52 – Richard Chizmar and the Truth Inside the Lie

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This week the walls between reality and fiction begin to break down. What is truth, what is a lie? Can a story be both?

These are the kinds of questions my guest, Richard Chizmar, has become an expert at answering. His new novel (if we can call it that) is Chasing the Boogeyman and it’s a unique beast. Part memoir, part true-crime, part horror fiction – it takes the streets of Rich’s boyhood home, colours them sepia and then lets a serial killer run loose. 

We talk about the illusion of storytelling, about true-crime and false memories, and the golden-hued horror that we both love. Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and others loom in the background, but Chasing the Boogeyman is uniquely Chizmar, in all the ways a book can be. 

If that all sounds gorge-risingly poetic then, well, first of all, sod-off, it’s my podcast and I’ll rhapsodise if I want to. Secondly, don’t worry we also talk about monsters and mayhem and the time Rich’s friend crapped in his own hand. In short, something for everyone.

Enjoy!! (I really did!)

Chasing the Boogeyman was published August 17th by Gallery Books in North America and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. 

Other books mentioned include:

• Gwendy’s Button Box (2017), by Richard Chizmar and Stephen King
• Gwendy’s Magic Feather (2019) by Richard Chizmar
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2018) by Michelle McNamara
• True Crime Addict (2016), by James Renner
• Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis
• From a Buick Eight (2002), by Stephen King
• It (1986), by Stephen King
• Boy’s Life (1991), by Robert McCammon 

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