64 – Kim Newman and Truly Universal Monsters

Send us a text Halloween is over for another year but there are still plenty of monsters to go around. Our guest this week is Kim Newman, the writer, critic and encyclopaedic authority on horror, pulp and the dark recesses of cinematic history. You may know him as the author of the Anno Dracula series, but that’s only the tip of his imaginative iceberg. Kim’s new novel, Something More than Night, takes all of that arcane knowledge and puts it to use – transporting us back to the Hollywood of the 1930s when fascism is on the rise and it’s hard to tell the movie monsters from the real madmen. Cue the pairing of horror-icon Boris Karloff and gumshoe writer Raymond Chandler, who unite to confront some very strange goings on behind the scenes. In between educating me on the finer points of Hollywood history, Kim talks about the enduring legacy of Frankenstein, imitating Chandler’s unique style, writing novels in a connected universe - and we realise just how similar he is to Quention Tarantino. This one is an absolute blast. Enjoy! Something More than Night was published on November 2nd by Titan Books. Other books mentioned in this episode include: Anno Dracula (1992), by Kim Newman Anno Dracula 1999: Daikaiju (1999), by Kim Newman Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s (1988) by Kim Newman. (latest expanded edition, 2011) The Dark Country (1982), by Dennis Etchison Hollywood the Haunted House (1967), by Paul Mayersberg An Illustrated History of the Horror Film (1967), by Carlos Clarens Support the show on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com. Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices