Ink Heist - A Podcast for Readers of Dark Fiction

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with Tim Meyer, author of Kill Hill Carnage, The Switch House, Dead Daughters, and so many more books. Dead Daughters is his new novel with Poltergeist Press and hits shelves on April 16th. This was a book that we all loved here at Ink Heist and definitely became one of our favorites. Dead Daughters begins with a father discovering a picture depicting the murder of his daughter in his mailbox. Only he knows it can't be her, because he just put her to bed a few minutes ago. From there, Meyer takes readers on a terrifying journey into a family's worst nightmare with plenty of twists and turns that make it one of the most addictive reads of 2020. Trust us when we say if you think you know where this story is going, prepare to have your expectations blown out of the water. If you haven't already, pre-order a copy of Dead Daughters - you won't regret it.

During the episode, we talked to Tim about getting his writing start with comic scripts and screenplays, The Switch House script, difference in adaptations, Goosebumps and Animorphs, the inspiration for Sharkwater Beach, Jaws, the genesis of Dead Daughters, working with Poltergeist Press, buying so many books his tire light went on, author collaborations, hating Tom Brady, and so much more. Check out our conversation with Tim now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we have a special episode for you as we had TWO guests on this week, Hank Early and Ian Pisarcik. We are a huge fan of Hank's Earl Marcus series and Ian's debut novel Before Familiar Woods is one of the best books we've read so far in 2020. Both authors write realistic characters that you can't help but be invested in and are masters at crafting vivid settings that are every bit as vital to the fabric of the story as the characters that populate them and can be viewed almost as another character. All three of us agree that when you pick up a book from either Pisarcik or Early, you might as well clear your schedule because you won't be putting them down anytime soon. This also marks the first time (I think) we've had two guests on the show at the same time. Which was pretty cool, especially when Ian and Hank had a conversation with each other about writing and publishing.

During the episode, we talked about rural noir, the importance of setting, influences, mixing in horror, the true inspiration behind Before Familiar Woods, our upbringing and reading, their experience writing their debut novel, inspirations, publishing during the pandemic, and so much more. Check out our conversation with Hank and Ian now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with Ken McKinley, the owner, and Editor-in-Chief of Silver Shamrock Publishing. Silver Shamrock is approaching its one year anniversary and has quickly become one of the Horror genre's premier independent presses, putting out high-quality releases from both veterans of the genre and authors who are publishing their first book. We are huge fans of Silver Shamrock books and were excited to get a chance to talk to Ken and pick his brain about Silver Shamrock and publishing in general.

During the episode, we talked about how he founded Silver Shamrock, the role of social media, James Newman's role in Silver Shamrock's origins, Midnight in the Graveyard, how he avoided the pitfalls of other indie presses, his long-running open call policy, taking care of authors, info on the Gord Rollo releases, IPAs,  a story about how he got to work with his favorite author Robert McCammon, and so much more. Check out our conversation with Ken McKinley now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we decided to do things a little differently and record a bonus solo show episode! As everyone knows, things are getting rough out there and many of us are quarantined to our homes and aren't able to do our normal routines as we try to keep ourselves and our families and friends safe. If you're anything like us, chances are you've been reading a lot and streaming more movies and TV shows than you feel comfortable admitting. That's okay because we're all in the same boat! That being said, Shane and I decided to share some of the books and movies we've been enjoying lately. A lot of great Horror movies from other countries, upcoming and currently available books, there is a little bit of everything in this episode. The best part is that ALL of the movies we recommended are currently available on a streaming platform, so if you already have Netflix or Prime, you're good to go. If you don't, we also list a few from Tubi, which is a 100% free app to use if you don't mind the occasional commercial. We hope you find some cool new stuff to check out and help stave off the boredom and please, share your recommendations with us too!

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with Alan Baxter, who has written numerous works of genre-bending dark fiction including his most recent short story collection Served Cold and the blood-soaked Creature Feature The Roo. Alan is one of our favorite writers and we love the way he blends various genres in his work to great gripping stories that keep you on the edge of your seat. Also, as big fans of Manifest Recall, we were thrilled to hear Alan was revisiting Eli Carver in a follow up novella, Recall Night, later this year. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Alan this week and can't wait to have him on again in the future!  During this episode, we talked about how he got involved in martial arts, The Australian Shadows Award, Served Cold, how he started working with Grey Matter Press, working with different publishers, the Horror scene in Australia, The Roo, sequels and so much more. Check out our conversation with Alan Baxter now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with V. Castro, who recently released her new novel Hairspray and Switchblades through Unnerving as part of their Rewind or Die series. Violet's book is an absolute blast to read and had all three of us hooked from the first page. She puts a fresh spin on familiar horror tropes, conjures up plenty of unsettling scenes and crafts a memorable cast of badass characters. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Violet this week and talking about horror and laughing together. During this episode, we talked about the origin of Hairspray and Switchblades, Eddie Generous and the Rewind or Die series, her early experiences with horror, erotic horror, the importance of inclusion in publishing and so much more. We also talked quite a bit about some of her upcoming projects and you definitely don't want to miss that part of the conversation. She is working on so many cool sounding things that we can't wait to get our greedy hands on! Check out our conversation with V. Castro now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we started the show with the intention of running a solo show, but we decided to cold call Todd Keisling while he was signing copies of his upcoming Dim Shores release, Scanlines, which led to one of our funniest episodes yet. By the end of the episode, we all had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. We kicked off the show by talking about Ian Pisarcik's stunning debut novel, Before Familiar Woods, which hits shelves today. If you haven't already pre-ordered a copy, definitely go out and pick it up. It's a richly detailed, atmospheric noir novel with some of the most realistic characters we have read in recent years. Don't be surprised to see it pop up on a lot of "Best of" lists at the end of the year.

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with Armand Rosamilia, a prolific author with over a hundred books to his name, including the recently released The Beast from Severed Press. We had a lot of fun talking to Armand, who has a great sense of humor and some really great stories. During this episode, we talked about Beers and Fears, paying it forward, his early influences, writing for a B-movie horror studio and so much more. Check out our conversation with Armand now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with author Chad Lutzke, who is getting ready to release the first book in The Neon Owl series on February 28th. The Neon Owl is a bit of a departure for Chad and finds him putting his own spin on the noir genre. We had the pleasure of reading an advance copy and we're confident you'll love it as much as we did. The Neon Owl has a cast of memorable characters and plenty of humor that makes it a compulsively readable novel that will leave you clamoring for the next books in the series.

We had a lot of fun talking to Chad again and learning a bit more about his writing process. During this episode, we talked about the influences of The Neon Owl, collaborating styles, poo humor, the joy of discovery while writing without an outline, the autobiographical nature of The Same Deep Water As You, "mumblecore" films, ambiguous endings, his punk zine Cornflake Overdose, and so much more. Check out our conversation with Chad now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.

This week, we're excited to have the opportunity to chat with author Caitlin Starling, who wrote the thrilling genre hybrid The Luminous Dead. The Luminous Dead is a stunning debut novel that all of us at Ink Heist fell in love with when we first read it and it holds a very special place on our "All-time Favorites" shelf. Caitlin creates memorable characters and creates a tense, creepy atmosphere by using the isolation of the caves to drive the plot and create scenes of psychological and physical horrors that will have you on the edge of your seat. We had a lot of fun talking to Caitlin and as always, we take away some very valuable writing advice. During this episode, we talked about interactive elements in storytelling, the blending of sci-fi and horror, how she creates characters, fan fiction, different versions of The Luminous Dead, and writing communities. We also take a deep dive into Portland culture with Shane and Caitlin as our guides and learn about The Goat Blocks and electric lettuce. Check out our conversation with Caitlin now right here on Ink Heist or on your favorite streaming service.