Curtis M. Lawson, author of Devil's Night and Black Heart Boys' Choir, joins us for an in-depth conversation of H.P. Lovecraft and his posthumously published 1943 story, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Plus, reviews of HBO MAX's Raised by Wolves, Jonathan Maberry's latest release, Ink, and Blackwood Estates by William Holloway. (Recorded Sept. 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 

J.R. Hamantaschen and Derek Sotak, authors and hosts of The Horror of Nachos and Hamantaschen podcast, join us in the abyss for a spoiler-filled discussion about Japanese author Edogawa Rampo's disturbing 1925 story, "The Human Chair." Before we dive into specifics, though, we also review Hunter Shea's Misfits, Christopher Golden's Red Hands, Harry Adam Knight's The Fungus, and Brian Hodge's The Immaculate Void. (Recorded Aug. 30, 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're talking about Random Acts of Violence, P. Djèlí Clark's Ring Shout, Silver Scream, Scott R. Jones's Shout Kill Revel Repeat, and Junji Ito's Venus in the Blind Spot. Then, we take a spoiler-filled dive into David Peak's chilling cosmic horror story, Eyes in the Dust. (Recorded Aug. 23, 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 

It's all about Victor LaValle, Lovecraft, slavery, racism, and WAP as we dig into the Stoker Award winning story, "Up From Slavery," published in the inaugural Weird Tales relaunch issue #363! Plus, reviews of Josh Malerman's Bird Box sequel, Malorie, Worse Angels by Laird Barron, Stephen Graham Jones's Night of the Mannequins, and more! (Recorded Aug. 16, 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 discussing killing Scott Kemper, the Shudder Exclusive films Impetigore and Host, Laurel Hightower's novella Crossroads, The Patience of a Dead Man by Michael Clark, the recently re-released '80s classic cinema horror anthology Silver Scream, and the latest release in John F.D. Taff's The Fearing! Then, we take a deep dive into Alyssa Wong's short story, "Hunger Daughters of Starving Mothers." (Recorded Aug. 9, 2020) You can read Wong's story for free online at Nightmare Magazine: http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/hungry-daughters-of-starving-mothers/ 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 

Thirty-eight episodes in, and we finally - finally! - get to a Stephen King story! Dead Headspace Podcast host Patrick R. McDonough joins us in the Abyss to discuss some classic King with "Children of the Corn." We also talk about Paul Michael Anderson's recently released novel, Standalone, Samantha Kolesnik's vacation horror anthology, Worst Laid Plans, for Grindhouse Press, as well as the Children of the Corn films! (Recorded July 26, 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 

A video game as big as The Last of Us Part II demands an episode that's just as big! Join us and our featured guest, author Daniel Barnett, for a super-sized, spoiler-filled discussion of developer Naughty Dog's Playstation 4 hit, along with mini-reviews of the feature films Relic and The Beach House, David Joy's When These Mountains Burn, and Don Winslow's novella collection, Broken. (Recorded July 12, 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 on Staring Into the Abyss, we're talking about Willem Dafoe, The House that Jack Built, Hunter Shea's Misfits, Star Wars books, and Ju-On: Origins. Then, it's on to our spoiler-filled discussion of our story of the week as we take a deep dive into "Houses Under the Sea," by Caitlin R. Kiernan. (Recorded June 28, 2020.) You can read "Houses Under the Sea" online at Nightmare Magazine! http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/houses-under-the-sea/ 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 octopi, eggs, and ethnic cuisine as we take a trip through The Twilight Zone Season 2 and The Dirty South, the latest Charlie Parker book from John Connolly. We also discuss J.B. Priestly's Benighted, Patrick Freivald's Murmur, the Malevolence film trilogy, and The Last of Us Part II (more on that in a future episode!). Then, it's on to our spoiler-filled story of the week chat as the Abyss crew steps into The Murder House courtesy of C.V. Hunt! (Recorded June 28, 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, hosts Scott Kemper (aka Richard Gerlach), Matt Brandenburg, and author Michael Patrick Hicks discuss the Netflix movie Da 5 Bloods, the crime noir novel Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby, Death Head Press's second splatter-western book Hunger on the Chisholm Trail by M. Ennenbach, and Stephen Graham Jones's latest horror novel, The Only Good Indians. Then, we take a deep, spoiler-filled dive into Kathe Koja's recently re-issued polarizing classic, The Cipher! 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 Ink Heist podcast co-host Laurel Hightower (Crossroads) joins us to discuss life in quarantine, protests, and online doomsurfing before we dive into a spoiler-filled discussion of Carmen Maria Machado's short story, "The Husband Stitch." 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 eating eggs with Max Booth III, who returns to the Abyss to discuss Nathan Ballingrud's story, "The Atlas of Hell," as collected in his book, Wounds. We also talk about the Shudder movie Blood Quantum, Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess and Unnerving's Rewind or Die series, Dustin McNeill and Travis Mullins's exploration of the Halloween film in Taking Shape, Charlie Kaufman, and Matt auditions for Defenders Dialogue.  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 

Paul Michael Anderson (Standalone) joins us to discuss ska, She-Ra, and Stephen Graham Jones! We also talk about Max Booth III's latest novel, Touch the Night, Nicole Cushing's A Sick Gray Laugh, and several Grindhouse Press releases from Patrick Lacey, Scott Cole, and CV Hunt. Then, we take a deep, spoilerific dive into Jones' short story, "Father, Son, Holy Rabbit." 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 Gemma Files steps into the Abyss to discuss two closely related short stories, "The Hound" by HP Lovecraft and Poppy Z. Brite's "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood." We also discuss the opening chapter in the indie horror video game Faith, Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume 11, and the works of Graham Masterton.  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 Michael Wehunt (Greener Pastures, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Bad Can Ever Happen Here) joins us this week to talk about the film Session 9, Crystal Lake Publishing's latest anthology, Arterial Bloom, and finding some comfort in quarantine with classic mysteries, like Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books. Then, we dive into our spoiler-filled discussion of Gemma Files' short story, "Each Thing I Show You Is A Piece Of My Death." You can read Gemma's story online at Apex 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 sex and politics episode as author Kev Harrison (The Balance) joins us to discuss Nadia Bulkin's short story contribution to the Dim Shores Looming Low anthology with "Live Through This." Before we discuss Nadia's story, though, we talk about the Waco miniseries, Stephen King's latest release, If It Bleeds, Richard Matheson's Hell House, John Everson's Cage of Bones & Other Deadly Obsessions, Sole Survivor by Zachary Ashford, Ross Jeffery's Juniper, the film Butt Boy, and Andre Duza's Don't F[Bleep]k with the Coloureds. After that, it's on to our spoiler-filled discussion of "Live Through This," small-town culture, collective guilt, and the intersection of art and politics. 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  Follow Kev Harrison on Twitter: @LisboetaIngles

This week, hosts Scott Kemper, author Michael Patrick Hicks, and Matt Brandenburg are joined by Kyle Rader, author of My BFF Satan, to discuss the work of Junji Ito, Ito's short story "Smashed," and how it relates to '80s PSAs and Gallagher. We also review the Kristen Stewart horror flick Underwater, Wile E. Young's splatterpunk western Magpie Coffin, Victor LaValle's The Devil in Silver, and the films Sea Fever and The Blind Dead. 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 

In this special episode of Staring Into The Abyss, publisher Jason Sizemore and managing editor Lesley Conner join us to discuss the return of Apex Magazine and the Kickstarter campaign to fund it. We also talk about the acclaimed indie horror film The Endless, Todd Keisling's Scanlines, the TV series Hannibal, Lucio Fulci, and Tim Waggoner's Blood Island! For our spoiler-filled Story of the Week discussion, we're talking all about Russell Nichols's short stories, "Curse Like a Savior" and "Blood on Beacon Hill," both of which are free to read or listen to on the Apex Magazine website. You can help support the relaunch of Apex Magazine on Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/apexpublications/apex-magazine-2021?ref=discovery&term=apex%20magazine. 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 diving deep into Brian Keene's Labyrinth mythos with Earthworm Gods! We also discuss haunted Hebrew schools, the Korean horror film The Wailing, Jonathan Janz's forthcoming release The Raven, and Matt's alligator sanctuary.  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 

Gwendolyn Kiste, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel  The Rust Maidens, joins us to discuss, in-depth, the Shirley Jackson short story, "Louisa, Please Come." We also talk about the documentary Scream Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, Doom Eternal, The Devil's City, PTSD Radio, and Spooky Michigan. Gwendolyn's latest release is The Invention of Ghosts, a charitable chapbook benefiting the National Aviary. You can order the ebook directly from Nightscape Press or purchase on Amazon. 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 March at the start of self-isolation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, author Teri Clarke - AKA Zin E. Rocklyn - joins us to discuss being in quarantine, toilet paper shortages, and the Bloodshot comic books. We also discuss the George A. Romero and Daniel Krauss epic, The Living Dead, Nino Cipri's Homesick, Cullen Bunn's Manor Black, and HBO's The Outsider. Then we dig deep into Nathan Ballingrud's novella, The Visible Filth, for our spoiler-filled discussion of the week. You can read The Visible Filth as part of Ballingrud's collection, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell. 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 

Todd Keisling joins us in the abyss to discuss H.F. Arnold's classic strange fiction story, "The Night Wire." We also discuss Glenn Danzig's movie, Verotika, Jon Bassoff's latest novel, The Lantern Man, Laird Barron's Black Mountain, and Todd's latest releases, Scanlines and Devil's Creek. You can read and listen to "The Night Wire" on PseudoPod: https://pseudopod.org/2013/10/18/pseudopod-356-the-night-wire/ 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 Red Lagoe joins us this week to discuss Sara Tantlinger's Stoker-nominated novella, To Be Devoured, while Scott rants about Amazon's original series, Hunters. We also talk about the new The Invisible Man film, the exile and return of director Richard Stanley, Velocipastor, and Todd Keisling's cosmic horror novel, Devil's Creek. 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 Chad Lutzke joins us this week to discuss Jack Ketchum's short story, "The Visitor," and uncover the mysteries of Scott's crackling microphone, and why Matt is a bad horror fiction fan! Plus, we discuss the Elijah Wood flick, Come to Daddy, Scott Sigler's ALIENS tie-in novel, Phalanx, the horror comedy book Cannibal Nuns from Outer Space by Duncan P. Bradshaw, Todd Keisling's Scanlines, and more!  You can read "The Visitor" in Jack Ketchum's short story collection, Peaceable Kingdom. 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 

Special Guest Cullen Bunn joins us to discuss his work on Valiant Comics' forthcoming relaunch of Shadowman, which two classic horror movies have most shaped his approach to the horror genre, and Karl Edward Wagner's classic short story, "Hell Creek," for our spoiler-filled discussion of the week. We also sound off on the Director's Cut of Dr. Sleep, the first three releases in Unnerving's Rewind or Die series of novellas, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Hill House Comics, and Gwendolyn Kiste's latest charitable chapbook from Nightscape Press, The Invention of Ghosts. 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: Scott talks about watching Color Out of Space at a micro-theater cafe and visiting the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences, and the gang offers up their thoughts on Alan Baxter's killer kangaroo novella, The Roo, Adam Cesare's Young Adult horror novel, Clown in a Cornfield, and the film Gretel and Hansel. Then, it's on to our spoiler-filled deep-dive into Adam Nevill's latest folk horror novel, The Reddening! 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 

Scott Kemper, Michael Patrick Hicks, and Matt Brandenburg discuss some recent horror releases, like Gary Bastianelli's Snowball, The Lantern Man by Jon Bassoff, and To Rouse Leviathan by Matt Cardin. Then they dig deep into Livia Llewellyn's short story, "It Feels Better Biting Down," for this week's spoiler-filled discussion, where they ponder biting off fingers and whether or not your toes can spontaneously fall off. You can read "It Feels Better Biting Down" in Llewellyn's short story collection, Furnace. 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 

The boys discuss the films Ready or Not and Train to Busan, Samantha Kolesnik's True Crime, Matt Cardin's To Rouse Leviathan, S.L. Edwards's debut fiction collection, Whiskey and Other Unusual Ghosts, and Image Comics's Ice Cream Man. Then, they take a deep dive into Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Possibility of Evil," and discuss its relationship to Stephen King's novel, Needful Things. 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 

Hosts Scott Kemper, Matt Brandenburg, and author Michael Patrick Hicks discuss Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola's comic book series, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Scott R. Jones's latest release, Stonefish. They are joined this week by special guests Saturday Morning Scenarios publisher Matt Corley and Bram Stoker Award-winning author Sara Tantlinger (The Devil's Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes) to talk about their forthcoming table-top RPG, Horror in the Windy City, and its companion novella, The Devil's City, which is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. Find out how Sadie Hartmann (aka Mother Horror) and the Night Worms are responsible for this game's existence, learn more about Sara's upcoming poetry book about The Black Death, and creating art in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, we have huge news on what's next for John F.D. Taff's The Fearing, as well as an exclusive on Matt's next big horror project! Support The Devil's City and Horror in the Windy City on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/37222410/the-devils-city-for-5e 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, hosts Scott Kemper, Michael Patrick Hicks, and Matt Brandenburg review the 2020 edition of The Grudge, Mark Matthews's latest anthology of addiction horror, Lullabies for Suffering, Laird Barron's Black Mountain, the 2011 film Kill List, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Then, they have a spoiler-filled, heart touching discussion about John Langan's novella, Sefira, the betrayal of marital infidelity, and confronting a succubus. 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 

Bloodshot Books publisher and author Pete Kahle joins us to discuss the short story, "The Quiet Boy," by Nick Antosca, just in time for the release of its adaptation as the Guillermo del Toro-produced, Scott Cooper-directed horror film, Antlers, starring Keri Russell. We also discuss Antosca's other popular creation, the horror anthology television series, Channel Zero. Other topics include the Shudder-exclusive film, The Head Hunter, Netflix's V Wars, the comic book Something Is Killing The Children, Scott R. Jones' novel, Shout Kill Revel Repeat, and Easter Horror recommendations!  Read "The Quiet Boy" online at Guernica 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 

Authors Matthew M. Bartlett and Jon Padgett join us in the abyss to discuss their collaboration on The Latham-Fielding Liaison, as well Jon's audiobook narration of Matthew's Gateways to Abomination, and their mutual appreciation of one another's works. We also discuss what we've been reading and watching, including the BBC's horror anthology series Inside Number 9, the film Ready or Not, HBO's Watchmen, the works of Thomas Ligotti and much, much more. 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, publisher, and podcaster Max Booth III joins us in the the abyss for a spoiler-filled discussion of his favorite Halloween novella, Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. We also chat about the film Knives Out, DC Comics's zombie-superhero mashup, DCeased, Laird Barron's Black Mountain, Patrick Lacey's A Voice So Soft, and Max's upcoming book from Cemetery Dance, Touch the Night. 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 

Scott, Matt, and Michael discuss the final book in John F.D. Taff's serial novel, The Fearing! Other topics of discussion include alien birth defects, funky Goldeneye controls, Michael Wehunt's charitable chapbook from Nightscape Press, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Bad Can Ever Happen Here, Joe Hill's comic book, A Basketful of Heads, and much much more. 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 

The walls of sanity begin to collapse as our hosts, Scott Kemper, Matt Brandenburg, and author Michael Patrick Hicks discuss the film adaptation of Dr. Sleep, Weird Westerns, Dean Koontz's Nameless series, the media tie-in novel, Alien: Prototype, by Tim Waggoner, Baby Yoda, and the apocalyptic delivery boy simulator, Death Stranding, where you can poop your way across America! Then our hosts launch into a spoiler-filled discussion of Jeff Strand's comedy-horror novel, Clowns vs Spiders! 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 

Special guest Nadia Bulkin steps into the Abyss to discuss Kelly Link's short story, "The Specialist's Hat," and the debt horror writers owe to urban legends and superstition. Nadia also makes a special pledge to our readers and listeners! Before we dive into our spoiler-filled discussion, though, Scott Kemper, Matt Brandenburg, and Michael Patrick Hicks discuss the Boom! Studios comic book Something Is Killing The Children, the season finale of Creepshow Season One, Robert Eggers's The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, Muzzleland Press's anthology, Behold the Undead of Dracula: Lurid Tales of Cinematic Gothic Horror, and Daniel Kraus's Blood Sugar. You can read Kelly Link's "The Specialist's Hat" on her website at https://kellylink.net/specialists-hat 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 

On this episode of Staring Into The Abyss, a very tired Scott Kemper tells us about his late, late night seeing The Misfits play at Madison Square Garden and hitting the cinema to see the debut of Robert Eggers's latest film, The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Co-hosts Matt Brandenburg and Michael Patrick Hicks discuss Betty Rocksteady's short story collection In Dreams We Rot, episodes four and five of Shudder's original series, Creepshow, Nicole Cushing's The Half-Freaks, as well as Daniel Kraus's Halloween thriller, Blood Sugar, from Hard Case Crime, and news on his upcoming collaboration with the dearly departed George A. Romero for Tor's Summer 2020 release of The Living Dead. Our intrepid hosts also briefly talk about HBO's debut episode of Watchmen and Adam Nevill's latest folk horror novel, The Reddening. Then, the group breaks out into a spoiler-filled exploration of John F.D. Taff's third installment in his serialized novel, The Fearing, and how it stacks up against 2019's other big apocalyptic event-novel, Chuck Wendig's Wanderers. 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 

Join us by the fire and carve off a slice from the Yule Log - it's Christmas in the Abyss! In this special holiday episode, Scott, Michael, and Matt discuss X-Mas horror, like Valancourt's Victorian Christmas anthologies, Krampus, and Hark, The Herald Angels Scream. Then, they settle in, all cozy and warm, for an in-depth, spoiler-filled conversation about the 2017 holiday flick, Better Watch Out! Happy holidays! Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

This week, our hosts Scott Kemper, Matt Brandenburg, and Michael Patrick Hicks discuss the Merrimack Halloween Book Festival and its panels on foreign cinema and horror versus thriller, as well as Stephen Chbosky's Imaginary Friends, Shudder's Creepshow episodes two and three, One Cut of the Dead and Hulu's Starfish, the director's cut of Midsommar, and John Hornor Jacobs' latest release, A Lush and Seething Hell. Then, it's on to a spoiler-filled discussion of Joyce Carol Oates's 1966 short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have Been," its connection to the Pied Piper of Tuscon serial killer, and whether or not you can drive if you have hooves.  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, Scott and Michael pressure Matt into buying Jeff Strand's Clown vs. Spiders, go off on book buying binges of their own, and talk about library sales and vintage movie novelizations. Then they launch into an in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion of The Latham-Fielding Liaison, a just-released limited hardcover collection of four stories co-written by Matthew M. Bartlett and John Padgett, and available exclusively from Nightscape Press. The gang also discusses Todd Keisling's The Smile Factory and corporate horror, The Serial Murders of Mars, Batman: Damned, and the perks and perils of trade waiting for comic books.   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

Hosts Scott Kemper, Matt Brandenburg, and Michael Patrick Hicks take a deep, spoiler-filled dive into Books One and Two of John F.D. Taff's apocalyptic serial novel, The Fearing, its potential legacy in the years of horror to come, how it stacks up against 2019's other big apocalypse novel, Chuck Wendig's Wanderers, and the insanity of Big 5 publishing. Other topics include Matthew M. Bartlett's If It Bleeds, the movies Us and IT: Chapter Two, click-bait articles, and Michael shares his special theory on plagues and daycare. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com  

John F.D. Taff, author of the apocalyptic serial novel, The Fearing, joins hosts Scott Kemper, Matt Brandenburg, and Michael Patrick Hicks for an in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion of Clive Barker's short story, "Dread." Find out how "Dread" shaped Taff as an author and inspired his own work in horror. Also discussed: Brent Michael Kelley's Doomsday Furnace, Junji Ito's manga book, Spiral, the cosmic horrors of John Langan, and the box office hit, Spider-Man:Far From Home. Music: https://www.purple-planet.com