Talking Scared

Disgust, despair and belly laughs on the show this week – with Neena Viel and her new novel, I’ll Watch Your Baby.

 

It’s a dense, troubling tale of child theft, social horror and demons, with plenty of putrid feet to give you a summertime ick! But if the book is a sickener, the author is a delight. Neena makes me do a proper full-on guffaw (has anyone EVER guffawed?), whilst we talk about urban-vs-rural horror,
reprehensible acts and problematic protagonists, and the abiding lie of the Welfare Queen trope.

 

Enjoy. Laugh. Even learn (up to you!)

 

Other books mentioned:


Listen to Your Sister (2025), by Neena Viel


The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth (2019), by Josh Levin


On Sundays She Picked Flowers (2026), by Yah Yah Schofield


The Night Pool (2026), by Lauren Lee Smith

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A little more chat as the last of the starkblast fades.

 

In this bonus Palaver episode, Nat and I stick around to dissect Chris’s disproportionate love for The Wind Through the Keyhole. We talk about
what, if any conclusions can be drawn from this book, and then we get onto King’s intersections with Lovecraft and Tolkien – and some deep cut Dark Tower references elsewhere in the canon.

 

Enjoy. But Do Not Listen if you haven’t read the entire Dark Tower saga!!

 

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Whilst the wind and world howls outside, we can all hunker indoors for the latest Dark Tower Deep Dive into King’s 2012 novel-of-stories, The Wind Through the Keyhole.

 

To some, this could be an inessential pitstop, a mere nostalgic coda, written long after the climax of the main saga. To others it’s a testament to Stephen King’s raw storytelling chops, which shed a little more purpling light on Roland’s failing, fading world.

 

You’ll have to listen to find out where we each stand. But I promise there will be talk of story structure, and Billy Bumblers, and certain Randall Flagg. And you’ll also hear how Chris Panatier has been trolling kind old uncle Stevie on social media. Boo Hiss!!

 

Enjoy folks!

 

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Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to [email protected]
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Trad wives are taking over horror in 2026 – but I predict none will be more frightening and more gorgeously WEIRD than Sarah Langan’s novel.

 

It’s the tale of a young woman in the dying era of journalism and the YouTube influencer who offers her hope, and much worse things…. I absolutely loved it.

 

Sarah and I talk about the trad wife phenomenon, where it comes from, what it means, and how it’s all really based in cold hard capitalism. We talk about literary influences, about sustaining extreme weirdness in fiction, and why establishing character properly is so important.

 

And we even recall the time we bonded over the gift of a mutant duck!

 

Enjoy!

 

Other books mentioned:


Pet Sematary (1983), by Stephen King


Trad Wife (2026), by Saratoga Schafer


Yesteryear (2026), by Caro Claire Burke

“The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892), by Charlotte Perkins Gilman


The King in Yellow (1985),
Robert W. Chambers


Rosemary’s Baby (1967), by Ira Levin


The Ceremonies (1984), by T. E. D. Klein


Room (2010), by Emma Donaghue


Station Eleven (2014), by Hilary St. John Mandel

 

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to [email protected]

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Kaelyn Moore returns to talk scared, straight from the helm of Heart Starts Pounding – her mega podcast of mysteries, murder and the
macabre.

 

She watches a lot of dark documentaries for research. I asked her to come talk about a few that recently inspired her (or disturbed her). We cover serial killers, cursed objects and a relationship that will give you serious ICK!

But of course, this being Talking Scared, we also spin off into a conversation about ethics, belief and the justice system.

 

** I apologise to you as well as Kaelyn for my terrible suggestion of a documentary to watch. Hopefully my anger and self-loathing is funny.

 

Enjoy

 

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

 

Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch

 

Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to [email protected]

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