Interview episodes

Obsessional love and vengeance with S.E. Porter

Love can last a lifetime, but revenge is forever... Love is a common driving force for novels, and it comes in many forms. It could be the pursuit of true love, or the quest to turn unrequited love into a passionate relationship. Often, it can be the loss of love that...

Ghosts have warm hands – with Katherine Arden

The title of this episode is taken from Will R. Bird's memoir of World War 1, a title which also inspired that of Katherine Arden's novel set amidst the horror of the Great War. When it comes to writing about war, past authors have glorified it with moments of pathos....

Beneath the skin of the earth – with Nicola Griffith

Welcome to our first episode of 2024. Yes, the title's a quote from our incredible guest. As a podcast dedicated primarily to speculative fiction, we rarely find ourselves taking a deep dive into history. But the growth in popularity of both myths and retellings is...

Othering and exoticism in fantasy with Eliza Chan

Modern fantasy owes much to J.R.R. Tolkien, including his problematic colonialist views and othering of cultures and races different from his medieval European-inspired setting. Many authors since then have used 'historical accuracy' as a defence against a lack of...

Community and isolation – with Jennifer Thorne

We love our folk horror. The genre has been growing in popularity these past years, and it’s not hard to see why. Writers take pastoral settings such as windswept hills or rugged sea coasts and imbue them with a sense of deep isolation. Throw in a community that seems...

Romancing the necromancer – with Alice James

Welcome to our Halloween episode! Romance has always been big business and these days there are plenty of subgenres. Despite its popularity, however, some snobbery still exists, often dismissing romance as "women's fiction." But if romance is really so terrible, why...

The dark half of the year – with Lili Hayward

It’s October, so we're officially allowed to talk about Christmas. Sure, we’ve got Halloween first, and that’s a celebration we should all be enthusiastic about, but take a look at what books are being pushed by bookstores, Amazon, and even supermarkets, and you’ll...

“Something a little monstrous” – with Isabel Cañas 

We're honoured to have Isabel Cañas join us on the show as she talks us through not only her fabulous new novel, Vampires of El Norte, but also her experience of breaking into publishing as a Mexican-American writer and the pressure on marginalised creators to produce...