Andrew Najberg returns to The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his new novel, Eat the Light.The book follows two young sisters, Alyssa and Tabitha, who are locked in a fallout shelter by their father and left to survive alone when they emerge into a world that no longer exists.The streets are empty, the rain corrodes everything it touches, and glowing figures known as the Shimmer People stalk the ruins with no logic and no mercy.Najberg breaks down how he used light itself as the ultimate horror element, making it both the thing that sustains the sisters and the thing that can kill them.He discusses writing young protagonists with genuine agency, drawing on his real relationship with his sister and his own children to build the bond between Alyssa and Tabitha.The conversation explores how the novel functions as a philosophical survival story, forcing two children to define meaning and morality in a world stripped of every support system.Najberg also reflects on the influence of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, the origins of the story's beloved character Pom Pom, and what it means to write horror from a place of genuine personal fear.Websiteshttps://andrewnajberg.comSocial Mediahttps://www.facebook.com/andrew.najberg/https://www.facebook.com/AndrewNajbergAuthor/https://www.instagram.com/andrewnajberg/https://x.com/AndrewNajbergBuy Eat the Light & Other Bookshttps://www.amazon.com/Eat-Light-Andrew-Najberg/dp/B0F1Z5Z5Z5 (Eat the Light on Amazon; search for others like The Mobius Door)https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eat-the-light-andrew-najberg/1146400211 (related title; search Eat the Light)Stream Audiobookshttps://www.audible.com/author/Andrew-Najberg/B0CBNGGV9H (Gollitok, The Mobius Door, Extinction Dream)Support The Dark Mind Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

In this episode of The Dark Mind Podcast, Vincent Midgard sits down with filmmaker Jethro Waters to discuss his surreal southern gothic feature Gunfighter Paradise.​They explore the film’s collision of religion, grief, guns, greed, and dark humor, and how Waters sees it as an expression of the American psychosis.​Waters breaks down how his upbringing in the rural South, his father’s background as a Vietnam veteran and gunsmith, and his own experience with competitive speed shooting shaped the emotional and visual language of the film.​The conversation also dives into surrealism, David Lynch comparisons, cinematic rhythm, visual authenticity, and why Waters wanted the violence in the film to feel sincere rather than stylized.​They discuss Confederate reenactors, the film’s cable installer character, Renato Casaro’s hand-painted poster, and the role dark comedy plays in carrying dread without undercutting trauma.​Beyond Gunfighter Paradise, Waters talks about his upcoming documentary on Vietnam veterans and PTSD, his work as a colorist on Desperate Souls, Dark City, and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, his music video background, and the literary influences that feed his scripts.​He also reflects on teaching cinematography at UNCSA, the realities of independent filmmaking, his war against motion smoothing, and the creative life he has built outside the studio.JETHRO WATERSOfficial Websitehttps://www.jethrowaters.comGunfighter Paradise Official Film Sitehttps://www.gunfightermovie.comIMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm9135866/Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/jethrowaters/BUY TICKETS TO GUNFIGHTER PARADISE IN THEATERSAMC Theatreshttps://www.amctheatres.com/movies/gunfighter-paradise-83099Fandangohttps://www.fandango.com/gunfighter-paradise-2024-244731/movie-overviewRequest a Screening Near You (Gathr)https://gathr.com/films/gunfighter-paradiseSTREAM OR BUY F11 AND BE THEREApple TVhttps://tv.apple.com/us/movie/f11-and-be-there/umc.cmc.3il2kfqnoe5d4zwc3urnk5tqmAmazon Prime Videohttps://www.amazon.com/F11-Be-There/dp/B08FBHCKQBOVIDhttps://www.ovid.tvKanopy (Free with library card)https://www.kanopy.comPBShttps://www.pbs.org/video/f11-and-be-there-7gjtfc/SUPPORT THE DARK MIND PODCASTPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

Tamika Thompson returns to The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss her debut novel The Curse of Hester Gardens, a Black Gothic horror story rooted in grief, motherhood, faith, and survival.

​

In this episode, we explore how haunted public housing transforms the classic haunted house framework into something inescapable, where economics, danger, and the supernatural are all bound together.

​

Tamika talks about growing up working class in Detroit, the oral storytelling traditions in her family, and how fear became both a lived reality and a literary language for her work.

​

We also dig into moral complexity, youth violence, religion, systemic neglect, and why the real monster in the story is often the conditions people are forced to survive.

​

Along the way, Tamika reflects on her journalism background, her writing process, the role of research in shaping the novel, and what she hopes readers are left questioning after the final page.

​

If you love horror that is psychologically sharp, socially grounded, and emotionally devastating, this is an episode you do not want to miss.

CONNECT WITH TAMIKA THOMPSON

Website:

https://www.tamikathompson.com

Newsletter/Blog (Tamika Talks Terror): https://www.tamikathompson.com/tamika-talks-terror

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tamikathompson

Instagram: https://instagram.com/tamikadthompson

TikTok:

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

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

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@tamikadthompson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tamikathompsonauthor

X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/tamikathompson

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamikathompson

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tamikathompson

BUY THE CURSE OF HESTER GARDENS

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Hester-Gardens-Tamika-Thompson/dp/1645663191

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-curse-of-hester-gardens-tamika-thompson/1147750299

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/shop/tamikathompson

Penguin Random House:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804756/the-curse-of-hester-gardens-by-tamika-thompson/

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237693607-the-curse-of-hester-gardens

BUY UNSHOD, CACKLING, AND NAKED

Universal Book Link: https://mybook.to/unshod

Audible:

https://www.audible.com/author/Tamika-Thompson/B07XFFMRNP

BUY SALAMANDER JUSTICE

Universal Book Link: https://mybook.to/salamander

SUPPORT THE DARK MIND PODCAST

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast