Horror author Mathilda Zeller joins The Dark Mind Podcast to talk about her novel It Looks Like You in the Dark, out October 13, 2026, from Tor Nightfire.
The book expands "Kushtuka," the story that opened the anthology Never Whistle at Night, into a full novel set in the Inupiat village of Chukchi in Alaska's Kobuk River Valley.
Mathilda shares the frightening stories her grandfather told her while she lived with him during some of the hardest years of her life.
She explains how a 1970s account by an outsider who pressured locals into telling him their stories pushed her to reclaim the kushtuka legend.
We talk about why a monster that looks like someone you love is more horrifying than any stranger.
She describes working on a cultural preservation project in Kotzebue and how the Cold War cut her people off from their relatives in Siberia.
Mathilda explains why she left the Inupiaq language untranslated and how her mother and uncles helped her find Tapeesa's voice.
She also talks about choosing her editor after meeting with seven during the auction, the fairy belief behind the Bridget Cleary murder case, and the terrifying Arctic mermaid folklore behind her next novel.
Finally, she tells the story of the two resilient great-grandmothers who inspired her pen name.

Official Website
https://mathildazeller.wordpress.com/

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

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

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

X
https://x.com/MathildaZeller

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22669904.Mathilda_Zeller

It Looks Like You in the Dark at Tor Publishing Group
https://torpublishinggroup.com/it-looks-like-you-in-the-dark/?isbn=9781250402035&format=hardback

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250402034

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781250402035

Bookshop.org
https://bookshop.org/a/0/9781250402035

Audible Audiobook
https://www.audible.com/pd/It-Looks-Like-You-in-the-Dark-Audiobook/B0GGC4S8L6

Kobo eBook
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/it-looks-like-you-in-the-dark

Support The Dark Mind Podcast
https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

What happens to a haunting when the most famous haunted house in America is finally torn down?

Two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Robert P. Ottone joins The Dark Mind Podcast to talk about his new novel, Amityville Awakens, out October 6 from CLASH Books.

Robert shares how his father, an overnight radio DJ on Long Island, was on the air the night the DeFeo murders came across the teletype.

We talk about what it is like to stand outside the real house today, why he invented a family who fled it in 1995, and why the dread in his book has nothing left to hold it back once the walls come down.

Robert explains the divide between North Amityville and the Village, the Long Island habit of looking away from its darkest chapters, and the line he draws between the Amityville legend and the real murders.

He also opens up about his writing life as a full-time teacher, the office where he writes surrounded by Jaws memorabilia and Godzilla toys, walking away from a book under contract, and what drew him to CLASH Books.

We close with family history, including a great-grandfather who survived World War I and became one of New York's first motorcycle cops.

Official Website
https://www.spookyhousepress.com/[spookyhousepress]

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

Letterboxd
https://letterboxd.com/RobertOttone/[letterboxd]

Amityville Awakens on CLASH Books (signed edition)
https://www.clashbooks.com/new-products-2/amityville-awakens-robert-p-ottone-signed[clashbooks]

Amityville Awakens on Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781968043292[barnesandnoble]

Amityville Awakens on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781968043292

Amityville Awakens on Bookshop.org
https://bookshop.org/book/9781968043292[bookshop]

Amityville Awakens on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/247390607-amityville-awakens[goodreads]

Read Chapter One Free on Daily Dead
https://dailydead.com/exclusive-excerpt-the-terror-of-amityville-comes-back-to-life-in-robert-p-ottones-amityville-awakens/[dailydead]

Support The Dark Mind Podcast
https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

On this episode of The Dark Mind Podcast, horror author and investigative reporter Marc E. Fitch joins me to discuss his new short story collection, There Was No One There.

We talk about the capacity for evil hidden inside ordinary people and why Marc believes a scare lasts a moment, while horror comes home with you.

Marc shares the real-life experiences behind his stories, from a frightening moment in the ocean with his daughter to the Christian hymn that inspired The Starry Crown.

He explains how the collection's order follows the rise and fall of a piece of classical music, and why he rewrote the ending of Monster Parade twenty-five times.

We also discuss how investigative journalism and horror fiction feed each other, and why he believes much more of life rests on belief than we like to admit.

Marc reflects on thirteen years bartending beside a bus station, twelve years in inpatient psychiatric hospitals, and the harder view of the world those years left him with.

Finally, he talks about raising four teenagers and why parenthood is the most frightening thing he has ever done.

Official Website
https://www.marcefitch.com

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/marce.fitch/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MarcE.Fitch/[facebook]

X
https://x.com/fitch_marc[x]

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6506478.Marc_E_Fitch

Inside Investigator
https://insideinvestigator.org/marc-e-fitch/

There Was No One There on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HDVVQ9PQ

There Was No One There on Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H1FL1ZTD

There Was No One There on Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781958842744[barnesandnoble]

There Was No One There on Audible
https://www.audible.com/author/Marc-E-Fitch/B00DW6GDV4[audible]

Support The Dark Mind Podcast
https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast