72 – State of the Horror Nation II, with Emily Hughes and Sadie Hartmann

Talking Scared

Well, we made it to the end of this nightmare of a year. And though there has been plenty of horrific stuff along the way – war, plague, corruption … literal armed insurrection, at least the fictional horror has been fun.

To commemorate a special year in horror, I’m getting the band back together. Sadie Hartmann, AKA Mother Horror, and Emily Hughes of Tor Nightfire (and various other parishes) join me to talk about the stuff they have loved from the second half** of 2021.

**if you missed our coverage of Jan-June, you can find it in episode 46.

We pick the books that really stood out for us, plus many more that we enjoyed. We discuss the TV and movies that have shaken and stirred us since July, and we look ahead to the bright (dead)lights of horror to come in the New Year.

We also pick apart some thorny issues plaguing the genre, like the ridiculousness of rating books by stars, and my own irritation at everything being compared to Get Out.

Each of the books we mention is listed below, including an episode number if it has been previously featured on Talking Scared. Don’t look at that yet though; it’ll spoil the surprise.

Enjoy, and well done for getting through the year.
Books picked

• My Heart is a Chainsaw (2021), by Stephen Graham Jones **ep 54
• Revelator (2021), by Daryl Gregory
• When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (2021), ed. by Ellen Datlow **ep 66
• Cackle (2021), by Rachel Harrison
• When the Reckoning Comes (2021), by Latanya McQueen
• The Spirit Engineer (2021), by A.J West **ep 71
• Come With Me (2021), by Ronald Malfi **ep 49
• The Deer Kings (2021), by Wendy N. Wagner **ep 69
• Chasing the Boogeyman (2021), by Richard Chizmar **ep 52

Coming soon

• Manhunt (Feb 2022), by Gretchen Felker-Martin
• Such a Pretty Smile (Jan 2022), by Krist DeMeester
• All the White Spaces (Jan 2022), by Ally Wilkes

Other books mentioned

• Reprieve (2021), by James Han Mattson
• Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis
• A Touch of Jen (2021), by Beth Morgan
• Flowers for the Sea (2021) , by Zin E. Rocklyn
• Nightbitch (2021), by Rachel Yoder
• The Last House on Needless Street (2021), by Catriona Ward **ep30
• Certain Dark Things (2021), by Silvia Moreno Garcia
• Nothing But Blackened Teeth (2021), by Cassandra Khaw **ep 61
• The Death of Jane Lawrence (2021), by Caitlin Starling **ep 60
• Queen of the Cicadas (2021), by V. Castro ** ep 42
• The Book of Accidents (2021), by Chuck Wendig **ep 48
• Rovers (2021), by Richard Lange
• The Turnout (2021), by Megan Abbott
• Comfort Me with Apples (2021), by Catherynne M. Valente ** ep 62
• The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell (2021), by Brian Evenson **ep 51

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