This week, reviewer, podcaster, and one of the Ladies of Horror Fiction , Tracy Robinson joins us to discuss body horror and her work on the forthcoming release of the Sci-Fi & Scary charity anthology, Twisted Anatomy: A Body Horror Anthology , benefitting the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and the National Domestic Violence Hotline. We also talk about the Shudder exclusive film, May the Devil Take You Too , Matt gives a progress update on his reading of Laird Barron's Worse Angels , and...
Feb 11, 2021•1 hr 11 min
Author Hailey Piper ( The Worm and His Kings ) joins us in the Abyss for an in-depth discussion of masks, identity, and control as we explore Eugie Foster's Hugo Award-nominated and Nebula Award winning story, "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast." We also talk about DC Comics's The Three Jokers , Stephen Graham Jones's The Only Good Indians , the anthology Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women , and Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula . Plus, Matt's latest reve...
Feb 04, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Author Jessica Guess ( Cirque Berserk ) joins us in the Abyss to discuss Gwendolyn Kiste's feminist recontextualization of Dracula's first victim in the short story, "The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra's Diary)." We also discuss Brandon Cronenberg's feature film Possessor and why Matt is so afraid of Cool Whip, Ronald Malfi's latest novella Mr. Cables , the works of Christopher Pike and RL Stine, and the folk horror novel The Five Turns of the Wheel by Stephanie Ellis. ...
Jan 28, 2021•1 hr 20 min
It's our super-sized 50th Episode and we celebrate with a special Listener Mailbag. This week, the Abyss gazes back! You asked, we answered. We also discuss the Halloween release of the Creepshow animated special, the latest Benson & Moorhead film, Synchronic , the non-fiction book Behind the Horror , Chris Sorensen's trilogy capper The Messy Man , and Gemma Amor's Girl on Fire . ( Originally recorded November 1, 2020 ). The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is...
Jan 21, 2021•2 hr 3 min
Author and podcaster Matt Wildasin joins us this week to discuss the children's classic, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark ! Along the way, we also talk about the Shudder Exclusive movie, The Mortuary Collection , Castle of Sorrows by Jonathan Janz, Jonathan Raab's The Crypt of Blood , The Haunting of Bly Manor , and Borat 2 . ( Recorded Oct. 25, 2020 ) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 ...
Jan 14, 2021•1 hr 29 min
Author John Langan ( Children of the Fang ) joins us in the Abyss to discuss Ramsey Campbell's enigmatic 1976 short story, "The Companion." Before we dive into our in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion about "The Companion" and its hidden meanings, we also talk about The Haunting of Bly Manor , The Science of Stephen King by Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence, and the Shudder Exclusive movies, Scare Me and Host . ( Recorded Oct. 18, 2020 ) You can read "The Companion" by Ramsey Campbell for free onlin...
Jan 07, 2021•1 hr 36 min
This week, we're talking about Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor , Andrew Pyper's White House horror novel The Residence , Matthew M. Bartlett's Gateways to Abomination , Mr. Suicide by Nicole Cushing, and Time Waggoner's Writing in the Dark . Then, it's onto an in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion of our horror story of the week, The Freakshow by Bryan Smith. ( Recorded Oct. 11, 2020 ) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purple Planet Music and is used here under the terms of a Creati...
Dec 31, 2020•1 hr 25 min
This week, we discuss some recent streaming horror releases and deliver our thoughts on the Hulu original series Monsterland , the Shudder exclusive movie Scare Me , Amazon's Utopia , and Netflix's The Babysitter. Plus, find out what Mike and Rich did to end up in Twitter jail! Then, it's onto our spoiler-filled discussion of this week's story, Matt Cardin's religiously-fueled cosmic horror tale, "Teeth." ( Recorded Oct. 4, 2020 ) You can read "Teeth" in Matt Cardin's collection, To Rouse Leviat...
Dec 24, 2020•1 hr 13 min
Author Villimey Mist ( Nocturnal Blood ) steps into the Abyss to discuss vampires, travel, the pandemic, and our story of the week -- the Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella Dear Laura by Gemma Amour! Plus, we review Christopher Nolan's latest movie, Tenet , Max Booth III's We Need To Do Something , Laurel Hightower's Crossroads , Graveyard Smash , Jeremy Robert Johnson's The Loop , and a few more new horror releases. ( Recorded Sept. 27, 2020. ) The theme music, "Insidious," was created by Purp...
Dec 17, 2020•1 hr 41 min
This week, we're examining the horrors and social commentary of Brian Keene's extreme horror novel, and ode to Edward Lee, Urban Gothic ! We also discuss the recently released Shudder Exclusive film, Spiral , the forthcoming Junji Ito Funko Pops!, Ali Seay's horror debut from Grindhouse Press, Go Down Hard , John Langan's Children of the Fang , and the debut issue of Cullen Bunn's Cyberpunk 2077 tie-in comic, Trauma Team , from Dark Horse Comics! ( Recorded Sept. 20, 2020 ) The theme music, "Ins...
Dec 10, 2020•1 hr 15 min
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 Lice...
Dec 03, 2020•1 hr 45 min
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 Pla...
Nov 26, 2020•1 hr 8 min
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 Fo...
Nov 19, 2020•59 min
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 L...
Nov 12, 2020•1 hr 28 min
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 Magazi...
Nov 05, 2020•1 hr 8 min
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 Purpl...
Oct 29, 2020•1 hr 35 min
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 ...
Oct 22, 2020•1 hr 52 min
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 ...
Oct 15, 2020•1 hr 24 min
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 ...
Oct 08, 2020•1 hr 25 min
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, "Insid...
Oct 01, 2020•1 hr 17 min
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...
Sep 24, 2020•1 hr 33 min
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 Mu...
Sep 17, 2020•1 hr 33 min
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 Attri...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr 29 min
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...
Sep 03, 2020•1 hr 17 min
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 ...
Aug 27, 2020•1 hr 22 min
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 And...
Aug 20, 2020•1 hr 32 min
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...
Aug 13, 2020•1 hr 26 min
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...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 27 min
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...
Jul 23, 2020•1 hr 39 min
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 Amaz...
Jul 16, 2020•1 hr 22 min
