Clay McLeod Chapman, for me, arrived at a time where I was in-between podcasts, and going through some health things, etc. Which is to say that I kinda missed his emergence onto the scene. So, I heard him on podcasts talking about his then-new book GHOST EATERS, and I became interested.

Last year, it didn’t work out to interview Clay for WHAT KIND OF MOTHER, which was disappointing. SO, when I caught wind that he had something coning out on Shortwave, I took it as my chance to finally get him… on the line.

What you’re about to listen to sounds a lot like old friends gabbing about things that they’re excited about. Just know it’s the first conversation I’ve ever had with Clay, which goes to show just how fun and open and comfortable it is to chat with the dude.

And apologies to Nat Cassidy, but Clay’s episode is like a minute and change longer than yours. I guess we’ll just have to have you on again, to top your old pal.

Do you want cake at your ARC Party? I know I do.

For the folks that want a YouTube link:

What happens when a group of friends get their hands on a VHS tape that, when viewed, teleports you six feet away - arriving with a feeling of intense euphoria? SO much!

The Third installment of Shortwave’s Killer VHS series has a lot. Stoners, teleportation, urban myths, feral junkies, government agencies, creepypasta, friendship! It’s a super-entertaining, quick read.

In this episode, I chat with Josh about TELEPORTASM, friendship, horror, and what makes a story work, among other things. It’s a fun conversation, and now we’re friends! Please enjoy this conversation, and while you’re listening, go ahead and pre-order the book!

For all of you YouTube lovers:

Josh Malerman and Wow Town got together while I was up in Michigan, for a rehearsal of their June 23 performance commemorating the release of Josh’s book INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE.

I was there, I recorded it, and now I’m sharing it with you all.

For the YouTube folks (no video! Audio only):

Quick note

This recording was made at a racecourse, so you will regularly hear racing engine noises in the background. It’s nothing that will impact the listening experience, but would be one of those “what the heck?” things if I didn’t explain why it was going on.

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“Bela…”

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“can I go into your heart?”

Part three!

This time, we talk about Josh’s recently-filmed documentary For All The Books. In case this title isn’t familiar, for years Josh has been looking for something beyond social media where he can express the full experience of writing a book. I could go on, but I’ll just let you listen to Josh explain it. It’s a pretty cool story, and the documentary is great too! I got to screen the most recent edit, and I think people are going to enjoy it!

Outside the documentary talk, we talk about what authors are in our areas, meeting peers at the end of the world, and more.

Thanks for following along with this experience. I’m excited to share it with you all, and I hope you’re finding value in it.

Up next

I’ll finish up this series with the rehearsal for the Incidents Around The House performance in June, and some fun original music inspired by the book, in my episode titled Incidents Around The Race Track.

In the future

I’ve recently set up dates to record with Clay McLeod Chapman, Joshua Chaplinsky, and the second part of my 2024 Horror Preview with Becky Spratford and Emily Hughes. Farther out, I’ll planning episodes with Brian Asman, Zoje Stage, Sofia Ajram, and many many more.

For those of you who prefer YouTube (there’s no video, but there are captions!)

If you’re looking for a discussion about Josh’s upcoming book INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE, go back one episode. It’s all about the book, and you get to hear Other Mommy speak!

This time around

We have a few drinks and talk about super fandom, the lost art of writing letters, and the importance of capturing and archiving the creative process. It’s a sloshy fun time, and especially considering the topic, I’m very thankful that I got it on the record!

Next episode

We talk about Josh’s documentary For All The Books, and some other stuff along the way.

In the future

A complete recording of the rehearsal of the Incidents Around The House stage performance.

For the folks that prefer YouTube (there is no video, but there are captions):

This is the first in a series of episodes with Josh Malerman I’m calling Interviews Around The House, from my recent visit to Michigan for a weekend of hanging out with Josh. If you want to know more about what that weekend was like, check out this post.

In this episode

We primarily talk about Josh’s awesome upcoming release INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE. In future episodes, we talk about Josh’s documentary, his nonfiction book, fandom and the importance of archiving, and the absolute worst idea for Josh’s 41st novel.

A couple notes about the audio: First, this series is audio-only. I managed to capture a ton of audio, but no video. Second, these recordings are literally interviews around the house, so there is often background noise like wind, dogs, tree frogs, cocktails, and Jim Morrison. Most of the discussion is good, but there will be occasions where it’s a little tougher to understand exactly what’s being said. All in all, I think it adds to the atmosphere, but apologies in advance if it has an impact on any of the experience.

Next Episode:

Josh and Robb talk about the Documentary that Josh recorded, how great Daniel Kraus is, what authors are in Chicago and Detroit, and a bunch more.

Coming Soon:

Josh and Robb get tipsy and talk about how important it is to capture the process of creation, and other things I really don’t remember to clearly.

Hopefully…

I’ll also be presenting a recording of the rehearsal for Josh’s upcoming stage performance with the group Wow Town, for the release of INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE.

For the folks who prefer YouTube (there is no video, but there are captions.):

I’m giving away 25 bookplates signed by Paul Tremblay. All you have to do is pre-order your copy of HORROR MOVIE using my bookshop.org affiliate link, and tell me about it!

Step 1: Pre-order using THIS LINK

Step 2: Email [email protected] and tell me your Bookshop order number, and your mailing address.

The first 25 orders using my affiliate link will have a bookplate signed by Paul sent to them. Yay free stuff!

*fine print: Because I’ll need to do some back and forth shipping with Paul, these will likely ship out to everyone closer to the release date of HORROR MOVIE. No personalizations.

The last time I talked to Paul was for the release of his book Survivor Song in 2020, and a lot of things have happened in the mean time. It was nice to get some time to catch up, talk about life, and dig into his amazing new book, HORROR MOVIE.

It’s almost 90 minutes. We talk about HORROR MOVIE, Eric Larocca, superfans, publishing way back in 2011, and a lot more. I know you’re going to enjoy the conversation, and you’ll love the book.

Coming soon: A special episode with Josh Malerman!

For the folks who prefer YouTube viewing:

FIRST LIGHT is coming out on April 23rd! It’s the much-anticipated sequel to Kerin’s debut novel NIGHT’S EDGE.

First thing’s first: Order FIRST LIGHT right now! And if you’re new to Liz, you can also order NIGHT’S EDGE at the same time, on my Liz Kerin list on Bookshop

Now that that’s taken care of. If you haven’t done so, go back and listen to my interview with Liz for NIGHT’S EDGE.

I don’t know if you know, but vampires are back, in a big way. Leading the charge is Liz Kerin, with her breakout duology about a young woman named Mia, who is navigating a world where vampires are among us, but they’re not welcome. And oh yeah her mom is one, but nobody knows, so she has to be mom’s source of food or she’ll go away. NIGHT’S EDGE established Mia and her struggles with her family secret, and FIRST LIGHT takes her out into the world. All Mia wants is to be a normal person, but she’s haunted by her a past she can’t let go of, and she wants answers.

I really loved these books, and in this episode I got to dig into some of the themes of FIRST LIGHT with Liz. We talked about love, forgiveness, rebellion, and a lot more. And I say “really cool” in this episode enough times that, looking back, I’m a little embarrassed. I need to be better with my choice of words.

Since it’s a duology, I’ll share links to both of the episodes on YouTube, for you visual types:

NIGHT’S EDGE

FIRST LIGHT

The trilogy is complete, so it’s time to bring you our third and final deep dive into the books in the Indian Lake trilogy: THE ANGEL OF INDIAN LAKE. With this installment, that brings the deep dive talk time to about six and a half hours, and I must say that we could have talked so much more!

For the sake of ease, here’s all the YouTube versions of the episodes all together, so it’s easy to access:

MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW

DON’T FEAR THE REAPER

THE ANGEL OF INDIAN LAKE (spoiler warning!)

Hey, while you’re here, why not but some of SGJ’s books!

Here’s a little treat, since I’m gathering a bunch of stuff together. I thought it would be cool to look back at all of my coverage of Stephen Graham Jones over the years. Turns out, it’s a lot!

Since July of 2011, I have interviewed Stephen four times. Additionally, I’ve done ten full book reviews of SGJ books. However, I know there were other episodes where we talked about Jones’ work, but it would take time to find those poorly-labeled episodes. Missing from the following list are conversations about THE ELVIS ROOM, THE NIGHT CYCLIST, ATTACK OF THE 50FT INDIAN, NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS, and probably others I’ve forgotten.

All the SGJ episodes I could come up with:

* Zombie Bake Off (2012)

* The Last Final Girl (2012)

* Zombie Sharks with Metal Teeth (2013)

* The Least of My Scars (2013)

* Not For Nothing (2014)

* Mongrels (2016)

* It Came From Del Rio (2019)

* The Only Good Indians (2020)

* All The Beautiful Sinners (2021)

* Demon Theory (2018)

* Interview 2011 (Booked.)

* Interview 2014 (Booked.)

* Interview 2020 (Booked.)

* Interview 2023 (The ARC Party)

There is so much more. I’ll probably do a follow up post on Substack just to make sure I’ve gathered all of my thoughts. But for now, that’s a lot to chew on!

Eric Larocca is a master of exploring the boundaries of horror, and often going beyond them. His upcoming collection THIS SKIN WAS ONCE MINE AND OTHER DISTURBANCES consists of two longer, novella length stories, and two shorter ones. If we’re talking overall theme, Eric says that this book is looking into the concept of human connection.

Along the way, we get some fetishes, some deaths in the family, visiting childhood trauma on others, and some elderly men doing unspeakable things. It’s a great collection, and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

Until then, please enjoy my conversation with Eric. In addition to talking about big scary things, we talk about inspirational authors (including a whole lot of Paul Tremblay), Moms who support us, and a lot more.

For those who prefer video to audio, here’s the YouTubes: