The ARC Party

Pre-Order HERE

I say it in the episode, and I’ll repeat it now. I’ve been ride-or-die for Zoje’s writing career since I read BABY TEETH in 2018. I think Zoje’s writing voice is so charming and consequential and relatable. At some level, I’d always hoped to hear what’s been going on with Hanna since BABY TEETH, but I never pushed it into he arena of hope. I guess Zoje has been so good at making all of her books as unique and powerful that I didn’t know if it was even a thought in her head.

Thankfully, it was. DEAR HANNA is a follow-up to BABY TEETH that takes place a good 15 or so year after the end of BT. Zoje wrote it in a way that it can be read on its own without having read BABY TEETH, which removes a big barrier to entry for readers that are new to Stage’s work. But it still does make references to the first book, and references things that happened in the interim between books, so there’s plenty to be had for a lover of BABY TEETH as well.

In this interview, I mention another book of Zoje’s which I truly and deeply love, and I really hope people read. It’s a dark fairy tale about a tween girl who is confronted with becoming a woman. It’s scary and sad and wonderful and hopeful and heartbreaking, and I can’t say enough good about it. It’s THE GIRL WHO OUTGREW THE WORLD, and I think you need to go get it immediately.

Another moment in this conversation that I loved was when we were talking about the idea of people being good or bad, and how it seems the more we define people as “other” than us, the easier it is to do horrible things to them. Or conversely, the optimistic way I choose to approach life, the more we are able to see ourselves in other people, the better we will be to all people. It was a validating and uplifting conversation, for sure!

Buy DEAR HANNA, buy THE GIRL WHO OUTGREW THE WORLD, and please do something to see the commonalities we all have, so we can love more and live more.

For you YouTube watchers:

It’s a hell of a time for horror stories, and it seems like camp slashers are especially making a comeback. Josh Winning is out with his latest book, HEADS WILL ROLL. Set in a digital detox camp, it’s a story of a sitcom star who gets cancelled for an off-color tweet, who decides to get away from the scandal for a little bit. What she’s not aware of is that this may as well be called Camp Cancelled, and someone out there is carrying a deadly grudge.

Josh is the fourth interview I’ve done since May where the author’s name is Josh, which means I’ll be taking a break from chatting with any more Joshes for a while. Apologies, other Joshes.

This final Josh and I had a great chat about camp slashers, pop culture, getting cancelled, formatting a la Paul Tremblay, the increase in availability of marginalized author’s stories, and more. Oh! We also spent a surprising amount of time discussing the movie Easy Rider.

A final note for those of you who read these posts: I’ve recently submitted this podcast feed to YouTube Podcasts, so if you find your podcasts via YouTube, you can find the podcast feed there, in addition to my usual video posts on the channel.

For you folks who like the YouTubes:

PREORDER HERE

First, I have to acknowledge that there were some serious technical difficulties with the recording of this episode. After a couple failed attempts to use the platform I regularly use, we finally switched to some old school Skypin’. Thankfully, I was able to cobble all of the various recordings together and it sounds really good.

What we did talk about is Josh’s upcoming novel, LETTERS TO THE PURPLE SATIN KILLER. An epistolary novel consisting of a series of letters written to the titular killer. It manages to cover a lot of ground, sometimes very serious and creepy ground, other times light and funny. Looking at the cultural phenomenon of a notorious serial killer through the lens of admirers, family of victims, childhood pals, law enforcement, and family of the killer gives us an opportunity to consider the growing obsession in society with true crime, and what kind of impact a serial killer really has beyond his victims.

Beyond the book, we talked about early negative reactions, glowing reviews, and how much a blurb on your book really helps. And finally, I have to acknowledge that Josh is very humble and vulnerable in his acknowledgements about his struggles with writing the book, and the self doubt he experienced in the process. It’s refreshing to see someone confront the less-fun aspects of novel creation in a way that I think can be helpful for other writers.

Please go preorder LETTERS TO THE PURPLE SATIN KILLER as soon as you’re able to, and I hope you enjoy the conversation!

For the YouTube watchers out there:

2024 is still here!

I know I’ve been planning my reading for the year for a while now. How about you? Are you in need of some recommendations? I have just the thing! It’s MORE of The ARC Party’s Horror Preview!

The reason this episode exists is because Emily Hughes aggregates a ton of information about forthcoming horror books every year, and posts a comprehensive, and frankly amazing list of them for everyone to use! You can find it here:

Becky wanted to celebrate the launch of the list by diving into some of the titles we’re excited about, so the three of us got together and did a month by month round table, talking about books we’re looking forward to.

Don’t worry! I know you’re going to want to do some shopping, so I made it super easy to pre-order these books, by putting together a list on bookshop.org. You can find it here, updated to include all of our new picks!

Here are all the books mentioned, their authors, and their current publication dates. If you want to read more about them, go to Emily’s list. If you want to preorder these books, go to my list!

July

Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles - July 2nd

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle - July 9th

I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones - July 16th

Stay on The Line by Clay McLeod Chapman - July 30th

It Came From the Trees by Ally Russell - July 30th

Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning - July 30th

August

Letters to the Purple Satin Killer by Joshua Chaplinsky - August 6th

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias - August 6th

A Mask of Flies by Matt Lyons - August 6th

The Unmothers by Leslie J Anderson - August 6th

Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage - August 13th

Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pederson - August 20th

September

Horror For Weenies by Emily Hughes - September 3rd

The Devil By Name by Keith Rosson - September 10th

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison - September 10th

This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa - September 10th

Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror ed. by Xueling C. N - September 24th

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton - September 24th

October

Good Dogs by Brian Asman - October 1st

Coup De Grâce by Sofia Ajram - October 1st

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister - October 1st

All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper - October 15th

American Rapture by CJ Leede - October 15th

Memorials by Richard Chizmar - October 22nd

Three Miles Past by Stephen Graham Jones (reissue) - October 22nd

Zombie Bake Off by Stephen Graham Jones (reissue) - October 22nd

The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti by Stephen Graham Jones (reissue) - October 22nd

November

The Keeper of the Key by Nicole Willson - November 12th

Sundown in San Ojuela by MM Olivas - November 19th

Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying by Brian McAuley - November 12th

The Map of Lost Places: A Horror Anthology ed by Thomas & Conner - November

December

After the People Lights Have Gone off by Stephen Graham Jones (reissue) - December 4th

The Vengeance by Emma Newman - December 3rd

Private Rites by Julia Armfield - December 3rd

hope you enjoy our discussion, and it gets you excited about some of the books coming in 2024. Pre-ordering is crucial to the success of new books, so I encourage you to do so generously.

Have a book you’re really excited about for the first half of 2024? Share it with me! I’d love to learn about more more more! You can reach out here, or I’m on all the social medias as @thearcparty

For all of you YouTube watchers:

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.):