Ladies of the Fright

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons Eli Ryder and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, Nina Nahvi, Jason M., S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We offer cool rewards at every tier, including early, ad-free episodes; bonus written, audio, and video content from special guest authors; and the Patrons-Only podcast LOTF After Dark. Head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright for all the gory details!

Show Notes

We are delighted to bring you this special conversation with author Alma Katsu about her most recent historical horror novel, The Deep (2020). One of Ms. Katsu’s many specialties is writing novels that combine historical fiction with supernatural and horror elements. The Hunger (2018), a reimagining of the story of the Donner Party, was named one of NPR’s 100 favorite horror stories, was on numerous Best Books of the Year lists, and continues to be honored as a new classic in horror. Her first book, The Taker (2011), was named one of the top ten debut novels of 2011 by Booklist.

In this episode, we talk to Alma about her childhood years as a voracious reader and her early writing life. She also shares stories about growing up in a spooky (maybe haunted?) old home and how that sparked her infatuation with darker tales. We loved hearing about her fascinating career in intelligence as well as why she decided to follow her writing passion. We learned so much in this conversation with Alma, and we think you will, too.

Find Alma: Website | Twitter

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons Eli Ryder and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, Nina Nahvi, Jason M., S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We offer cool rewards at every tier, including early, ad-free episodes; bonus written, audio, and video content from special guest authors; and the Patrons-Only podcast LOTF After Dark. Head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright for all the gory details!

Show Notes

We are delighted to bring you this special conversation with Daniel Kraus. This is our second time bringing him onto the show, so if you’d like to get a peek into his early writing life, discover how writing without the intent to publish helped him cultivate joy in his craft, explore his trademark style of using gorgeous language to describe the grotesque, and learn about his collaborations with Guillermo del Toro, you can hear all that and more in LOTF 42 when you’ve finished this episode!

In this episode, we do something a bit more special. Daniel walks us through what it was like to collaborate posthumously with the late great George A. Romero to write The Living Dead. It is a breathtaking story, with many surprising twists and turns. Did Romero reach across time and space to help Daniel write this book? We don’t have the answer to that, and neither does Daniel. Listen to the episode. Hear Daniel share his story.

You decide.

Find Daniel: Website | Twitter

Other books by Daniel Krauss that we love:

Rotters

The Shape of Water

Blood Sugar (EXCELLENT Halloween season reading!)

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons Eli Ryder and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, Nina Nahvi, Jason M., S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier (and we’re getting to revamp the whole thing!). If you’d like to check it out, head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright.

Show Notes

We are delighted to bring you this conversation with Jessica Guess, a writer and English teacher who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She earned her Creative Writing MFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2018 and is the founder of the website Black Girl’s Guide to Horror where she examines horror movies in terms of quality and intersectionality. Her creative work has been featured in Luna Station Quarterly and Mused Bella Online Literary Review. Her debut novella, Cirque Berserk, is available for purchase on Amazon.

In this episode, we spoke with Jessica about her early writing life and experiences growing up with horror movies. She shares how horrible professor tried to crush her writing dreams and why it’s important to her now to uplift her own college students. Jessica also talks about her meandering path to writing and how she tried so hard to pursue a “stable career”—hear her story about how she decided pursuing her dreams was more important. She talks about creating A Black Girl’s Guide to Horror, intersectionality in horror, writing Cirque Berserk, and the importance of flipping (often racist) genre tropes.

Find Jessica: Website | Twitter

Check out A Black Girl’s Guide to Horror: Twitter

Disclosure: We are affiliates of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Support indie bookstores; support the show. Win/win!

This episode of Ladies of the Fright is brought to you by Boneyard Soup Magazine. Boneyard Soup is a horror and dark fantasy magazine, specializing in the Weird, the Morbid, and the Macabre. It publishes original short stories and features terrifying artwork. Boneyard Soup’s mission is to represent the horror genre’s diversity by curating many kinds of ghoulish and horrifying stories and by supporting new and talented writers. Boneyard Soup is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund its first year of issues and to connect with new readers. Backers who pledge at least $12 will receive a year’s subscription. This Kickstarter runs until September 23rd. Follow this link to support Boneyard Soup Magazine.

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor, Eli Ryder, and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, and S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, and if you’d like to check it out, head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright.

Show Notes

For our sixth tropisode, we're talking CAMPING with Sadie Hartmann, aka “Mother Horror.”

Sadie Hartmann aka Mother Horror reviews horror for Cemetery Dance and SCREAM Magazine. She is the co-owner of the horror fiction subscription company, Night Worms. She lives in Tacoma, WA with her husband of 20+ years, where they enjoy perfect weather, street tacos and hanging out with their 3 kids. They have a Frenchie named Owen.

When we gave Sadie a choice of tropisode topics, she was quick to hop on this one. We had a great time chatting with her about the camping trope in horror!

Camping Group Read

"The Troop" by Nick Cutter

Camping Book Recommendations

• Kill Hill Carnage by Tim Meyer

• Fat Camp by James Sabata

• The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

• The Ritual and The Reddening by Adam Neville

• The Ruins by Scott Smith

• Camp Slaughter by Sergio Gomez

• Kill River by Cameron Rubique

Camping Movie Recommendation

• 127 Hours

• Blair Witch Project

• Friday the 13th

• Slasher (series)

Find Sadie: Website | Twitter | Instagram

Find Nightworms: Website | Twitter | Instagram

We are so excited to return as the official podcast for 2020 Summer Scares! This episode is our third installment of a series covering the 2020 Summer Scares library summer reading program. The Horror Writers’ Association has partnered with Book Riot and Library Journal to curate the Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. Last year we chatted with the liaisons from each category in LOTF 32, LOTF 34, and LOTF 36.

This year we decided to do something a little different! We are thrilled to bring you this round-table style conversation with each of the authors from the young adult category: Ronald L. Smith and J. Scott Savage.

The young adult picks for the 2020 Summer Scares program are:

Case Files 13: Zombie Kid by J. Scott Savage (HarperCollins, 2012)

Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith (Clarion Books, 2015)

Show Notes:

Find Ronald: Twitter

Find J. Scott: Twitter

To discover more regarding the Summer Scares program, check out the Summer Scares information website.

We are so excited to return as the official podcast for 2020 Summer Scares! This episode is our second installment of a series covering the 2020 Summer Scares library summer reading program. The Horror Writers’ Association has partnered with Book Riot and Library Journal to curate the Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. Last year we chatted with the liaisons from each category in LOTF 32, LOTF 34, and LOTF 36.

This year we decided to do something a little different! We are thrilled to bring you this round-table style conversation with each of the authors from the young adult category: Zoraida Cordóva, Amy Lukavics, and Cherie Priest.

The young adult picks for the 2020 Summer Scares program are:

Labyrinth Lost by Zoradia Cordóva (Sourcebooks Fire 2017)

Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics (Harlequinn Teen 2015)

The Agony House by Cherie Priest, illustrated by Tara O’Connor (Scholastic 2018)

Show Notes:

Find Zoraida: Twitter

Find Amy: Twitter

Find Cherie: Twitter

To discover more regarding the Summer Scares program, check out the Summer Scares information website.

We are so excited to return as the official podcast for 2020 Summer Scares! This episode is our first installment of a series covering the 2020 Summer Scares library summer reading program. The Horror Writers’ Association has partnered with Book Riot and Library Journal to curate the Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. Last year we chatted with the liaisons from each category in LOTF 32, LOTF 34, and LOTF 36.

This year we decided to do something a little different! We are thrilled to bring you this round-table style conversation with each of the authors from the adult category: Nadia Bulkin, Victor LaValle, and Andy Davidson.

The adult picks for the 2020 Summer Scares program are:

Show Notes:

Find Nadia: Twitter

Find Victor: 

Find Andy:

To discover more regarding the Summer Scares program, check out the Summer Scares information website.

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor, Eli Ryder, and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, and S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, and if you’d like to check it out, head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright.

Show Notes

We are delighted to bring you this conversation with Michael David Wilson. This is our second time bringing MDW onto the show, so if you’d like to get more of a peek into his early writing life (we’re talking ALL the deets on “James and the Chocolate Tree”), his religious upbringing, and founding This Is Horror, then head back to LOTF 22 where we get into all that.

In this episode, we launch right into the present timeline with a discussion on technology in parenting, social media privacy breaches as the new home invasion, possessed children's toys and so much more. We were thrilled to have Michael back onto the show to celebrate his INCREDIBLE novella The Girl in the Video, out now from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.

Find Michael: Find Michael: Website | Twitter

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor, Eli Ryder, and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, and S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, and if you’d like to check it out, head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright.

Show Notes

We are delighted to bring you this conversation with Hailey Piper. In this episode, we talk about everything from reading horror from a young age to the dangers of nostalgia. We loved getting up close & personal with this emerging horror author who's been blowing up the scene—in the best way possible.

Please note: we spoil her novella The Possession of Natalie Glasgow from 46:00 to 58:00.

Hailey Piper is the author of horror novellas The Possession of Natalie Glasgow and Benny Rose, the Cannibal King, and her short fiction appears in publications such as Daily Science Fiction, The Arcanist, The Bronzeville Bee, Tales to Terrify, PlanetScumm, Blood Bath Literary Zine, and many more. Her debut dark fantasy novel, The Verses of Aeg, will be published by Bronzeville Books in late 2020. Having grown up in the creepy woods of New York, she now lives with her wife in Maryland, where she haunts their apartment making spooky noises.

Find Hailey Piper: Website | Twitter

We want to remind you that we have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor, Eli Ryder, and Kerry Cox at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, Jocelyn Codner, and S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, and if you’d like to check it out, head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright.

Show Notes

We are so excited to bring to you our conversation with Brian Keene. As our listeners will be well aware, Brian writes novels, comic books, stories, journalism, and other words for money. He is the author of over fifty books, mostly in the horror, crime, and fantasy genres. His 2003 novel, The Rising, is credited (along with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic and Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later film) with inspiring pop culture’s recurrent interest in zombies. He has written for Marvel, DC, and several other media properties. In addition to several other impressive career accomplishments, Keene also hosts the popular podcasts The Horror Show with Brian Keene and Defenders Dialogue, both of which air weekly on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and elsewhere.

In this down-to-earth conversation with one of horror's greatest living legends, we discuss the persistence of imposter syndrome, the ever-changing horror landscape, and why it's important to write a bunch of terrible shit. There are plenty of laughs (and maybe a couple dirty jokes) and you're in for a real treat.

Find Brian: Website | Twitter

Welcome to Ladies of the Fright, a podcast for writers and readers who like it dark. We engage in literary discourse that is honest, smart, and irreverent. 

I’m one of your hosts, Lisa Quigley.

Mackenzie: And I’m your other host, Mackenzie Kiera.

Before we get into today’s episode, we want to remind you that we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, and Jocelyn Codner, and S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, and if you’d like to check it out, head on over to patreon.com/ladiesofthefright

Show Notes

Welcome to episode 52, our first episode of 2020 AND our special two year anniversary episode! Thank you for your patience with the release of this episode. Lisa's been battling a pretty severe head cold for almost a month and it's really slowed her down. Your patience and loyalty are much appreciated!

Without further ado, here is the special anniversary episode: What brought us here? We talk about the horror movies that hooked us to the genre LONG before we were ever podcasters or horror authors. Also, we share a TON of patron and listener responses as well!

To read through the Twitter replies from listeners, here's the link to the tweet.

In what is becoming an annual Ladies of the Fright tradition, we discuss our second MOVIE, Midsommar to close out the year. And as a special treat, we brought Bob Pastorella back on the show as a guest host! While this is our final recorded episode of 2018, we are releasing it in early January to make up for the fact that we'll be taking a podcast break this month.

Bob Pastorella is the author of the weird crime novella, Mojo Rising, and the zombie western short story, ‘To Watch Is Madness’. Bob is featured in Warmed & Bound: A Velvet Anthology, The Booked. Anthology, In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1000 Words, and Borderlands 6. His fiction has been published widely both online and in print, and he is a former columnist for ManArchy Magazine and Revolt Daily. Bob lives in Southeast Texas, and is currently working on several projects.

Show Notes:

• Which Midsommar character would Bob want to go on a road trip with? Listen to find out!

• This Is Horror podcast Patreon | Join the community for as little as $1 a month! Both Lisa & Mackenzie are Patrons & avid proponents of supporting artists doing great work. So get on it!

• Find Bob: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Thank you so much for all the love and support in 2019. It has meant everything to us. We are so excited for what’s in store for 2020. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, Nina Nahli, Viðarrbjörn Svartalfson, and S. Velos at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons (currently at 18!), we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Updates

We will be taking January 2020 off from podcasting! Never fear—we will be back in February with lots of great new stuff planned for the year to come. After two years on non-stop podcasting, we wanted to give ourselves a month to replenish.

Show Notes

In episode 50 (HELLO, major podcasting milestone!) we are talking with Max Booth III. He is the o-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Perpetual Motion Machine and the managing Editor of Dark Moon Digest. He's also the co-host of Castle Rock Radio (A Stephen King Podcast) and the host of the horror comedy podcast Ghoulish. He's written several books, including Carnivorous Lunar Activities from Fangoria and the forthcoming Touch the Night from Cemetery Dance. Max writes online for LitReactor and CrimeReads and also reviews books for the San Antonio Current.

It was a delight to welcome Max to the show. He shared with us about his unconventional childhood and his unnerving connection to hotels. We also spoke a lot of his various writing and editing projects and learned his thought-provoking thoughts on "making it." We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Find Max: Website

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahli and Viðarrbjörn Svartalfson at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Show Notes

For our fifth tropisode, we're talking WITCHES with Angela Slatter.

She is the author of the supernatural crime novels Vigil (2016), Corpselight (2017) and Restoration(2018) (from Jo Fletcher Books), as well as eight short story collections, including The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and A Feast of Sorrows: Stories. Vigil was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award in 2018.

She has recently signed a two-book deal with Titan Books for Blackwater and Morwood, gothic fantasies set in the world of the Sourdough and Bitterwood collections − both of which involve witches. Lots of witches. She is the author of the novellas, Of Sorrow and Such (Tor.com) and Ripper (in Horrorology: The Lexicon of Fear) − again, more witches.

She has won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, an Australian Shadows Award and six Aurealis Awards. And has a lifelong interest in, you guessed it, witches.

Witches Group Read

"These Deathless Bones" by Cassandra Khaw

Witches Book Recommendations

• Fiction
  • Emma Donoghue’s Kissing the Witch
  • Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber
  • Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour
  • Tanith Lee’s The Blood of Roses and The Flat Earth Series
  • Lisa L. Hannett’s Bluegrass Symphony
  • Naomi Novik’s Uprooted
  • https://bookriot.com/2017/04/18/100-must-read-books-witches/
• Non-fiction:
  • Marina Warner’s From the Beast to the Blonde
  • Stacy Schiff’s The Witches: Salem 1692
  • Elizabeth Lynn Linton’s Witch Stories (you can get this on Project Gutenberg)
• Authors to look out for:
  • Angie Rega
  • Suzanne J. Willis
  • Shauna O’Meara
  • Leife Shallcross
  • Kirstyn McDermott – argh! How could I forget this one? https://www.tor.com/2018/09/05/triquetra-kirstyn-mcdermott/
  • Nin Harris
  • Silvia Morena-Garcia
  • Tonya Liburd
  • Maria Lewis
  • Vida Cruz
  • Theodora Goss
  • Maria Haskins
  • Gwendolyn Kiste
  • Karen Runge

Find Angela: Website | Twitter | Instagram

Photo by Kayla Maurais on Unsplash

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahli and Viðarrbjörn Svartalfson at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Show Notes

Toni Miller one of the admins over at Ladies of Horror Fiction. Toni hosts the Ladies of Horror Fiction podcast, manages their guest posts, and oversees community outreach and communications for the LOHF team.

We had so much fun speaking with Toni about her early morbid curiosities, her experiences with dead bodies in college, and her passion for promoting women in horror.

Find Toni: Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahli and Viðarrbjörn Svartalfson at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Show Notes

It's been a while since we had a good old fashioned craft episode, and what better Halloween story than We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson? We loved having Paul Tremblay to join us to talk about this masterpiece. We talked about why Paul has been so inspired by Jackson in his own work, what makes this story so special--and we also dissected our views on the new film adaptation.

Please note: major movie spoilers from about 44:30 to about 57:00, for those who haven't seen it yet. We do "spoil" the book throughout, but it's old...so. If you haven't read it yet, that's on you. ;) 

Find Paul: Website

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahli and Viðarrbjörn Svartalfson at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron.And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Show Notes Becky Spratford is the "Library World's Horror Maven" who specializing in reader's advisory to help match books with readers through the public library. Konrad Stump is the Local History Associate with the Springfield-Greene Library in Springfield, Missouri.

It was so fun to reconnect with Becky to hear how Summer Scares 2019 went overall. And Konrad gave us some specific ways the initiative was celebrated in his own library. We also dived a bit deeper into Konrad's experience programming library events, and he gave us some great tips for planning any kind of program. He also shared some specific ways that both librarians and patrons can be involved with getting more horror and horror programming into their own libraries! It was a fun, informative conversation that will bring a lot of value to our listeners--librarians, readers, and writers alike! And what does Shmidt from New Girl have to do with ANY of this? You'll have to listen to the end to find out.

Find Becky: Website | Twitter

Find Konrad: Instagram | The Springfield-Green Library

Find out more about Summer Scares: Website

This episode of Ladies of the Fright is brought to you by Inkshares. This October experienceViolet, the second novel of Stoker-nominated Kill Creek author Scott Thomas. Violet follows Kris Barlow, who after the death of her husband returns to a long-abandoned lake house.  She soon finds that the town of Pacington, Kansas is not as it seems, and that a presence has been awaiting her return. Bird Box author Josh Malerman calls it a "master class in immersion." Jason Heller of National Public Radio calls it "indelible" and says that the "sheer, skin-crawling fright is masterful."  Available in bookstores nationwide and Amazon.

Before we get into today’s episode, we want to remind you that we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, and Jocelyn Codner at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron.When we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway!

Show Notes

Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson are the authors of the new book, Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction. Lisa is a writer who lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where she enjoys a life of reading, writing, and scaring the wits out of her husband, who doesn’t fully understand her love for all things horror. Sometimes she uses her Ph.D. in Gothic literature to teach, but mostly she uses it to write horror stories–and to raise two of her own little monsters, her sons. Melanie holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of Mississippi. She is an assistant professor of English at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS, where she teaches courses in American literature. She researches and writes about the American Gothic and supernatural literature (with occasional forays into pop culture). Lisa and Mel (along with their pal Matter) are the hosts of The Know Fear Cast, a podcast about horror and all the things that scare us.

This is one of our most rowdy chats yet, with so many laugh out loud moments! We loved chatting with Lisa and Mel about their origin story, the inception of their latest book, the process of writing Monster, She Wrote, women in horror, and so much more!

Find Lisa Kröger: Website

Find Melanie R. Anderson: Website

This episode of Ladies of the Fright is brought to you by Inkshares. This October experience Violet, the second novel of Stoker-nominated Kill Creek author Scott Thomas. Violet follows Kris Barlow, who after the death of her husband returns to a long-abandoned lake house.  She soon finds that the town of Pacington, Kansas is not as it seems, and that a presence has been awaiting her return.  Bird Box author Josh Malerman calls it a "master class in immersion." Jason Heller of National Public Radio calls it "indelible" and says that the "sheer, skin-crawling fright is masterful."  Available in bookstores nationwide and Amazon.

Before we get into today’s episode, we want to remind you that we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahvi, Bjorn Svartalfson, and Jocelyn Codner at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron.When we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway!

Show Notes

It was a complete delight to chat with Scott Thomas about his early interest in horror, the importance of nurturing childhood passions, his experiences writing for television, and the unique process by which his first novel, Kill Creek, was brought into the world. We are so delighted with his most recent novel, Violet, and were thrilled to have him on the show. 

Find Scott: Twitter

Buy Violet

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahli and Viðarrbjörn Svartalfson at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron.And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Show Notes Alright, onto episode 43. We had a blast chatting with Ellen Datlow about how she doesn't believe in ghosts (but has had one maybe unexplainable experience?) and the process of putting the anthology together. We talked about some of the individual stories (no spoilers!), sleep paralysis, and more.

Find Ellen: Website | Twitter

Hey folks! Don't forget we now have a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to our higher tier patrons SM Fedor and Eli Ryder at the Satanic Panic level, and Kenesha, Nathan Blixt, and Nina Nahli at the Demon Possession level.

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron.And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! 

Show Notes Alright, onto episode 42. We were so inspired listening to Daniel Kraus talk about how writing without the intention to publish helped him cultivate joy in his craft, his trademark style of using gorgeous language to describe the grotesque, his collaborations with Guillermo Del Toro, and what it was like to collaborate posthumously with filmmaker George A. Romero.

Find Daniel: Website | Twitter

Don't forget we've finally launched a Patreon! Special shoutout to our higher tier patrons, who you can find on twitter at: @S_M_Fedor, @theeliryder, and @NathanBlixt. 

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! For more details, be sure to visit our Patreon page.

We are thrilled to bring you our fourth Tropisode! Today’s episode is all about werewolves. As you know, with these episodes we invite a guest with some expertise on the trope we’re exploring. Today, we’re happy to welcome Stephen Graham Jones to the show.

We’ve brought Stephen onto the show today because of his personal interest in werewolf stories—so much so that he’s even written his own werewolf novel, Mongrels. We really think you'll enjoy hearing Stephen's personal interest and passion about this fascinating horror tradition. Make sure you stay tuned for the pure hilarity at the end. Stephen unexpectedly divulges a personal experience from his youth that had us—shall we say—howling.

Please note that starting about the 36 minute mark until the 40 minute mark, Stephen's dogs start barking. I could have cut this out, but we had a good conversation going & I didn't want you guys to miss out on any of that good info. If it really bothers you, just fast forward about 4 minutes and it stops. :D 

Werewolf Books

The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber

Skin Trade by George R.R. Martin

When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice

Carnivorous Lunar Activities by Max Booth III

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman

Blood for the Sun by Errick Nunnally

Murcheston: The Wolf's Tale by David Holland

The Night's Neon Fangs by David Barbee

Werewolf Comics

The Astounding Wolf-Man by Jason Howard and Robert Kirkman

Werewolf by Night by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Mike Ploog

Ferals by David Lapham and Gabriel Andrade

Find Stephen: Website | Twitter

Special thank you to our patrons: S.M., Bob, Eli, Nathan, Jessie, Michael, Emily, Kev, Christian, Jamie, Kanesha, Thomas, and Toria!

Don't forget we've finally launched a Patreon! Special shoutout to our higher tier patrons, who you can find on twitter at: @S_M_Fedor, @theeliryder, and @NathanBlixt. 

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! For more details, be sure to visit our Patreon page.

Speaking of Patreon, today we are bringing you a VERY SPECIAL sneak preview of LOTF After Dark! This is an awesome way to sample before you buy, so to speak. So please, sit back and enjoy this special bonus content—usually only available to patrons!

Don't forget we've finally launched a Patreon! Special shoutout to our higher tier patrons, who you can find on twitter at: @S_M_Fedor, @theeliryder, and @NathanBlixt. 

We’re offering cool rewards we’re offering at every tier, the most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to every single patron. And when we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway! For more details, be sure to visit our Patreon page.

Alright, onto episode 39. While we were at Stoker Con in Grand Rapids this past May, we had the complete honor of sitting down with Rachel Autumn Deering. You may remember our discussion of Rachel’s novella HUSK from episode 19. It was our absolute pleasure to chat with Rachel about comics, her childhood in the backwoods of Kentucky, the devil, her astonishing editing process, and so much more. Also! You won't want to miss the last ten minutes, when Rachel gives some of the most compelling writing advice we've ever heard. 

Show Notes

Cherry by Nico Walker (book rec from Rachel!) 

Find Rachel: Website | Twitter | Instagram

It's difficult to put into words what a rewarding experience it was to host the panel "Why Does Horror Matter? An Exploration of the Relevance and—Dare We Say—Necessity of Horror in a Tumultuous World" featuring panelists Stephen Graham Jones, Kathryn E. McGee, Becky Spratford, and Gabino Iglesias this past May at Stoker Con 2019. It was incredibly rewarding and definitely one of the highlights of the con for us. This topic is one we've been thinking a lot about lately, but we had no idea if it was one that would resonate with others. We were pleasantly surprised to arrive at our panel room to find it was standing room only. Not only did we feel the podcast love, but we also felt that this is a topic that's heavy on many people's hearts. 

Our panelists added a richness and depth to the conversation that we could have never anticipated. Our panelist table was smaller than what was featured in some of the other rooms, but it added such a feeling of intimacy to our discussion that wouldn't have been captured otherwise. The subject matter has a tendency to become heavy and intense, but our panelists sprinkled in moments of humor and lightness to balance it all out. We're incredibly honored to share this conversation with you, and we hope it sparks continued ideas, inspiration, encouragement—and most of all, reckless hope. 

Show Notes

Panelist book recommendations:

• Her Body & Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
• Brook Bolander, Uncanny Magazine
  • "The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat"
  • "Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies"
• The Line That Held Us by David Joy
• Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
• Severance by Ling Ma
• The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste
• Sisters of Slaughter, C.V. Hunt

Find Our Panelists:

Stephen Graham Jones: Website | Twitter

Kathryn E. McGee: Website | Twitter

Becky Spratford: Website | Twitter

Gabino Iglesias: Website | Twitter

In this special BONUS episode, Lisa & Mackenzie sat down with Kathryn E. McGee in their hotel room on the last morning of Stoker Con 2019 in Grand Rapids, MI. They were surrounded by empty wine glasses, bottles, coffee cups, and water bottles—a sure sign of a great weekend.

Show Notes:

More Kathryn on the LOTF podcast:

• LOTF 03 Stoker Con 2018 Highlights with Kathryn E. McGee
• LOTF 23 Tropisode 2 | Haunted Houses with Kathryn E. McGee

Find Kathryn: Website | Twitter

Read Kathryn's latest story "The Unboxing" on Automata Review

Did you know that we've started a patreon that includes lots of cool rewards at every tier, including special bonus content? Check it out! And grateful shout out to our higher tier patrons, who you can find on twitter at @S_M_Fedor, @theeliryder, and @NathanBlixt.

In episode 37, we chat with author Ray Cluley. The conversation celebrates his novella Water for Drowning, originally published by This Is Horror in 2014 and recently adapted into an audiobook narrated by RJ Bayley. Our conversation spans so much more than that though, and we get into things like why the ocean is so terrifying, the lure & appeal of mermaids (including a discussion about a friend of ours who wrote a hilarious piece of mermaid erotica), the necessity of making a living while pursuing the writing dream, and the thrill of reading outside the genre occasionally.

Show Notes:

Find Ray: Twitter | Website

Buy Water for Drowning: Novella | Audiobook

Did you know that we've started a patreon that includes lots of cool rewards at every tier, including special bonus content? Check it out! And grateful shout out to our $10 patrons, who you can find on twitter at @S_M_Fedor and @theeliryder.

This episode is our THIRD installment of a series covering the Summer Scares library summer reading program. The Horror Writers’ Association has partnered with Book Riot and Library Journal to curate the Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. We have already discussed the Adult selections in episode 32, and the YA selections in episode 34. Joining us today to talk about the middle grade selections is Kiera Parrott, a reviews director at Library Journal and School Library Journal.

The middle grade picks for the 2019 Summer Scares program are:

Doll Bones by Holly Black (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2015)

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2014)

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste (Algonquin Young Readers, 2016)

Show Notes:

Find Kiera: Twitter

To discover more regarding the Summer Scares program, check out the Summer Scares information website.

Special thanks to our patrons: Bob Pastorella, S.M. Fedor, Eli Ryder, and Nathan Blixt!

First things first: we have finally started a Patreon! We would like to give a special shoutout to S.M. Fedor, who has joined the Patreon at the $10 level. Find him on twitter at S_M_Fedor.

If you’re interested in our Patreon, check it out over at patreon.com/ladiesofthefright. We would be thrilled to have you join us at any level, and we are offering cool rewards at every tier. The most exciting of which is our Patrons-only podcast, LOTF After Dark which is accessible to Patrons at every tier. We also have our first challenge going! When we hit our first 20 patrons, we’ll be doing a patrons-only giveaway!

Alright, one last bit of “housekeeping” before we get on with the show: This week is Stoker Con! Mackenzie & I are in Grand Rapids this weekend. Make sure you look us up! We are on two panels: Friday 5/9 from 2:15pm-3:15pm Podcasting 101 for Librarians Day as panelists.  On Saturday 5/10 11am-12pm we are moderating Why Does Horror Matter? With Gabino Iglesias, Stephen Graham Jones, Kathryn McGee, and Becky Spratford—which we are also recording to air on the podcast.

Show Notes:

In this episode, we are thrilled to bring you our third Tropisode! Today’s episode is all about the Devil. As you know, with these episodes we invite a guest with some expertise on the trope we’re exploring. Today, we’re happy to welcome Bracken MacLeod to the show.

We’ve brought Bracken onto the show because of his graduate studies (a million years ago) in philosophy and comparative religion, but also his own formative youth during the height of the Satanic Panic, he has a particular fondness for the character of the Devil. We think you’ll find his expertise valuable!

Essential Devil Reading

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Lucifer: The Devil in the Gateway by Mike Carey

Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg

Demons edited by John Skipp

Sefira and Other Betrayals by John Langan - the short story "At Home in Devil's House" 

The Devil and Winnie Flynn by Micol Ostow

Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud - the novella "The Atlas of Hell"

The Master in Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The History of the Devil - a play by Clive Barker

Books of Blood by Clive Barker - the short story "Down Satan"

Devil Movies Mentioned

The Prophecy

Angel Heart

The Devil's Candy

Find Bracken: Facebook | Twitter | Website

Special thanks to our patrons, Bob Pastorella & S.M. Fedor!

First things first: Ladies of the Fright podcast is honored to have been nominated for Nonfiction Podcast of the Year in the 2018 This Is Horror Awards! Voting is open until Monday, 4.29.2019. If you enjoy what you do, considering throwing us a vote—and don't forget to check out the other excellent nominees in each category! 

Also, Mackenzie and Lisa have both joined the This Is Horror features team! Watch that space for feature articles from each of them.

On to LOTF 34!

This episode is our SECOND  installment of a series covering the Summer Scares library summer reading program. The Horror Writers’ Association has partnered with Book Riot and Library Journal to curate the Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. Joining us today is Kelly Jensen, an Editor at Book Riot.

The YA picks for 2019 Summer Scares are:

• Rotters by Daniel Kraus (Ember, 2012)
• Slasher Girls and Monster Boys edited by April Genevieve Tucholke (Speak, 2016)
• The Devil and Winnie Flynn by Micol Ostow (Penguin Random house, 2015)

Show Notes:

Find Kelly: Website | Twitter

Learn more about Summer Scares 2019. 

">If you want to support our podcast and you’re interested in purchasing any of the books we talk about, consider purchasing through our affiliate links above. As always thank you very much for your love and support!

Ladies of the Fright podcast has been nominated for Best Horror Nonfiction Podcast for the This Is Horror 2018 awards! What an unbelievable honor. Enjoy this short minisode from us to you, loyal listeners and new guests alike. We are so happy to be doing this thing that we love, and even happier to know that it's bringing joy to others as well.

If you enjoy what we are doing, we would love it if you'd vote for us! Email [email protected] with the subject line ‘Awards 2018’. To cast a vote simply write the category and your vote for each award. You have until Monday, 4/29 to get your votes in! While you're there, check out the incredible nominations in the other categories. 2018 was an astonishingly good year for horror and we are so thrilled to have contributed to one tiny sliver of it. 

We'll be back with our regularly scheduled programming 4/24 with our second installment of the Summer Scares miniseries.

In this episode, we talk about the first two books in Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy: The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower. The third book, The Winter of the Witch, was out in January. We don't include that one in our discussion because we didn't want to risk spoiling anything with it being so new.

Speaking of spoilers: we really did our best to keep this discussion as spoiler-free as possible. We do talk a lot about the themes (and we discuss a couple plot points without giving any significant details as to the "when" or the "how".) We really wanted to give you a conversation you can safely enjoy without having read the book—and without spoiling it in case you decide to.

Here is the back-cover description of the first book: 

"Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

"Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

"But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales."

Show Notes: 

 Follow us on Instagram! When we hit 1K followers, we'll be doing a very fun giveaway. You won't want to miss out! We're getting close, so help us get there. 

Check out our recent guest appearance on Castle Rock Radio to discuss Pet Sematary with Max Booth III and Lori Michelle

Be sure to check out more of Katherine Arden's wonderful work

Summer Scares reading list, which includes three books each in the Adult, YA, and Middle Grade categories. Joining us today is Carolyn Ciesla, Dean of Learning Resources and Assessment at Prairie State College and the liaison for the adult Summer Scares picks.

The adult picks for 2019 Summer Scares are:

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (William Morrow)

My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due (Harper Voyager)

Earthworm Gods by Brian Keene (Deadite Press)

You may remember that we talked about Victor’s book The Changeling back in episode LOTF 17. Our conversation with Victor was so interesting and thought provoking. We talked about exposing kids to horror, persistence in writing, not being an asshole, and the forthcoming anthology A People’s Future of the United States that Victor co-edited with John Joseph Adams, plus a whole lot more!

In LOTF 30, we chat with Kat Howard about her writing process, breaking writing rules, her experience with writing residencies like the Clarion Workshop, what it’s like to write a comic, and SO much more!

Kat is the author of the novels Roses and Rot and the Alex Award winning An Unkindness of Magicians. Her short fiction collection, A Cathedral of Myth and Bone, is now out from Saga Press and she's writing The Books of Magic for Vertigo Comics. Her novella, The End of the Sentence, co-written with Maria Dahvana Headley, was an NPR Best Book of the Year in 2014. She currently lives in New Hampshire, where she is working on her next projects.

Show Notes:

Find Kat: Website | Twitter | Instagram

In this episode, we are chatting with Eli Ryder and John Flynn-York, the editors of Automata Review! This conversation is special to us, because we all met in our MFA program.

We talk about what they’re doing with the magazine, and learn all about Automata’s origins, first year, future plans, and so much more!

In this episode, we chat about our 2018 writing and reading accomplishments, as well as our 2019 writing and reading goals.

In this episode—our last of 2018!—we discuss our first MOVIE, Hereditary. And as a special treat, we brought on Bob Pastorella as a guest host!

Bob Pastorella is the author of the weird crime novella, Mojo Rising, and the zombie western short story, ‘To Watch Is Madness’. Bob is featured in Warmed & Bound: A Velvet Anthology, The Booked. Anthology, In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1000 Words, and Borderlands 6. His fiction has been published widely both online and in print, and he is a former columnist for ManArchy Magazine and Revolt Daily. Bob lives in Southeast Texas, and is currently working on several projects.

In this episode, we chat with author Dino Parenti. This interview is extra special because not only is it Dino’s first podcast interview, but when Mackenzie interviewed him a couple years ago for Gamut it was his first interview! So we are keeping this cool streak going.

We get into so much cool stuff with Dino in this chat. We talk about his early writing life, how he got into horror, why he needed a time out to focus on writing short stories, why he plots everything he writes, and so much more. Enjoy!

Dino Parenti is a writer of dark literary and speculative fiction. He is the winner of the first annual Lascaux Review flash fiction contest and is featured in the Anthony Award winning anthology Blood on the Bayou. His work can be found in Pantheon Magazine, Menacing Hedge, Pithead Chapel, as well as other anthologies. His short-fiction collection, Dead Reckoning and other stories, was released with Crystal Lake Publishing on October 5th, 2018.

When not purging his soul into a laptop thanks to a far-too-early exposure to Stephen King, Scorsese movies, and Camus, he can be found photographing the odd junk pile, building furniture, or earning a few bucks as a CAD drafter. He lives in Los Angeles.

In this episode, we chat with author and artist Betty Rocksteady. We cover creepy twenties cartoons, writing garbage first drafts, mining dreams for stories, and her new novella, The Writhing Skies. Betty Rocksteady writes sex scenes that shouldn’t exist and is obsessed with 1920s cartoons. The Writhing Skies combines both. Learn more and check out her art and fiction at www.bettyrocksteady.com.

In this episode, we are joined by Stephanie from Books in the Freezer podcast for an in-depth conversation about Iain Reid’s novel I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

In this special Halloween episode, we are thrilled to bring you our second Tropisode! Today’s episode is all about Haunted Houses. As you know, with these episodes we invite a guest with some expertise on the trope we’re exploring. Today, we’re happy to welcome Kathryn E. McGee BACK to the show.

Our listeners might remember Kathryn from LOTF 03, in which we talked about the highlights from StokerCon 2018. As you know, we met Kathryn in grad school. We’ve brought her back on the show today because during her time in our MFA program, she established herself as a Haunted House expert. We think you’ll find her expertise valuable!

In this episode we chat with Michael David Wilson, the founder, editor in chief, and podcast host over at This Is Horror. Michael has done amazing work to promote the horror genre and has provided an invaluable resource for writers at all stages of their careers. In this conversation, we take a deep dive into his early writing (you won’t want to miss his retelling of James and the Chocolate Tree!), we explore his religious upbringing and how that connects to his love of horror. We also talk about the path that led him to start This Is Horror, and we learn about his forthcoming novella, The Girl in the Video, out next year from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.

In this episode we chat with Sadie Hartmann, also known as “Mother Horror.” Sadie is a prolific reader and book reviewer, who is generous with her support of authors and passionate about the promotion of the horror genre. We also talk about how her involvement in the Bookstagram community evolved over time, the creation of the Night Worms, her work with Cemetery Dance and Scream Magazine, the importance of maintaining an honest voice when it comes to reviewing books, and a whole lot more.

In this episode, we reconvene with author Grady Hendrix to discuss his new novel We Sold Our Souls (out tomorrow, September 18!) We talk about his forthcoming movie The Satanic Panic (as well as the actual “Satanic Panic”,") what it was like to help choose the top 100 horror stories for NPR this past summer, and of course, conspiracy theories, the process of writing We Sold Our Souls, and the point where it’s okay to quit pursuing your dreams.

In this episode we discuss Rachel Autumn Deering’s Husk, an “all-too-real work of horror fiction, Rachel Autumn Deering explores the mind of a young man who is struggling to cope with the effects of post-war stress, drug addiction, self-doubt, and loneliness as they manifest themselves into his deepest, darkest fears.” In the story, “Kevin Brooks returns to his rural Kentucky hometown after a three-year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan. He has lost the grandparents who raised him, his lifelong best friend, and his trust in the government he once proudly served. When Kevin meets a kind, young girl named Samantha, he thinks his luck might have finally taken a turn for the better. But something else has its eye on Kevin. Something dark and brooding and mean. Something that knows Kevin better than he knows himself.”

Show Notes:

Initial impressions

Essential horror curriculum would include this book, plusElizabeth by Ken GreenhallShirley JacksonMapping the Interior by Stephen Graham JonesThe House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman

Visceral, sexy sex-that-wasn't scenes

Monster as metaphor for PTSDVampire motif?When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord

Skillful dialectThe Redwall series 

Short length = perfect pacing

Key takeaways?

Favorite lines

In this episode we’re chatting with author Julia Fine. We talked about her new novel in episode 16 and we are so excited to have her on the show. A little about Julia: Her debut What Should Be Wild is out now from Harper Books. She earned her MFA at Columbia College Chicago, and has taught writing at Columbia College and DePaul University. She's currently living in Chicago with her family, hard at work on both her second novel and her one year-old son.

Julia's process of writing What Should Be Wild's from initial idea to publications

Advice on finding an agentJulia's agent: Stephanie Delman with Greenburger AssociatesQuery Tracker

Getting an MFA; what that experience was likeAudrey NiffeneggerThe Time Traveler's WifeHer Fearful Symmetry

What Should Be Wild: the pitch, the (pretty spoiler-free story), influencesFrom the Beast to the Blonde by Marina WarnerWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonThe Hidden Life of Trees by Peter WohllebenDoris LessingThe Fifth ChildThe Golden Notebook

The unique challenges that face women in this cultureLauren Groff Quote

Getting those blurbs!Josh MalermanLeni ZumasAudrey NiffeneggerAnnie Hartnett

Advice to early career writersAugustus Rose

Classic book Julia doesn't plan to read

What super power would Julia choose?

Find Julia: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

In this episode we’re discussing Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, which is about “One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after supposedly committing an unforgivable act of violence, from the award-winning author of the The Devil in Silver, Big Machine and The Ballad of Black Tom."

Show Notes

Mackenzie has an exciting announcement!

Lisa talks about how this book examines how fucking scary social media and our technology-driven lives are and made it scarier than it already is.

Lisa discusses "the pivotal scene" in the book

Mackenzie talks about word choice and repetition, and how that’s a fairy tale thing. Lisa agrees and discusses the repetition of Apollo's dream. This Is Horror podcast episode 161, interview with Victor LaValle

Lisa discusses echoes of great authors. Stephen King: Pet Sematary; Neil Gaiman: American Gods; Joe Hill: The Fireman

Mackenzie ponders the purpose of the North Brother Island in the book

Mackenzie rants: The fact that Emma is a witch is never fucking used! Not REALLY. Lisa counters this with her own thoughts.

Mackenzie and Lisa each share what they learned from this book.

Favorite quotes.

Favorite parts.

Thank you to Audra Figgins for your recent iTunes review! We are so grateful for the support.

Mackenzie and Lisa discuss What Should Be Wild, the debut novel by Julia Fine.

Book description:

In this darkly funny, striking debut, a highly unusual young woman must venture into the woods at the edge of her home to remove a curse that has plagued the women in her family for millennia—an utterly original novel with all the mesmerizing power of The Tiger’s Wife, The Snow Child, and Swamplandia!

Show Notes:

Blurbed by Josh MalermanUnbury CarolBird Box

Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

This is the first in a sub-series of episodes that explore specific horror tropes in detail — Tropisode #1: Vampires. We plan to do one of these episodes about once a quarter. We talk about vampires with a vampire expert, Natalie Ferrigno, who also happens to be a fellow UCR Palm Desert alumna. In addition to talking about vampires (where they've been, where they are, where they're going) we also discuss in greater detail David Busboom's new novella Nightbird from Unnerving.

Natalie Ferrigno is a horror writer, gothic fusion bellydancer, and creator of the forthcoming Atrophy Zine. You can find her and follow her creative endeavors at the handle @eris_atrophy on both Twitter and Instagram. Stay tuned for more news regarding the Indie GoGo for her zine!

Show notes:

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

The Vampyre by John William Pollidori

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Chupacabra

Baobhan Sith of Scotland

Lore Podcast episode 19 "Bite Marks"

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin

The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer

Cemetery Confessions podcast episode 46 "The Rise of Happy Gothic" featuring Natalie FerrignoTim Burton filmsLenore comicRuby Gloom

What We Do in the Shadows

True Blood, The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

The Hunger (1983) 

The Strain

In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson

Nightbird by David Busboom discussion The Lilith MythWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins GillmanHarry Potter dementorsThe Unicorn Tapestry Susy McKee CharnasMy Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

In part two of our conversation with Becky Spratford, we discuss her ongoing involvement with Stoker Con, how horror authors can do programs and conventions at their local libraries, advice for authors at the beginning of their career, how to use Halloween and the current popularity of the horror genre to your advantage when building relationships with libraries, and more!

Becky Spratford is a Librarian [MLIS] in Illinois specializing in serving leisure readers ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through their local public library. She is the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, 2d edition (ALA Editions, 2012). She is under contract to write content for EBSCO's NoveList database, reviews for Booklist, is a member of the Adult Reading Round Table Steering Committee, a 5 term Trustee for her local library, and am a proud member of The Horror Writers' Association. You can follow Becky on Twitter @RAForAll.

Show Notes:

StokerCon 2019

Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker

Places with good reviews for horror: This Is Horror, Locus, Litreator, 

Katie Lamantia & Emily Vinci: Hosting Your Own Comic Con

Emerald Con

Merrimack Valley Halloween Book FestivalChristopher Golden, James Moorer

Horror Writer's Association

Hereditary

Librarians may ask: why horror? And authors may ask: why libraries? Becky Spratford has the answers to these questions and more—her insight gave us a whole new perspective on ways to strengthen the horror community in libraries. We talk about what writers can do to build relationships with their local libraries, how reader's advisory works, the pros and cons of genres and subgenres, and so much more. Becky shares her philosophy on connecting authors and librarians with the ultimate goal of finding more readers for their books.

Becky Spratford is a Librarian [MLIS] in Illinois specializing in serving leisure readers ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through their local public library. She is the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, 2d edition (ALA Editions, 2012). She is under contract to write content for EBSCO's NoveList database, reviews for Booklist, is a member of the Adult Reading Round Table Steering Committee, a 5 term Trustee for her local library, and am a proud member of The Horror Writers' Association. You can follow Becky on Twitter @RAForAll.

Show Notes:

StokerCon 2019

Locus Recommended Reading List

Booklist Magazine

This Is Horror

HWA Bram Stoker Award™ 2018 Reading List

V.C. Andrews paperbacks

Neil Gaiman

The Grip of It by Jac Jemc

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Iliad

Ken Burns

Grady Hendrix, We Sold Our Souls (September 18, 20c

Gabino Iglesias

Ginger Nuts of Horror

Lisa Morton

Library Journal

NPR Summer Horror Poll

Cemetery Dance

Flame Tree Press

APEX

Sinister Grin Press

Journal Stone

Corpsepaint by David Peak

Briane Keene

Leslie Klinger

Don D'auria 

Danse Macabre by Stephen King

Get Out

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward

The Walking Dead

Game of Thrones

Stranger Things

Joyland, The Shining by Stephen King

KillerCon

The Martian, Artemis by Andy Weir

N0S4A2 by Joe Hill

Faustian bargan

In this episode, we discuss All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry. We talk about the nuances of young adult literature, the book's compelling parallels with the current #MeToo movement, what makes this novel's unusual structure so effective, and so much more.

Book Description:

Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever.

Show Notes:

First Draft Podcast with Sarah Enni

We reference our discussion of Ken Greenhall's Elizabeth with Stephen Graham Jones. Go back one episode (LOTF 11!) to catch up on that convo! 

Unbury Carol and Bird Box by Josh Malerman

The King's Shadow by Elizabeth Alder

Roses and Rot by Kat Howard (and listen to our thoughts on the book in episode LOTF 10)

In this episode, Mackenzie and Lisa are joined by guest host Stephen Graham Jones to discuss Ken Greenhall's Elizabeth. This novel is wonderfully uncomfortable and you won't want to miss our chat. Book Description: "'If you were to go into your bedroom tonight – perhaps by candlelight – and sit quietly before the large mirror, you might see what I have seen. Sit patiently, looking neither at yourself nor at the glass. You might notice that the image is not yours, but that of an exceptional person who lived at some other time . . .' "The image in the mirror of fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Cuttner is that of the fey and long-dead Frances, who introduces Elizabeth to her chilling world of the supernatural. Through Frances, Elizabeth learns what it is to wield power – power of a kind that is malevolent and seemingly invincible. Power that begins with the killing of her parents . . . "First published in 1976, Ken Greenhall's debut novel Elizabeth is a lost classic of modern horror fiction that deserves rediscovery."

About SGJ: Stephen Graham Jones is the author of sixteen novels, six story collections, and, so far, one comic book. Stephen’s been an NEA recipient, has won the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Fiction, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, a Bram Stoker Award, four This is Horror Awards, and he’s been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award a few times. He’s also made Bloody Disgusting’s Top Ten Horror Novels. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Show Notes:

Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendricks

Stephen's theory of "another tradition of horror" that we could have gotten: Shirley Jackson to Ira Levin to Patricia Highsmith to Robert Marasco to Ken Greenhall

When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord

Classic book SGJ doesn't think he'll ever read: Wuthering Heights

"Wiki History" by Desmond Warzel

11/22/63 by Stephen King

A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

In this episode, Mackenzie and Lisa chat with Grady Hendrix. We talk about his history with theater, bad author events, the appropriate number of cats, and his philosophy of honest writing.

Grady Hendrix has written about the confederate flag for Playboy magazine, terrible movie novelizations for Film Comment, and Jean-Claude Van Damme for Slate. He’s covered machine gun collector conventions, written award shows for Chinese television, and answered the phone for a parapsychological research organization. His novel, Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA, has been translated into 14 languages and is currently being developed into a television series. His most recent novel, My Best Friend's Exorcism, is now out in paperback, and he’s the screenwriter of 2017’s Mohawk, a horror movie set during the War of 1812. He recently won a Stoker Award for Paperbacks from Hell, a non-fiction history of horror paperbacks in the Seventies and Eighties.

Show Notes:

Will Errickson, of Too Much Horror Fiction blog

Doogie Horner, Art Director at Quirk Books

Jason Rekulak, Quirk Books Publisher

Andie Reid, Senior Director at Quirk Books

Timothy O'Donnell

Ginger Snaps (2000)

The Howling by Gary Brandner

WE FORGOT TO MENTION Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones when talking about werewolf stories. MAJOR FAUX PAUX, Mackenzie and Lisa. Major faux faux.

Video: Russian Woman Escapes Attack From Polar Bear

Brandon Sanderson

Kim Stanley Robinson

Stephen King

Clive Barker

Shirley Jackson

Thomas Ligotti

Guy N. Smith

Find Grady: http://www.gradyhendrix.com

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Redwall by Brian Jacques

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Nancy Drew

The Boxcar Children

Stephen King favorites:

Salem's Lot

Pet Sematary

The Green Mile

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

It

"Stories of the Fair Folk are not at all then what we think of as fairy tales, those moralistic stories wherein evil is punished and virtue triumphs, that were set safely in once upon a time, and had happy endings guaranteed. True fairy tales are horror stories." —Kat Howard

Join Mackenzie Kiera and Lisa Quigley for a discussion of Roses and Rot, Kat Howard's debut novel.

 Show Notes:

Shout out to the This Is Horror podcast: We've been getting so much support from these guys (Michael, Bob, and Dan) and the immense generosity of this is not lost on us. Thank you guys SO MUCH for all the shout outs on the show and the shares on Facebook and Twitter. Your support truly means the world to us. Be sure to check out what they're doing on their Patreon.

Kat Howard's second novel: An Unkindness of Magicians

The Guardian article announcing the new Sandman comics

In this episode, Lisa and Mackenzie talk to Josh Malerman about his latest novel, Unbury Carol.

Josh Malerman is the author of Bird Box, Unbury Carol and others, including short stories, novellas, and plays. He's also one of two singer-songwriters for the Detroit rock band The High Strung, whose song "The Luck You Got" can be heard as the theme song for the hit Showtime show "Shameless." He lives in Michigan with his artist fiancee Allison Laakko.

Virginia Woolf

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

Josh's rock band: The High Strung

Smith Henderson

Black Mad Wheel

The Nightmare on Netflix

Photo from Josh's "reading" of Unbury Carol

Classic book Josh will never read: Jude the Obscure

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for over thirty-five years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short fiction for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited more than ninety science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year, The Doll Collection, Black Feathers, and Mad Hatters and March Hares. 

 Forthcoming are The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea and Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories.

She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," and has been honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association and by the World Fantasy Convention. 

 She lives in New York and co-hosts the monthly Fantastic Fiction Reading Series at KGB Bar.  More information can be found at www.datlow.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter as @EllenDatlow.

Show Notes:

The Complete Fairy Tales by Oscar Wilde

Irving Stone

The President's Lady

Nancy Drew

Note: At the 18:11 minute mark, Lisa's voice has a terrible echo; at the 20:04 minute mark, Mackenzie's voice echoes. The issue doesn't repeat throughout the rest of the episode, so bear with us! 

Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, coming November 2018

"Shit Happens", by Michael Marshall Smith, in The Devil and the Deep anthology

"Haunt", by Siobhan Carroll, in The Devil and the Deep anthology

Stephen Graham Jones

"Broken Record" in The Devil and the Deep anthology

Mongrels

Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

Kirkus article that Ellen mentions: "How Ellen Datlow and the Authors of The Devil and the Deep Created Your Next Great Read"

Jaws

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Sea Center

Sir John Tenniel -- Alice in Wonderland illustrator

Angela Slatter

Genevieve Valentine

Seanan McGuire

Priya Sherma

Yan Svankmajer's Alice (1988)

Dreamchild (1985)

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson

Interview with John Palisano, Vice President of the Horror Writer's Association. His short fiction has appeared in many places. Check out: Dark Discoveries, Horror Library, Darkness On The Edge, Lovecraft eZine, Phobophobia, Terror Tales, Harvest Hill, Halloween Spirits, the Bram Stoker Award® nominated Chiral Mad, Midnight Walk, Halloween Tales, and many other publications. NERVES was his first novel. He is working hard on its sequel, as well as many other upcoming works.

Show Notes:

Horror University

Bram Stoker Awards

Pitch an idea for a panel for StokerCon 2019

HWA Into the Future: A panel moderated by Lisa Morton and featuring Brad C. Hodson, JG Faherty, John Palisano, Marge Simon

How (Not) to Win a Bram Stoker Award:  A panel moderated by Rena Mason and featuring Patrick Freivald, Eric J. Guignard, Lisa Morton, John Palisano, Marge Simon

Saw

Friday the 13th

Stranger Things

Get Out

"Literary Horror"

Josh Malerman

The Fisherman, by John Langan

Stephen Graham Jones

Paul Tremblay

Kat Howard

Stephen King

The Green Mile

The Shawshank Redemption

Jeff Strand

It movie

The Shining by Stephen King

Carrie by Stephen King

Five Nights at Freddy's 

Fantastic Tales

Cemetery Dance

Find John: Website

Interview with Eric J. Guignard, a writer and editor of dark and speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles.

He’s won the Bram Stoker Award (the highest literary award of horror fiction), been a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award, and a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize. His stories and non-fiction have appeared in publications such as: Nightmare_Magazine, Black Static, Shock_Totem, Buzzy_Magazine, and Dark_Discoveries_Magazine. As editor, Eric’s published the anthologies, Dark_Tales_of_Lost_Civilizations,  After_Death…, and +Horror Library+ Volume 6 (April, 2017). Read his novella, Baggage_of_Eternal_Night (Journalstone), and watch for forthcoming works, including the novel, Crossbuck ’Bo (TBP 2017).

Show Notes:

Librarian's Day

American Library Association

Becky Spratford

Overdrive

Horror Writer's Association

Twilight Zone

A World of Horror

Exploring Dark Short Horror

Micheal Arnzen, PhD

Steve Rasnic Tem

Kaaron Warren

Nisi Shawl

Jeffrey Ford

Find Eric: Website, Dark Moon Books

Go UCR!

In this episode, Mackenzie and Lisa interview Paul Tremblay at StokerCon 2018. Paul is the author of Disappearance at Devil's Rock, the Bram Stoker Award-winning A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Shirley Jackson Awards, and his essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and numerous "year's best" anthologies. He has a master's degree in mathematics and lives in Boston with his wife and two children.

Show Notes:

Readercon

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Mark Haskell Smith

Tod Goldberg

Boskone

Scares That Care

Strange Weather by Joe Hill

The Cabin at the End of the World, the new novel from Paul Tremblay coming June 26, 2018

Write or Die

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Lake Mungo

The Snowtown Murders

Stranger Things

John Langan

Bracken MacLeod

Find Paul: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Website

In this special BONUS episode, Mackenzie and Lisa interview Lisa Morton, president of the Horror Writer's Association and prolific writer, at StokerCon 2018. 

Show Notes:

Two co-chairs of StokerCon: Jim Chambers,

Blood Angels, 2005

Blue Demon, 2004

Other movies by Lisa Morton, just for fun!

Halloween expert

The Halloween Encyclopedia by Lisa Morton

Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton

Reaktion Books

The Samhanach, by Lisa Morton

Haunted Nights, edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton

Josh Malerman, S.P. Miskowski, Christopher Golden, Stephen King, Victor LaValle

The Changeling, by Victor LaValle

Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman

StokerCon 2018 Souvenir Book Anthology edited by Michael Bailey

Location of StokerCon 2019! The Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Find Lisa Morton: http://www.lisamorton.com 

This special episode comes to you live from StokerCon 2018. Mackenzie and Lisa sat down with friend and fellow horror writer Kathryn E. McGee to talk about the highlights of the event.

Show Notes:

Paperbacks From Hell, My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix 

StokerCon 2018 Horror University Workshop DRILLING DOWN: GETTING HONEST WITH YOUR WRITING with Grady Hendrix

"Summerland and Lost": Grady Hendrix’s dramatic spoke word presentation of the true story of the Fox sisters, key figures in the dawn of the Spiritualist movement.

StokerCon 2018 Horror University Workshop WOMEN AND VIOLENCE: UNLEASHING YOUR FEMALE CHARACTERS’ DARK SIDES with Heather Herrman and Dr. Lauren Genovesi

"The Debutante", a short story by Leonora Carrington

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

"Women In Horror Month" by moderated by Carol Gyzander with panelists Linda Addison, Meghan Arcuri-Moran, Amber Newberry, Kathleen Scheiner, Sara Tantlinger

"Promoting Your Book to Libraries & Book Sellers" moderated by JG Faherty with panelists Grady Hendrix, J.H. Moncrieff, Becky Spratford, Jeff Strand

Most libraries buy through Ingram and Baker & Taylor

"Traditional v. Indie v. Hybrid Publishing" moderated by Kathleen Kaufman with panelists J.D. Barker, Rob E. Boley, Megan Hart, Jeff Menapace, Paul Tremblay

"Shirley Jackson: Master of Horror" panel moderated by Jack Herringa with panelists Jennifer Barnes, Karen Bovenmyer, Nicole Cushing, Gwendolyn Kiste, and Paul Tremblay

The Thing in the Labyrinth, a horror bookclub moderated by Kathryn E. McGee at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles

In this episode, Mackenzie and Lisa discuss My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix.

Folks, we try our best to be unbiased about this book but here's the truth: we just love it so much. This episode is a total gush sesh, a love letter to the book. But: we tell you why we love it so much and we break down everything that makes it work so well. We enjoyed the hell out of talking about this book, and we think you will, too.

Show notes: 

My Best Friend's Exorcism Playlist on Spotitfy

Around the twenty-three minute mark, Mackenzie's dogs speak up! They couldn't stand it anymore, they had to comment on how much they loved this book, too. But don't worry: once they say their piece, they're quiet for the rest of the show.

Welcome to the Debut Episode of Ladies of the Fright podcast. In this episode, Lisa and Mackenzie discuss Strange Weather, a collection of four short novels by Joe Hill. They break down each of the pieces (Snapshot, Loaded, Aloft, and Rain.) Tune in to find out why Lisa struggled through Loaded even though it was her favorite of the bunch. You'll also want to catch which of the novels Mackenzie thinks should be struck by lightning and destroyed (and why this same story sends Lisa into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.)

Show Notes: Strange Weather by Joe Hill 

In the beginning of the discussion, Lisa questions whether or not anyone gets struck by lightning in any of the stories (she can't remember.) MYSTERY SOLVED: They did not. Sorry, Lisa, but not in this collection. You're thinking of Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, which you read right before the recording of this episode.

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

The term Lisa & Mackenzie are looking for during their discussion of Rain is "bioterrorism: terrorism involving the release of toxic biological agents."