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

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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!

TJ Payne joins Talking Horror to talk Intercepts, the self-published thriller that just landed him a two-book deal with Crown at Penguin Random House, and the strange road that took him from Hollywood romantic comedy screenwriter to acclaimed horror novelist. Rachel Redd sits down with the author of In My Father's Basement, Intercepts, and The Venue, and a TV writer on Netflix's The Burrows and Little House on the Prairie, for a conversation about self-publishing, Hollywood bureaucracy, and why the nicest people always seem to write the darkest books.

Grab your copy of Intercepts: https://amzn.to/4vA1IKb

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting TJ Payne

02:13 – From Romantic Comedy Screenwriter to Reluctant Horror Writer

04:42 – Jaws, Aliens, and How American Pie Sparked a Screenwriting Dream

08:32 – Stanford, a Film Program That Wasn't, and a Korean War Screenplay

09:52 – Driving Down the I-5 to Hollywood and Seven Years Fetching Coffee

17:11 – Ghostwriting Other People's Dreams and Hitting a Breaking Point

19:37 – The Self-Publishing Itch That Became In My Father's Basement

39:26 – Waking Up to a Stranger Who Read His Debut Overnight

41:11 – Writing Intercepts and the Slow-Burn Word of Mouth That Followed

43:14 – The Cold Email From a Literary Agent That Led to Crown

47:25 – Turning Hollywood Bureaucracy Into a Terrifying Government Facility

48:49 – The Absent Father Story Hiding Inside a Sci-Fi Thriller

55:31 – Table 19, Weddings, and the Slasher Comedy Born From The Venue

1:01:30 – A New Two-Book Deal and His First Novel in Six Years

1:04:06 – Deep-Diving 1980s Satanic Panic Books for Research

Connect with TJ Payne:

Website: https://tjpayneauthor.wixsite.com/tjpayne

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tj.payne.author

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!

Keith Rosson joins Talking Horror to talk Coffin Moon, his gritty 1970s vampire western, and the wild road that took him from legally blind art school dropout to acclaimed horror novelist. Rachel Redd sits down with the author of Fever House, The Devil by Name, and Smoke City for a conversation about grief, addiction, found family, and the recklessness it takes to survive ten books in ten years.

Keith opens up about discovering at age ten that he'd been legally blind his whole life, and how that diagnosis turned into a twenty five year career illustrating punk album covers and band merch. He talks about dropping out of art school twice, getting 97 rejections from literary agents before his debut sold, and writing Fever House during COVID lockdown while fostering and adopting two toddlers during the George Floyd protests in Portland. He breaks down the phone call from Random House editor Caitlin McKenna that changed his career, why he set Coffin Moon in the 1970s so his vampires could still warp in mirrors and cameras, and how he trimmed his cast down to just a handful of characters after Fever House's sprawling ensemble. Plus his unflinching take on killing off main characters, the question his editor asks to keep violence from feeling gratuitous, and a first look at his upcoming novel Crone, based on a real unsolved disappearance that's haunted him for decades.

Grab your copy of Coffin Moon: https://amzn.to/4gLNCBV

Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Keith Rosson

03:34 – How a Stephen King Paperback at Age Ten Started It All

06:06 – Legally Blind: The Diagnosis That Shaped His Art

08:08 – Designing for Punk Bands and the Cover He's Proudest Of

12:06 – Art School Dropout Twice Removed

14:20 – From Punk Zines to 97 Rejections Before His First Yes

26:31 – Fever House: Writing Through Lockdown While Fostering Two Toddlers

31:05 – The Call From Random House That Changed Everything

36:06 – Why He's Not Afraid to Kill a Main Character

37:19 – Earning the Violence: What Makes Brutality Land

40:31 – Coffin Moon: Turning Vampires Into a 1970s Western Revenge Story

48:33 – Trimming the Cast: Why Coffin Moon Went Smaller 5

0:55 – The Redemption Question Running Through All His Books

56:11 – Crone: A Missing Daughter, a Biker Gang, and a Real Unsolved Case

59:09 – His Advice After Ten Books in Ten Years

Connect with Keith Rosson:

Website: https://www.keithrosson.com/

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

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!

