Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Capes and Tights podcast right here on Capesandtights.com I'm your host, Justin Soderbergh. This episode is episode 250 and it's once again brought to you by our friends at Galactic Comics and Collectibles. At galactic comics and collectibles.com we are deep in horror week here on the Keeps and Tights podcast. But for episode 250, I decided to invite two good friends to the podcast, Matt Morris and Anna Dupree to the podcast to chat horror, books, horror, community, horror, Instagram, and so much more.
Anna Dupree has about a little over 5,000 followers on his Instagram and Matt Morris has a little over 6,000 followers on Instagram. Those two people are voices in the horror community on Instagram. Matt runs a couple of book clubs on there as well. Anna has her own podcast as well as contributes Autocrat autographs, articles and reviews to Capes and Tights as well. So we decided this is a great opportunity to get together, chat about horror, the community, the books, and so much more. But before you listen, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, bluesky, threads, all those places, as well as rate, review, subscribe over on Apple, Spotify or wherever you find your podcast. You can also Find us on YouTube and as always, you can check out Capes and Tights dot com. Welcome to episode 250 of the Capes and Tights podcast right here for Horror Week. Enjoy everyone.
Welcome to the 250th episode. Anna and Matt, how are you guys today?
[00:01:28] Speaker B: I am doing great and I'm thrilled that I'm here for this milestone. I think it's so cool that we get 250. How are you, Matt?
[00:01:35] Speaker C: I'm doing wonderful.
My Patriots won today and this is my first time ever on a podcast. So I'm super thankful for you having me on, Justin.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: I love how Matt waited, Anna, till we got recording to say that to you, right after you started saying about your saints. So that's pretty good. It's your first podcast episode, Matt, but that's perfect. That was absolutely waiting to actually be recording to say that was actually perfect.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Coming in hot to rip salt in the wound. Way to go, Matt. Wow.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: That'S perfect. I love that stuff. That's so great. But no, we're here to talk horror, which again, I mentioned before we started recording to Anna that it could be horror talking about sports if you wanted to. I wish. I mean, I haven't seen it yet. There's a sports horror Film that just came out, right. Him.
I haven't actually got a chance to see it yet, but I thought that was kind of a cool spin. And that's one of the things I want to get into on this podcast and is how how big the genre is, how much it kind of like can weave off into different spots in the tentacles of the horror genre, going to so many different directions. But before we get too, too far into this, Matt, why don't we start off just people who will tune in because of you, Matt, because you're sharing on social media or anything like that will know who you are. But like, what got you into why horror? Why? You know, it's to steal a line from Becky Spatford in the why I love horror. But like why horror? Why is that the thing that you focus on?
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great question. So I mean, this is going to sound cliche, but it started with Stephen King obviously. Being from Maine, he's always been a presence, somebody I've always been aware of. But when I was in high school I picked up Night Shift and I'd always been into reading as a kid. I had never, I was never really one of those like goosebumps or any of the kind of YA and middle grade horror. So my introduction was Stephen King through Night Shift and it really just caused me to become obsessed. I started reading almost everything I could from Stephen King and then, yeah, and then the bookstagram thing happened and really expanded my horror horizons. But I'm sure we can talk about that at some point.
[00:03:53] Speaker A: We will. And so I guess the question I also have for both of you, we will continue on and ask you that question here a second, Anna too. But like, is it to you guys? And I talk to you guys mostly about books because that's what you guys focus on in Anna, writing for the website and contributing as well. It's mostly reviews and things like that. Is it beyond books though?
Are you a fan of horror films too, Matt, or is it just, you know, mainly books?
[00:04:16] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely books. More so, but definitely with the movies. I'm more of a kind of older like 70s and 80s horror movie person, but I love a lot of the newer stuff. I'm a big slasher fan.
I really love some of the more modern stuff. Like I just watched the Monkey last night finally and had a lot of fun with that. I love when a horror comedy is done really well.
But I just really love that kind of dread inducing movies. So like Halloween, the Thing, Alien, those are kind of my favorite horror movies that's awesome.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: And you have a story of how you became, you know, into horror.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: I mean, kind of. I'm kind of a mess, so.
So I'll just start there.
So like nobody in my family is, you know, horror people. So I, this, this all started with me. I think it was like, really, because I wanted to be kind of a rebel to like Matt's point. Like I did. I did read my fair share of Goosebumps. I had like my favorite Goosebumps book was like Werewolf of Fever Swamp. Me and my best friend read that book multiple times. Like made made up games and shit about it. Like, it was like very, very cool and fun when I was younger. But, you know, when I got to be older, I went to private Catholic school. School, which was not the best time of my life. And we got to where we had to write this English paper and we got to pick. It was like a research project on the author. Then you got to pick the book that you were going to do the literary analysis on.
And I was like, man, I'm really going to show these people. I'm going to do something dark. And I was like, I'm going to read the Shining. And I was surprised that I got approval for it so much. Like Matt, it kind of was Stephen King, but it didn't take right then and there. It took a few years in and out. During college I would read different things. I mean I've always darker things, but my fascination was more rooted in like logic with like crime, mystery, thriller, that kind of thing. Like, I wasn't super open to the, the other because I, I felt like I was like too, too stupid to get it, like in the deep way that, you know, a lot of people get horror. And then it kind of just got to a point where I think it was like 2022. Somebody was on social media, was posting about Rachel Harrison. Such sharp teeth. I picked it up and read it, fell in love. I was like, oh, this is what we're doing with horror right now. Like, this is the spot that we're in. And then from there I just kind of kept going. And ironically enough, I like really got into a big horror movie phase my senior year of college, which was like 2019.
I was living alone and I was like, you know, this is the time that I'm really going to lean in. I think it was like to just, I don't know, maybe it was like a defense mechanism. I wish I could tell you what was wrong with me that I did that.
But I literally watched horror all the.
And when I lived alone. And then like, much to like Matt's point, like, I'll, you know, I read, I watch like a lot of horror now. Like, I try and keep up with the movies that. That's coming out, like when they're coming out and stuff like that. But it's like almost to my detriment. Like, I'm a fan of like horror podcasts right now where I like, I've listened to like all of Radio Rental. I listen to like Rattled and Shook. Those are both Tenderfoot podcasts. But it's like supposed like real life scary stories. And then there was a Netflix series that dropped, I think this weekend called like True Haunting or something like that.
And it's it real life scary stories with like reenactment. So it's kind of like the true crime id, you know, dramatizations that are happening. And it's like, you know, I watched like three parts of this and I scared the shit out of myself on Friday night. And then like I Woke up at 2 o' clock in the morning because of course the smoke alarm battery was dying. I was like, why did I do this to myself? And then I couldn't fall asleep and I watched two more parts. So I don't, I guess to say I don't know what's wrong with me. Me and horror just have a love affair that I can't explain. And I just keep coming back for more even though it scares the bejesus out of me.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: It's funny how you say that too because, like, I feel like horror books and horror movies are.
I keep telling myself they're fake. Like, okay, these are not real. These are not real stories. These are fake. So you're cool. You can read these things. I mean, I was, I was talking about my, my bookshelves before we started recording. And I have a section with my Goosebumps books on it. And since my last house before I moved here, my son, who's four now, just, he sees the stack of books that look very similar. And so he's always like, can I help you put your Goosebumps books away? Because I, you know, inevitably, as a, as a collector, as a, as a book collect, as a collector in general, I move things and reorganize things a lot. And so he's seen me move him shove himself to shelf to shelf. And he keeps, I had to keep on telling him these are Halloween costumes on the COVID here. This is a guy wearing a Halloween costume that looks like a werewolf because not to scare the bejesus at him. And I keep it. Tell him. And then this, tonight, he's sitting on the couch and I'm doing the dishes. And he goes, dad, dad, I'm scared. I'm like, why? He goes, behind their couch is our front porch. And he's like, something out there. I go, there's nothing out there. He's like, laughing at me. Whatever. And I did it three times. And then finally he did this me a fourth time. He goes, there's someone out there. I go, dude, there's nothing. Oh, wait, there is someone out there. And there was someone at the front door trying to sell us popcorn from the boy Scouts. But it was just kind of funny. I was like, dude, there's nothing out there. Stop it. And he's like, wait, there actually is someone out there right now. So you had a right to be scared there. But yeah, I've always told myself, these are not real, Anna. This is a fake thing. And you're over here going true crime, horror style stuff over here, trying to really scare yourself of things that actually did happen in life. This is not. This is not healthy. I guess this is a time we have an intervention right now. Is this what we're doing?
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah, this is actually what this is. Perfect. You can title this episode the Intervention of and we'll see how that goes.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: See how it goes on there. But yeah, but yeah, I mean, it's. It's a. It's a fun thing to explain to people.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: It is.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: And I think that's.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: It's weird though, because, like, my parents will be like, I don't understand why you're so into this. Like, why do you like to be freaked out? But I'm like, it makes you think about things in a very different way, though. And that's what I really, really appreciate. Like, more so with the fiction than the real life stuff. But then, you know, like, I am always fascinated by, like, what's the deeper thread running through this? Even with the, you know, like, the true stuff and, like, what's going on in these people's lives that's like, really making this, like, so terrifying, you know, there's so many components to all this stuff. And I think just thinking about it deeper is just like a really cool, like, intellectual exercise. And it's so ironic because people are like, you know, whore. Just blood and guts and naked women running around. I'm like, no, no, no, no. Like, you gotta read deeper into it. Like, I promise there's substance there. I swear.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: So, I mean. Or I mean, Horror movies do have that checkboxes of things like, you know, one of them has to have a topless woman in it. That's just part of the rules of regulations of this, of this world. We live in it. But it's because it's kind of funny. We watched on this podcast, my friend Paul Eaton, who owns Galactic Comics and Collectibles, comes and reviews obscure, like random Marvel or superhero movies or other random movies that we've watched over the years. And watch the Man Thing, which was a horror movie put out by Marvel based on the Man Thing character. I want to say it was 2004, 2014, somewhere around, somewhere between there and it's a horror movie in Marvel, it's a Marvel movie. And it's like 10 minutes into the movie, they're in a swamp and a girl's just taking her top off. And it was like, Marvel got the idea. They're like, we're making a horror movie. This is actually R rated. We're going to make horror. So what do we have to do in this? We have to have scary monster. Oh, someone has to take the top off. And they checked all those boxes off. And I was like, oh, my God, you don't need to do. There's like, it fits in certain places. I understand part of it, the vulnerability of it. Like, when are you most vulnerable in your life is when you're not closed. But still, it's a, it's a funny thing that you actually have to see that. Most horror movies do have naked people.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Well, that's the cool thing that you get to think about too, is like, when does. I think it makes us think too about, like in real life, when it's acceptable, when it's not to kind of be like navel gazing. Like, at what, at what point do we draw the line? And like, when is this serving us and when is it not? Because there's way to do it, ways to do that where it's not gratuitous and it does serve the plot. And you're like, wow. You know, but then there are the ways that, you know, sometimes it's like, why are they doing that? And I think that helps. I think it honestly helps us be better people in the real world whenever we can sit and look at it in the fictional world, you know, So.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: I mean, you guys, I mean, you talked about, you know, obviously Instagram and you're posting these reviews and you're doing these things on, on social media.
And one of the stuff is that one of things I like about sharing these reviews and reading these things and getting these advanced copies of getting things books before. Before they go out is the connection to the real world in the sense that, like, you mentioned that you talk about, like, real, true hauntings. They're based on true stories. But like, a lot of the books we read and you mentioned it was.
Excuse me. Oh, my God. Going off. Perfect, perfect. Right, right. We talk about podcasting times. No, but like the things that are connected to real world things. So it's fictionalized parts, but, like, they have a true theme to them. I just read Saratoga Schaeffer's trad Wife last. Last week or week before that. And it's based on trad wife lifestyle on Instagram and social media.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: And.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: And that's a thread. It's not based on a true story that's based around a trad wife, but it's about the idea of this social media, you know, influencing being a trad wife and a traditional wife. And so each of them have this in it.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: But.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: But when you're finished reading the book, you're like, that's fake. Like, it's still not real. So that still gets me to say, I can do this. I can continue reading my books, I can continue watching my movies. You know, go to bed sleeping. Okay. And know that it's a fake thing. But yeah, you know, it's a. It's a world we live in. But yeah. So social media, I was talking about before I got into that little tangent. You both are on social media. You both have a pretty good following.
I will say Matt has more following followers than you on Instagram, Anna, just so you know, he does.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: Oh, I'm very. I'm very aware.
First the Patriots, now this. Really?
[00:13:38] Speaker A: But no, it's this thing. And so do you. I guess both of you and Matt, you could start off, if you want, with answering too. Do you feel that you have pressure being on Instagram and having to read specific things or be a specific way? Like, if you wanted to read randomly or like, I want to read an Emily Henry book. Do you feel like you don't read that because you have a following that would not care about that? Meaning that you need to have to kind of like fit yourself into a specific spot on your Instagram? Or do you just read what you want and share what you read?
[00:14:12] Speaker C: Great question.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: I mean, do you want to read an Emily Henry book or is that. Is that. Was that the good question part?
[00:14:19] Speaker B: And if so, which one? Great one.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: I mean, I just. I just read a Nicholas Sparks Book, so there's that too.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: So I could not name an Emily Henry book if you asked me to. Sorry, any.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: I have one over there somewhere.
[00:14:32] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great question.
So I try. Obviously it's hard to parse out like what I'm picking out because I'm so influenced by what I read, by what I, my friends are reading on Bookstagram and like what other accounts are.
So I've discovered so many amazing authors since I've joined Bookstagram, both traditional and indie. And it's, it's hard to say, but for the most part I read what I want and I will post a review about it if I want to. It just happens to be that I read mostly horror, but I also, I do kind of wish that I could step back and read like a little bit of like some crime thrillers and stuff like that.
Obviously there's like essay Cosby, who, he kind of, he plays up really well with the horror crowd. He's kind of, I almost consider him horror adjacent just because his books are so gritty and violent and.
Yeah, just such. That's a great question, Justin.
Yeah, I try.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: I, yeah, well, I mean I, I came, I come from, I started the Case and Tights podcast, the Capes and Tights website, stuff like that with the idea of comics. It was mainly just comics, comics, comics or comic book related things and movies. And then it kind of evolved from there and so on and so forth. So at the very beginning of transitioning from just comics alone to doing comics, books, movies, tv, all this stuff was the, the, the, you know what I owed the people who were following me because they followed me because of the comics. Am I going to lose people because I started to drift into two prose novels and things like that. Am I going to leave lose people because I'm doing horror, a lot of horror stuff or whatever. And then I thought to myself, it's mine. I do, I do what I want. If I lose people, I'm hopefully going to gain people because I have a mixture and a variety of things on there. So I did have that from the beginning. Yes. If I were to post something or any of us were to post anything about Emily Henry, no offense again, Emily sells a lot of books. There's a lot of readers for Emily. This is not shaded. Emily, my wife reads Emily Henry books. That's why I have some on the shelf over there. I just can't see them. It's too dark over there.
But if I wrote a review about one of those books, people would question me. The only reason I read a Nicholas Sparks book is because it was written with him in M. Night Shyamalan. And so that's why that book came even into my purview was the fact that it was an odd combination of a romance novel novelist in a horror or some sort of unique thriller movie maker. And so that's why I came into my purview in general. But no, I just like that. Is there. Do you owe anybody or anything or are you just there to do it and the followers come. That's what it is. It's what it is. It is. What it is is. Anna, do you agree with that?
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, for the most part. And I want to give Matt a compliment too, because Matt is really good at like building community because he does like. So Matt will host like read alongs or like form group chats based on books. Like we're all reading at the same time. So like, that's how I got to be friends with Matt was like, just because of the same books that we were reading at the same time.
And since we're like, you know, obviously whenever like arcs come out and we fall on a similar schedule and reading and stuff, that becomes more easier sometimes than not. But, you know, I think that you do a really good job of building community. I just wanted to give you your flowers for that before we get to in the trenches of the social media stuff. But to the point about like pressure and like what we're reading and whatever. You know, I started the Bookstagram page before I did review, before I did anything else. That was what was first. And so I was reading like whatever the hell I wanted. Like, I think I was like, read like the Secret History by Donna Tartt and like the Red Rising series. And then like, I fell more into horror and then like, that's where it went. And then I started reviewing and then like the one thing that I do, I don't know if pressure is the right word, but I feel very aware of like, what, what I'm doing is that whenever we pick up a book that's not out yet, and this is like a small soapbox about like publishing, but I know a lot of publishers ask us to not review or not share like a lot of press about a book until release day. And I've just found that that's been a little counterintuitive to actually supporting the authors and the work that we really, really appreciate. Right. The whole entire reason that I started reviewing was one, I found Rachel Harrison's books. And it was a life changing moment for me. So I was like, if I can help somebody else find a book that means as much to them as these books mean to me, then I'm going to do it. So then I started reviewing. And so then it became really paramount to me that I get out there and I get my voice heard so that that happens for the readers. But then I started thinking about it on the flip side as well. Once I kind of had, like, a little bit of success with that, is that, you know, the authors could use help too, like, getting their stuff visible and, like, getting out there. And, like, you always hear, like, pre orders are, like, the biggest metric that determines their success. And then, like, you don't want anybody talking about it for. So again, that's like my small tangent on publishing. But, you know, like, that was. That's the only point of, like, pressure that I feel now with choosing what I read. So, like, the way that I've kind of chosen to think about it, because I'm. I do review when I can, like when I have the time to sit down, write a review, which feels few and far between these days. But I started doing the podcast where I, like, I interview authors and having conversations about their books because I felt like that was a better way to reach people these days. Like, I would love to say that my reviews are doing the really hard, cutting work, but I'm going to be honest. I know I ramble and I write really long ones and not everybody's there to sit down and to read all of that. I get it. So let's. Let's put it in their ears, because a lot of people are accessible that way.
So I started doing the podcast. And so for me, I was like, okay, in order for me to feel like I'm spending my time wisely and doing what I feel like I should do, given that I have the ability to do it, I'm gonna spend, like, seven months out the year arc reading. Seven, eight months out of the year arc reading and doing the podcast. And then whatever falls what may within the other two or three is what it is. So right now I'm scheduled out till December. I'm like, if I can throw in some fun episodes, that'll be great. But, like, I have two more books to read for the podcast. And then after that, like, I still haven't read Interview with a Vampire. I need to read that. Like, I want to go read that now. Like, that's what I'm in the mood to go read.
I still haven't read, like, the Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I want to go read that, so.
[00:20:47] Speaker C: Oh, you guys need to.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: I know it's one of those things that trying to like. I was trying to like, how many things can I fit in October? Oh, it's just the month to do it in. And I'm like, oh, let's do it. And I'm like, oh, I can't. I don't have time.
[00:20:58] Speaker B: It's literally. It's the worst. There's not enough hours in the day. But so I guess to say, like, I don't. I'm never trying to do it to gain followers or anything like that. If that happens, that's great. If I'm reaching people, that's great. But I do know that if I'm gonna do this and, like, make it worth my time, I'm gonna do my very best to, like, get what I'm trying to get out there. And, you know, and I know that for the people who have books coming out, getting podcasts out on pub day are really important or talking about it. Promoting and doing the reviewing beforehand is really important. And that's gonna inform my reading for, like I said, seven, eight months out of the year. And so I'm willing to do that. And it's books that I want to read. Don't get me wrong. Are there times that I'll go to pick up and read, like, this isn't even like a real thing that's happened to me lately, but just for instance, like a possession novel, and I'm looking to read a ghost story instead. Sure, there's stuff like that all the time, but I think that I have a lot of care for the authors in the genre that at this point, I don't want to say that those facts don't matter because they obviously do, but I'm just there for a good story. That's the bottom line. So whatever form that comes, that's what comes.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: I'm glad you made that soapbox argument of arcs and reviews and when they get published, because it doesn't happen.
It's depending on the publisher sometimes. I realized that more recently, Flatiron, and I'm just call them out for a second, has said to me, can you wait until a specific date? And I even. I read Future Boy, which is Michael J. Fox's new book about being, you know, in the Back of the future series and all that stuff. And I read that book three months ago and in the return back email back to me saying, hey, can you wait till publication date to publish your review? I Was like, cool, I'll read it, I'll review it, I'll schedule it. It'll be out there on 1014, which this episode comes out after that. So as a recording, it comes out on Tuesday.
And I even emailed Christopher over at Flatiron. I was like, is there any way I could post it today? Which was Friday? And he's like, no, can you wait till actual publication date? To me, I'm always like, I don't know. I just feel like if I can get one more person to go to the store and pre order this book, you know, last week sometime, that's one more sale that I feel like you can get. And I feel like on the day the publication comes out, aren't we all gonna be just, you know, noise?
There's so many out there on the day that publication comes out, if you can have it be like, hey, can you wait to do yours a week before? And someone else is all two weeks before? And I just feel like if you have them coming out sporadically, it's not noise. But if everything comes out on one day, especially if, you know, smaller people like ourselves, our review might get so pushed down because of the fact that the New York Times has featured it, or so on and so forth. And so I've always thought that was weird because I also work, like I said, I work with comic book publishers, which is a horrible industry for promoting books because of the fact that they don't know half the time. I usually get my review copy to review a comic book on Friday and the compa comes out on Wednesday.
And so you're talking like, I get it on Friday. So like, even. Not even like, hey, can you have your review done by then? Like, you can't even, like, read the comic ahead of time to try to prepare for this. Like, I literally get it, have to read it, comprehend it, maybe read it again, and then write a review by before Tuesday so that hopefully people can get out there. But they. The pre ordering is six weeks ahead of time.
So you're pre ordering six weeks. They don't even have to review copies out to people until three days before the actual book comes out. So on the comic book side, they wish they could get it out earlier. And it seems like on the public, on the book publication side, it seems like they can get it out earlier, but they want you to wait. It's a weird.
I don't know why it's like that. But we listen, right? We want these arcs. So you listen and you publish it when they want you to publish it.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Well, and I will say this because I've thought about the flip side. I'm like, okay, what is going on that would determine this from happening? And I know that social media is a lawless land, as I'm sure you can attest to.
So I get, you know, we're all. I. And this is like, where I kind of like, try and back off a little bit on the soapbox. But, you know, we're just the public.
We were just an email address to these publishers and these publicists who we're talking to. So I understand, like, they don't know me. They don't know, like, that I feel socially responsible about these things. Like, they don't know, you know, for all they know, I can go and be like, this was trash, you know, two months out and I'm taking sales, you know, and that, and I've seen that happen before with like, you know, not regulated publicity. So I know it can happen. But I do think that. I just wish that there was almost like a, an outreach team or like an intermediate, like some, some in between, between the publishing business wheelhouse, the actual networking and social media side, and then like us who are doing the, you know, helping with all this stuff. Because I do think that if you build relationships with people and you get to know them, then you would be more willing to let stuff go, you know, you know, a little bit earlier.
And, you know, I've talked to authors about it too, because they don't, they don't really understand it either. They're like, you know, they keep urging us for pre orders and like, how, how can I do that? Whenever, you know, we're, you know, I hear that they didn't, they, they didn't even know that we were told, hey, don't push this out until day of. They're like, what? That's crazy. But I also get the flip side if you're letting just anybody say anything, and that's also a little scary too.
[00:26:06] Speaker A: And you can't filter it. You can't be like, send me your review. And if they like it, then it goes to public. Because then it seems like they're only sharing the positive reviews. But I do think, and this is a question for both of you too, is because we do get, you know, as someone like myself writing capes and tights and you two on Bookstagram and doing reviews and podcast stuff is, is we get. Not inundated, but we get the cold emails too. Like, I get, I get every day I get an email saying, hey, because you like this one. You may like this one. And sometimes I'm like, how the hell did you connect the two of those things together? Like, sometimes I'm like, this is a young adult novel about a girl going to school and doing all this stuff. And you said that because I read King Sorrow by, by Joe Hill. I'm like, whatever, okay, that's cool. I get it. But every once in a while, I do get these emails. I'm like, God damn it, I want to read that book. It looks so good. I want that. And sometimes I get the email being like, you're not paying attention because I already read it and reviewed it. So, like, what's, what's. You know? But like, you mentioned, we're just a kind of an email address or a name on that. But the, the.
The.
I only read what I want to read, if that makes any sense. And that's probably like, you mentioned off the top, too, by talking about Instagram or reviewing in pressure, responsibility is that I always feel like my review is likely going to be positive for the most part. Like, you know, I would say that if you have an advanced copy of a book, it's probably going to be somewhere between three and a half stars or higher.
Not because of. That's just my rating system, but because if I choose to read a book by an author that I know, unless it's an absolute pile of garbage, it's likely going to be a positive review because I wouldn't take the precious time that I have to read a book that I am skeptical about.
And you do need to read those, because I do. You need to have the positives and negatives in there. But most of my negative reviews are books that came out three or four or five, six years ago, something that's already been on the market, and I read it because I need to read it, or I feel like I'm obligated to read it because of something else or the sequels coming out. So I might as well, you know, read the original book. But the most part I feel bad because I'm always looking at my ratings. I'm like, that's pretty high rating system. But then I'm like, but I choose to read the books that I want to read. Like, these are good books. Like, why would I have any other way? So. So I can see where you're coming from in. On the high, like, like making sure that not everybody can say anything. But in the truth of the matter is, if you as a person, not a huge corporation like New York Times, yeah. Choose to read a book, you're likely going to like it because you're not going to take. If you're. If you're. If it's so risky, you're going to pick the next arc, in my opinion. And that's. I could be speaking out of turn there, but, like, the most likely. All the list of books you have to read, the one that you've heard hype about, Matt, saying other people on the Internet have talked about it, is the one that you choose, in all likelihood, it's going to be positive. Like, you know, not that I'm saying that we're saying we're only positive reviewers, but I'm just saying, like, because you have to choose what you're reading. If I'm reading a Stephen King book because I want to read through his back catalog, it's probably going to be mostly positive because I'm going to read the books like the Shining, and I'm going to read the books like the Stand, and I really shouldn't have negative things to say about this book.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: Well, I think.
[00:29:03] Speaker A: But otherwise, yeah, you can be critical.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: You can, like, you can definitely be critical of things. But I think that part of, like, the social responsibility that I was talking about was like, I don't. And you know me, whenever I send you my reviews to post, it's never below, like, four stars. But I think it's part of curating your reading list and paying attention to what you enjoy. That's one part of it. But also, like, I never. And I think, Matt, I think, like, we've talked about it before, like, just in other times. Like, we don't ever want to generate a place of negativity. Like, if it's not for you, it's not for you. That's fine. Like, there are so many freaking books out there. So, so many. And there is something for everyone. So all I can say with what anything I do is I'm talking about the things that worked right for me. And if you align with me on my page and what I talk about and what I think, then odds are you're going to like that thing. And additionally, what I try to do, even if it's not my favorite thing, like, there have been books that I've read that I didn't absolutely love, that I've interviewed authors on, but I know that that's a book for somebody, and I know how to market that book for those people.
So just being responsible to say it's not objectively bad. It was just not for me. Like, that's fine. And if you don't want to spend the time on it, then that's great too. But I think that it's just about be. I think it's just like having an approach that's, you know, appropriate for the masses and not. Not being harmful, like, and just having respect for the art, man. Like these people spend so much time on these books. Like I. I am not somebody who has written a book to it's finished. But like I paint and I draw and I. All I can think is like, if I spent all these time, all this time on this piece and before it ever even gets to like see the light of day, people are shitting on it. I would lose it. It, like, I would lose it.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: Well, I have, I have a problem with the one star reviews of debut authors sometimes. Like, it's not that you shouldn't give it. Like, it's not like, oh man, if the book is really bad, that bad. I understand where you're going from on this. But like also this person's just starting and right off the bat, an advanced reviewer is giving someone a one star review of a book that's like I said, not just independently released or something like that. Someone that's on an actual like, you know, top five publisher or something like that. I've always just been like, you're just kicking them before they even get started. And I just feel like it. To me it's like, I don't know, it's just in bad taste. I'd almost rather not review the book.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: Like not even give it a star. Not even think just maybe mark it on Goodreads as read and just move on. Then give someone that bad a review that early in their career. Because I'm just like, you know, it's just the beginning. They're just getting started, you know, you know, the earlier books for a lot some people. I've read a lot of people's earlier books. People who are really good writers now and they're not the greatest. And so part of me is, like I said, we have a social responsibility as well as a. I guess, I don't know. I just that that before it even hits the masses and you're sitting there crapping on a book. It's just, it's just hard. I understand. And I'm a person who does creative stuff. I do beer labels right during the day for a brewery. And I get frustrated or stressed or whatever when the people in my office, the four people I need to show the label to, don't like it that I know that are my friends. Like, I can't imagine what it's like being an author and having a critical review two months before a book comes out and from people you don't know.
So I just, I can see where the people are coming from on that for sure. But yeah, it's a, it's a crazy, crazy thing. And it's like I said, you have somewhat of a responsibility being an advanced reviewer to do not the.
[00:32:23] Speaker B: I said the right thing to be honest. But yeah, to be, to be honest and to be discerning. But like, I think as well you do carry some power. If you're like, this is bad and this is the first, this is the first thing from that person. You don't. And like my favorite thing is like, you don't have to have an opinion on it. Like, you can just be like, didn't work for me right now. Maybe it's like not. It's not the day or the month of the year for me with this. You don't have to have an opinion. So that's always like, my favorite thing is like, there is a third option. C. I just don't know right now. And that's okay.
[00:32:52] Speaker A: Still a favorite. You're like, oh, we suck. That book sucked. I don't like slashers. Well, it's a slasher book. So I don't know tell you on that. Like, that's not the problem with the book. It's not a title to the writer. It's not a problem with the writing. It's literally your opinion on what you don't like for a genre, sub genre of this. But yeah, Matt, you were saying.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's just important to be constructive.
Like Anna said, writing a book is hard. And there are artists who put all these hours, weeks, months of their lives into this.
And if I don't quite click with something, I'm not just going to come on, oh, this sucks.
I wish I had never read this.
I think it's totally okay to say why you don't like something. I think that you should. I think if you're going to post something constructive or negative about a book, you have to say why you need to articulate. And so like when I review on Bookstagram, I don't use star ratings. Like I'll put star ratings on NetGalley and on Goodreads just because that's the nature of the beast on there. And I've kind of always done it.
But I prefer to have my words read. Like, why I thought something was good or something maybe didn't quite work for me, or these are the things I loved about it, and these are the things I didn't quite love about it.
But if you love these things, then you may like it. I kind of follow the Sadie Hartman rule of, you're trying to find, like, take a book and find its readers. Like, there's a reader for pretty much every book out there and just trying to match that together.
[00:34:40] Speaker A: There is. So. So I was just looking quickly on one of my Goodreads and negative reviews that I've done. I'm not going to name the book. People can find that out themselves. But my biggest takeaway was the fact there was too many people. And as a person who has some disadvantages in the world of keeping track of things and being very all scatterbrained, that sometimes too many people ruin it, doesn't mean the book was bad, doesn't mean the writing was bad, doesn't mean the subject was bad, but just some. The choice of the author to include six people in there instead of two people in there made the book not unreadable, but just harder to read for me. And so there's that. That by explaining that to people that. That. That's the reason why I didn't like this book. That's a personal opinion on this. And what that would do is other people who have a very same mindset as myself would then go, okay, maybe this is a book. Not for me, it looks like a good book, but maybe I'll just skip it because of that. Not because the book was bad. Some people were like, I don't have a problem with that. Then they go to read and they love it. It is what it is. But I think that's one of those things you mentioned about just being constructive and being positive. Not. I've seen it on people's books, like, screw this book. Don't read this book. And that's all they wrote. I'm like, well, why.
That doesn't really help me at all now. What that does is make me want to read it more. And now I want to understand why you're like this, why this person was so blunt about this and didn't actually go into detail. But yeah, it's a. It's. It's, you know, it's community. And that's what we talk about. That's. I think that's the big thing. I think it's the takeaway from. From. This week is Horror Week on the podcast in talking books with you two Is there's a community here that I honestly don't think. And again, I sit in this community because I love horror and I talk to a bunch of horror people and I read horror books. I'm part of a horror book club that meets up every month.
Is this community seems different than any other book community. And there is same people that put this book club on. It's Gibran's Book Club, Briar Patch Books in Bangor, Maine. They put a book club on for horror, but they also have a romance book club.
And I've even heard some of the people are in both, which they just like to read and they pick both book clubs up. But even the romance book club, there's like a community, but it's not nearly the same.
I feel like the. The horror community has each other's backs and I just feel like that's what I read online and talk to people. When I went to Spooktastic and saw you, Matt, it was a lot of this was like, oh, hey, how's it going?
[00:37:03] Speaker B: So on and so forth.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: I just don't see the same. And like it's. I'm not deeply entrenched in all the other communities that are out there in the book world, but it just feels so different and I can't always put a finger on why, but I know that this horror community is always there. I feel like, you know, whether it's recommending books or welcoming a child into the world or buying a new home or whatever, it's all these people care about each other in this community. I mean, do you guys agree with that and can you pinpoint something more than I'm mentioning here? Like, I just don't. I guess I just can't always put my fingers on it.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: Matt, I'll let you do a stab at that.
[00:37:38] Speaker C: Oh boy.
As far as pinpointing the reason why, it's. That's definitely a thing though. Like you were like you were saying at Spooktastic the first like over hour I was there, it was just constant. Like, hey, I know you from online. Like I've never met you before. Or hey, I saw you last year at like it's. Especially in New England, we're pretty close.
So you see a lot of the same people at events. But even just online, the sort of camaraderie, there's so many different pockets. Like the Talking Scared Discord, for example, is a really great community.
Bookstagram, like doing all the book clubs and stuff. I think it's just having that shared like horror is kind of one of those things. Like, yes, there's some mainstream. It's gotten into the mainstream a lot, but it's still like one of those kind of like, fringe things, like the average person on the streets, like horror, you know what I mean?
Like, we're kind of like the little. We're kind of like the weirdos off to the side. And so when you find a fellow person, like, horror lover, it just immediately, like, you have something in common. Like, it. Sometimes it's so hard, especially where everyone's so divided right now, to find something that brings everyone together. And that love of horror is just one of the strongest things. Like, if I find out you're a horror fan, I'm not gonna stop talking to you about it. Like, probably annoyingly so.
[00:39:11] Speaker A: But it means, as you mentioned, it's mostly positive. I, you know, I. There is obviously this negativity. We talk about social media here. You're talking about Bookstagram, you're talking about having, you know, 5,000 plus followers on the. On that platform there. It's a negative place. Like, you know, I mean, we've all talked about this, how negative social media can be. But, like, I feel like in the comic book industry, like, the comic book industries again, yeah, we were a bunch of nerds. We're the outcast. People don't really want to talk to us and things like that. They're very, you know, oh, you read funny books. Like, oh, that's what's weird. But there's a lot of negativity still in the industry. Like, there's still like, this weird negativity in comic book fandom that I still haven't felt. And maybe I'm just oblivious to it because I'm having such a fun time and I'm long for the ride, but I just don't see it in the horror community. It's a lot of building up a lot of. Of promoting each other's books from authors, from author to author. It's a lot of people promote, oh, I've read that book, you should read that book kind of stuff. And I just. I don't know. I, you know, and I do see that too. I'm guessing you. I mean, there is negativity, I'll tell you that much right now. I had someone message me because I hated a Stephen King book, and they were like, how dare you? And all that stuff. And so, like, I felt like, if that's the negativity I'm gonna get, I'll take it. But, like, you know, other than That. I don't. I don't. I don't know.
[00:40:25] Speaker B: That's.
That's your rite of passage. Somebody has to yell you about a Stephen King book at some point.
[00:40:31] Speaker A: I'm like, he's got like 50 plus novels out there. Like, I don't like them all. Like, you can't. It's not possible to like them all. But yes.
[00:40:38] Speaker B: So, no, I mean, I agree. I think so. There's. There's two parts to this, I think. One, the horror community on the whole, does feel very positive for a lot of reasons. I do think that there is some work and some ways to go about how we talk. Talk about some things and treat each other on some things, but that's a whole different, you know, debacle. But I think on. On the whole.
And this is like my. My grand psychological take on all this horror is like, you. You have to, like, face down the thing, right? Like, there's no, there's. No, not a lot. I'm not gonna say no. There's not a lot of, like, fluff. There's not a lot of, like, yes, oh, we'll skirt around this and we'll come back to it. Or, oh, you know, like, a lot of horror is dealing with our trauma. A lot of it's personal. Or it starts off that way, you know, for a lot of, I think authors and then like, readers too, is like, oh, my God, I had this, like, personal reaction to this book. And then this is why. And it's like one big, like, trauma bonding is sometimes it feels like. But even more so, I just think that there has to be a level of, like, honesty whenever you're reading and talking about horror, because you're. You have to be honest about what frightens you and what makes you vulnerable. And those are like the two big no nos, right? And like, human nature that we're like, we don't talk about those things, but here we are, the Freaks Nature who are like, yeah, let's talk about and figure out why.
And like, I agree with Matt, like, to what he said about feeling like you automatically have, like, that instant connection whenever you find somebody else who does like horror. Because as somebody, like, I live in Louisiana, like I said, my family's not really into horror. I don't have many, like, in person friends here who are into horror. And it can, at times, it can feel incredibly isolating because it's like, what do I, you know, like, what. You know, what do we do? And then. But like, luckily, I have made so many friends like Matt Being one of them online. And then, like, whenever I do go to, like, and like, Matt, you didn't make it to Stoker this year. But, like, if I were to go to Spruch, I know I could walk up to you, Matt, and be like, give you the biggest hug. And we would talk and it would be fine. Go grab lunch if we need it, like, you know, whatever.
And I had that experience at Stoker. Like, I met so many people that I knew online and they were all, like, super welcoming, super, like, supportive. If you need anything, you let me know.
Is there still things that need work? Absolutely. There are certain ways that I wish that we were, you know, like my feminist soapbox. That I wish that we talked about women's horror and, like, that it was just horror to begin with. Like, all that kind of stuff. The way that we're treating some of the, you know, things with indie publishing compared to trad publishing, like, all of those things that we, you know, are huge topics that I don't even want to start to get into because I just don't want to. I want to be able to do them justice. Yeah, those are there. But on the whole, I think a lot. There is a lot of good in the horror community, but I think it's because we're having to be raw and vulnerable with one another. I don't think there's any getting around it, unfortunately, with horror. Yeah, right.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: I mean, it's true. I mean, you have to be. It takes a special person. And I've lived that my entire life, basically, at every big genre or big pop culture thing that I've been into, I've been. And maybe that's because I asked for it more. Like, I've been the outsider of things. Like, I listened to a lot of heavy music. And so people are like, how can you deal with a screaming?
I understand. I've listened to it my entire life. I like it. I just listened to it. When the Boy Scout people came to the front door, they were probably scared.
And that's how it is. My son, like, head bangs in the back seat is. It's great. I'm into comic book books again, you know, and now it's got a cider thing and it's become more mainstream, just like horror has recently because of, you know, big budget films and things like that, in the popularity of things. But then horror. So it's harder for me because it's great. I have this big collection of books that are 90 horror, and I'm like, who wants to borrow a book and everybody's like, oh, that. Yeah. And I'm just like, it's like. And so it's asking, it's like, obviously I put this on myself because that's what I've been into. But maybe I like being the, the, the outsider, you know, maybe I like being this person that's part of this like niche. Again, it's not niche because it's obviously a mass, a massive genre.
But like it's fun. And I think that's probably what it is. And I'm probably not the only one. And so because of that I can come together with like minded people and say like we go to a spooktastic for an example. They're getting a lot of hype on this. It happens in September in Massachusetts is you are all the same people.
You're white, you're black, you're female, male, straight, gay, it doesn't matter. I mean, you go to this place, it's like we love horror and I think that's what's huge about it. I think that like, you know, you mentioned Anna. Yes, there is some, some, some space and some place to work in this, but for the overall large scheme of things, when you go there, you can give Matt a hug, you can hang out, we can talk and we can just nerd out over Sid talking about horror stuff, books, things like that, and it's just awesome. And that included the vendors that were outside selling horror themed trinkets and things and random stuff outside. It was really cool. I mean we saw the, the mix of, of horror and music with one of the panels we went to Matt in Horror in this and horror and that and so on and so forth. So yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a.
Having to explain it to people is always fun to people. Like, what are you reading? And so on and so forth. Especially when I'm reading like a Chuck Tingle book. That's even more fun to try to explain to people.
I had my Aardvark book club book thing came in from, from Lucky Day and had the special edition with the foil. I don't know if you guys saw that one. I don't know if it's one of the ones you guys got, but the book came in obliterated. Like some postal delivery driver like drove over it. They had something against Chuck Tangle, I guess. I don't know. So I emailed Aardvark and I was like, hey. They're like, no, no, no, no problem. We'll send you a new one. But the book was read like the whole corner was smashed in, but it was like it was legible, like you read it. And so I was like, I don't want it because I want the collectability of it.
But a buddy of mine, I'm like, do you want this book? And I was trying to explain to him who Chuck Tingle was, who had no idea who Chuck Tingle was. And I'm like, don't Amazon search him, please, because you will not read this book. And it's not the same, I promise you.
And he read the book. He's like, that was phenomenal. I was like, it was, it was a great book. But it's so funny. Like some of the other titles, you might be just a little bit put off just because of how weird they are, not because of what the subject matter and like that. It's just the names of them, the covers, things like that are just kind of obscure.
And it was just kind of trying to explain that to someone. They were all like, I'm going to book club tonight. Oh, what would you read? It's a horror book. Nevermind. I'm like, ah, God damn it. Like, no, it's a really cool place to be.
But speaking of favorite, we were talking about the community and things like that and so on, but this is the time of year we're getting the time of year of favorites of the year, compiling the list and so on, which can be really hard, honestly. We talk about what's your favorite favorite horror book. You're like, God damn it. There's not really a. I do have a favorite, but like it's really like a favorite five that, that like kind of rotate and talk and depends on what it is. Like my favorite book of all time in the horror genre is Clown in the Cornfield. Which to people, some people are like, ah, it's young adult horror. You know, it's. It's one of Adam Caesar's better books.
But there's also. I love Adam Caesar. I don't know if either one of you have ever met Adam. Adam is a amazing human being who, who loves horror as a whole. Movies, music, books, comics. And so that gives that book a little bit more oomph to me. I don't know if you've ever read a book where you like when you met the author and the author was so amazing, the book got a little 10 jump in how much you like the book. But yeah, so there's that. But. But really, let's be honest, Salem's Law is probably my favorite book. If that Makes any sense because it's got more oomph behind it and history to it and so on and so forth. But do you guys, either one of you have that one or two favorite books that you want to share that that is all time favorites for you?
Anna, you're going first. You pushed Matt.
[00:48:15] Speaker B: Okay, I was about to say Matt, dammit. Okay.
I mean, everybody I think who's ever talked to me knows that I don't shut up about Rachel Harrison's work. I mean, you could pick any of her books. But Such Sharp Teeth is like the horror book that met me where I was at, shook my hand and said, hey, let's go, let's do this. Yeah, one's always going to be very, very special to me, no matter what. And then like with every book that she puts out, it's just getting better. So this year, Play Nice is just like absolutely doing it for me, for everybody. I mean, she's having so much success with it. And I will plug it endlessly beyond that, like C.J. lee, another one, American Rapture, when that came out last year, just like rocked my socks off, like, had me. I don't think I've ever had such an emotional reaction to a book to where I was just like bereft for.
[00:49:01] Speaker A: The Catholic school too. So that, yeah, exactly.
[00:49:03] Speaker B: There was, there was multiple layers to which that book hit and. But it's just so crazy whenever, like you read something from somebody else that like CJ is living out in California, you know, at the time, and I'm over here in Louisiana, and somehow there's this shared DNA of like, holy shit. You know, like, we all went through this at some point. So those, those are the ones that stick out. And then like, same thing with Liz, Karen and everything that she writes. She's just, just, you know, she's just there.
[00:49:29] Speaker A: We need more. Yeah, come on, let's go.
[00:49:32] Speaker B: I could not agree more.
[00:49:33] Speaker A: I hate putting pressure on people like that, but I'm like, you can't release amazing book after amazing book like the two of the night. And Night was it Night's Edge. And yeah, like, you can't release those two and just not releasing it. I'm sorry.
You could have a moot book that's kind of mediocre and be like, okay, I'm done for a while. But no, when you have two excellent books come out, then you're like, I'm all set for a little bit. No. So I know she had a baby and you know, there's a bunch of other stuff that's going on too. But like Matt and I actually, I think Matt's going. This episode will already be out or will be out after we've gone. But we're gonna see C.J. in. In New Hampshire, right? Are you going to that?
[00:50:04] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:50:05] Speaker A: Yeah. So CJ and Clay. Clay McLeod Chapman will be there too, which Clay is a phenomenal person as well. But Mayfly is one of my favorite books of all time too. So there's the CJ lead on that as well. And the other one that I had on there was Rotters by by Daniel and Krause.
It's again another young adult horror, but it was one of those ones. There's an older Daniel Krauss book that again got me kind of started in the industry of reading horror books. But Matt, what do you got going on over there?
[00:50:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean my all time favorite's it by Stephen King, but you're also.
[00:50:35] Speaker A: 1, 2, 3 and 4 because it's about as long as four books.
[00:50:38] Speaker C: So yeah, for real, like you could just. That and the stand that can keep you busy for like a whole summer.
[00:50:44] Speaker A: You keep a door open, you could beat a robber where they're probably breaking to your house. There's a bunch of things you could do with those books.
[00:50:50] Speaker C: But yeah, as far as like more modern books that I just absolutely love, I will recommend to pretty much anyone. It's the only good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. I could recommend pretty much any of his books.
And A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, that's one of my all time favorites. That, that was one that I actually read, I think a little bit before I joined Bookstagram. And it just blew my mind with. I was like, horror fiction can be like this. And I thought about that book so much after and I wanted to find people who had read it to talk about it. And so that's part of what really sparked me searching for these kind of communities to talk to people. Because I was like, I just read this, I'm losing my mind. I need to talk about.
I need to talk about like the ending of this book.
[00:51:46] Speaker A: Well, that's the problem with reading arcs in general, in my opinion. I'm always like, I just like talk to them in anish. You talk to the creator, the writer and you're like, ah, I get to talk to you about it. But like now I want to talk to more people about this and I can because not only have to wait till pub date come out, but then you have to wait for someone to read it. So you know with people's TBRs and all that stuff, maybe they won't read it for months on end. I'm like, please people, just read this book. I want to talk to you. And that's what's great about your book clubs, Matt, is that you actually get a chance to read things together and talk to other people who are like minded on that stuff. Yeah, it's awesome.
[00:52:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I read the Buffalo Hunter X Hunter like super early before like the majority of people. I have literally like a bound manuscript copy.
So I co run Stephen Graham Jones Book club with Tony's Horror Corner on Instagram and we got the book early and Tony didn't read it for a little while. So he was busy with work and a couple of the other people who had it. So I was like reading this book and I'm like, I can't talk to anyone about this and I really, really want to talk about it. So definitely one of the, I mean I'm super fortunate to get books early when I do, but sometimes it's like, yeah, I can't talk to anyone about this until more people read it. And like King Sorrow is the same way too. I don't know if you guys have read that or not.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: I'm about 50 pages left, so I'll probably finish it tonight. I just, I, I waited and waited and waited because it's daunting. I hate to say it when you're, when you're over 500 pages, 450 pages, I'm like, anything over that, I'm always like, okay, I want to do this. It's probably going to be good. But it just, it just gets pushed and pushed and pushed and I'm like, well, I want to get a review up right on pub date. So like, let's hope, let's hope to read this. And so I was able to and then I crushed it, obviously. I got to, I'm like, God, I want to continue reading this book. But yeah, it's a, it's a daunting book. It's almost 900 pages.
[00:53:38] Speaker C: So yeah, that book is in contention for my favorite book of the year.
I want to say I can't commit. I can't commit to it, but it's in contention.
[00:53:48] Speaker A: So speaking of that, we want to, we want to keep this around an hour. So let's just, I want to, let's do some rapid fire kind of things in here, but if you could give some, some recent reads in 2025. Not reads from 2025, but books that came out or about to come out in 2025 that you have read. Is there any that you would recommend? You know, you can just rattle them off if you want. You don't have to go into why, just. Just explaining who they are, what book they are and who they're by.
If you want to do that, Matt, just name a couple of them. I have five. You can name five, but you can name as many as you want or as little as you want.
[00:54:20] Speaker C: Okay, some pressure here.
So just to avoid saying so, there's obviously the ones that everybody's been talking about this year. When the Wolf comes home. Like Anna said, play nice. Which I haven't read yet. Sorry, Rachel Harrison. I will read it soon.
[00:54:35] Speaker A: I can kick him off the podcast right now if you want me to.
[00:54:40] Speaker C: You can invoke my Rachel Harrison fan club card.
[00:54:44] Speaker B: No, this is fine.
This evens things out after the Patriots comments.
[00:54:51] Speaker C: As far as some books that I read this year or that came out this year, CS Humbles, Amid the vastness of all else saga just blew me away. I read all of them while I was on paternity leave actually over the summer. And it was just.
If you have not read any CS Humble, they're horror westerns, but they have so much heart. And he really does not pull back on the horror. There's some romance in there. There's like all kinds of stuff through those. But that's a series from shortwave.
Where the Soul Goes by Katherine Silva is one that I just read. She's a local main author here.
Just an awesome book, culinary.
We alternate 80s dystopia kind of book. If that sounds like your kind of thing.
Yeah, I'll let Anna.
Yeah, Anna, what do you. What do you got?
[00:55:48] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. Well, I have my Goodreads open in front of me, the books that I've read. And I'm about to. I'm about to like, roll. Okay. I want to see how many I can do, how quickly I can do it.
Okay. So the film you were about to see by Haley Newlin is an indie published book that I just read. I absolutely loved it. It gave me like Carrie vibes, but like in a slightly different sense. And it was just. It was so. It was short, it was sweet, it was like perfect. I loved it so much and I really want to talk to Haley about it.
Her Wicked Roots by Tanya Pell is another book that I really enjoyed, but it's like one of those books that's like so gothic and dramatic. Yeah, you're holding it up, Justin. It's so dramatic. I was just like, like, hooked on it. Like, I had to find out what was gonna happen next and, like, what was actually going on. Broken Dolls by Ali Maloneko. I don't read a lot of middle grade horror, but that book, like, did it for me for middle grade horror. And it is, like, so raw and talks about grief in a way that's just, like, so tangible. I loved it very, very much, and I think that it needs its flowers for horror nonfiction. Scream With Me by Eleanor Johnson. If you listen to me or talk to me at all. I've been screaming about this book for, like, the last few weeks. It's just like, it's a very easily readable nonfiction book that is not boring in the slightest because she interweaves like, like, horror movie plots with history, so it moves very quickly.
Itch by Gemma Amore. I just, like, don't even have words. It's like, so. It's an angry feminist book. So, so good. Galloway's Gospel by Sam Revlon. I don't know what that dude's on, but his imagination is just wild, and I love it so much. That book is unhinged in the best way possible.
The October Film Haunt. If you were into, like, that weird, like, this might be real and this book might be curse vibe, read that Somewhere in the House of a.
Yeah, Summer in the House of the Departed by Josh Roundtree. I need to read more of his stuff, but that was a, like, recent quick read that I had of his. Really, really love that one. Tangibly, like, very. Like, you could reach out and touch the nostalgia in that book and the grief in that book. Just like, absolutely superb. Fiend by Amakatsu. If you like Succession and you wish that it was more horror themed, you need to read that obviously Shit show by Chris Pantiere. I don't shut up about that book either. You think it's gonna. You think it's gonna be one thing, and it's something completely different in the best way possible.
Chuck Tingle's lucky day. We talked about it already, but he just doesn't miss. He's just absolutely phenomenal. And then the last one I'm gonna throw out before I stop is gonna be, let's see. What Hunger by Katherine Dang. Which is a little bit more like speculative fiction, literary horror, I would say, than like, straight up horror. But if you're into cannibalism and girlhood and coming of age, then you have to read that book. It is so freaking good. And that takes me back to, like, this summer. So if you need more just message me because there's so many more.
[00:58:19] Speaker A: Well that's great and that's great and I think it's also we also one of the things the idea that how different the genre is and how many different spots there are and how many different books there are from from indies to tops to a big traditional publishing and all that stuff is that even my books that I'm going to tell you right now really quickly are slightly different than what you guys are talking about. But we all either have read or liked or just didn't mention. King Sorrow didn't really make that list because I haven't finished it yet. So it's hard for me to say. I mean it could not that's going to but the last 50 page could really suck and make make it go. That was really good for for 850 pages but the last 50 pages weren't good. I'm very unlikely but most likely it's gonna be good. It honestly I don't know if this if you felt this way too Matt. It honestly made me and maybe it's weirdly the the impression of having Joe Hill and Keith Rosin together in that room in Bangor that one night. But it screamed like Keith vibes. Like I don't know, Joe Hill had Joe Hill vibes to it. But like for some reason the King Sorrow could have been like if you were like oh, Keith Rosin wrote this book. Like oh, I can understand that. Like it just for some reason streamed the same style of book that Keith would write. And so that's kind of why I liked it a lot more too because obviously I like Joe Hill a lot as well. But Bleed In, Breathe out by Brian McCauley, a huge slasher fan. Love Final Destination, so there's just that too. And then the meditation in Serene part of it as well. That juxtaposition is amazing. Shining Happy People by Cleveland Cloud Chapman Young Adult Horror which is I think up and coming. It's. It's one of those things that I've always said that we used to get goosebumps and then there was like Stephen King with a few people in between. They were doing horror, but very rarely did you have someone who does adult horror who then steps down and does a young adult or middle grade horror. I say down, but I meant down in age, not down in quality. And to see someone like Clay make some pretty friggin scary books and then step toned down a little bit to make a book like Shiny Happy People was awesome.
We are always tender with our dead Eric Larrocca is writing some pretty crazy horror. And I think that, like, Eric's gonna be making books for a long time. It's just. It is what it is. I tell you that much right now. Anything from the killer VHS series, but this long Low Whistle is my favorite out of all of them so far. And I'm a big fan of the series. So saying that is a huge thing. And there's a horror part of the very beginning of that book that is a real life based on real life tragedy or, you know, what would likely be like real life tragedy that I'm like, this is just the beginning and it's a novella. So you're like, this is not much left to tell in this story. But it was amazing. And at the beginning of that book's amazing, it's by Laurel Hightower. And then I mentioned Keith Rosin. Coffin Moon was phenomenal.
You know, I've never really been into vampire stories until, I don't know, past two years. A lot of these vampire stories have been coming out from different people have been phenomenal. And Keith just kind of turns it on its head and does a little thing you see with Buffalo Hunter Hunter shirt on. Matt is just repping there. But yeah, no. Yes. Those are some of the ones I've read this year that I absolutely love that we're like, you know, Widow's Peak of Widow's Point was amazing too, by Chismars and stuff like that. So there's a bunch of good stuff out there. But like I said, all of us had a little bit something different, which was really kind of cool. I think that's a huge thing to say about the horror genre. In whole, what I will say is that we're in good hands. Right? I mean, I feel like we're gonna. Every. Every week you're like, oh, what am I gonna read next? And you're always like, there's something worth reading out there for sure. Do you guys agree with that?
[01:01:38] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I do have one question I want to pitch to both y'.
[01:01:41] Speaker A: All.
[01:01:41] Speaker B: Since Matt, you did read King Sorrow already, and Justin, you're almost done. So I get married in like two weeks and I'm trying to pick what I'm gonna bring on the honeymoon and that I think King Sorrow might be like my. My one read that I bring because 1. It's huge. But, like, is that good?
[01:01:57] Speaker A: Because it is a heavy book, so.
[01:01:59] Speaker B: Well, I have. I have the E copy, but, like, is that good vacation reading or no? Yes or no?
[01:02:09] Speaker C: Are you flying anywhere?
[01:02:11] Speaker B: Yeah, multiple Times.
[01:02:15] Speaker A: Are you afraid of something being in the book that has to do with flying? That. That might look.
[01:02:20] Speaker B: I watched Lost, like, at an impressionable age, so I'm already kind of cooked when it comes to that, so.
[01:02:25] Speaker A: So just tell yourself it's fake.
[01:02:26] Speaker B: It's.
[01:02:27] Speaker A: All you need to do is tell yourself this is not real. This is a fictional story.
It's hard. I don't know, because I've heard, like.
[01:02:34] Speaker B: Some people say it's heavy. I heard some people say, like, I can't put it down. It's so freaking good.
Like, depending on who I talk to. Yeah.
[01:02:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think it's worth it. I mean, it's one of those things that you also. If you have some time to do it, it's just.
Yeah. And I actually listen to it Hybrid. Because I have.
[01:02:48] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[01:02:49] Speaker A: The. The EARC as well as I was able. Libro FM's advanced audiobook reader.
And so I got the digital copy on October 1st, and so I kind of, like, do in the car and thing. And the audiobook's really good too, because it's mostly narrated by one person, but there's some cool sound effects and some other conversations and every once in a while. So if you look at the actual narrator list, there's like 15 people on it. But the truth of the matter is the number one person is actually doing, like, 90% of the book.
But, yeah, there is a section about a plane. That's why Matt was mentioning that in the book.
[01:03:21] Speaker B: Book. I guess the bigger question is, like, does it pair well with the pina colada? Like, I don't think any horror book would. Honestly. I think that we just have our own unique flavor of. Of enjoyable.
[01:03:36] Speaker A: I think most. Like, you mentioned the whole idea, trying to explain it to people. Most people, like, are you crazy? You're on your honeymoon. You should be reading, like, love romance stories here. There. Like, what's going on here? Why you read a horror movie or horror book.
Yeah, it's. It's long. So, I mean, if you're gonna be reading a lot of book and you want to finish it the whole time, that's. I guess that's the benefit to it, is you want to read one book your entire honeymoon. I could understand that being it, but.
[01:03:56] Speaker B: That'S part of the appeal of it. Of, like, just, you know, like, I'm not. I'm gonna sit down and I want to, like, spend time in a story that feels like the kind of book that you just kind of end up losing yourself in.
[01:04:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[01:04:05] Speaker B: So that's. That's my argument for. For doing it.
The other flip side is everything else about it being a horror book and a. A fantasy book where a lot of people die. So, yes.
[01:04:16] Speaker A: Well, it's like I said to me, I'm like. There's moments where I'm like, oh, this is definitely horror. Then this woman's like, this is just fantasy. And. Which is okay with me because. But it also shows after I read the book, like I said, I'm almost done with the book, is that it shows that a lot of thought was put in it over the past 10 years. You know, I mean, like, it's been, what, nine years since Joe Hill has come out with a book. And so it shows a lot of effort has gone into it. I'm excited for his 10 books in 10 years kind of promise he's made now, because I want more Joe Hill. But I'm also understanding after I finished this book, why and how much, like I said at the very beginning, it was kind of daunting. And it was like, oh, my God, do I really want to put this into this effort, into this? And as I got, like, 25% in, I'm like, okay, I'm in it for this, for the long haul. Now I'm ready to go. Let's do this. And I. And I, like, you know, like, I section off kind of time. Like, I'll give myself two weeks to read this book. And I'm, like, finishing it in, like, seven days. And so, like, to me, it was just. I just kept on turning the pages and wanted to know what happens next and. And so on. I don't know. Matt, do you agree with that?
[01:05:10] Speaker C: Yeah, we don't get very many books like King Sorrow anymore in publish, at least in horror fiction. I mean, there are some people out there writing, like, some chonkers, like Chuck Wendig and stuff, but, like, the publishing industry is, like, shorter, like. And I love a good short book, but there was just something really special about picking up King Sorrow and just getting lost in the pages. It gave me that same feeling I had when I read the Stand for the first time. Or like those other kind of big, chunky, long books where you just really.
That have great characters and just a propulsive plot. And that's. That's King Sorrow.
[01:05:51] Speaker A: And what I will say is, frustratingly for someone who knows that I don't like to read many, many long books.
Is that it? The way it's separate ways, divided up in the book? It's also called they're called books. Which also frustrated me because I'm like, well, why wasn't it multiple books then? What the hell are you doing to me? No, it says book. So it also gave that you accomplished something vibe. I feel like sometimes what I don't like about long books is that there's no like, like spot to go, oh, I've accomplished so much so far. If it's just chapter after chapter after chapter, you just realize you're like, okay, when is this gonna end? Even though it's really good, this there was like, okay, got to end of book one. And you're like, cool, I accomplished something. This is amazing. Like, there's a story to it. And then the story continues with book two, and so on and so forth. I mentioned that to someone the other day when I said my local bookstore was like, it'd be easy for someone to come out, for William Morrow to come out and say, this is gonna be a three book series. Because we can charge 29 a book for each book that's 350 pages long and get 90 bucks out of this entire series. Or we could charge you $29 and give you a 900 page book because, like, so they're not making any more money off of being longer because this book isn't going to cost 50 bucks on their shelf do I mean, like, so it's really good to see that you mentioned, man, that there's only. There's not many people doing this in publishing. And I think Joe Hill kind of gets away with it too, because his dad did it. But like, I think that there is something special about this book and I think that it's going to be. I think it's going to be instant bestseller. And so if you want to be on that vibe and on that train, and yes, I think that you should read it.
[01:07:18] Speaker B: Okay, we'll do. I also, like, for the record, do get like dawn, like I. When it's a big book like that, like, I get scared. I'm like, oh, what if I get lost in the. You know, whatever. So, because I felt that way about the stands, why I put off reading the stand for so long. But no, it's very easy.
[01:07:34] Speaker A: A 900, 1200, 900, 1000 page book to be 200 pages in and say, ah, this is okay, and decide that it's not worth the effort to finish the other 800 pages. Just DNA math. Like, it is easy. A 200 pages out of a 300 page book. You're like, I might as well finish it. Even if I don't like it or not. That's where I am at on that. One of the longer books is that or if it's a book series. You know, if I read Clown on the Cornfield one night and I didn't like it, then I wouldn't read 2 and 3. Which means that you're not finishing that 900 page book because you only read, you know, the first 300 pages. So that. That's what I can see myself with. No, I think there's enough at the very beginning in that book that got me just entrenched about the characters that were in the book book that I really cared about what was going to happen next. And the twist that we get kind of towards the beginning of what happens, why the book is 900 pages long is. Is enough that you'll get that first day of your honeymoon or second day your honeymoon, let you have a first stage drinks, a pina coladas, do some things. Then it's. Then it's into King's Start.
[01:08:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:08:29] Speaker A: Then tell your husband, say, hey, you do your thing. I'm gonna read Kingside.
Yeah. Don't send us any pictures of you over in the corner. Your husband's over there doing whatever he wanted to do and you're over there doing nothing.
[01:08:37] Speaker B: Oh, let's be real. Let's be real. He knows what he signed up for. I mean.
[01:08:41] Speaker A: Yeah, he doesn't get married yet, so he knows that. Like. Yeah, see, I got into horror books. I'm. My wife and I have been together for seven years. She. I got into this after we got together, so now she's in it and I changed. You're. You're going into this this way?
[01:08:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:08:54] Speaker A: Same thing with you, right?
[01:08:55] Speaker B: He's fully aware of it. He invested in it by getting the ring. He signed up for it, so should not be surprised in the slightest.
[01:09:03] Speaker A: Just, I mean, and it was kind of like you could have gotten a small ring and just give me some book club, bookstore book books tickets. I mean, you could have just bought me books instead. It's fine.
But no, it's fun and it. Yeah, I think it's. I think it's well worth it. I do think after you finish it, hopefully they'll come back and be like, I had a shitty honeymoon. Thanks, guys. But I hope it's.
[01:09:22] Speaker B: There's a part two of this. There's a part two of this episode. It's gonna be.
[01:09:25] Speaker A: We just come on here. We just stand there. Matt and I just sit here and Anna just berates us for what we didn't know she wouldn't like, but I know it's amazing. And I said, this is a cool thing. And I think this won't be the last time we do this. I think this is a fun time to have conversations. And I think now that we've kind of gotten to know each other or let people who listen to the podcast or watch the podcast know a little bit about you two, we'll do this again in the future and talk about maybe a specific topic or so on and so forth. I do do a. I do. Do. I do a Comics of the Year episode at the end of the year with my buddy who runs a comic book shop. Maybe that could be an annual tradition here where we do Books of the Year, and we come on towards the end of the year and do an episode with the two of you on that. Or sometime in the middle of October or, sorry, the middle of summer, we do Books of the first half of the Year or whatever it may be or something like that. But it'd be kind of cool to do that.
But, Matt, what's your Instagram handle?
[01:10:16] Speaker C: Yeah, it is booksanddrams.
That's pretty much where you can find me most of the time. I'm on Blue sky, and I have a substack that I haven't posted on since, like, February.
Need to get back on that. So, yeah, come follow me.
Send me a message. I have a couple book clubs that I run. I also have a Paul Tremblay book club called the Paul Bearers Club.
And we are currently doing a reread of Horror Movie right now, and we've been kind of reading one every couple of months.
[01:10:51] Speaker A: I will say, that's another one. And if you've read Horror Movie and want to reread it, listen to the audiobook. Oh, yeah, the audiobook. Horror Movie is phenomenal because it's. It's. It's the multiple people. So that's another thing. You have multiple people listen, narrating it. But there's times in the movie where they're reading the script and they reread the same line over again. And Paul actually had people message him and say, hey, you know, your audiobook's messed up. He goes, no, no, that's what it would be like. If someone was reading a script, they'd reread that. Oh, I didn't get that right. Let me try it again. And so they put that into the actual audiobook, which made the experience like nothing else. Like, I'm a big audiobook and physical Book reader and there was something special about horror movies. So if you do end up joining the club or a part of that club and you haven't read it before, try the audiobook. But like, if you've read it before, try it again as a horror. As the audiobook, because it's phenomenal.
[01:11:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:11:43] Speaker A: And Anna, where you can people find you?
[01:11:45] Speaker B: Oh, I'm everywhere on Instagram, I think I'm Anna Rose, Read Reads on Blue Sky, Twitter threads, you can find me of, like the same variation. I also have the podcast, which is Anna Rosaries, the podcast, which is on Spotify, Apple podcasts, substack and YouTube all underneath the same name. I obviously submit reviews for you, Justin, for kids and Tight. So if you ever want to read those, you know where to find those.
Yeah, again, I'm just kind of everywhere. I'm all over the place doing whatever.
But I do want to thank you, Justin, for putting this together because this has been a great time. Me and Matt have been friends for a while, but I do like that we've had like an actual structured order podcast or like a meeting opportunity where we're not just like yelling at each other about books for the next, like, hour and 35 minutes.
[01:12:33] Speaker A: So, yeah, thank you so much for putting it together. I'm so happy. I'm so pumped we are able to do this. And again, let's do it again in the future for sure. Unless people are complaining and shit all over us for our episode here.
Maybe I'll do it just out of spite if they do decide to say that. So leave all your negative comments. I don't care. Comments. A comment on social media, we. We all know the algorithm doesn't matter what you say. Is the comments good?
No. I definitely appreciate you two taking your time out of your days. I know you know, you're busy. You're getting ready for a wedding. Matt's got a kid and a wife and I've got kids too. So this is a. Is a big thing. And obviously we got work and day jobs to do as well as we're taking him away from reading guys, like we should. We could be reading books right now and we're talking to. On a podcast. Podcast. But no, we'll get you guys back. Both back on the future. But again, thank you so much for taking the time out to chat horror here on Horror Week for the Capes Tights podcast. But yeah, we'll get. We'll get in touch again soon. Sound good?
[01:13:21] Speaker B: Sounds great. Thanks, Justin.
[01:13:23] Speaker A: I appreciate it.
[01:13:23] Speaker B: Thanks.
[01:13:24] Speaker C: Thanks so much for having me on Justin.
[01:13:36] Speaker B: It.
