228 – Sophie White & An Island of Formless Dread

Ready to hear a conversation about some devastatingly dark things?   Sophie White and I have got you covered!   In this expansive chat, we talk about her calculatingly distressing novel, Where I End – in which an isolated island community plays host to the worst, cruellest kind of loneliness. And that books is a springboard for others things, psychosis, weaponised empathy, real-life atrocity and the way that all that darkness can seep into a place forever.   But then we also have a good old chat about books we love, and we swear a lot… so there’s a bright side.   This is a key conversation for me. A pivotal episode.   Enjoy!   Other books mentioned:   Recipes For a Nervous Breakdown (2016), by Sophie White Corpsing: My Body and Other Horror Shows (2020), by Sophie White Apt Pupil (1982), by Stephen King The Yellow Wallpaper (1892), by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Girl Next Door (1989), by Jack Ketchum Sharkheart: A Love Story (2023), by Emily Habeck The Lamb (2025), by Lucy Rose Tender is the Flesh (2017), by Augustina Bazterrica Lunar Park (2005), by Bret Easton Ellis Our Wives Under the Seas (2022), by Julia Armfield Follow Me To Ground (2018), by Sue Rainsford   Support Talking Scared on Patreon   Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch   Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social  on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices