The ARC Party

Buy this book and support the podcast!

This guy walks into a bar…

Nick Kolakowski has been in the writing business for a long time, and his come up has been sort of split between horror and crime. He’s got impressive credentials in horror and crime anthologies and magazines, as well as his own published works.

The book of the hour, however, is solidly, fantastically a crime book. Detective, to be more specific. So I got to chat with Nick about the scene, working with Datura as a publisher, and of course, a former Hollywood fixer turned failed comedian, who decides to find redemption as a private dick. To mixed results.

Nick’s life experience as a Hollywood reporter adds delightful cynicism and a layer of grime to the depiction of celebrities in the book, and a plucked from the headlines plot line about remains found in barrels in drying up lakes pushes us north into California wine country where things get hot (because of wild fires) and heavy (because of murders.)

I thought this book was great, and I’m obsessed with the concept for another book in this little universe, so you all know what to do. Go buy a billion copies, leave reviews, and make this book a success so we get more in the future!

For those who like YouTube-ing:

Buy Jon’s Books!

Reunited after all these years

The last time I interviewed Jon Bassoff about a book, Barack Obama was president. Yeah.

Jon has had a rewarding career of great book releases since then, and when I saw the synopsis for THE MEMORY WARD, I knew I had to read it and get him back on a call to catch up.

This book is going to invite comps like crazy, to stuff like Stepford Wives, Truman Show, and other classic stories about manipulation, control, and the fallibility of our own memories. I even added Memento and The Number 23 to the list in this conversation. So naturally if those things interest you, you should immediately buy this book and tear through it.

But know that it’s a story that is its own beast, and doesn’t ape other stories or sit in a trope. It’s a deftly crafted timeline of suspicion, paranoia, deception, and the need to feel in control of our own lives. The setting feels very 1950s, but it’s also modern, giving it an eerily manufactured setting which starts you and keeps you on edge.

I thought it was delightful, and Jon didn’t just hand us a story, he gave us a puzzle to try to figure out, all the way to the last sentence. Just great stuff.

Coming up on the podcast

I have a lot of irons in fires and so here are some of the names you can look forward to seeing/hearing soon: Nick Kolakowski, Sam Rebelein, Michael David Wilson, Drew Huff, Tim Waggonner, and a lot more!

For those who prefer YouTube:

Get your copy of Death on the Swayback (hopefully)

Shop for Chris’ other books on my Bookshop page

Love At First Day of the Convention

I want to tell you a story about a boy and a boy. It all started one afternoon in the most romantic of locations, the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. I was attending Authorcon 4, my first Authorcon. And there, across the sea of tables filled with horror books, was a dreamy man in a plaid shirt looking a little too much like Chuck Palahniuk or a “cool” teacher… Chris Panatier.

Anyway I had heard him on podcasts talking about his novel THE REDEMPTION OF MORGAN BRIGHT, and not only did the book sound awesome, he just sounded like a good dude. And I’m here to tell you he is. And if this little chapbook that we eventually got around to talking about after an hour or so of banter is any indicator, dude is a hell of a good writer too.

So I left St Louis with lots of feelings. Feeling sleepy, much poorer, and like there were some podcasts that needed to happen. Clay McLeod Chapman was on the list, Jonathan Janz was (and is) on the list, and Chris Panatier was most fucking certainly on the list.

But I have gone on long enough without acknowledging a few things about this episode that you absolutely must take into consideration.

* Dude watches birds like it’s his job.

* His job is actually practicing law.

* We have a mutual and significant hatred for nazis/fascists/these bully bitches in office, and we didn’t hesitate to talk about it FOR. A. WHILE.

Bob Pastorella once crowned me the King of Conversational Podcasting, and this is the most obvious of attempts to retain jealously grip that crown against my head (over the hat, natch).

I hope you enjoy this conversation, and when the situation presents itself, that you fill your fist with love - and let those Nazis have it.

For those of you who prefer watching the YouTubes (the Ted Stevenses of the world if you will):

Preorder Special Backstage Package from Truborn

Preorder the regular edition from Truborn

Punk is horror. Horror is punk.

Though there seems to be a particular empathy between punk music and horror, the concern could be, if you were to collect a bunch of horror stories themed to punk rock songs, wouldn’t they all just be the same thing - more or less?

Not when William Sterling and his band of scribes get together, because one of my favorite things about this anthology is how unique of an approach each author took to the assignment.

A particular standout is Liz Kerin’s story Down By the Water (inspired by the PJ Harvey song?) In which a girl rebels against her controlling parent - which seems pretty foundational punk - only the whole story seems set on some fairy tale seaside community with witches and sea monsters (maybe). Such a creative approach to the theme of the book!

There are fourteen more songs beside, and I’ll let you discover them on your own. Suffice to say, I really enjoyed the book, and loved to have William Sterling and Brian McAuley on to give some insight into the book’s inception through it’s upcoming release.

I’ll plug once more ordering from one of the above links directly from Truborn. In times like these, creative folk need all the direct support they can get. If you order the Backstage Package, I think you even get a backstage pass!

For the YouTuberly folks:

Preorder THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS

Five friends go into the woods, four come out.

I’ve been reading Chuck Wendig books since the early 2010s, when he had back to back releases of BLACKBIRDS and MOCKINGBIRD, the first two books in the Miriam Black series of (six) books. Since then, I’ve read piles of his stories adding up to thousands of pages. Psychics, AI, Jedis, Pandemics, Serial Killers… he’s covered a lot of ground. But there’s something about this story. Something more than it appears. Something beneath the surface.

This is a story that is best read unspoiled, so our main conversation avoids anything that would taint the read. Even so, we talk about friendship, parenting, trauma, and of all things Homestar Runner. It is a captivating talk! But that’s not all!

Let’s Get Spoiled

It’s not even hard for me to say that this is my favorite book of Chuck’s. THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is an impressive achievement. So much so that I felt compelled to get Chuck to do an episode of The After Party, the spoiler-rich series that is available exclusively on this site. So once you’ve read the book, be sure to check out the Chuck Wendig episode of The After Party!

Buy lots of Chuck Wendig books

For the YouTube folks out there:

Introducing: Three Chapters a Day with Ryan McRae

My good friend Ryan McRae is an avid reader like myself, but he goes in for a different type of story. While I’m mucking around in horror and crime, Ryan is traveling to other worlds and universes and realities in the pages of Sci-Fi and Fantasy books.

Recently, Ryan had an opportunity to get an early look at the new book by TJ Klune, called THE BONES BENEATH MY SKIN and chat with Mr Klune about it. It was Ryan’s first time conducting an author interview, and if you ask me he killed it.

The Bones Beneath my skin is available today! Buy it HERE

Support Ryan!

If you’re into conversation with great sci-fi and fantasy authors (more to come soon!), advice on reading and writing, and more, you should support what Ryan is doing, and here are a few ways you can do that:

Subscribe to his Substack: https://substack.com/@ryanmcrae

Subscribe to his YouTube: Three Chapters a Day

For the folks who prefer YouTube:

Streamin and Dreamin

In the looming orange-tinged shadows of the current political situation, six lovers-of-story got together to have a chat about books.

Why? Because first of all: they love books.

Second of all: Because books shine light on darkness, give voices to those silenced, record history for those erased, recognize those unseen, and punch fucking nazis.

So, six people, ten books each, two hours and fifteen minutes. Strap in folks, because it’s a massive download of information in a relatively short amount of time, and you’re going to want to pay attention, because you’re getting recommendations from some of the most refined palates in the world of book tastemaking that are making taste these days:

* Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror)

* Haley “Spoonie Reads”

* Peg/Marguerite Turley

* Tiffany “Conlibros” Gonzalez

* Greg Greene (igreggreene)

* and… myself. Robb Olson

All The Books Mentioned

Order all these books!

* VICTORIAN PSYCHO by Virgina Fieto

* THE LAMB by Lucy Rose

* THE CONTORTIONIST’S HANDBOOK by Craig Clevenger

* ROSE OF JERICHO by Alex Grecian

* BETA VULGARIS by Margie Sarsfield

* THE LEAST OF MY SCARS by Stephen Graham Jones

* THE CRIMSON ROAD by A. G. Slatter

* WHEN THE WOLF COMES HOME by Nat Cassidy

* THE POORLY MADE AND OTHER THINGS by Sam Rebelein

* THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL by Philip Fracassi

* THE COVEN TENDENCY by Zoe Hana Mikuta

* THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY by Stephen Graham Jones

* THE LIBRARY AT HELLEBORE by Cassandra Khaw

* THE HAUNTING OF ROOM 904 by Erika T. Wurth

* THE LEAST OF MY SCARS by Stephen Graham Jones

* BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT by Brian McAuley

* FREAKSLAW by Jane Flett

* THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones

* BLOOD ON HER TONGUE by Johanna Van VeenEat

* THE ONES YOU LOVE by Sarah Maria Griffin

* NIGHT OF THE WITCH HUNTER by Patrick Barb

* ANGEL DOWN by Daniel Kraus

* THEIR MONSTROUS HEARTS by Yigit Turhan

* MAPPING THE INTERIOR by Stephen Graham Jones

* THE POSSESSION OF ALBA DÍAZ by Isabel Cañas

* POLYBIUS by Colin Armstrong

* THE SUNDOWNER’S DANCE by Todd Keisling

* VANISHING DAUGHTERS by Cynthia Pelayo

* BAT EATER AND OTHER NAMES FOR CORA ZENG by Kylie Lee Baker

* KILLER ON THE ROAD/THE BABYSITTER LIVES by Stephen Graham Jones

* THE LAMB by Lucy Rose

* FEEDERS by Matthew Serafini

* THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS by Chuck Wendig

* ANOTHER FINE MESS by Lindy Ryan

* BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL by VE Schwab

* LOST IN THE DARK AND OTHER EXCURSIONS by John Langan

* THE BEWITCHING by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

* THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER by David Demchuk

* EL DORADO DRIVE by Megan Abbott

* ARTIST OF BLACKBERRY GRANGE by Paulette Kennedy

* THE FACELESS THINGS WE ADORE by Hester Steel

* CATHEDRAL OF THE DROWNED by Nathan Ballingrud

* THE UNSEEN by Ania Ahlborn

* PLAY NICE by Rachel Harrison

* FIEND by Alma Katsu

* FERAL & HYSTERICAL: MOTHER HORROR’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO DARK AND DISTURBING FICTION BY WOMEN by Sadie Hartmann

* MOONFLOW by Bitter Karella

* LITTLE HORN: STORIES by Gemma Files

* THE GHOST WOODS by C. J. Cooke

* THE UNWORTHY by Augustina Bazterrica

* THE NIGHT THAT FINDS US ALL by John Hornor Jacobs

* NIGHT BIRDS by Christopher golden

* THE MEAN ONES by Tatiana Sclote-Bonne

* FIEND by Alma Katsu

* JULIE CHAN IS DEAD by Liann Zhang

* MAYRA by Nicky Gonzalez

* CATHEDRAL OF THE DROWNED by Nathan Ballingrud

* THE LONG LOW WHISTLE by Laurel Hightower

* CRAFTING FOR SINNERS by Jenny Kiefer

* THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE by Philip Fracassi

Order all these books!

For those of you who prefer YouTube:

Buy THE CONTORTIONIST’S HANDBOOK here!

Craig Clevenger is a hell of a writer. But don’t take my word for it. Chuck Palahniuk has praised The Contortionist’s Handbook. Irvine Welsh has. Jordan Harper has, Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly has, Stephen Graham Jones has, Paul Tremblay has… many people have. And for good reason. It’s a fucking great book.

And what follows, in my humblest, is a fucking great conversation. We talk about the book, we talk about life, we talk about struggles, we talk about families, we talk about the Waffle House. We talk about things that we are out of our depth talking about, but we talk about them because there are some struggles where, even if we can’t experience them, we can recognize them. We can say “I don’t know what that pain feels like, but I’ve had some pain that tells me that what you’re going through is fucked.”

But it’s not all the doldrums. There’s some great writing advice sprinkled about, and you’d better fucking pay attention because if there’s one thing Craig knows, it’s how to make words work.

I’ve been reading this book for years, and each time I get to read it again, I like it more, and that’s got to mean something, right? When it’s not old, or stale, or outdated. When it has a timeless poignancy to it, that’s a book you keep special. That’s an author you keep special. I hope you enjoy this conversation with a man I call brother, and I hope it inspires you to buy his books, inspires you to try a little harder to make the words into music, and inspires you to find a way to get out the things that you so bad want to keep inside, because maybe that’s a little bit like healing, and maybe that’s a good thing.

For those of you who like the YouTube version:

Preorder Here

At Dark, I Have Hope

It may seem like a contradiction that someone who can write such brutal things is such a lovely and sweet human being, but I think that in this episode, we tapped into a possible reason that it’s not a contradiction at all that Eric Larocca will destroy you with the most stark and frightful words, and smother you with happy thoughts when you talk to him.

The truth is, we all have these dark, extreme thoughts in our minds. We have all been driving down the road and envisioning that moment where we intentionally swerve into oncoming traffic to disastrous results. It lives in all of us, these intrusive thoughts. It’s what we do with those thoughts that speaks to our character.

And I’d argue that it’s terrifically healthy to take these thoughts that we all have, and to have a discussion about them, or to cause ourselves or others to think about them, and to understand them, and to process them.

So, while a story like this book tells isn’t necessarily for everyone all the time, it’s a crucial story to be told, and nobody is doing it better than Eric does.

And while we originally planned to talk about a book with a plot about a character that performs live burial rituals to give hopeless people a chance at rebirth, what we ended up talking about was far more human, and far more healing, and it was still about this book, because I think at the heart of this story is someone who hurts so much and cannot conceive of anything other than the weight of his own misery.

High Praise for Subtle Giants

Eric dedicated this novel to Daniel Kraus, and we started the episode talking about that. I love how Daniel has had such a positive impact on Eric’s career and Eric as a person. I share my observation about Daniel, which is that he casts a far bigger shadow than his humble shape suggests. So if you don’t know much about Mr. Kraus, I suggest you start researching. I particularly enjoyed Whalefall (read it, then listen to my interview with Daniel HERE), but he’s written dozens of books including two posthumously finished coauthorings with George freakin Romero.

Coming Soon

I had a small panic attack today as I was corresponding with folks, and just kept replying to emails. And kept replying. And kept replying. Suddenly, I feel quite busy as a podcaster.

You can count on a discussion soon with Craig Clevenger about his reissue of THE CONTORTIONIST’S HANDBOOK.

Other authors in the next few months include: Chris Panatier, Sam Rebelein, Chuck Wendig, the folks from PUNKS GOES HORROR anthology.

I’m also having conversations about featuring Jon Bassoff, Cynthia Pelayo, and also having Jesse and Greg back on for more Stephen Graham Jones talk!

So, lots in the works that hopefully will be reaching you soon.

For you YouTube folks:

Get Clay’s books here!

Welcome to my new show, Couchsurfing Critics!

The ever-talented and amazing Clay McLeod Chapman has returned for another epic round of conversation with yours truly. This time, we’re smashing duration records and defying interview conventions. It is, I would say, the closest to just us grabbing coffee and chatting that we could have hoped for, and I am very pleased with the result.

For those of you looking for a concentrated discussion of Clay’s delicious upcoming release WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES, might I direct you elsewhere. But! If you want to know what we think about some of the best authors working today, our thoughts on looking at people’s book shelves, and some getting really serious about cancer and the pitfalls of belonging to a family, I’ve got just what the doctor ordered. (and apparently for Nat Cassidy the doctor ordered some Beano, because he is certainly labeled a car farter in this episode. Sorry Nat. I think it was out of love?)

In addition to Clay’s amazing examination of the culture of radicalization in contemporary America, I would like to recommend that you listen to his top quality podcast called FEARMONGERS. He gets on the best of horror guests, has delightful conversations, and even cajoles them into reading for us all. It’s a great little library-backed bit of entertainment.

Coming up on The ARC Party

I’ve got a lot on the books for the next few weeks. I will be recording a discussion with Eric LaRocca in a few days to support the release of his new novel AT DARK I BECOME LOATHSOME, which everyone needs to read. It’s grief horror done so so so so so so so well.

Also, I’ll be talking with Craig Clevenger about the reissue of his debut novel THE CONTORTIONIST’S HANDBOOK. I’m really stoked about this one, as it’s been one of my favorites for a while now.

I’ve just recently confirmed with Chuck Wendig that he will be joining me at some point to discuss THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS, which I loved!

I am planning something called MALERMONTH, where I have on a guest or guests to talk about some awesome Josh Malerman novels, including hopefully DAPHNE, PEARL, and maybe another. GOBLIN? We’ll see.

I’ve also started talks with Cynthia Pelayo’s representation, and have some tentative plans with Joshua Hull, and many more.

I’m also very excited for Shortwave Publishing’s first quarterly shipment for 2025 to its Kickstarter backers. The box looks insane and I’m so excited! I’m so scared!

Finally for you YouTuberssssss: