Author Mike Thorn returns to the Abyss for a wide-ranging discussion about depression, the perils of social media, and "Havoc," the opening story from his latest collection, Peel Back and See.  Before we sink into Mike's story, we talk a bit about Netflix's Squid Game, parenting tips, online petitions to alter art, Alastair Reynolds, Dune (2021), final thoughts on Hunter Shea's Faithless, You Season 3, Hostel, and more! (Recorded Oct. 24, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

This week in the Abyss, we're discussing the much-vaunted and supposedly classic 80s horror tome, The Ceremonies, by T.E.D. Klein. We also review Shudder's Thai horror mockumentary, The Medium, Hunter Shea's Faithless, Edgar Allan Poe's "Diddling," The Secret Goatman Spookshow and Other Psychological Warfare Operations by Jonathan Raab, Midnight Mass spoilers, Netflix's House of Secrets, and Nicolas Cage's Willy's Wonderland. (Recorded Oct. 17, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

This week in the Abyss, we're discussing Greater Ventriloquist Jon Padgett's recently published short story, "Flight 389," from Nightmare Magazine Issue 109, and its larger connections to Padgett's work, particularly "20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism." Before we get into all, though, we talk a bit about Catriona Ward's Last House on Needless Street, The Ghosts of Who You Were by Christopher Golden, Joseph Fink's middle grade horror book, The Halloween Moon, Dune, the Shudder Exclusive V/H/S/94, and the debut issue of the ComiXology Original We Have Demons by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. (Recorded Oct. 10, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Read or listen to "Flight 389" online at Nightmare Magazine: https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/flight-389/

Author and podcaster Matt Wildasin returns to the Abyss for some trick-or-treating as we discuss Bentley Little's lost Nightmare on Elm Street novelette, "Miles To Go Before I Sleep," from the 1991 anthology, Nightmares on Elm Street: Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dreams.  Before we carve our way through Little's story, though, we talk about our week in horror with Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass and Squid Games, Dennis Etchison's The Dark Country, Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare, Hunter Shea's The Waiting, and bad horror movies! (Recorded Oct. 3, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Matt Wildasin on Twitter: @Matt_Wildasin

Nightmare Yearnings author Eric Raglin joins us to discuss Tananarive Due's classic plague story, "Patient Zero," which revolves around a little boy in hospital quarantine. Before we get to that, though, we talk a bit about Malignant, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Donnie Goodman's short story collection, The Razorblades in My Head, Take the Corvus by Luke Kondor, Eric LaRocca's The Strange Things We Become and Other Dark Tales, and the British horror parody, Garth Morenghi's Darkplace. (Recorded Sept. 12, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Eric Raglin on Twitter: @ericraglin1992

Beau Johnson, author of the Bishop Rider series, joins us in the Abyss to discuss Stephen King's short story, "The Raft," from the collection Skeleton Crew. Along the way, we also talk about Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney's True Faith and Allegiance, T.E.D. Klein's The Ceremonies, reading multiple books at once, and the joys of baling machines and wood chippers. (Recorded Sept. 5, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Beau Johnson on Twitter: @beaujohnson44

This week in the Abyss, we offer some quick thoughts on Joe R. Lansdale's Moon Lake, Ali Seay's To Offer Her Pleasure, Gordon B. White's short story collection, As Summer's Mask Slips and Other Disruptions, Matthew M. Bartlett's Music of the Moldering/If It Bleeds, bad hygeine, reading fatigue, and Star Trek. Then, it's on to our full-spoilers discussion of our story of the week, "Birds of Passage," by Gordon B. White, and the perils of camping! (Recorded Aug. 29, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

Jon Padgett, author and Editor-in-Chief of Grimscribe Press, joins us for a trip to Ohio to discuss Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz's unproduced 1998 "Crampton" screenplay for The X-Files. We also talk about Ali Seay's newest release, To Offer Her Pleasure, The Wheel of Time, additional thoughts on Beau Johnson's A Better Kind of Hate and S.H. Cooper's The Corpse Garden, Iseult Murphy's Zoo of the Dead and Other Horrific Tales, A24's The Green Knight, and Netflix's Brand New Cherry Flavor. (Recorded Aug. 22, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