In this episode, Rachel Redd sits down with Luke Dumas, the author of A History of Fear, The Paleontologist, and Nothing Tastes as Good for a wide-ranging conversation on obsession, grief, identity, and writing horror that feels deeply human.

Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Luke Dumas
02:40 – Reading Roots: A Storyteller Before He Was a Reader
03:29 – The Boy Wizard Phase and Falling for Fantasy
04:22 – A Lifelong Jurassic Park & Dinosaur Obsession
06:50 – Discovering Horror: Weekends With Dad and the Haunted Hotel
08:42 – The Comedy Writer Who Wanted to Be David Sedaris
10:27 – Early Writing Dreams and Delusions of Fame
11:55 – Studying Literature and the Master's in Scotland
16:26 – Letting Go of the "Wonder Kid" Pressure
17:58 – The Risk-Averse Path: Writing Around a Day Job
18:29 – Grant Writing, Zoos, and Mining the Day Job for Fiction
21:08 – Book Five: How A History of Fear Found Its Agent
23:00 – The Overnight Offer That Made Him Cry
24:23 – Finding Resilience Through Five Unpublished Books
28:06 – Why Storytelling Is Woven Into His Soul
30:45 – Craft vs. Plot: Refusing to Sacrifice One for the Other
32:46 – The Heavy Plotter Who Loves Outlining Most
34:15 – The Two Wolves: Beautiful Writing vs. Getting It Out
37:37 – "I Hate Research": Faking It for The Paleontologist
40:32 – Interstitial Documents and the Book-Within-a-Book
43:43 – A History of Fear, Edinburgh, and Scottish Demonic Lore
46:02 – The Walk Through the Meadows That Sparked the Story
47:57 – Religious Trauma, Identity, and the Harm of Repression
50:13 – The Paleontologist: Excavation as Metaphor
51:31 – From "I Just Love Dinosaurs" to Ghosts in a Haunted Museum
53:55 – The Grim Ending and the Horror That Makes Him Giggle
56:46 – Raving About Nothing Tastes as Good
59:22 – Knowing When It Was Time (and Stephen King's Thinner)
01:00:20 – Weight-Loss Drugs, Ozempic, and Perfect Timing
01:01:19 – Writing Fatness From a Male Perspective
01:02:52 – Emmett: The Monster You Can't Help Rooting For
01:07:11 – Lisette, Body Positivity, and a Cousin Named Rachel
01:11:16 – Sitting With the Discomfort of "Just Change"
01:12:11 – First Look at We Don't Call Them Cages (Spring 2027)
01:13:53 – "Madagascar for Adults": Rewriting Childhood as Horror
01:14:56 – Wrap-Up & Thanks

Grab your copy of Nothing Tastes as Good: https://amzn.to/4fnO7PY

Connect with Luke Dumas:

https://www.lukedumas.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thenewdumas/?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!

Chuck Tingle joins Talking Horror to talk Fabulous Bodies, the pink mask, and why love is the ultimate weapon against the cosmic void. In this episode, Rachel Redd sits down with the USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus, Bury Your Gays, and Lucky Day for a wide-ranging conversation on horror, empathy, and creating without fear.

Chuck opens up about the surprising life-or-death story behind the pink mask and how it eased his chronic pain, why he never writes to market and has hit the jackpot twice by following his soul, and how believing humanity is innately good lets him write villains you actually understand. Plus the Collateral-meets-monster idea that sparked Fabulous Bodies, why he builds novels like screenplays as a self-taught outsider artist, and a gratitude practice built on succulents and Cheetos.

Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Chuck Tingle
04:32 – Baby Chuck: A Storyteller From the Start
09:32 – Dungeons and Dragons at Four and the Primal Urge to Tell Stories
12:16 – Drawn to the Taboo: Horror, Erotica, and Punk Rock Art
15:00 – Horror as the Metal of Writing (and Why Dark Romance Is Wilder)
18:39 – Self-Publishing the First Tingler
22:00 – Building a Utopia: The Politics of the Tingleverse
25:08 – Where Chuck Feels Most Artistically Fulfilled
26:38 – Hope as Innate, Not Intentional
30:12 – Never Writing to Market: Hitting the Jackpot Twice
33:57 – Authenticity on the Page and Art as Subconscious Communication
36:32 – The Pink Mask: Safety, Anonymity, and Coming Out
39:29 – How the Mask Eased Chronic Pain and Saved His Life
44:51 – The Mask as Amplifier: Becoming a Symbol
50:11 – Talking Camp Damascus and the Cost of Apathy
53:41 – Why Chuck Believes Humanity Is Innately Good
56:13 – Fabulous Bodies: Writing an Unlikable Hero and a Fun Villain
59:34 – The Slow Burn of Lucky Day and the Power of a Deep Cut
01:04:16 – Hit Singles vs. Art House: Reading His Own Catalog
01:07:47 – The Outsider Artist Who Writes Novels Like Screenplays
01:08:36 – Collateral Meets a Monster: The Origin of Fabulous Bodies
01:10:38 – Where Does Love Come From? The Heart of Fabulous Bodies
01:16:06 – Succulents, Cheetos, and a Daily Gratitude Practice

Grab your copy of Fabulous Bodies: https://amzn.to/4fNjB2z

Connect with Chuck Tingle:
Website: https://www.chucktingle.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chucktingle/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realchucktingle
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/chucktingle

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!

Join Rachel Redd as she chats with Brian McAuley, a USA Today bestselling author whose slasher novels blend cinematic tension, deep emotional trauma, and genuine heart. Brian shares his journey from screenwriter to novelist, his horror origin story, and how his years in Hollywood shaped the characters and settings in his books.

Key Topics:

• Brian's horror origin story, from Goosebumps to Are You Afraid of the Dark to Evil Dead
• How watching Scream at age ten sealed his fate as a horror writer
• His path from NYU film school to working as a WGA screenwriter in Hollywood
• Why he thinks the slasher is the purest form of horror
• Turning a rejected screenplay into his debut novel, Curse of the Reaper
• The reality of querying agents and selling a first book in traditional publishing
• Crafting psychological dread on the page without relying on constant action
• Using Alzheimer's and addiction as parallel character struggles in Curse of the Reaper
• Toxic wellness culture as the setting for Breathe In, Bleed Out
• His take on the final girl trope and rewriting it on his own terms
• What's next, including his upcoming Renaissance fair slasher, Fairly Bad Ways to Die

Timestamps:
00:01 - Introducing Brian McAuley, USA Today bestselling author
01:37 - Stoker Con and the surprising warmth of the horror community
05:14 - Brian's horror origin story: Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and Evil Dead
09:17 - Discovering slashers through Scream at age ten
12:15 - Studying screenwriting and film at NYU
14:04 - Breaking into Hollywood and becoming a WGA screenwriter
17:24 - The transition from screenwriting to novel writing
20:55 - Querying sixty agents and selling Curse of the Reaper
24:35 - How the horror publishing boom has changed since he started
25:43 - Teaching screenwriting at Arizona State University
28:07 - Building Howard and Trevor's relationship in Curse of the Reaper
34:13 - Crafting claustrophobic psychological dread on the page
36:39 - Using Alzheimer's and addiction as mirrored character struggles
41:39 - Writing Candy Kane Kills for the Killer VHS series
49:05 - Toxic wellness culture and the inspiration behind Breathe In, Bleed Out
56:20 - Choreographing kill scenes in novels versus screenplays
59:18 - Rethinking the final girl trope
67:14 - Brian's next book, Fairly Bad Ways to Die, a Renaissance fair slasher

Resources & Links:

• Brian McAuley on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22356963.Brian_McAuley
• Breathe In, Bleed Out on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3R2jFmw

Connect with Brian:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianmcwriter/
• Website: https://www.brianmcwriter.com/

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!