Rachel Harrison is the New York Times bestselling author of The Return, Such Sharp Teeth, and Play Nice, back this week with her brand new release, Kiss Slay Replay.

She talks about subverting the classic final girl trope in her new wedding-weekend time loop novel, and why she pushes back on being boxed in as a "feminist horror" author. Rachel opens up about landing her literary agent through a Twitter pitch contest called PitDark, and releasing her debut, The Return, during the first week of COVID lockdown. She also breaks down the shower epiphany about lady werewolf mythology that became Such Sharp Teeth, and the Blink-182 song that sparked Kiss Slay Replay's time loop. Plus, a first look at her next book and her nerves about her first ever European tour.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Rachel Harrison

01:47 – Horror as a "Will They or Won't They" Rom-Com: Her Path Into the Genre

06:09 – From a Screenwriting Major to a PA Job on The Newlywed Game

09:58 – The Persistence Advice She Swears By

10:42 – The Return, a Bram Stoker Nomination, and Chasing Traditional Publishing

11:42 – The Twitter Pitch Contest, PitDark, That Landed Her Literary Agent

14:02 – Debuting a Novel in the First Week of COVID Lockdown

18:02 – Creep Away Camp, Barbie Girl Karaoke, and a Duet With Nat Cassidy

20:08 – Why Humor Is Baked Into Every Rachel Harrison Book

21:32 – Her Two Kinds of Protagonists: Sad Sacks and Women Who Have Their Shit Together

24:21 – Character Never Comes First: How She Actually Builds a Story

25:48 – The Applebee's Line That Unlocked Black Sheep's Vesper

32:58 – On Bristling at Being Labeled a "Feminist Horror" Author

40:45 – Prioritizing Art Over Content Before It's All AI Slop

44:43 – The Shower Epiphany Behind Such Sharp Teeth's Werewolf Body Horror

51:13 – Growing Up in Enormous Families and Building Play Nice's Three Sisters

57:54 – The Blink-182 Song That Sparked Kiss Slay Replay's Time Loop

1:02:52 – Subverting the Final Girl Trope With a Protagonist Who's Just Fucked

1:04:45 – Why Horror and Joy Aren't Opposites for Her

1:08:05 – First Look at Her Next Book: The "Emo, Sepia-Toned" One

1:10:28 – Gearing Up for Her First-Ever European Tour

Connect with Rachel Harrison:

Website: https://www.rachel-harrison.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelharrisonsghost/

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!

Caleb Stephens joins Talking Horror to talk The Girls in the Cabin, If You Lie, and You'll Never Know, and how he went from a decade as a corporate accountant to becoming the internet's self-proclaimed "dad thriller guy." Rachel Redd sits down with the award winning and Colorado Book Award finalist author for a wide-ranging conversation on writing thrillers with horror baked in, surviving traditional publishing rejection, and building a career one breadcrumb at a time.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Caleb Stephens

01:41 – Rachel's 2 AM Reading Marathon and the Twist She Didn't See Coming

07:04 – From Alan Dean Foster to Stephen King: A Childhood Built on Fantasy and Horror

10:32 – Ten Years as a Corporate Accountant Before Taking the Leap

12:48 – Five Years, One Unpublishable Novel, and a Verdict From the Guy Who Wrote Jumanji

14:41 – Short Stories, Craft Books, and a Writer's Digest Honorable Mention

21:38 – The Fool's Cap Method and Why Gillian Flynn Can Pants a Whole Thriller

29:58 – The Girls in the Cabin's Two Year Agent Rollercoaster

32:27 – Getting Picked Up by the UK's Largest Indie Publisher and Discovering BookTok

34:02 – Why Feeders Flopped and He Became "The Dad Thriller Guy"

38:30 – Making Colorado's Deadly Weather a Character in The Girls in the Cabin

43:48 – Rewriting a Book Seven Times and Turning the Dad Into a Bigger Jerk

46:31 – Missing a Publishing Deadline and Self-Publishing If You Lie Out of Fear

48:26 – Writing Through Sciatica and a Full Manuscript Rewrite

53:39 – Building a Gone Girl Tribute Twist Into You'll Never Know

1:02:34 – First Look at Don't Hesitate: A Dad and Son Hunting Trip Gone Wrong

1:05:02 – Why Grief Keeps Showing Up in Every Book He Writes

1:07:45 – The Paperback Pre-Order Problem No One Talks About

1:10:21 – Book Recommendations: S.A. Cosby, John Boyne, and More

Grab your copy of The Girls in the Cabin: [LINK]

Connect with Caleb Stephens:

Website: https://www.calebstephensauthor.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calebstephensauthor/?hl=en

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!

Adam Cesare joins Talking Horror to talk Lights, Camera, Frendo, the fourth book in his Clown in a Cornfield series, and how fifteen years of self-publishing, folded presses, and selling books out of the trunk of his car built the readership that eventually made him a Bram Stoker Award winner. Rachel Redd sits down with the USA Today bestselling author of Video Night, Mercy House, and Influencer for a conversation about franchise iconography, vampire obsession, and why he loves his sequels more than his original books.

Adam opens up about the small video rental section that scared him as a kid, and how a legendary horror editor's small press, his own self-publishing hustle, and a Big Five pickup fifteen years later all led to Mercy House getting "orphaned" pre-launch and later rewritten from scratch. He also confesses he genuinely likes the Clown in a Cornfield sequels better than the original, Bram Stoker win included. Plus his near-academic obsession with Frendo's mask and a first look at Bloodsick, his 14 POV vampire epic coming in January.

00:01 Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Adam Cesare

03:41 The Origin Story: A Supermarket Video Rental Aisle on Long Island

05:55 Running Out of Two Different Wes Craven Movies as a Kid

07:56 Stephen King on Cassette Tape and an Early Obsession With Spawn

13:53 Writing Video Night in College Before He Could Legally Drink

17:05 Chasing Down an Editor and Landing at a Small Horror Press

19:58 From Self-Published Oddity to a Big Five Book

22:56 The Used Car Salesman Theory of Surviving Publishing

28:37 If You Can't Love It, Quit: His Advice for Writers

34:15 Video Night: A Melancholic Alien Invasion Love Letter

40:22 Mercy House and Getting Orphaned by Random House Hydra

44:06 Rewriting Mercy House From Scratch Eleven Years Later

51:08 Confessing He Loves the Sequels More Than the Original

54:43 Lights, Camera, Frendo: Book Four Is Finally Out

59:04 The Auteurist Theory Behind a Long-Running Slasher Franchise

1:03:01 Why He Obsesses Over Every Detail of Frendo's Mask

1:08:37 A First Look at Bloodsick, His 14 POV Vampire Epic

1:15:45 Why Horror Is Living Through a Genuine Golden Era

Grab your copy of Lights, Camera, Frendo: https://amzn.to/4wKDUUW

Connect with Adam Cesare:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamcesare/?hl=en

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!