09 - T. Kingfisher and Does the Dog Die in This One?

Send us a Text Message.

Where do you stand on horror and comedy? Can a book be too funny to be scary, or too terrifying to raise a chuckle? Our guest this week would argue not. T. Kingfisher is the author of the critically-acclaimed The Twisted Ones (2019) and her brand-new release The Hollow Places. Both are scorching horror tales, with some hideous imagery, exquisite world-building and nightmare-fuel ideas . . . but they are also both laugh-out-loud funny, at least to us sickos anyway!

 T (short for ‘The’ or ‘Terrence’, depending on her mood) and I discuss the world’s maddest museums, the practical issues with making your own golem, and whether America is really overrun with phantom kangaroos! We also manage to sneak in some ‘serious’ conversation about how the genre works, and why she finds classic tales such an inspiration.

 This one will put a smile on your face as October draws to an end.

 Some of the books discussed in this episode include:

 “The White People” in The House of Souls (1906), by Arthur Machen“The Willows”, in The Listener and Other Stories (2007), by Algernon BlackwoodIt Will Just Be Us (2002), by Jo KaplanFrom a Buick Eight (2002), by Stephen KingThe Graveyard Book, by Neil GaimanCoraline, by Neil GaimanFirefly Rain (2008), by Richard Dansky

 Come talk books with us on Twitter @talkscaredpod or email direct to [email protected].

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing.

Support the Show.