Taylor Grothe, who also writes as T.G. Laine, is the author of the YA folk horror debut Hollow, the upcoming Monstrous Beautiful Things, and the new sapphic dark academia horror romance Lethal Kiss.

Taylor talks about a Catholic childhood of cemetery trips and saints' relics, writing Hollow through their own autism and queer identity, and why horror works as a lens rather than a genre. They break down their writing process, from a 2,000 word synopsis to drafting 3,000 words an hour in a three and a half week sprint. We dig into balancing romance beats and horror beats 50/50 in Lethal Kiss, femme rage, and the real Duke professor behind the book's dean. Plus, writing their first smut scene, book bans, and a first look at the queer Arthurian romantasy The Mage and the Liar Knight.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Cold Open: The "Needles in Eyeballs" Feeling

00:46 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Taylor Grothe

02:54 – Begging Dad for Cemetery Trips as a Kid

04:30 – Saints' Bodies, Reliquaries and a Catholic Creep Factor

05:26 – First Word "Chandelier" and Writing Through COVID Lockdown

07:59 – Why Times of Terror Spark Creation

10:13 – Horror Tells the Truth: A Lens, Not a Genre

13:17 – Goosebumps, High Fantasy and Picking at a Scab

14:17 – A Nonfiction MFA and a Medieval Literature Scholar

15:09 – Autism, Auditory Processing and Failing Out of Catholic School

16:44 – Duke, Academic Corruption and Owning a Brewery

21:47 – 175,000 Words of Historical Fiction and an Icelandic Horror Novel

22:19 – Writing Hollow for Their Undiagnosed Autistic, Queer Teen Self

25:31 – Why Taylor Stopped Reading Reviews

29:16 – Meet T.G. Laine: Why a Second Pen Name

31:48 – Seven Book Ideas in One Email to Their Agent

32:22 – Goblin Mode: Drafting a Book in Three and a Half Weeks

33:55 – From Pantser to a 2,000 Word Synopsis

36:47 – The "Needles in Eyeballs" Test for a Wrong Turn

38:11 – 3,000 Words an Hour and Cat Therapy

41:35 – Lethal Kiss: Lacie Is Who They Were, Marcella Who They Wished to Be

45:50 – Their First Happy Ending (Still Bloody)

46:27 – Threading Horror Beats Through Romance Beats

48:42 – The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known

49:54 – The Real Duke Professor Behind the Dean

52:44 – Girl Dinner and Storming a University Campus

54:19 – Writing Their First Smut Scene (and Hiding It From Dad)

58:12 – Why Romance and Horror Are Embodied Genres

1:00:56 – Writing, Coming Out as Nonbinary and Book Bans

1:05:53 – What's Next: Monstrous Beautiful Things and The Mage and the Liar Knight

1:07:22 – A Secret Mushroom Horror Romance for Fall 2027

Grab your copy of Lethal Kiss: https://amzn.to/3TtRvSx

Connect with Taylor Grothe:

Website: https://www.taylorgrothe.com/

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

Newsletter: https://hallowedwords.substack.com

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

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

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

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CONTENT WARNING: This episode covers some sensitive topics such as Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence.

Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award winning author of The Violence, Guillotine, Bloom, and the new sapphic botanical horror novella Monstera.

Delilah opens up about using horror to process domestic violence, sexual trauma, and being roofied on a date night, and how that shaped The Violence and It Will Only Hurt for a Moment. She breaks down how writing comics differs from writing novels, and what it takes to write franchise tie-ins for Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons Ravenloft, Minecraft, and Disney. We dig into eat-the-rich rage in Guillotine, Bloom as a female Hannibal in cottagecore, and why horror novellas hit like a stab. Plus, how Olympic weightlifting, a Savannah Victorian, and COVID houseplants grew into Monstera.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Cold Open: Why Horror Felt Safe When Home Didn't

00:38 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Delilah S. Dawson

03:25 – Growing Up With Domestic Violence and Finding Comfort in Horror

04:53 – Blockbuster Box Art and Basement Sleepover Scares

06:14 – Writing Her Own Trauma Into The Violence

10:09 – Sleepless New Mom Hallucinations and "Just Write a Book"

14:49 – A Zeus Ferry Romance Written Out of Spite (and 57 Rejections)

16:03 – Book Four Sells at Auction: Wicked as They Come

23:29 – Readers Who Found Healing in The Violence

25:57 – Novels vs. IP Books vs. Comics: How the Planning Changes

26:53 – ADHD, a Chapter a Day and Seven Comic Pages

30:09 – How Comic Scripts and Artists Actually Work Together

37:20 – Seventeen People in the Phasma Comments

37:51 – Keeping D&D Spells Legal on the Page

44:09 – Bloom's Cover Started as Delilah's Own Artwork

45:21 – Bloom: What If Hannibal Were a Cottagecore Woman

48:17 – Why Horror Novellas Hit Like a Stab

53:32 – Going Undercover at a Wellness Retreat for It Will Only Hurt for a Moment

1:01:28 – Olympic Weightlifting, Savannah and COVID Plants

1:04:17 – From People Pleaser to Unhinged Heroines

1:08:45 – What's Next: Shannara, a Slasher Novella and It's Only Forever

1:09:44 – A Bram Stoker Win for Ride or Die

Grab your copy of Monstera: https://bookshop.org/p/books/monstera/ea30b8a7de5d1aff

Connect with Delilah S. Dawson:

Website: https://www.delilahsdawson.com

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

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/delilahsdawson.bsky.social

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@delilahsdawson

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!

Neil McRobert is the host of the Talking Scared podcast, a PhD in Gothic literature, and the author of the Stephen King blurbed novella Good Boy, with the chapbook House of Butterflies coming in December.

Neil shares how a Vulture reading list for True Detective: Night Country led to Good Boy, a Northern Weird folk horror novella about a man, his dog, and a child-eating monster in a small English town. He explains why Good Boy is his answer to Stephen King's It, and what it really says about bigotry and getting stuck in your hometown. He gets honest about imposter syndrome at StokerCon, perfectionism, and why every podcast host should read the damn book. Plus, first details on House of Butterflies, set in a 1964 leaded gasoline refinery, and Bad Home, a violent home invasion novel about economic inequality.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Neil McRobert

02:44 – Harryhausen, Norse Serpents and a Lifelong Love of Monsters

04:31 – Dad Telling Him the Plot of Carrie on Holiday in Greece

05:19 – Point Horror and Getting His Mum Called Into School

07:00 – A Working Class Kid Who Wanted to Be a Film Director

08:47 – A PhD in Gothic Studies (and Horror Metafiction)

10:06 – Manny in Switzerland, Llama Farmer, Michelin Star Kitchen

13:10 – Why Writing Is Torture: Perfectionism and Type 2 Fun

15:32 – Imposter Syndrome and Not Feeling "In the Club"

17:52 – Quitting His Job in Lockdown and Emailing Paul Tremblay

21:30 – Fearless on Stage, Terrified of Rabies

24:25 – The Thrill of the Chase: How He Landed Stephen King

27:35 – A Rocky Mountain Horror Camp and Finding Your People

30:57 – Social Media Dopamine and Performative Rage Online

33:59 – The StokerCon Moment That Finally Made Him Write

37:43 – A Vulture Article, Bear Season and the Northern Weird Series

40:58 – 1,500 Words a Day: Writing Good Boy in Three Weeks

41:46 – Ted the Jack Russell and the Tree That Started It All

45:16 – Stephen King's It in a Small English Town

47:24 – Small British Towns, Bigotry and the Real Jim Howarth

50:35 – Doing Good Without Posting About It

52:18 – Growing Up on the Knee of Stephen King

57:33 – Why You Need to Read Dolores Claiborne

58:39 – Spinning Plates: Podcast Scripts and Reading Until 2 a.m.

1:02:53 – "Read the Damn Book": Why Hosts Have to Do the Homework

1:04:31 – The Day Stephen King Sent Him the New Talisman Manuscript

1:07:56 – House of Butterflies: Leaded Gasoline Horror in 1964 New Jersey

1:08:54 – Bad Home: Writing a Cruel Book With Heart

1:14:18 – Neil's Underrated Pick: The Hill in the Dark Grove

Grab your copy of Good Boy: https://www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/books/p/goodboy/9781068563102

Connect with Neil McRobert:

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

X: https://x.com/TalkScaredPod

Talking Scared Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-scared/id1530064310

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!