This week in the Abyss, we take a trek through time, deep in the woods, as we explore Sean M. Thompson's novelette, Astrum, science class dissections, and trigger warnings. Up first, though, is our week in horror, featuring reviews of Netflix's Brand New Cherry Flavor, Beau Johnson's A Better Kind of Hate, The Corpse Garden by S.H. Cooper, and additional thoughts on James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Suburban Gothic by Brian Keene and Bryan Smith. (Recorded Aug. 15, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

Today in the Abyss, we're gathering around the dinner table for a spoiler-filled discussion of Hailey Piper's cosmic horror short story, "Recitation of the First Feeding," from her collection, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy. We also talk about James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, Stephen King's Billy Summers, Star Wars: Light of the Jedi, Clarkson's Farm, Ed Piskor's Red Room from Fantagraphics, and Suburban Gothic by Brian Keene and Bryan Smith. (Recorded Aug. 8, 2021). Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

This week in the Abyss, we're unburying a zombie apocalypse splatterpunk classic for our in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion of Philip Nutman's Wet Work!  Before we bite into the meat of this week's book, we talk a bit about Beau Johnson's Brand New Dark, David James Keaton's She Was Found In A Guitar Case, the latest issue of Vasterian, Unfortunate Elements of my Anatomy by Hailey Piper, M. Night Shyamalan's newest film, Old, Netflix's Katla and He-Man, and the video game, Lost in Vivio. (Recorded Aug. 1, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring  

Author Jeff Strand joins us in the Abyss to discuss the classic Stephen King story of autocannibalism, "Survivor Type." Before we get to that, though, we talk a bit about Brennan LeFaro's debut novel, Slattery Falls, Beau Johnson's Brand New Dark, Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever, Matt Wildasin's Melancholia, and Nick Cutter's Little Heaven. (Recorded July 25, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Jeff Strand on Twitter: @JeffStrand

The Abyss crew gather around the campfire for a spoiler-filled discussion of Lisa Quigley's Camp Neverland, an Unnerving Rewind or Die novella! We also talk about Nicholas Cage's Pig, our initial impressions of Kindle Vella, Beyond the Book of Eibon from Death Wound Publishing, and Netflix's Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and Part Three: 1666! (Recorded July 18, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

This week in the Abyss, we welcome a new co-host as author Villimey Mist (The Banquet, Nocturnal Blood) joins the show! We are also joined by a guest, author Joshua "Squishy Sensations" Marsella (Severed, Scratches), to discuss Steven R. Boyett's classic, and sadly out of print, short story "Emerald City Blues," as featured in Midnight Grafitti.  We also talk about the first two installments in Netflix's Fear Street trilogy, Joe R. Lansdale's Moon Lake, Lauren C. Teffeau's Implanted, Josh Ruben's horror/comedy movie Werewolves Within, Eric Raglin's Nightmare Yearnings, and Wallflower by Chad Lutzke. (Recorded July 11, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Joshua Marsella on Twitter: @JoshuaMarsella

This week in the Abyss, we're discussing the recent volumes of Shūzō Oshimi's manga, Blood on the Tracks, Nick Kolakowski's latest release, Absolute Unit, from Crystal Lake Publishing, Django Wexler's rock 'em, sock 'em giant fighting robots of Hard Reboot, Disney+'s Loki, the return of Milestone Comics, and comic book controversies. Then, we pull hard to port and find ourselves stranded on a deserted tropical island for our spoiler-filled discussion of Richard Laymon's Island. (Recorded June 27, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

Author Nicole Cushing (A Sick Gray Laugh, The Sadist's Bible) joins us for an in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart." Before that, though, we talk a bit about Jeff Strand's Pressure, Christine Morgan's Trench Mouth, transgressive literature, the Christopher Walken-led film, Communion, Twin Peaks and David Lynch. (Recorded June 23, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Nicole Cushing on Twitter: @nicolecushing

Author Tyler Jones (Criterium, The Dark Side of the Room) joins us for a spoiler-filled discussion of Joe Hill's short story, "Last Breath," from 20th Century Ghosts. Our Week In Horror looks back on James Newman's latest novella, Ride or Die, Richard Laymon's Island, additional thoughts on the Cooties Shot Required anthology from Broken Eye Books, Philip Fracassi's Beneath the Pale Sky, and the Shudder Original film, Caveat. (Recorded June 13, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Tyler Jones on Twitter: @tjoneswriter Tyler's website: https://www.tylerjones.net/

While Richard is away, Michael and Matt take control of the Abyss for a spoiler-filled discussion of their co-hosts debut short story, "Beyond the Triangle," as published in the anthology, Dark Words: Stories of Urban Legends and Folk Lore, edited by Jamie and Matt Wildasin.  Before that, though, we talk about summer horror reads, the Broken Eye Books anthologies Cootie Shot Required and Whether Change, Lisa Quigley's Hell's Bells, the philosophies of Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker, Tim Meyer's Paradise Club, and... Food Network? We also peel back another layer of the giant onion that is Matt Brandenburg as he reveals some publishing secrets of his own... (Recorded June 6, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

Elle Turpitt, editor and co-runner of Divination Hollow Reviews, joins us this week for a spoiler-filled discussion about S.H. Cooper's short story, "A Key For Any Lock," from the charity horror anthology, We Are Wolves. Before we get to that, though, we take a look back at our Week In Horror and talk about Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead, Michael's slow progress through Stephen Graham Jones's latest, the slasher story My Heart is a Chainsaw, Matt gives us a special report on this year's virtual StokerCon 2021 and Halloween novelizations, and Elle talks up Netflix's Son of Sam documentary. (Recorded May 30, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Elle Turpitt on Twitter: @elleturpitt Website: https://www.elleturpittediting.com/

The Navajo Nightmare authors, David Sodergren and Steve Stred, join us to discuss their collaborative horror western, their writing process as a team, and the importance of picking whose name goes first on the cover. Before all that, though, we take a look back at our Week in Horror with thoughts on Spiral: From the Book of Saw, S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears, Evil Dead (2013), Beetlejuice and other kids-friendly '80s fare, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, and the forthcoming The Wizard of Oz/Jurassic Park mash-up, The Wicked Rext of the West, from Edward Lorn and Daron Kappauff. (Recorded May 16, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow David Sodergren on Twitter: @paperbacksnpugs Follow Steve Stred on Twitter: @stevestred

Icelandic horror author Villimey Mist returns to the Abyss to bust Viking myths and joins us for a spoiler-filled discussion of Tyler Jones' The Dark Side of the Room! Before that, though, we take a look back at our Week in Horror with reviews of Resident Evil Village, Brian Keene's vampire novella, With Teeth, Shudder's documentary series, In Search of Darkness, Eric LaRocca's Thing Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Cullen Bunn's one-shot comic Eden, and the manga Zom 100. (Recorded May 9, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Villimey Mist on Twitter: @VillimeyS Subscribe to Villmey's YouTube Channel: Fanged Pipsqueak Reads

The Abyss crew journey to Outworld to discuss the recently released Mortal Kombat movie and examine the myriad complexities, subtleties, and deep meanings found in this action flick's themes and messages. Before this spoiler-filled discussion, though, we take some quick looks at Jacob's Wife, Mary SanGiovanni's Thrall, Michael McBride's Extant, and the pearls of wisdom found in Amazon's customer reviews. (Recorded May 2, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

Buckle up, kids, because the Abyss is hitting the road to examine Stephen Graham Jones' "Interstate Love Affair," from his novella collection, Three Miles Past! Before we reach I-90 and the killer roadside attractions is offers, Rich offers up some thoughts on Caroline Kepnes' You Love Me, Michael dives into Chuck Wendig's The Book of Accidents, and Matt's checks the weather to tell us it Feels like Rain in John Bergin's collection of short stories. We also talk about the Resident Evil: Village demo, the season finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Invincible, Creepshow, and the kaiju horror comic, Ultramega. (Recorded April 25, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

Splatterpunk Award-winning author Wesley Southard joins us in the Abyss to discuss Edward Lee's notorious novella, The Pig! Before we get into that spoiler-filled discussion, Rich talks about Shin Godzilla, Matt gives us the rundown on Michael Cisco's Antisocieties and Jurassichrist, and Wesley shares some thoughts on Bentley Little and his novel, The Handyman. We also take a look at The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the immediate future of the MCU. (Recorded April 18, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring Follow Wesley Southard on Twitter: @WesSouthard

On this very special episode, hosts Richard Gerlach, Matt Brandenburg, and Michael Patrick Hicks face-off over the latest Monsterverse blockbuster, Adam Wingard's Godzilla vs Kong! Before that, though, we're discussing Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tiffany McDaniel's literary novel Betty, Anoka by Shane Hawk, Michael Cisco's Antisocieties, and Rich reads to us from the book of Jurassichrist. (Recorded April 11, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring

We get that Friday night feeling as cosmic horror author and podcaster Mary SanGiovanni joins us in the Abyss to discuss "Crouch End," from Stephen King's short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Before that, though, we talk a bit about David Peak's newest collection, Eyes in the Dust and Other Stories, Jonathan Maberry's latest Joe Ledger novel, Relentless, Somer Canon and Wesley Southard's Slaves to Gravity, and Tim Waggoner's Writing in the Dark Online Symposium. (Recorded March 28, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring  Follow Mary SanGiovanni on Twitter: @marysangiovanni

Anoka author Shane Hawk joins us to discuss Stephen Graham Jones's Mapping the Interior. Before we get to that spoiler-filled discussion, we also talk about The SnyderCut of Justice League, the horror comedy flick Koko-Di Koko-Da, James Harren's kaiju comic Ultramega, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's debut episode! (Recorded March 21, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring  Follow Shane Hawk on Twitter: @shanehawkk Visit Shane Hawk's website at https://shanehawk.com/

This week, author Cynthia Pelayo (Children of Chicago) joins us as we revisit the Joyce Carol Oates's 1966 short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have Been," and its connection to the Pied Piper of Tuscon serial killer and Pelayo's collection of true crime poetry, Into the Forest and All the Way Through. Our Week in Horror discussion includes James Tynion IV's comic book series The Department of Truth, Todd Keisling's A Life Transparent, Apple TV's exclusive series Servant, and the films, Saint Maud, The Vigil, and The Empty Man. (Recorded March 14, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring  Follow Cynthia Pelayo on Twitter: @cinapelayo Visit Cynthia Pelayo's website at http://www.cinapelayo.com/

Author Patrick Barb, whose short story, "I Will Not Read Your Haunted Script," recently placed second in Divination Hollow Reviews Horror in Hollywood contest, joins us to discuss John Langan's story, "The Communion of Saints," from the recently released collection, Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies.  Our Week in Horror segments includes discussions of Gina Ranalli's All Men Are Trash, One Tough Bastard by Adam Howe, Brian Asman's Jailbroke, and the finale of Disney+ Marvel Studios series, WandaVision. (Recorded March 7, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring  Follow Patrick Barb on Twiter: @pbarb

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of suicide as depicted in the film The Dark and the Wicked and B.R. Yeager's Negative Space. This week, we're talking about depression, drug abuse, suicide, and poo sticks as we take a deep dive into our Story of the Week with B.R. Yeager's cosmic horror novel, Negative Space!  First, though, we explore our Week in Horror with the Shudder premiere of The Dark and the Wicked, Alex White's Alien: Into Charybdis, Pimp My Airship by Maurice Broaddus, Shūzō Oshimi's manga series Blood on the Tracks, and the penultimate episode of WandaVision. (Recorded Feb. 28, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Comic book writer John Lees (Sink, Mountainhead, Hotell) joins us in the Abyss to discuss Emily Carroll's graphic novel of short stories, Through the Woods. Our Week in Horror round-up includes reviews of Stephen King's Later, A24's latest horror flim, Saint Maud, Llamagedon, The Stand remake, Naoki Urasawa's manga series, Pluto, and episode seven of WandaVision! (Recorded Feb. 21, 2021) Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring  Follow John Lees on Twitter: @johnlees927 John Lees's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnlees

This week, we chat about the horror film Fingers, Cassandra Khaw's forthcoming release, Nothing But Blackened Teeth, Marvel's WandaVision, Cynthia Pelayo's Children of Chicago, and find out what Matt blames The Ghost Writers Podcast for.  Then, it's on to our spoiler-filled discussion of the week as we explore Zin E. Rocklyn's Tor.com Original story, The Night Sun! (Recorded Feb. 14, 2021) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

This week, we're talking about Bloody Hell, Gwendolyn Kiste's Boneset & Feathers, the indie RPG video game Oromi, and John Carpenter's latest album, Lost Themes III. Then, we travel to Santa Fe to investigate a case of Killer Flies for our in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion of Mark Kendall's 1983 horror novel, recently reissued by Encyclopocalypse Publications! (Recorded Feb. 7, 2021) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring   

Hunky boys Richard Gerlach and Matt Brandenburg discuss the recently released horror flick, PG: Psycho Goreman, while Michael Patrick Hicks delivers his review of Rio Youers's crime caper novel, Lola on Fire. They also talk about Encyclopocalypse Publications, Shudder's The Queen of Black Magic, and the fourth episode of WandaVision. Then, they step out of the Abyss to venture into Thomas Ligotti's vermin-ridden "The Bungalow House" for this week's spoiler-filled story of the week and the possible inspirations and influences Ligotti's dark horrors have had on... Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse? (Recorded January 31, 2021) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author Mike Thorn (Shelter for the Damned) joins us for a spoiler-filled discussion of the 1843 short story, "The Black Cat," by Edgar Allan Poe. Before that, though, we each discuss our Week In Horror with brief reviews of John Lees's latest comic series Hotell, Sci-Fi & Scary's body horror anthology Twisted Anatomy, Alien: The Cold Forge by Alex White, Joanna Koch's The Wingspan of Severed Hands, John Farris's The Axeman Cometh, and Alessandro Manzetti's collection of horror poems inspired by Jack the Ripper, Whitechapel Rhapsody. (Recorded Jan. 24, 2021) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

This week, we're drilling deep into Adam Nevill's "Yellow Teeth," as printed in his story collection Some Will Not Sleep: Selected Horrors. Our Week in Horror discussion centers around John Lees's comic book Mountainhead, Andrew J. Stone's All Hail the House Gods, and John Wayne Communale's Mage of the Hellmouth. Then, we discuss the premiere episode of WandaVision! Along the way we also solve a lot of the world's biggest problems and tackle the thorny issue of ebook pricing and digital bundling. (Recorded Jan. 17, 2021) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Recorded in the aftermath of the January terrorist attack on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., Richard, Matt, and Michael reflect on recent events and the legacy of the Trump presidency, which culminated in an attempted coup and the overthrowing of the November 2020 presidential election results. Then, we move onto our Week in Fictional Horrors and talk about the Chainsaw Man manga, Nico Bell's Shiver: A Chilling Horror Anthology, Max Booth III's bathroom horror novella We Need To Do Something, Starving Ghosts in Every Thread by Eric LaRocca, and our experiences playing Cyberpunk 2077. After that, we discuss our Story of the Week, The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper! (Recorded Jan. 10, 2021). The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Authors Chad Lutzke and Tim Meyer join us for a spoiler-filled discussion about their novel, Wormwood, what their collaboration was like, and the influences behind their dark coming-of-age tale. Before all that, though, we discuss Junji Ito's Remina, J. Blake Fichera's Scored to Death 2 More Conversations with Some of Horror's Greatest Composers, Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana, Ronald Malfi's Mr. Cables, and various works from Stephen King, including the premiere of The Stand miniseries. (Recorded Dec. 20, 2020) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author Jeremy Robert Johnson (The Loop) joins us in the Abyss to discuss Jack Ketchum's wicked and potent short story, "The Rifle," as well as the connections between violence and mental illness. Our weekly round-up segment includes reviews of Nemesai by Brian Keene and John Urbancik, Repo Virtual by Corey J. White, Villimey Mist's Nocturnal Farm, HBO's comedy series The Righteous Gemstones, Keith Rosson's Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons, The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson, and Ronald Kelly's Season's Creepings. (Recorded Dec. 13, 2020)  The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author Eric LaRocca joins us in the Abyss to discuss Clive Barker's short story, "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," from The Books of Blood Volume 2! We also discuss the Shudder films Anything for Jackson and the Castlefreak remake, the sci-fi novel Space Station Down by Ben Bova and Doug Beason, Nocturnal Blood by Villimey Mist, and Steve Stred's The Future in the Sky. (Recorded Dec. 6, 2020) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

This week, reviewer, podcaster, and one of the Ladies of Horror Fiction, Tracy Robinson joins us to discuss body horror and her work on the forthcoming release of the Sci-Fi & Scary charity anthology, Twisted Anatomy: A Body Horror Anthology, benefitting the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and the National Domestic Violence Hotline.  We also talk about the Shudder exclusive film, May the Devil Take You Too, Matt gives a progress update on his reading of Laird Barron's Worse Angels, and Hallmark Christmas movies. (Recorded Nov. 29, 2020) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author Hailey Piper (The Worm and His Kings) joins us in the Abyss for an in-depth discussion of masks, identity, and control as we explore Eugie Foster's Hugo Award-nominated and Nebula Award winning story, "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast." We also talk about DC Comics's The Three Jokers, Stephen Graham Jones's The Only Good Indians, the anthology Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, and Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula. Plus, Matt's latest revelations prompt us to reopen The X-Files! (Recorded Nov. 22, 2020) "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" can be read online for free at Apex Magzine, or listen to Lawrence Santoro's narration of this story on episode 682 of Escape Pod. The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author Jessica Guess (Cirque Berserk) joins us in the Abyss to discuss Gwendolyn Kiste's feminist recontextualization of Dracula's first victim in the short story, "The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra's Diary)." We also discuss Brandon Cronenberg's feature film Possessor and why Matt is so afraid of Cool Whip, Ronald Malfi's latest novella Mr. Cables, the works of Christopher Pike and RL Stine, and the folk horror novel The Five Turns of the Wheel by Stephanie Ellis. (Recorded Nov. 15, 2020) "The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra's Diary)" can be read online at Nightmare Magazine. The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

It's our super-sized 50th Episode and we celebrate with a special Listener Mailbag. This week, the Abyss gazes back! You asked, we answered. We also discuss the Halloween release of the Creepshow animated special, the latest Benson & Moorhead film, Synchronic, the non-fiction book Behind the Horror, Chris Sorensen's trilogy capper The Messy Man, and Gemma Amor's Girl on Fire. (Originally recorded November 1, 2020).  The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author and podcaster Matt Wildasin joins us this week to discuss the children's classic, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! Along the way, we also talk about the Shudder Exclusive movie, The Mortuary Collection, Castle of Sorrows by Jonathan Janz, Jonathan Raab's The Crypt of Blood, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Borat 2. (Recorded Oct. 25, 2020) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

Author John Langan (Children of the Fang) joins us in the Abyss to discuss Ramsey Campbell's enigmatic 1976 short story, "The Companion." Before we dive into our in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion about "The Companion" and its hidden meanings, we also talk about The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Science of Stephen King by Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, and the Shudder Exclusive movies, Scare Me and Host. (Recorded Oct. 18, 2020) You can read "The Companion" by Ramsey Campbell for free online at Nightmare Magazine. The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

This week, we're talking about Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor, Andrew Pyper's White House horror novel The Residence, Matthew M. Bartlett's Gateways to Abomination, Mr. Suicide by Nicole Cushing, and Time Waggoner's Writing in the Dark. Then, it's onto an in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion of our horror story of the week, The Freakshow by Bryan Smith. (Recorded Oct. 11, 2020) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring 

This week, we discuss some recent streaming horror releases and deliver our thoughts on the Hulu original series Monsterland, the Shudder exclusive movie Scare Me, Amazon's Utopia, and Netflix's The Babysitter. Plus, find out what Mike and Rich did to end up in Twitter jail! Then, it's onto our spoiler-filled discussion of this week's story, Matt Cardin's religiously-fueled cosmic horror tale, "Teeth." (Recorded Oct. 4, 2020) You can read "Teeth" in Matt Cardin's collection, To Rouse Leviathan, or listen to it in a two-part episode narrated by Jon Padgett on PseudoPod. The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Follow Staring Into The Abyss on Twitter: @intostaring