around Space Marines and Orks and find out what hideous delights await you in the WH40K universe (nuns with guns, folks--it's got nuns with guns).
Will our hosts be able to sufficiently summarize WH40K lore in under 15 minutes? Why are Space Marines super-boring? What happens when the reader is made complicit in the untangling of the book's narrative? Haven't we all got a dark demonic monster lurking somewhere inside of us? Your hosts will explore all these questions and more in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Clicking the link above gets us a wee Amazon commission that goes towards our hosting fees and tech costs, but we support your book-reading habits whatever they look like!
Jules Verne is best known to American readers as the author of beloved adventure tales like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days. But was one of his wildest acts of science fiction to anticipate Bram Stoker's Dracula by nearly a decade in his novella The Carpathian Castle? Jack and Kate will attempt to address just this question by diving deep into this 1892 story of Mittel European suspense.
How does Jules Verne reveal his feelings about rustic people? Why are telephones so damn terrifying? Siri, is it raining? All these questions and more will be answered in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is an epic manga series created by Hirohiko Araki that tracks the outrageously gory punch-em-up saga of the Joestar clan. The first installment of the series, Phantom Blood, takes place in Victorian England and features podcast fave themes of vampirism, so-straight-it's-gay manly action, and culturally insensitive gothic tropes. Join Jack and Kate on their maiden voyage into the Jojo-verse.
How could Jack the Ripper possibly be any worse? Are sandwiches the king of foods? What's something that happens in horror stories that's so bad, it almost stops your intrepid hosts from reading? What do YES and Emerson Lake and Palmer have to do with any of this? All this and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected] You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
The Sound of His Horn is a 1952 speculative fantasy novel by Sarban (pen name of English diplomat John William Wall). British POW Alan Querdillon is catapulted through time after attempting to escape from the clutches of the Nazis. He finds himself in a future controlled by fascists, trapped in the holding of the larger-than-life Reichsforester Count von Hackelnberg and subject to unimaginable terrors. Jack and Kate explore this strange and disturbing vision of post-WWII life.
What strange perversions lurk within the walls of the isolated schloss? Will your hosts ever get bored of riffs on "The Most Dangerous Game?" What dark cattle-related secrets will be revealed during this episode? All these questions and more will be answered in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
The Lustful Turk is an 1828 pornographic adventure that presents readers with a cornucopia of semi-consensual sexual scenarios, fully intended to be read in a one-handed manner. Written by an anonymous writer at a time when publishing and selling pornography came with the risk of stiff legal penalties, this bodice-ripper tracks the turgid horizontal career of Ali, the Dey of Algiers, who ravishes his way through a veritable EU of virginal concubines. Jack and Kate explore a world of highly specific and uncomfortable fantasies as they probe this classic of erotic literature.
How many virginities does a woman have? How elaborate is too elaborate when it comes to sex schemes? Do all Catholics imprison women in convents? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the first half of 2020 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, book and "wild card" from any category that was the best experience of its kind encountered during the first half of the year.
Ranging from hideous cinematic abjection to music for The Toughest Of The Goth Kids to various ghosts that may or may not require busting, your hosts meander through the high-brow, the low-brow, and everything in between.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Kai Ashante Wilson's 2015 novel The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps establishes a new and vibrant fantasy world that draws inspiration from African culture. This sword and sorcery tale depicts the journey of Demane, a gifted healer and fighter who hides numerous secrets, as he helps guard a caravan against enemies of the mortal and supernatural varieties.
What are the similarities and differences to traditional fantasy tropes found in this book? How is language and dialog deployed to depict its characters? Are there limitations to shared warrior brotherhood? Kate and Jack explore all these questions and more in the latest episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. In this bite-sized episode, Jack explains what he's learned about the world portrayed in Andrzej Sapkowski's short story collection The Sword of Destiny. Does Geralt of Rivia become an interesting character? How horny are sorcerers? Is destiny the boss of Geralt after all? Tune in and find out!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Bram Stoker's iconic creation Dracula has been translated into numerous languages, but as it turns out, some of these translations are more like adaptations. One such adaptation is Iceland's Powers of Darkness (Makt Myrkranna) by Valdimar Ásmundsson, originally published in serialized format in 1900 - 1901 in an Icelandic newspaper. The story introduces new characters, shifts the emphasis of the plot, and focuses on a satanic Euro-conspiracy plot.
How much of Powers of Darkness incorporates Bram Stoker's early draft ideas for Dracula? What if Dracula had a coven of evil ape men living in his basement? Does this Dracula even drink anybody's blood? All these questions and more will be explored on this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Charlaine Harris begins her blockbuster Southern Vampire Mysteries series with Dead Until Dark, a psychic girl meets undead boy romance set against the backdrop of serial sex murders. Weird tonal shifts and wacky plot twists abound, but how will Jack and Kate fare in this urban crowd-pleasing fantasy climate?
Does everyone love Sookie because of her telepathy, or because of her spectacular rack? How does one dress when attending a vampire nightclub? How late is too late to drop a Funny Uncle into a story? Why is a certain kind of straight woman so obsessed with men's buns? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
One thing you won't find out is how the book compares to HBO's True Blood TV series, because your hosts didn't bother to watch it in preparation for this episode (they're not sorry).
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. This bite-sized episode covers "The Bounds of Reason" from Andrzej Sapkowski's short story collection The Sword of Destiny. This story was adapted as part of Netflix's Witcher TV show as "Rare Species," probably the most underwhelming tale of the lot. Will this story deliver more of the wild flavors that your hosts are looking for? Tune in and find out!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
In this mini-episode, Kate occult-splains the 1983 novel Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz to Jack. The book promises the tale of a coven of British witches that is all that stands between the UK and devastation at the hands of Hitler's black magicians. What it delivers is plentiful inter-coven politicking, intricate descriptions of British military dress, and in-depth descriptions of other people's tarot card readings.
Will there be enough grotty Nazi occult action to hold Kate's interest? Doesn't "cone of power" sound like a Pokemon attack move? How would Americans solve this scenario differently? The answers to all these questions and more exist within this mini-episode.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Mephistophela by Catulle Mendès (1889) is one of the key works of decadent literature, describing the various paving stones on one woman's descent into an erotic hellscape. Translated into English for the first time by Brian Stableford, the book's lush horrors are now accessible to a new audience. Jack and Kate tackle the lurid and tragic story of Baronne Sophor d’Hermelinge, lesbian seducer and damned woman.
Was the fin de siecle really as prudish as some folks seem to think it was? When does homoerotic desire become demonic possession? How do lesbians even do it? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Welcome to the Valley of Plenty! In these green and gentle pastures, Jack explains the plots of stories from the Witcher series to Kate, who feels like she already completed her tour of duty in this particular fantasyland. This bite-sized episode covers "A Grain of Truth" from Andrzej Sapkowski's short story collection The Last Wish. Will this tale have the fairy tale flavors that your hosts are looking for? Listen and find out!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Before it was a hit video game series, The Witcher was a series of novels by Andrej Sapkowski, the "Polish Tolkien." Geralt of Rivia is fast becoming one of the most recognizable modern fantasy heroes, a stoic combo of monster-puncher and irresistible ladies' man who travels the strife-torn landscape in search of dark creatures to battle. Join Jack and Kate as they explore the first full-length novel in the Witcher series, The Blood of Elves.
What unexpected parallels to noir fiction will be uncovered? How does Three Men and a Baby figure into all of this? Just how important is it to stay on good terms with your exes (particularly if they are all sorceresses)? Will coins, in fact, be tossed to our Witchers? All this and more will be revealed in this month's episode.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Weird fiction luminary Laird Barron ventures into red-blooded, two-fisted territory in his 2018 novel Blood Standard. The book follows wise-cracking mafia enforcer Isaiah Coleridge as he navigates Upstate New York's organized crime world in search of a missing teen. Themed gangs, knuckle-busting dust-ups, and unexpected romance are just part of what he encounters in his unlikely hero's journey. Kate and Jack discuss the book, its relationship to classic hard-boiled fiction, and whether or not it might be a feel-good male equivalent to the romantic comedy.
How believable is a two-fisted Air Force colonel? Does New York State have a pagan festival underground? Are bean bag chairs appropriate gang lair decor? Which one of your hosts mistrusts horses and which one is a secret beastmaster? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the second half of 2019 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, book and "wild card" from any category that was the best experience of its kind encountered during the last half of the year that was.
Ranging from comfort food comedy to critically acclaimed foreign films to avant garde metal and right back around again, your hosts take a meander through what delighted them during the waning of 2019.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
In the 2019 biography I Put a Spell on You: The Bizarre Life of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, journalist Steve Bergsman tracks the life of the noted shock rocker including his rise-and-fall-and-rise to fame, run-ins with the law, and rocky romantic life. Kate and Jack discuss the book as it relates to the biography as a literary form, the perils of the Big Rock Bio, and the challenges and responsibilities of research.
Does Jay's penchant for lying and self-aggrandizement make him an impossible subject for a biography? Where does "rock 'n' roll authenticity" stop and "novelty act" begin? Just how much damage can the Imp of the Perverse do to a person's life? Does anyone know where we can get jobs playing piano in a Hawaii strip club? These questions and a whole lot more will be discussed in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
John Norman's long-running Gor series has a reputation that precedes it. Set on a brutal counter-Earth where beautiful women long to be enslaved by the strong men who maintain nature's moral balance, it would seem that the books have all the trappings of spicy, guilty pleasure reading. Jack and Kate dive into the sixth title, Raiders of Gor, alleged to be the last "good" entry in the thirty-five book series. Listen along as your hosts encounter sexual slavery, drunk crying, and enough tedious agricultural detail to break a lesser reader.
Why have critics neglected to acknowledge Norman's high-minded philosophical influences? Can civic pride transform a hive of scum and villainy into a city of heroes? Where do Home Stones come from? How is series protagonist Tarl Cabot a lot like a startup founder? All these questions and many more will be answered in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Fritz Leiber is probably best known to fantasy fans as the creator of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, but he was also an accomplished author across a myriad of pulp formats. In his 1943 novel Conjure Wife, he creates a world that is only modern on its surface, where behind every great academic is an equally great witch. When sociologist Norman Saylor discovers his wife's occult activities, he convinces her to stop her conjuration. Shortly thereafter, a series of terrible coincidences--or is it black magic?--start to turn his world upside down.
What are the risks of being the big bohemian on campus? What are some of the ways authors keep magic magical in their stories and stop if from being just another form of science? What do this book's witches think about astrology? And what is up with the sexy college gown striptease? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Before the anime, before the manga, there was the Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D light novel series. Don't be fooled by that nomenclature, though: these books are chock full of wackiness. Part sci-fi, part weird western, part dark fantasy, and part teen romance, the Vampire Hunter D books take a kitchen sink approach to their stories. Buckle in for a thrill-a-minute adventure set in the post-apocalyptic wastelands.
Just how romantically irresistible is our titular protagonist? Is there a secret occult pee vampire story arc happening over the course of the series? What would happen if a whole bunch of Halloween costumes came to life and started kicking ass? Who exactly is the Sacred Ancestor and what is his deal? You'll have to listen and find out, since some of these questions will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre composed the 32-novel saga of Fantômas in the three years between 1911 and 1913. Over the course of the series, France's elusive master criminal commits a litany of heinous deeds that unfold at a baffling breakneck pace. The books are early examples of the crime procedural genre, putting significant narrative weight on forensic science, police methodology, and courtroom drama. Far from today's pro-authority narratives, however, the Fantômas novels incorporated Grand Guignol violence, mistaken identity, and social upheaval, making the titular character a favorite of the Surrealists. Jack and Kate tackle the first book in the series and get a taste of decadent, vintage criminality.
How hard is it for a Frenchman to pronounce "South Steamship Company" and can one of our listeners demonstrate this? When is a character a misunderstood genius and when is he just demonstrating a profound misunderstanding of detective work? What the hell is going on with the American Gladiator-style competition between those porters? How long will it take for this episode to descend into filthy-nasty Fantômas fanfic? All these questions and more will be answered in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Coldheart Canyon brings together two amazing tastes--horror icon Clive Barker and Hollywood decadence--and the results are... maybe not what one would expect. Set in the 21st Century Hollywood of blockbuster movies, big egos, and bland artifice, the novel tells the tale of fading megastar Todd Pickett who attempts to escape from recent trauma by moving into a mansion formerly owned by a glamorous silent movie star. Things take a turn for the bizarre when it becomes clear she's still living there, along with the very literal ghosts of old Hollywood and several even darker beings.
What is it like spending 600-plus pages with characters deliberately constructed to be as one-dimensional as possible? Why can't we just stay in the haunted Romanian monastery? Who is Keever Smotherman? More importantly, who is the Suburban Noble Savage? Find out the answers to all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate look at what they've been reading and watching so far in 2019 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, book and "wild card" from any category that was the best experience of its kind encountered during the first half of 2019.
Follow your hosts as they talk about gritty frontier justice, bloodthirsty demons, various forms of heavy music from across the globe, and the joys of powder-coating among many, many more topics.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
The pulp paperback boom of the 70s and 80s delivered an occasional genre gem, and Ken Greenhall's Childgrave is a prime example of a book whose back cover premise actually undersells its uncanny creep factor. Nominally the story of a photographer who is shocked when his camera captures the shapes of his young daughter's invisible friends, leading him to an isolated community in Upstate New York, this book delivers so much more.
CAUTION! Spoilers abound in this episode. Childgrave is BBfBP recommended reading, so be advised if you'd like to read the novel and tune in later.
What's the big deal about harpists? How can members of the secular society of New York City get back in touch with the spiritual? How much ambivalence is too much ambivalence during the parenting process? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate make a return trip into the realms of best selling author Anne Rice under the literary guise of A. N. Roquelaure. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is Rice's pseudonymous experiment to create a book that packed so many "hot scenes" into its pages that readers wouldn't need to bookmark the naughty bits. Loosely inspired by the fairy tale, the book finds our heroine swept away by a domineering prince and taken to a kingdom notorious for using elaborate sexual rituals to train nobles in the ways of good governance.
Just how steamy does this book get? Does the sex circus live up to its promise? Are there any Anne Rice Cinematic Universe crossover opportunities? What does Cardi B have to do with all of this? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Pat Walsh’s The Crowfield Curse and The Crowfield Demon are two novels for young readers that take us back to the Middle Ages for a tale of the mysterious supernatural circumstances surrounding a monk’s abbey, the fey creatures nearby, and a young orphaned boy that the monks have taken on as a servant. Jack and Kate take a journey into a gentler variety of genre this month in an effort to understand what's up with the youth.
How is learning to play the flute a lot like growing up? Isn't teaching monks that the fey folk are on their side something that the devil would do? Just how bad was the medieval diet? All these questions and more will be explored during this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
The Humans, a 2015 comic by Keenan Marshall Keller and Tom Neely, finds a recipe for far-out action by combining grimy vintage biker pulp with Planet of the Apes fantasy. Prepare yourself for drugged-out gladiator fights, raunchy ape sexytimes, and surprisingly deep commentary on PTSD.
What is ape-world Vietnam like? How does this comic avoid the pitfalls of nostalgia? Can you name all the squares in biker movie bingo? Find out all this and more in this month's mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison is considered to be a classic of the fantasy genre, rediscovered during the 1960s as the canon of modern fantasy was developed in a post-Tolkien world. Drawing its influences from classic epics of the Nordic, Celtic, and Greek cultures, the novel tracks the culture clash between the noble and straight-dealing denizens of Demonland and their treacherous enemies in Witchland. It also has characters with names like Goldry Bluzsco, La Fireez, Spitfire, and Cargo, so strap yourselves in for some real high fantasy nonsense.
What will Kate and Jack make of the numerous old timey ballads and poems within the book's pages? Which characters does it seem like the author wanted to make kisses on? Who in their right mind would publish a ravenously pro-war novel four years after the close of World War I? What do Electric Wizard, decadent literature, and McDonaldLand have to do with any of this? Listen to the latest episode of Bad Books for Bad People and find out the answers to these questions and more.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Caitlin R. Kiernan's Black Helicopters is an atmospheric, ultra-dark fantasy novella that manages to do modern-day Lovecraftiana oh-so-right. Creepy twins, cosmic horror, and shadowy conspiracies combine to create a mind-bending reading experience.
Is the best Lovecraftiana the stuff that strays furthest from the mythos? Why were conspiracy theories so awesome in the 1990s? How can a book that doesn't focus on plot OR character be so damn satisfying? This episode of Bad Books for Bad People dares to answer all these questions, plus learn about a home-made version of The Crow, haunting tales from gym class, and Operation Midnight Climax!
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
For better or for worse, 2018 is one for the history books. Jack and Kate take some time to recommend some of media they enjoyed during the year that hasn't been discussed on the podcast. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, book and "wild card" from any category that was the best experience of its kind encountered during 2018.
Your hosts go down pop cultural byways that include corpsepaint, 19th Century British crime, highbrow comics, brave artists willing to take dares from internet cesspools, and very weird dads.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
During his lifetime, Jim Thompson's masterful novels of crime, obsession, and dark Americana were published as pulp novels. Intervening years have seen a reassessment of his work, with Stephen King singing his praises and cultural historian Geoffrey O'Brien dubbing him "The Dimestore Dostoyevsky." A Swell-Looking Babe finds Thompson at his sharpest, weaving a taut tale of a bellboy who finds himself drawn into a seedy series of schemes that might actually be about altogether different--and far darker--themes.
Listeners are encouraged to seek out the book before listening, since SPOILERS ABOUND.
Will Kate and Jack encounter any familiar themes as they explore a new-to-the-podcast genre? Are women, once again, the root of all evil? What do manatees have to do with any of this? Find out the answers to these questions and much more on this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate go off-mission for this very special episode in which they work through their feelings about the Luca Guadagnino-helmed Suspiria remake. Risk the boop of death and join your hosts on this emotionally-fraught journey.
Be warned that SPOILERS ABOUND!
Did the world require a nearly-three-hour-long, beige remake of Dario Argento's hyper-saturated psychedelic fairy tale? How many Tildas is too many Tildas? What are the best circumstances under which to engage with an especially divisive movie? How is the trend of "elevated horror" a lot like Garfield without Garfield? Find out the answers to these questions and so very many more in this mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate dive right into the deep end of the Guy N. Smith Crabsiverse with book six in the cult (?) horror (?) series, Crabs: The Human Sacrifice, a book that combines killer crustaceans, ecoterrorism, and BDSM into a particularly grotesque gumbo. When Charles Manson-esque cult leader Pete Merrick decides to sacrifice people in order to save giant crabs from the cancer that threatens to destroy them, he picks the wrong girl and soon a government-trained killer is hot on his trail. THRILL at scenes crabs of indeterminate size ruining infrastructure, GASP as young lovers worry about getting sunburn, and CHOKE BACK NAUSEA at the truly ghastly depictions of pus and vomit.
Who on earth would own a bejeweled alarm clock? Why is everybody in this book so stinky? Will this be the book that finally breaks the bonds of friendship between your hosts? Find out the answers to these questions and more on this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate celebrate the Halloween season with a visit to R.L. Stine's fictional town of Shadyside, a suburban hamlet with more than its fair share or spooky teen-centric violence. For their first venture onto Fear Street, your hosts read and dissect The Wrong Number and The Halloween Party. Surprisingly, the books contain many of the perennial BBfBP favorite themes along with some insight into the psychology and behavior of 90s teens.
Are these books a gateway drug to convert teens into weird fiction fans? Is Zima a very mature beverage? What do Elvira, Psychomania, and Drake in a wheelchair have to do with all of this? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Katie Skelly's graphic novel My Pretty Vampire blends an array of 60s and 70s references to create a brightly-colored, deceptively sweet-looking comic that explores repressed desires, poisonous relationships, and vampiric murder. Jack and Kate take a pop art journey into the dark corners of the human psyche, taking some side trips into horror conventions, vintage TV, and the films of Jess Franco and Jean Rollin along the way.
How has the landscape of horror media changed due to the increased presence of female critics and creators? When is an owl-headed mask just an owl-headed mask? Can a sex kitten transform into a tigress? What does Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass Whipped Cream & Other Delights have to do with any of this? All these questions and more will be answered during this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
William S. Burroughs' The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead is a psychedelic, stylized journey through a near-future world where roving gangs of gay youth are on a mission to destroy Western civilization. The experience of reading the book is something like watching Dr. Strangelove on one screen, Apocalypse Now on a second screen, and having both feeds interrupted by explicit gay erotica. Join Jack and Kate as they discuss this ambitious, outrageous work of speculative fiction.
What was the impact of Burroughs on 90s Kids? How does the book translate the cinematic experience on to the page? What do our hosts make of the Beat Generation? Tune in to this episode of Bad Books for Bad People to find out!
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
At the time when they were published, Seabury Quinn's stories for Weird Tales were among the publication's most popular titles, but today, his name has been eclipsed by his contemporaries H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. In this episode, Kate and Jack explore Quinn's work by discussing his tales of the extremely French occult detective Jules de Grandin.
Is possession by the ghosts of evil knights the fastest way to artistic success? How effective is punching evil right in the goddamn face? Can we ever hope to tell if the real villain is an honest-to-goodness were-gorilla or just a bunch of Germans in masks? Find out the answers to these questions plus much more in this mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
In Richard Matheson's Hell House, the ultra-haunted Belasco House is described as "the Mount Everest of Haunted Houses" and boy howdy, does it ever live up to that moniker. Matheson's horrifying shock-fest throws four unwitting paranormal investigators into the veritable mouth of Hell, subjecting them to all manner of psychological and physical torment in this most steroidal of ghost stories. Consult your spirit guide and join Jack and Kate on the astral plane for an in-depth discussion of the novel and its place within the supernatural horror canon.
Is it a good idea to bring a cat into a haunted house? How can you, too, become one of history's greatest monsters? What on earth does the Christmas season have to do with what's going on? All this and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Octave Mirbeau's 1899 novel The Torture Garden is a notorious and extreme work of French decadence. The book pulls no punches in its discussion of political corruption, sexual deviancy, and body horror, maintaining its capacity to shock across the decades. Join Jack and Kate for a macabre journey from the cynical sewers of French politics to the blood-soaked abbatoirs of the Far East.
Does using public transportation regularly lead to murderous ideation? Is our narrator the first fuckboi in literary history? Why on earth do your hosts enjoy poisonous femme fatale characters so much? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Cameron Pierce's 2009 novella Ass Goblins of Auschwitz has a stand-out title even in the outrageous world of bizarro fiction, a subgenre of fantasy that uses that uses elements of absurdism, pop-cultural references, grotesquery, and over-the-top scatological imagery--often for the purpose of surreal satire. In this month's episode, Jack and Kate crack the covers of this notorious story and see if it delivers on its promise.
Will a book with a title this wild be able to live up to the hype? Are there any artistic and literary precedents for this sort of thing, with its "toilet toad" and "shit slaughter" madness? And how do Neil Gaiman and Jerry Lewis figure into all of this? Find out the answers to all these questions and more on this month's mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Anne Somerset's The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV tells the all documented, all true story of a years-long scandal that rocked the court of the Sun King, leading to prominent members of the French court being accused of poisoning and black magic. Join Kate and Jack as they approach the true crime genre in their own trademark style (to whit: "Old Timey"). Get ready for a too-wild-for-fiction tale of intrigue, fancy dress, nonexistent plumbing, and questionable police practices!
Why is Louis the XIV one of the most obnoxious figures in history? How bad was the toilet situation at Versailles? When is a "convent" more like a "spa?" How many mad priests get mixed up in this junk? All these questions and more are answered in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate are back from vacation! We're just about at the midway point of the year and your hosts are ready to take a look back at some of the things they've enjoyed during 2018 so far. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, book and "wild card" from any category that was the best experience of its kind encountered during 2017.
Join us to hear about sinister funeral directors, sexy adventurers, historical melodrama (always historical melodrama), and ninjas.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Bringing the ennui of the Decadents to tried-and-true Gothic themes, Tanith Lee's Dark Dance is a fascinating entry in the 90s horror novel canon. Heroine Rachaela drifts back and forth from her shoddy apartment to her dull retail job until the relatives of the father she never met lure her out to their rambling seaside mansion. Once there, she learns the secrets of the mysterious and sinister Scarabae clan and experiences a shocking sexual awakening that ultimately spells the doom of the family. Jack and Kate enjoy a spooky nostalgia trip by returning to a book that holds up rather well across the decades.
How does the shape of a story change when its heroine is outrageously passive? What taboos are smashed within the pages of this book? Is the real world more monstrous than being part of a family of maybe-vampires? What does Bigfoot have to do with all of this? Find out the answers to all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate take a different approach in this mini episode by paying tribute to author, scholar, theater expert, and collector Mel Gordon. Mel's books had a huge impact on both of your hosts and they discuss his importance and the legacy he leaves us with. Kate talks about her personal encounters with Mel and Jack dives into where he fits within an academic context.
How does one get cast in a Mel Gordon theatrical production? What kind of gift would one receive from him at one's wedding? Why is there no Weimar Berlin simulation for the Oculus Rift and how do we fix that? Where does Werner Herzog fit into all of this? Find out all this and more in this month's mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Books discussed include:
Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin
Theater of Fear and Horror: The Grisly Spectacle of the Grand Guignol of Paris, 1897 - 1962
The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar's Priestess of Depravity
Horizontal Collaboration: The Erotic World of Paris, 1920 - 1946
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
L.P. Hartley's Facial Justice depicts a post-nuclear dystopia in which absolute equality is enforced by rule of... well, not law, but supposedly benevolent edicts designed to protect citizens--or in the book's language, "patients and delinquents"--from themselves. In this world, anything that might inspire envy is corrected by the state, even if that means surgically altering a person's physical appearance. Jack and Kate take a deep dive into this novel that is by turns cheeky, macabre, and thought-provoking.
Is it possible to be a good person in an inherently flawed society? How can language shape a culture? Is it worse to be banished to the underworld or forced to play rounds of golf? Why is 1984 standard reading but young people are deprived of the chance to discuss Facial Justice in the classroom? All these questions and more are explored in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
For this mini episode, Jack and Kate take a look at the "title track" from Angela Carter's famed short story collection, The Bloody Chamber. This feminist reimagining of the Bluebeard story blends sensuous language, heady atmosphere, and clever inversions of typical fairy tale tropes.
What perils await young women as they venture into the wider world? How do fairy tales translate into the modern world? Is there a reason why some stories end exactly where they do? Find out all this and more in this month's mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
In Creatures of Will and Temper, Molly Tanzer takes elements of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and crafts a story of romance, swordplay, and demonology. It's an ambitious premise that goes beyond simply gender-swapping its source material. Listen and find out what Jack, a Wilde scholar, and Kate, a reader with a deep fear of contemporary takes on fin de siecle themes, think about this supernatural adventure.
Just how bent do genders get in this story? How much of the artistic process involves drinking, crying, and puking? Will these fencers ever get an opportunity to have some sexytimes? How do demons fit into the worldview of the Aesthetic movement? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
NOTE: Your hosts apologize for mis-naming the lead character. Her name is Dorina Gray, not Doriana Gray. The mispronunciation is due to a typo by Kate in the show notes, but we trust this doesn't impact your enjoyment of this episode!
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Buy Jack's new book, Krevborna: A Gothic Blood Opera, on DriveThruRPG.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
In an effort to atone for the damage done during the Book Battle episode, Jack and Kate trade short story selections designed to delight one another. Do their efforts succeed?
Kate assigns Jack "The Adventure of 'The Brain,'" a 1910 comedy tale by Bertram Atkey that finds a bumbling pickpocket tied up with a cult of phrenology-obsessed suffragettes. Read the story in Otto Penzler's anthology The Big Book of Rogues and Villains. Jack introduces Kate to the work of Vernon Lee with the story "Dionea," a decadent gothic tale of an orphan, a doctor, a sculptor, and the old gods. Read the story in Vernon Lee's short story collection Hauntings, first published in 1890.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
BBfBP theme song by True Creature
Ray Russell's Incubus has a place of pride even among the outrageous titles of the horror paperback boom of the 70s and 80s. Telling the story of a series of horrific rape-murders in a strangely New England-ish seaside town in California, Incubus combines authorial style with an unflinchingly graphic storyline that combine to create a book unlike anything else Jack and Kate have encountered. It's a rare podcast that carries a content warning AND a spoiler alert at the top of the show, but this is just such an episode.
What dark desires lurk inside the hearts of men? How is Dracula like the incubus? Can you really get a degree in "Exotic Cultures?" What even are women? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Enjoy our new theme music by the wonderful Andrea Cowan!
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Jack and Kate take a look back at the year that was and discuss some of their top picks for 2017. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, book and "wild card" from any category that was the best experience of its kind encountered during 2017.
Listen and hear about fantastical bookstores, grisly land disputes, pop music about dark episodes in history, melodramatic revenge, melancholy medieval curses, and so very much more.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
The much beloved--and also frequently reviled--Dragonlance books are a series of Dungeons & Dragons tie-in novels written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Combining the high fantasy of Tolkien with sword and sorcery elements from authors like Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, these books served as the launchpad to a lifelong love of fantasy for many young readers. Jack is one such reader, and he leads Kate through the epic quest of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first book in the Dragonlance series.
How many comedy relief characters can a single fantasy narrative sustain? Does your favorite fantasy wizard share an unsettling number of characteristics with a sulky teen? Is there a secret religious message contained within the Dragonlance series? And how do Willie Nelson and Santa Claus tie into all of this? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Matthew G. Lewis's 1796 novel The Monk represents the first sordid blooming of the gothic horror novel. Rockstar Spanish monk Ambrosio faces an increasingly jaw-dropping series of temptations thanks to a novice monk who may not be what he seems, imperiling the virginal young Antonia in the bargain. But that's just the beginning! With more plot developments per scene than most soap operas, this is a ripping yarn that adds a heaping helping of sex, grotesquerie, and hysteria to Ann Radcliffe's successful formula.
What happens when you accidentally elope with a ghost? Why did the Surrealists love this novel? Does this book contain the best character in all of gothic fiction? Who is the unexpected moral center of the story? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Kate and Jack explore one of the creator-owned titles from the current Golden Age of Comics, the action-packed yet poignant Weird Western Pretty Deadly. Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, artist Emma Rios, and colorist Jordie Bellaire create an immersive new mythology around the American frontier that features characters who are under-seen in traditional Western stories. Readers who like their operatic action served up with an emotional wallop, take note!
What is the Venn Diagram overlap between comics fans and midnight cinema maniacs? Can American creators take some lessons from manga? Who are the worst comic shop owners in the world? These questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People!
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Things get painful for our hosts as the results of a high-stakes book dare. Kate assigns Jack Ready Player One, the nerd nostalgia sci fi blockbuster by Ernest Cline, and Jack retaliates by assigning Kate I Hate Everyone But You, a novel co-written in text message and email form by YouTube stars Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin. Descend into the grisly battle between geeky trivia and woke social media teens.
What happens after the dumbest possible apocalypse? What is the true meaning of the peach emoji? Will Kate revolt against the modern world? Will Jack have to resort to fighting absolutely everyone? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix strikes the perfect balance of context, curiosity, and lurid sensationalism in its approach to the paperback horror boom of the 70s and 80s. Daring to peer beneath the gruesome (and often just plain baffling) covers, Hendrix and his colleague and researcher Will Errickson chart the trends, history, and notable figures involved in creating these once ubiquitous tomes. This book will slake your thirst for killer crabs, Nazi leprechauns, and suburban devil cults.
On this mini episode, Kate and Jack talk to Will Errickson of Too Much Horror Fiction about his horror paperback collection, some of the factors that came into play during this particular period in pulp fiction, and the role of these books in today's popular culture. Catch Will and Grady on the Paperbacks from Hell book tour at Powells Books in Beaverton, OR this Thursday October 12.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Although perhaps best known to BBfBP listeners as an author who helped redefine the horror genre in the early 1990s, Kathe Koja has written novels that span numerous genres. Her 2011 novel Under the Poppy is a romance set against the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War, featuring a band of demimonde survivors whose activities and intrigues influence goings-on at the highest levels of society.
When is a hooker with a heart of gold character more than just a hooker with a heart of gold? What are some of the interesting things contemporary writers can do with a historical setting? Does this book contain the secret XXX origin story for Bojack Horseman? Find out in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Red Spectres, translated and edited by Muireann Maguire, collects examples of a rarely-seen side of Gothic literature, tales produced in the early days of Communist rule in Russia. These macabre stories have many of the elements familiar to Western readers including ghosts, evil doubles, and mad science, while representing a worldview unique to the time and place in which they were created.
How well do totalitarian regimes and fantasy stories mix? What were some of the very real dangers faced by the authors of these works? Is there an audience for nihilist Top Gear? Find out all this and more in the latest mini episode from Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Ernest G Henham's 1898 novel Tenebrae gets inside the mind of a morbidly-inclined young man as he spirals into madness and murder after he believes he has been betrayed by his brother. Published during the same late 19th century blossoming of the Gothic that saw the publication of books like Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray, Tenebrae hearkens back to earlier manifestations of that style of fiction.
What hallucinogenic cocktails is our narrator's uncle cooking up? How much of a debt does this book owe to Poe? Can you ever truly own a woman? Find out in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Michael Moorcock is one of the most influential science fiction and fantasy authors of the latter half of the 20th Century. Chief among his contributions to speculative fiction is the creation of the Eternal Champion, a hero "doomed" to save the world. One such manifestation of the Eternal Champion is Jerry Cornelius, the central character of The Final Programme, a book deemed too psychedelic for publication in 1965 but finally unleashed upon the world in 1968. Jerry gets wrapped up in a wild scheme concocted by sinister computer scientist Miss Brunner to steal documents created by his dead scientist father from the clutches of his drug-maddened brother Frank. What starts as a heist story quickly reveals itself to be something far more bizarre.
How do ultra-decadence and flashy modernity mix? Which is more exciting: World Ice Theory or radical gender fluidity? Where does pro wrestling fit into all of this? Is Michael Moorcock a time-traveling wizard? Find out the answers to all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Author, activist, and academic China Miéville is a luminary in the world of fantasy fiction, creating complex and magical worlds that challenge the traditional "sword and sorcery" of years past. In his 2016 novella The Last Days of New Paris, Miéville conjures up an alternate history version of WWII Paris in which Resistance members use surrealist art to battle Nazi demonologists.
Will the author successfully pack all of his big ideas into the slender novella format? How many advanced degrees should a reader be expected to have in order to understand a single fantasy story? Was the worst thing about the Nazis the fact that they created tacky art? Find out all this and more in the latest mini episode from Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Michael McDowell's Gilded Needles is a captivating tale of two families from dramatically different circumstances, engaged in a bitter feud set against the backdrop of late 19th Century New York City. This grimy vision of the metropolis, populated by opium addicts, thieves, and lesbian brawlers, could easily have earned the moniker Fear City long before the first stag reels flickered onto the screen of a Times Square grindhouse. Get to know the Stallworths, a family with wealth and political ambitions, and the Shanks, a clan of criminal women who have found their place in lower Manhattan's Black Triangle. How do these families' lives overlap, why do they loathe each other, and what are the consequences of their battle?
Jack and Kate have kept this episode spoiler-free in an effort to encourage others to seek out McDowell's under-appreciated thriller.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
For the first mini episode, Kate and Jack tackle the book that is the origin story of the podcast. Sure, a George RR Martin novel about the dark and violent side of the 60s focusing on ritual murder and a band called the Nazgûl sounds amazing, but is it? No. No it is not. Armageddon Rag has taken on borderline symbolic value to your hosts as the quintessential work of wasted potential.
How sad is it when middle aged people worry about "sell outs?" Are all young people doing counterculture wrong, or are hippies just the worst? How many uncomfortable sexual elements are incorporated into the plot? Why would anyone name their magazine The Hedgehog? Find out all this and more in the first mini episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Author Leanna Renee Hieber has created an alternative Victorian London that merges ghost-hunting, Jack the Ripper, capital-R Romantic love, and a healthy dose of post-Harry-Potter magic in her novel Strangely Beautiful. Originally published as two books in 2009 and 2010, Hieber's story features a beautiful, innocent young woman raised in a convent and dropped into a supernatural battle that will change the course of her life. The author describes this book as "Victorian Ghostbusters" and seeks to create a new brand of Gothic with a modern sensibility within its pages.
How will Jack and Kate react to this fanciful new spin on tried-and-true suspense tropes? Why does Kate loathe the male lead more than any other character from any other book they've read so far? When does a wish-fulfillment fantasy for a teenager become a horror story for a middle aged person? And how do Jesus, Snape, and Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS figure into all of this? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
British pulp author Sax Rohmer built a career on depicting the threat posed to the Western way of life by the Demonic Other. His most famous creation, Dr. Fu Manchu, is infamous not just for the hideous violence he wreaks on his enemies, but also for being a dreadful racist caricature. This formula of depicting the horrors of the non-British enemy worked so well for Rohmer that he would revisit it numerous times, even substituting "Asian" for "feminist" when creating his sexy supervillainess Sumuru. In this month's episode, Jack and Kate discuss the first Fu Manchu novel, Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu [1913], as well as the first Sumuru novel, Nude in Mink [1950].
What will they make of Rohmer's brand of phobic suspense? Do any of the characters stop mid-action to grab a cozy fish dinner? How does the author use smoking to convey character? How much more awesome are Fu Manchu and Sumuru than the bumbling protagonists who attempt to foil their plans? Just how inept are British men in dealing with beautiful, sexually available women? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Beginning with her smash hit debut novel, 1976's Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice has spent a career detailing the lives, loves, and melodramas of a sprawling cast of supernatural characters. In interviews where she's discussed 2016's Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, Rice promised a whole new spin on her beloved Vampire Chronicles. The concept of blending gothic vampires with new age science fiction is an appealing one, but does the author deliver on her promise? Jack and Kate dive into this latest offering from the queen of modern gothic horror.
How many of the Vampire Chronicles books have our hosts skipped? Will Kate's dreams of lots of characters she doesn't recognize meeting up with ancient aliens come true? Will we learn the vagaries of vampire science? Isn't a ghost with a body just a dude? How is Lestat doing after all these years? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
***Spoilers Abound***
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
After failing in his quest to find financing for his 18- to 24-hour-long film version of Frank Herbert's Dune, Chilean-French filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo and Santa Sangre) partnered with French artist Moebius to create a science fiction graphic novel titled The Incal. This epic, first published between 1981 and 1988, takes its hapless hero John DiFool across strange galaxies while providing a platform for Jodorowsky to explore his esoteric ideas, which blend shamanism, the tarot, Freudian psychoanalysis, and theater. As you might gather, there's a lot going on here.
Jack and Kate break down how Dune's DNA exists within The Incal even though its creators take the tale in a direction that's far more madcap, alchemical, and... well, French.
Can a work of art succeed at being both serious and light-hearted at the same time? Why are women so goddamn allegorical? Is there such a thing as an unfilmable graphic novel? Who is Kill Wolfhead and why is he the best? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our reading list.
Hanns Heinz Ewers' 1911 novel Alraune is part horror, part science fiction, part decadent prose, and absolutely of the most extreme femme fatale stories ever written. Kate and Jack tackle Ewers' complicated personal and political history and why this German author's weird tales deserve to be read alongside the work of other horror luminaries.
Kate and Jack selfishly take on the role of readers this month, highlighting the author's luridly beautiful writing.
Explore sexy funtimes dekadentenstil with bloodletting, gender bending, and attempts to scientifically identify the sluttiest woman in Berlin. What on earth is a German fencing fraternity? Why should we bring back dueling for satisfaction? How can reading out loud be an effective pathway to getting laid? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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In the mid-1990s, R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series was a sensation, creeping out kids across the globe. The phenomenon of kid-friendly horror fiction is hardly a new one, so Kate and Jack tackle three Goosebumps titles and see how they stack up against the terrifying stories of their childhoods. Bring on the haunted houses, possessed dummies, and nightmarish theme parks!
This month's guest reader is Aunt John from Kindertrauma, the long-running website dedicated to all things childhood-horror-related.
How weird are the Goosebumps books? Why do people love them so much? How do you say Goosebumps in Dutch? What highly inappropriate Freudian subtext can our hosts insert into their conversation about these stories for young readers? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Ultra-prolific British pulp author Dennis Wheatley is best known for his occult thrillers, which combined Wheatley's fascination with magic with his conservative politics. Kate and Jack tackle his 1953 offering To the Devil A Daughter, which involves a mystery author and her interior decorator son who get enmeshed in an occult conspiracy when they delve too deeply into the mysterious young lady who becomes their neighbor on the French Riviera.
This month's guest reader is Kristen Korvette, founder and editor of Slutist, whose study of (and firsthand experience with) witches make her an ideal fit to read from a stuffy, ultra-conservative book about sinister Satanists.
Why does possession by the devil turn our imperiled heroine into someone vastly more awesome? Will a mutual hatred of taxes bring the novel's heroes into an understanding with the villains? Are our hosts secretly Dennis Wheatley villains themselves? How is Stalin involved in this whole mess? Find out all this and more in this month's episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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The potboiler Gothics of V.C. Andrews were beloved by adult women... and their tween daughters. Both Jack and Kate are new to the author's infamous tales of female woe, and they discuss what it's like to read her work for the first time during this discussion of Andrews' 1982 novel My Sweet Audrina. This claustrophobic tale of a girl raised with family secrets in the shadow of her dead sister proves to be a surprisingly traumatic experience for Kate who is forced to confront some of her darkest fears, including the horrors of inheriting someone else's kids.
Here to read an especially sensational passage from the book is Wendy Mays, hostess of Pet Cinematary, the podcast dedicated to taking a deeper look at the role of animals in film. This is her first time reading the work of V.C. Andrews as well, and it turned out to be a much more difficult task than your hosts imagined to find a woman unfamiliar with these macabre little novels.
How does the domestic nightmare world of My Sweet Audrina effect your hosts? Did V.C. Andrews' life experiences add to the intensity of her stories? What were your hosts reading as tweens? Why did tween girls love these depressing forays into mental illness and isolation so much? Find out all this and more on this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.
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Kate and Jack discuss Image of the Beast and its sequel Blown by Philip José Farmer. Released in 1968 and 1969 by adult science fiction publisher Essex House, Kate describes these ultra-explicit, super-bizarre novels as "like the monster mash version of Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye." But that's only part of the picture as we follow private detective Herald Childe on his journey into a world of monsters, ritual murder, and warring horror memorabilia collectors.
The guest reader is man of mystery Baron XIII, who has the distinction of being Kate's most frequently punched-in-the-head friend. Baron XIII reveals his seven-day drawing challenge in exchange for reading one of the most extreme passages from these books.
Are these books sexy? Will we learn anything about Philip José Farmer's sexual preferences? What lives in that one character's nether regions? What does Lord Byron have to do with all of this? Tune in to this episode of Bad Books for Bad People to find out!
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In this episode, Kate and Jack talk about BleakWarrior, Alistair Rennie's 2016 novel in the New Weird genre that at least one reviewer has linked to black metal. Jack provides some far more accurate (and alluring!) descriptions: "as if SoulCalibur were a porno directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky" OR "as if you got your weirdest friend drunk on cheap tequila and asked them to describe what He-Man would be like if it were dirty and a bit Shakespearean." A race of super-humans leaps through time and space in search of ultra-violent battles and super-kinky sex in this sordid tale that your hosts enjoyed far more than they should have.
The guest reader for this book is Degtyarov, founder and editor of Black Ivory Tower, a website and zine devoted to esoteric black metal and related musical genres. How black metal is this book? Do your hosts care very much? To what extremely obscure and unlikely things will they compare this novel? Will the guest reader be able to hold it together through the entire passage he's forced to read that contains all manner of abominable human behavior? Tune in to this episode of Bad Books for Bad People to find out!
Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople and on Facebook. You can discover where to get all the books featured on Bad Books for Bad People on our About Page.
Greetings Bad People! I'm hard at work putting the finishing touches on editing our very first episode. For those of you who would like to treat Bad Books for Bad People as your most outrageous virtual book club, the first title we're covering is Alistair Rennie's BleakWarrior, which one reviewer has called "flabbergasting black metal new weird." How does it stack up to this review? Find out what we thought later this week...!
--Tenebrous Kate
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.