In this episode of Uncanny Women Podcast, KJ Brantley sits down with V.S. Lawrence, prolific indie horror author of 80s Ghosts, With Friends Like These, and the upcoming Just Us Here.

Together, they discuss women's friendships in horror, growing up as '90s kids, religious upbringing and religious horror, cults, nostalgia, and the ways our childhood and life experiences shape the stories they tell. V.S. also shares how her own experiences with isolation and illness influenced her recurring themes of friendship and found family.

They also talk about indie publishing, horror community, book festivals, gothic horror, and the books and women in horror authors they think more readers should discover.

Books by V.S. Lawrence Mentioned

• 80s Ghosts https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9798223965145
• With Friends Like These https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9798224335930
• Just Us Here (coming July, 2026) https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9798233648779

Books & Authors Recommended in This Episode

• The Auctioneer by Joan Sampson https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781948405706
• Trifles by Susan Glaspell https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781420970067
• When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9780063035041
• Work by A.C. Hessenauer, including the upcoming Going to the Six
• Work by Candace Nola
• Work by Red Lagoe

Please see the Uncanny Women Podcast affiliate store at Bookshop.org for full list of books featured with each episode: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-featured-on-uncanny-women-podcast

Connect with V.S. Lawrence

• Website: V.S. Lawrence: https://vslawrence.com/
• Instagram: @vslawrence.author

In the debut episode of Uncanny Women Podcast, KJ Brantley sits down with author Sara van Os to discuss horror, wilderness survival, queer identity, and the strange confidence that comes from watching far too much Naked and Afraid.

Together, they dive into van Os’s debut novel Decomposition Book, writing deeply flawed characters, survival narratives, and women in horror fiction.

The conversation also explores:

• writing protagonists with OCD
• opera and performance
• gender presentation
• Sara’s writing process
• writing women with agency
• why Sara believes she would absolutely survive Naked and Afraid

If you enjoy dark humor, survival horror, and conversations about women writing horror on their own terms, this episode is for you.

Books and Authors Mentioned in This EpisodeFollow Sara van Os

Instagram: @saramcclarinet

https://www.instagram.com/saramcclarinet/

By Sara van Os

Decomposition Book
Purchase Here: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781335001894

Books Mentioned in the Conversation

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Purchase Here: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9780385486804

Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin
Purchase Here: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781638932826

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Purchase Here: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781250145451

Follow Uncanny Women Podcast

Instagram: @uncannywomenpodcast

https://www.instagram.com/uncannywomenpodcast

Follow Host, KJ Brantley

Instagram: @authorkjbrantley

https://www.instagram.com/authorkjbrantley

Threads: @authorkjbrantley

https://www.threads.com/@authorkjbrantley

TikTok: @authorkjbrantley

https://www.tiktok.com/@authorkjbrantley

Follow the SoCo Women in Horror Festival

Instagram: @womeninhorrorfestivalco

https://www.instagram.com/womeninhorrorfestivalco

TikTok: @socowomeninhorrorfest

https://www.tiktok.com/@soco.women.in.horror

In this episode of Uncanny Women Podcast, KJ Brantley sits down with Shirley Jackson and Stoker Award-nominated author, editor, and scholar R.J. Joseph to discuss horror through the lens of history, identity, monstrosity, and the Black lived experience.

Together, they explore Joseph’s acclaimed collection Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted, her upcoming collection My Monsters Ain't Like Yours, the idea of literary splatterpunk, Blackademic scholarship, motherhood in horror, and the lasting influence of Beloved on horror literature and storytelling.

The conversation also dives into:

• horror as historical reckoning
• the monstrous feminine
• Black womanhood in horror
• the intersections of academia and genre fiction
• how horror reflects real-world trauma and violence
• why monstrosity can be a powerful literary lens
  

Books, Stories, and Authors Mentioned in This EpisodeFollow R.J. Joseph

Website: https://www.rjjosephwrites.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rjjosephwrites/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@rjjosephwrites

By R.J. Joseph

Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted
Paperback: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781990082184
Hardcover: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781990082191

My Monsters Ain't Like Yours
https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781967911448

“Screams from the Bayou”
https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781970383027

Other Books Mentioned

Progeny by Kenya Moss-Dyme
https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9798330337644

Beloved by Toni Morrison
https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9780525659273

The Dead Spot
https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781958598276