Talking Scared14 Jun 2022

96 – Stephen Lloyd and Cutting the Treacle

Send us a text We’re closing out our (very) loose trilogy of episodes devoted to sinister schools and magical children. This week it involves pentagrams and witch-burnings, which are always a good time. Our guest, Stephen Lloyd, is better known for his comedy than his horror. He has spent a career crafting some of the biggest sitcoms of the century (some of which helped my marriage survive lockdown). Now, he has turned his pen to something much less wholesome, in his first novel, Friend of the Devil. We talk about Satanism and D&D and the aftermath of Vietnam – all that stuff that made the 80s such a goddamn fun decade for so many. But we also look at how those tendrils reach into the present set of existential crises. Socio-political shi*tshows aside, Stephen discusses the difference between writing horror and writing comedy, he explains the inner workings of a TV writer’s room – and how penning a novel in isolation is a whole other thing. I even ask him for advice on screenwriting, because my ill-conceived ambition knows no bounds… Enjoy! Friend of the Devil was published on May 30th by G.P. Putnam Other books discussed in this episode include: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83), by Gene Wolf Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (1979), by Syd Field Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983), by William Goldman Support Talking Scared on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, and TikTok 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

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Episoder(346)

291 – Natasha Pulley & No Priests Were Harmed in the Making of this Podcast

No one let the Pope listen to this week’s episode. Our guest is Natasha Pulley, genre-defying author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Bedlam Stacks, The Kingdoms, and now, in the The Salt...

18 Aug 1h 29min

Off Book #23 – Are We Doomed? A Cheerful Guide to Apocalypse, with Ben Bradford

Happy Friday! Let’s talk about the end of the world. Our guest is Ben Bradford, creator and host of Are We Doomed? – the new hit podcast examining the existential risks facing humanity. “Dammit...

14 Aug 1h 15min

290 – Liam Higginson & Awful Things in Lonely Farmhouses

Finally, we dare venture to the darkest land of all. Wales! After years of avoiding the terror of the Valleys, Liam Higginson takes us to The Hill in the Dark Grove – his debut novel of isolation, fo...

11 Aug 1h 14min

289 – Annie Jacobsen & Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid

This may be my scariest episode ever! We’ve covered non-fiction before, but rarely is the truth more frightening than the stories we tell. This week it just might be… cos Annie Jacobsen is here wi...

4 Aug 1h 14min

Let Us Palaver #10 – Wolves of the Calla Debrief

In our main Wolves of the Calla Deep Dive, we came within touching distance of the Dark Tower’s biggest secret yet. Chris doesn’t know what to think, which is just where Nat and I want him. So we st...

31 Jul 41min

The Dark Tower Deep Dive #10 – Wolves of the Calla

Hallelujah, come commala, we’re back together! Finally, after stopping for side missions with Jack Sawyer, and a pair of stories of Roland’s younger days, we’re back in Midworld’s here-and-now to ...

28 Jul 2h 30min

288 – Danielle Giles & A Spoonful of Skulldust (Makes the Medicine Go Down)

Time for a horrid history lesson. Daniell Giles is the author of medieval gothic Mere (2025), and the brand-new Restoration horror-show, Gentle Things. In this episode she talks about the nightmar...

21 Jul 1h 11min

287 – Megan Bontrager & The Cave of Cosmic Narcissism

I hope you have your headtorch this week – cos we’re going to some deep, dark places. Megan Bontrager’s debut novel, The Sea Hides its Dead, is a story of a mysterious cave, an unprepared expediti...

14 Jul 1h 15min