Castle Talk with Jason Henderson

Tonight we're chatting with Faye Snowden, author of the new book A Killing Rain, brand new from Flame Tree Press.About the Book:After former homicide Raven Burns returns to Byrd's Landing, Louisiana to begin a new life, she soon finds herself trapped by the old one when her nephew is kidnapped by a ruthless serial killer, and her foster brother becomes the main suspect. To make matters worse, she is being pursued by two men— one who wants to redeem her soul for the murder Raven felt she had no choice but to commit, and another who wants to lock her away forever.

Tonight we're chatting with Erica Friedman, author of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga. It's been called “the untold story of lesbian love in Japanese anime and comics.”About the AuthorErica Friedman is the founder of Yuricon community, and was the first publisher of Yuri manga in English, with ALC Publishing. She holds a Masters Degree in Library Science and a B.A. in Comparative Literature, and is a full-time researcher for a Fortune 100 company. She has lectured at dozens of conventions and presented at film festivals, notably the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. She has participated in an academic lecture series at MIT, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Harvard University, Kanagawa University, and others. She has edited manga for JManga, Seven Seas and Udon Entertainment, most recently Riyoko Ikeda's epic historical classic, The Rose of Versailles. Erica has written about Yuri for Japanese literary journal Eureka, Animerica magazine, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Dark Horse, and contributed to Forbes, Slate, Huffington Post, Hooded Utilitarian, The Mary Sue, Anime Herald, and Anime News Network online. She has written news and event reports, interviews Yuri creators and reviews Yuri anime, manga and related media on her blog Okazu since 2002 and is the author of By Your Side: The First 100 Year of Yuri Anime and Manga, coming out in June 2022 from Journey Press.

Tonight we're chatting with Ava Reid, author of JUNIPER & THORN (on sale June 21 from Harper Voyager), a gothic horror retelling of the Grimm Brothers fairytale “The Juniper Tree” and follows a young witch as she seeks to escape her abusive wizard father in Oblya, a city based on Victorian-era Odessa, Ukraine. Reid expertly weaves themes of femininity, desire, oppression, and progress into the dark fantasy of JUNIPER & THORN. Marlinchen and her sisters are the last true witches in the terrifying city of Oblya, where magic has given way to industry. Though their tyrannical, xenophobic father keeps them sequestered from the outside world, they sneak out at night to explore the city, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who captures her heart. As Marlinchen's feelings deepen for Sevas, the threat of her father's rage and magic grows; at the same time, a monster begins leaving dead bodies in its wake. Marlinchen must draw upon her magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it. It's a haunting horror fantasy tale with a layered, complex heroine – amid gruesome twists and turns, Reid crafts Marlinchen's story with compassion, exploring her trauma and building her tender romance with Sevas. And just as she did in her debut, Reid examines nationalism through the lens of magic and fantasy, combining her Ukrainian heritage and academic background to craft the city of Oblya, based on the port city of Odessa in Ukraine, and explore what it means for a city to develop and progress. JUNIPER & THORN has already been described as “darkly enchanting” in a starred Publishers Weekly review. A full list of content warnings is available here. I can't wait for you to dive in and hope you'll consider covering in June.Ava Reid was born in Manhattan and raised right across the Hudson River in Hoboken, but currently lives in Palo Alto. She has a degree in political science from Barnard College, focusing on religion and ethnonationalism.

This episode Jason chats with Jim Mahoney, writer and lead of GATLOPP. XYZ Films will release the supernatural comedy GATLOPP on Demand and Digital June 16, 2022. Check out the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4vidrbk2AThe film stars Jim Mahoney (Klaus), Emmy Raver-Lampman ("The Umbrella Academy"), Jon Bass (Baywatch), Sarunas J. Jackson ("Insecure"), and Shelley Hennig ("Teen Wolf”).In GATLOPP, a group of old friends reunites for a nostalgic evening of fun and games after a decade apart. After one too many, they decide to play a drinking game, but it's quickly revealed that this game comes with supernatural stakes. Mischief leads to mayhem, and the group realizes that if they can't come together to win the game by sunrise, they will be forced to play for eternity - in hell.GATLOPP was written by Jim Mahoney (Klaus) and directed by Alberto Belli ("The House of Flowers").

This week Jason chats James Byrne that is perfect for fans of Reacher on Prime Video!The Gatekeeper (releasing June 7th 2022) The gatekeeper of the title is Desmond Aloysius Limerick—aka Dez—a retired mercenary. When the California hotel Dez is staying in is attacked with ruthless precision by a team of highly-skilled mercenaries—out to kidnap the legal counsel of a military contractor—Dez is a one-man spanner in the works, foiling the attempt. Having saved Petra Alexandris from the kidnappers, he sticks around to help her with another corporate problem and the two fall down a rabbit hole so full of adventure (think military coups), intrigue, and nonstop action it's worthy of Bourne, Reacher, or Orphan X. James Byrne is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics.

Jason chats wiith Julia Lynn Rubin whose new book PRIMAL ANIMALS is just out from Wednesday Books/Macmillan.About the book:Midsommar meets "Yellowjackets" in this new YA horror novel where a girl gets sucked into a secret society at an elite summer program, with deadly consequences.Protect the girlsArlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” after her struggles the past year; that it will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways.Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she's developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she's tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in...until her new "sisters" ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger.Author Bio:JULIA LYNN RUBIN received her MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from The New School in 2017. A lover of film, psychology, and literature, Julia has been writing creatively since first grade, and her short stories have appeared in publications such as the North American Review. She currently lives in Brooklyn, where she is freelancing while working on her next book. Julia is the author of Burro Hills and Trouble Girls.

Tonight we're chatting with Leanna Renee Hieber about her upcoming contemporary Gothic romance novel, Ghosts of the Forbidden: Glazier's Gap Book 1, which will be released just in time for spooky season on October 11. The cover—and a special vintage-style “stepback” cover—were revealed this week at fantasybookcafe.com. Hieber's work includes the timeslip novellas in the Time Immemorial trilogy; the futuristic, paranormal novellas in the Dark Nest Chronicles, beginning with her Prism Award–winning space opera novella Dark Nest; and the Gothic gaslamp fantasy books in the Strangely Beautiful, Eterna Files, and Spectral City series. (Plus she has written a couple of essays on Gothic fiction here, “Penny Dreadful's Betrayal and the Complexity of Feminism in the Gothic Tradition” and “The Gothic as a Canary in Fear's Coal Mine.”)Check out the cover reveal here: https://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2022/05/cover-reveal-for-ghosts-of-the-forbidden-by-leanna-renee-hieber/Find the book and pre-order at Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3Ny53ny

Tonight we're chatting with Fernando González Gómez, co-director of The Passenger or La Pasajera, in Theaters June 3, 2022 and On Demand and DVD June 28, 2022. The film had its World Premiere at the 2021 Sitges Film Festival in which it was nominated for the Audience Award.THE PASSENGER (original title: La Pasajera) stars Ramiro Blas (“La Fuga”), Cecilia Suárez (“The House of Flowers”), Paula Gallego (“Cuéntame”) and Cristina Alcázar (Cachorro). The film was co-directed by Raúl Cerezo (feature film debut) and Fernando González Gómez (Zombie World 2) based on a screenplay written by Luis Sánchez-Polack (Como Caido Del Cielo).SYNOPSIS: A group of strangers sharing a ride have their trip interrupted when the driver hits a woman hiking in the dark of night. They decide to help her, but quickly learn that something is wrong and that they shouldn't have let her in at all.

Tonight we're chatting with Neal E. Fischer, author of Being Patrick Swayze: Essential Teachings from the Master of the Mullet. Find it here: https://amzn.to/3MMwpq7Neal E. Fischer is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and pop culture fanatic. Neal cut his teeth as a musician and performer on stage before ultimately transitioning behind the scenes. Neal's credits include the award-winning documentary 10 Mountains 10 Years, narrated by Anne Hathaway; #WhoKilledHeather, an innovative branded web series; and many short films and features screened at festivals around the world. Neal also directs commercials for brands such as Dunkin' Donuts, Wisconsin Lottery, and Cars.com, the latter of which was shortlisted for awards at Cannes Lions.You can hear Neal's bad impressions and obscure movie references each week on Triviality, a pub-trivia style podcast recorded under the watchful eye of its patron saint of podcasting, Patrick Swayze, whose poster proudly hangs in the studio. He lives in Chicago, IL.

Tonight we're chatting with Russell Owen, writer and director of Shepherd, in theaters May 6 and on Demand and Digital May 10th. In the film, a young Scottish an takes a job as a shepherd on a desolate island following the death of his wife, where he is haunted by loneliness, guilt, and increasingly nightmarish and haunting visions.

Tonight we're chatting with Keoni Waxman, writer/director of The Ravine, which is released in theaters and on demand and digital from Cinedigm on May 6. The film stars Eric Dane (“Euphoria"), Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), Peter Facinelli (The Vanished), Byron Mann (The Big Short), Leslie Uggams (Deadpool) and Kyle Lowder (“Days of Our Live”).In THE RAVINE, when an unspeakable crime rocks a peaceful community, family and friends are left to wonder if they overlooked the murderer among them or if there might be more to the story. Inspired by true events, this haunting thriller stars Eric Dane, Teri Polo, Peter Facinelli, and Leslie Uggams.

Tonight we're chatting with Chris Cullari and Jennifer Raite, directors of the new film THE AVIARY which Premieres April 29 In Theaters and Digital and On Demand From Saban Films — The film follows two women (Malin Akerman and Lorenza Izzo) on the run from an oppressive and controlling cult led by Seth (Chris Messina), and the lingering hold it has on them despite the distance they so desperately try to put between themselves and the desert facility they used to occupy.

Tonight we're chatting with Kiah Roache-Turner, director of Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, out in digital in the US April 14. Directed by Kiah Roache-Turner and produced by Tristan Roache-Turner, and co-written by the two, the film is a sequel to the 2015 breakout hit Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, and it follows the character Rhys as he realizes the life he's been living in a zombie-infested wasteland has been a lie, and instead of helping to find a cure for the virus he's been helping a mad man destroy lives — but after he captures a mysterious half-human half-zombie he may actually be able to save his world for real.

This episode of Castle Talk, Jason chats with Kate Dolan, writer and director of the new horror film You Are Not My Mother, releasing March 25 in theaters and on VOD. You Are Not My Mother marks the feature debut from Dublin-based filmmaker Dolan, 2022 Dublin Film Festival Discovery Award recipient and Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Rising Star nominee. Say the producers about the film: It's the week before Halloween. Char's bedridden mother, Angela, has mysteriously gone missing. All that remains is her abandoned car parked in the middle of a field. When Angela returns home to their North Dublin estate the following evening without explanation, it becomes clear to Char and her grandmother, Rita, that something is amiss. She might look and sound the same, but Angela's behavior has become increasingly erratic and frightening, as if she has been replaced by a malevolent force. As Halloween approaches, a night steeped in ancient Irish myth and legend, Char must unearth the dark secrets of her family in order to uncover the truth behind her mother's disappearance and save her, even if it means potentially losing her forever.

Tonight we're chatting with Alejandro Hidalgo, director and co-writer of THE EXORCISM OF GOD, in Theaters, on Demand and Digital on March 11th.THE EXORCISM OF GOD is directed by Alejandro Hidalgo (The House at the End of Time) from a script by Santiago Fernández Calvete (Sangre Vurdalak) and Hidalgo. The film stars Joseph Marcell ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"), María Gabriela de Faría ("The Moodys", "Deadly Class"), Will Beinbrink (It Chapter Two, "Dark"), Hector Kotsifakis ("Malverde: El Santo Patrón"), and Irán Castillo ("SOS Me estoy enamorando").Saban Films will release the horror film THE EXORCISM OF GOD in Theaters, on Demand and Digital on March 11th.

Tonight we're chatting with Mickey Keating, Director and Writer of Offseason, In Select Theaters, On Demand and Digital March 11, 2022.Upon receiving a mysterious letter that her mother's grave site has been vandalized, Marie quickly returns to the isolated offshore island where her late mother is buried. When she arrives, she discovers that the island is closing for the offseason with the bridges raised until Spring, leaving her stranded. One strange interaction with the local townspeople after another, Marie soon realizes that something is not quite right in this small town. She must unveil the mystery behind her mother's troubled past in order to make it out alive.TRAILER:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPtKRTlnWNAStarring: Jocelin Donahue, Joe Swanberg, Richard Brake, Melora Walters, Jeremy GardnerDirected and Written By:Mickey Keating

Tonight we're chatting with Guadalupe Garcia McCall on her new book The Keeper from HarperCollins.Inspired by a terrifying true story, acclaimed author Guadalupe Garcia McCall creates a twisty tale about a boy desperately trying to survive in a new town with a secret past.James always knew moving from Texas to Oregon was going to be horrible.. But no sooner have he and his family arrived in their "perfect" new home in their "perfect" new town than he starts getting mysterious letters from someone called the Keeper. Someone who claims to be watching him. Someone who is looking for “young blood.”Born and raised in Eagle Pass, Texas, Guadalupe García McCall is the award-winning author of many young adult novels and children's poetry. Guadalupe received the Prestigious Pura Belpre Award, a Westchester Young Adult Fiction Award, the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Children's Book Award, and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award and the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, among many other accolades. She is currently an Assistant Professor of English at George Fox University and lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest. She is an advocate for literacy, diverse books, and Own Voices.

Tonight we're chatting with Rio Youers, author of the new book NO SECOND CHANCES., out from HarperCollins this month.New York Times best-selling author, Joe Hill, called Youers' latest book, Lola on Fire, “…a novel that rivals Killing Eve in intensity and atmosphere.” NO SECOND CHANCES features the same “blinding speed” (New York Times Book Review on Lola on Fire) as his previous novel and follows a down-and-out actor suspected of killing his wife, a wannabe starlet new to the L.A. scene, and the vengeful drug dealer they both dare to cross. Desperate love, vengeance, and the precarious pursuit of fame are all at play in this wild ride. Fans of thrilling plots and psychological suspense should buckle up. ABOUT RIO YOUERSRio Youers is the critically acclaimed author of Lola on Fire, Westlake Soul, and Halcyon. His 2017 thriller, The Forgotten Girl, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Sleeping Beauties, a comic book series based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio lives in Ontario, Canada, with his wife and their two children.

Tonight we're chatting with Matt Serafini, the author of the new book Scared to Death from Encyclopocalypse, and what's fascinating here is that this book is a novelization for a movie that came out in 1980.Hailed as "one of the best new voices in genre fiction" by horror grandmaster Brian Keene, Matt Serafini's books include RITES OF EXTINCTION, FERAL, and UNDER THE BLADE, which Fangoria called "one of the best slasher films you'll ever read." His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthology collections and he is a screenwriter with his work making its way through the various stages of the long and arduous development process. His nonfiction has appeared in the pages of Fangoria and HorrorHound. Find him at mattserafini.com and on Twitter at @Mattfini.

Tonight we're chatting with Ricky Bates, writer and director of King Knight, in Select Theaters, On Demand & Digital Feb. 17th. About the Film:Thorn (CRIMINAL MINDS' Matthew Gray Gubler) and Willow appear to have it all as the revered high priest and priestess of a coven of new age witches. But a secret from Thorn's past throws their lives into turmoil and sends them on a trippy, hilarious journey.Starring: Matthew Gray Gubler, Angela Sarafyan, Andy Milonakis, Kate Comer, Johnny Pemberton, Josh Fadem, Nelson Franklin, Emily Chang, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Swati Kapila, Shane Brady, AnnaLynne McCord, Alice Glass, with Barbara Crampton, and Ray Wise playing MerlinDirected and Written By:Richard Bates, Jr.

Tonight we're chatting with Barbara Crampton about the new film she features heavily in, Alone with You, which comes to theaters February 4 and On Demand, Digital and DVD - February 8, 2022.About the film: Alone With YouStarring:Emily Bennett, Emma Myles, Dora Madison and Barbara CramptonCo-Written and Co-Directed by: Emily Bennett & Justin BrooksAs a young woman painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend, their apartment begins to feel more like a tomb when voices, shadows, and hallucinations reveal a truth she has been unwilling to face.

Jason talks to Michael Gingold, author of Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares from the '70s and '80s, a year-by-year deep dive into the Gingold archive, with more than 700 ads. Within its pages you'll see rare alternate art for film franchises such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, Jaws, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Exorcist. You'll also revel in oddities including Invasion of the Blood Farmers, Psycho from Texas, Dracula Blows His Cool, Zombie Island Massacre, Twitch of the Death Nerve, and many more.Gingold also provides personal recollections and commentary, and unearths vintage reviews to reveal what critics of the time were saying about these films.

Tonight we're chatting with Gracie Gillam, the title character of SUPERHOST, which comes out on VOD, Digital HD, DVD and Blu-ray February 1, 2022. In SUPERHOST, Teddy and Claire are travel vloggers who run a channel called “SUPERHOST” where they travel and share their experiences in and around vacation homes, and until recently, had become successful doing it. With a dwindling subscriber count, they find the perfect opportunity to create content that people want to see when they meet Rebecca, the host of their most recent trip. Slowly they start to realize that something isn't right with Rebecca, and as they investigate it further, they unlock a horrifying truth. She doesn't just want a great review, she wants something far worse.

Tonight we're chatting with Matt Glass and Jordan Wayne Long, directors of Ghosts of the Ozarks, which premieres In Select Theaters, On Demand and Digital February 3. The film stars Tim Blake Nelson, David Arquette, Angela Bettis, Thomas Hobson, Phil Norris and Tara Perry. About the film: In post-Civil War Arkansas, a young doctor is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks only to discover that the utopian paradise is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence.

Tonight we're chatting with Edoardo Vitaletti, writer and director of THE LAST THING MARY SAW, his feature length film debut, a Shudder Original Film premiering exclusively on Shudder Thursday, January 20.THE LAST THING MARY SAW stars Stefanie Scott (INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3), Isabelle Fuhrman (THE NOVICE, ORPHAN), and Rory Culkin (LORDS OF CHAOS, SCREAM 4) and has been a hit on the festival circuit leading up to its hotly anticipated launch on the platform. It follows the story of Mary, a young woman living in Southold, New York, in the year 1843. Mary finds herself in a loving relationship with Eleanor, her family's young maid, and what first begins as a story of religious punishment turns into something much more dark and wicked.

Tonight we have a special conversation with author Katharine Coldiron on the subject of bad film and The Valley of the Dolls, a film that has divided audiences since its debut—is it bad or do we even know what that word means?Katharine Coldiron is the author of Ceremonials and a recent book from PS Publishing on Plan 9 from Outer Space. Her work on film has appeared in many online journals and routinely appears for free on Twitter. Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 film directed by Mark Robson that follows three women in the entertainment industry.

Tonight we're talking to Lawrence Fowler, writer director of Jack in the Box: Awakening, a new film that follows on Fowler's film Jack in the Box, releasing Jan 18, 2022 (VOD, Digital HD & DVD) in the U.S. In the new film, terminally ill heiress Olga Marsdale acquires a mysterious gothic box containing a captured demon - Jack. The powerful entity within makes a deadly deal with Olga and her devoted son Edgar - deliver six victims to Jack and Olga will live.Lawrence Fowler is a multi-award winning Welsh Film Director and Writer. Working alongside his producing partner Geoff, Fowler Media Limited was born to produce genre feature films and TV projects for world-wide audiences. His 2020 film 'The Jack in the Box' earned a Best Feature Award at the British Horror Film Festival and held its premiere at prestigious Leicester Square.

Tonight we're chatting with writer and pop culture columnist Chris Buse, author of the novel "The Neon Graveyard," available on Amazon. The book spans sixty years of American history and popular culture and several genres, featuring a group of modern-day devil hunters. In the book, his heroine Idalis Troy must reclaim her identity, and perhaps her soul, as she comes face to face with the Fallen One.

Tonight we're chatting with Sean Nichols Lynch, writer and director of Red Snow (Out 12/28). In the film, a struggling vampire romance novelist must defend herself against real-life vampires during Christmas in Lake Tahoe.SYNOPSIS:When an injured bat transforms into a handsome vampire, struggling horror novelist Olivia Romo hides him in her garage to protect him from a vampire hunter. Besotted by the creature, she feeds him animal blood, but any chance of romance is soon thwarted when a gang of fellow bloodsuckers invade her home in search of their missing friend.Release Date: December 28, 2021 (DVD, VOD, & Digital)

Tonight we're chatting Tonight we're chatting with Michel Aronovitz, author of the new book collection of stories called Dancing with Tombstones. This new book from critically acclaimed genre author Michael Aronovitz collects some of his greatest stories that celebrate the beauty of the darkness in the world.•In the section titled GIRLS, you'll learn "How Bria Died," and will also meet "The Sculptor" in the story that inspired Aronovitz's full-length serial killer novel of the same name.•In the section featuring PSYCHOS, you'll feel the chill of the Anti-Christ in "Quest for Sadness," and fall prey to the most frightening circus creature on the face of the earth in "The Exterminator."•In TOOLS & TECH, you'll find out the dark secret of "The Tool Shed," and will also experience the full-length ghost-novella, "Toll Booth."•And finally, in MARTYRS & SACRIFICIAL LAMBS you'll experience hell on earth in "The Echo," and unwittingly release the darkest force of the forest in "The Falcon."With Dancing with Tombstones, the author of Alice Walks and The Sculptor deliciously thrusts us down the twisted avenues deep inside the haunt of our most secret repressions.

Today we're chatting with Cory Choy, director of the new film ESME MY LOVE, a psychological thriller starring Stacey Weckstein as Hannah and Audrey Grace Marshall as Esme.Synopsis: When Hannah notices the symptoms of a terminal and painful illness in her aloof daughter, Esme, she decides to take her on a trip to their abandoned family farm in a desperate attempt to connect before they have to say goodbye…See the trailer at: www.esmemylove.com.

Tonight we're chatting with Katharine Coldiron, who's just published the book Plan 9 from Outer Space from Electric Dreamhouse Press. Her work as a book critic has appeared in the Washington Post, the Guardian, NPR, and elsewhere; her work as a film critic has appeared in Bitch, Bright Wall/Dark Room, and Video Librarian. She earned an MA in creative writing from California State University, Northridge, and a BA in film studies and philosophy from Mount Holyoke College. Find her at kcoldiron.com.

Jason is joined by Tony Salvaggio to chat with Lars Nilsen, author of Warped and Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive, about the book, the phenomenon of the Alamo Drafthouse, and programming one of the weirdest and most fondly recalled repertory series ever.

Today we're chatting with Adam Ethan Crow, writer/director of Lair, a new horror film released by 1091 pictures.Adam Ethan Crow is a multi-award-winning writer/ director based in London, working globally. Buena Vista, The BBC, and Sky TV have all commissioned content from Ada. Lair (2021): When Ben Dollarhdye is accused of murder, saying he was possessed by a demonic force, Steven Caramore investigates his friend's claims, setting off a chain of events that forces a young family into a terrifying battle for survival.

Today we're chatting with Zin E Rocklyn, author of Flowers for the Sea which just came out in paperback from Tordorcom.Zin E. Rocklyn is a contributor to Bram Stoker-nominated and This is Horror Award-winning Nox Pareidolia, Kaiju Rising II: Reign of Monsters, Brigands: A Blackguards Anthology, and Forever Vacancy anthologies and Weird Luck Tales No. 7 zine. Their story "Summer Skin" in the Bram Stoker-nominated anthology Sycorax's Daughters received an honorable mention for Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year, Volume Ten. Zin contributed the nonfiction essay “My Genre Makes a Monster of Me” to Uncanny Magazine's Hugo Award-winning Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. Their short story "The Night Sun" and flash fiction "teatime" were published on Tor.com. Flowers for the Sea is their debut novella. Zin is a 2017 VONA and 2018 Viable Paradise graduate as well as a 2022 Clarion West candidate. You can find them on Twitter @intelligentwat.In FLOWERS FOR THE SEA, survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle…and their fangs are sharp. Rocklyn centers the story on Iraxi, a refugee that is ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince. Iraxi is also pregnant with a child that might be more than human, and her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.

On the release date of the bloody new vampire novella BLOODSUCKER CITY by Jim Towns from Castle Bridge Media.Join our select list of vampire experts and writers as they chat about the remarkable resilience of the vampire in media. Not only does everyone have a favorite but they tend to fight for it, from regal old-world romancers like Bela Lugosi's Dracula to the seething predator of Stoker's original, to femme fatale vampires like Carmilla, to sparkly lovers like Twilight's Edward. Where do YOU come down?Panelists:Jim Towns, director and author, American CrypticChristopher Farnsworth, author, The President's VampireLeanna Renne Hieber, author, Strangely BeautifulCharles R. Rutledge, author, Dracula's RevengeModerated by Jason Henderson, writer, Sword of Dracula

This week Jason chats with Catherynne M. Valente.She is the New York Times bestselling author of over two dozen works of fiction and poetry, including Palimpsest, the Orphan's Tales series, Deathless, Radiance, and the crowdfunded phenomenon The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (and the four books that followed it). She is the winner of the Andre Norton, Tiptree, Sturgeon, Eugie Foster Memorial, Mythopoeic, Rhysling, Lambda, Locus, and Hugo awards, as well as the Prix Imaginales. Valente has also been a finalist for the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. She lives on an island off the coast of Maine with a small but growing menagerie of beasts, some of which are human.Her most recent book The Past is Red came out in July and is an Amazon Editor's Pick as Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, and coming in just a few weeks, early November still very much the spooky season, is COMFORT ME WITH APPLES, a terrifying fantasy/horror story.Comfort Me With Apples is a terrifying new thriller from bestseller Catherynne M. Valente, for fans of Gone Girl and Spinning SilverSophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze....But everything is perfect. Isn't it?

Freelance editor, anthologist, and reviewer Paula Guran was senior editor for Prime Books for seven years. Previously, she edited the Juno fantasy imprint from its small press inception through its incarnation as an imprint of Pocket Books. In addition to the annual Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror series, she's edited many other anthologies. The supernatural, surreal, and the all-too real. Tales of the dark have always fascinated us, and in The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror: Volume Two (October 19, PYR), editor Paula Guran has selected 30 modern authors (20 of those women) to carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Volume two begins with a COVID-19-based tale by Victor LaValle, who was commissioned (along with 28 others) by the New York Times to “write new short stories inspired by the moment.” Along with LaVelle's story Recognition, this year's collection includes six stories set in a dystopian future, three tales around the human genetic code, and horrific tales of the supernatural. “It wasn't until after I started assembling this volume that I realized how often homes, houses, and other domiciles played important roles in many of the selected stories,” said Guran. “Considering most of us have been home more than usual lately, this is… interesting.”

Jason chats with writer Tony Salvaggio about two new music documentaries that premiered at this year's Fantastic Fest: This is GWAR and Who Killed the KLF?

Tonight we're chatting with Derek Presley, writer/director & Jason Starne, producer of Whitetail, releasing this month. Synopsis: Whitetail follows a broken family consisting of a father, an uncle and the son as they embark on a weekend hunting trip out in West Texas. The mother has recently died of an overdose and the trio hope to get away from it all by being out in nature and hunting. Instead they find a mysterious man shot in the stomach and clutching onto a backpack full of money. This film is a southern gothic thriller, drama and survival film. All taking place over one day and one night in the brush land of Texas.

In this special episode, Tony Salvaggio recaps the highs of the Austin's premiere genre film festival, Fantastic Fest. Films discussed are:CANNON ARM AND THE ARCADE QUESTBINGO HELL (Theater 5 Main House)BLACK PHONEFREAKS OUTTHE BLACK PHONE (Theater 5 Main House)LAST OF THE WOLVESIKÉ BOYSHELLBENDERTHE EXORCISM OF GODBEYOND THE INFINITE 2 MINUTESCOP SECRETSALOUMLET THE WRONG ONE INMAD GODFOUND FOOTAGE PHENOMENONWOODLANDS DARK DAYS BEWITCHEDTHE TRIPKING CARGLASS HOUSEDIGITAL VIDEO EDITING WITH ADOBE PREMIERE PRO: THE REAL-WORLD GUIDE TO SET UP AND WORKFLOWFor more, visit https://fantasticfest.com/films/features

Tonight I can't tell you how great it is to talk again to Joe Bob Briggs. The Shudder Original Halloween special Joe Bob's Halloween Hoedown will premiere Friday, October 8 with special guests from the upcoming Halloween franchise installment, Halloween Kills: director David Gordon Green and producer/Blumhouse CEO and founder Jason Blum, as announced today during Blumhouse's second annual BlumFest celebration. Joe Bob's Halloween Hoedown premieres live on the Shudder TV feed at 9pm ET/8c on October 8. Fans can also watch on demand on Shudder and within the Shudder offering in the AMC+ bundle on Sunday, October 10.

Tonight we're chatting with Caitlin Starling, author of The Death of Jane Lawrence, out this October from St Martin's Press.Caitlin Starling is a Bram Stoker-nominated author of the Luminous Dead and people have been liking the book to Mexican Gothic and Guillermo Del Tor's Crimson Peak.

Tonight we're chatting with Elle Callahan, director of the thriller/horror film WITCH HUNT, which will be released by Momentum Pictures Theaters, On Demand and Digital on October 1, 2021.In the film, a teenager grapples with the fact that her family is part of an intricate network that helps persecuted magical witches flee across as the US government persecutes and hunts them down.

In this episode of Castle Talk, Tony Salvaggio chats with Co-writer/director Eric McEver (directorial debut), Quinn Lord (Netflix's “Firefly Lane,” Trick ‘r Treat), Ronak Gandhi (You are Here, Age of Summer) and Christina Higa (Am I OK?) of the new film Ike Boys.This from-the-heart love letter to Anime, Tokusatsu, and being uncool in high school while trying to prevent an apocalypse, debuts at Fantastic Fest on Sunday, September 26th. In addition to hitting home for anyone who grew up liking things that weren't cool at the time, Ike Boys also has a lot to say about cultural expectations and assumptions, and the shared bond we can feel through the love of pop culture (and a possible tie to the original 1954 Godzilla film is revealed.) Joins us as we talk about all of these things as well as the awesome ending track by actress/composer Christina Higa.

Tonight we're chatting with Rose Williams, star of The Power, which is releasing from RLJE on VOD, Digital HD and DVD on September 21, 2021.LOS ANGELES, (Aug. 19, 2021) – RLJE Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, has picked up select rights to the horror film, THE POWER from Shudder, AMC Networks' premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural. RLJE Films will release THE POWER on VOD, Digital HD, and DVD on September 21, 2021. Written and directed by BAFTA-nominated director Corinna Faith, and featuring an original score by Gazelle Twin and Max de Wardener, THE POWER stars Rose Williams (“Sanditon,” “Reign,” “Medici”), Charlie Carrick (Abandoned: Angelique's Isle, “Reign”), Gbemisola Ikumelo (“Roadkill,” The Last Tree), Theo Barklem-Biggs (“The First Team,” The Forgotten Battle), Emma Rigby (“Prisoners Wives,” Endless Love), and Shakira Rahman. RLJE Films will release THE POWER on DVD for an SRP of $27.97. London, 1974. In THE POWER, as Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another hospital, Val must work the night shift in the empty building. Within these walls lies a deadly secret, forcing Val to face her own traumatic past in order to confront the malevolent power that's intent on destroying everything around her.

Tonight we're chatting with Chris Beyrooty and Connor Martin, directors and writers of Shelter in Place, releasing on digital September 14, 2021.Directed and Written by Chris Beyrooty and Connor Martin, SHELTER IN PLACE stars Brendan Hines (The Tick, Lie to Me), Tatjana Marjanovic (Great White, Purgatory), Kevin Daniels (Atypical, Modern Family, The Big Leap), Ola Kaminska (The Madness Within), and Jey Reynolds.SYNOPSIS: A honeymooning couple gets stranded at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and learns that there is more to fear than just cabin fever.

Tonight we're chatting with Michael J. Ahern, Brandon Perras-Sanchez, Ryan Miller, and Wayne Gonsalves, creators of the new film Death Drop Gorgeous, releasing from Dark Star Pictures in theaters and on demand and digital September 10.Death Drop Gorgeous, an ode to John Waters and Wicked Queer festival hit, premieres this month on demand and digital from Dark Star Pictures. About the film: A dejected bartender and an aging drag queen fight to survive the eccentric and hostile nightlife of a corrupt city, as a masked maniac slaughters young gay men and drains them of blood. An ode to the wicked work of John Waters, festival fave Death Drop Gorgeous - Seattle Queer, Chicago Horror, Wicked Queer, VideoScream and over 20 more festivals worldwide – features divine work by directors Michael J. Ahern, Christopher Dalpe, Brandon Perras-Sanchez, and a superlative cast headed by Wayne Gonsalves, Payton St. James, Brandon Perras-Sanchez, and Christopher Dalpe.

Tonight we're chatting with Stephen R Bissette, historian and critic, who writes a series of essays included in the new Blu-Ray box set from Arrow, Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman. Bissette is also a well-known comic artist whose work has graced so many great works from DC's 80s Swamp Thing revival to independent, Eisner-nominated fare like Taboo.Katzman was a prolific studio exec that produced hundreds of films starting in the early 1930s and concluding in 1972, gaining great notoriety for his ability to turn a sizable profit on a minuscule budget. Arrow has compiled four of Katzman's monster movies from the 1950s in one glorious collection and loaded them up with special features including an 80-page collector's art book featuring reproduction stills and artwork from each film and new writing by historian and critic, Stephen R. Bissette. The four films include Creature with the Atom Brain, The Werewolf, The Zombies of Mora Tau, and The Giant Claw.

Tonight we're chatting with Tera Cuskaden, Managing Editor at Crazy Maple Studio for KISS and Scream apps. She explains how Scream brings scary reading to new readers who avoid traditional book-reading apps.Tera is a RITA award-winning editor who started working in publishing in 2004 as a reviewer and proofreader. Tera has edited many New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and is the first editor to hit the New York Times bestseller list with a digital-only title. She spent nine years with Samhain Publishing as Senior Editor and Art Department Coordinator before moving to Entangled Publishing as an Editorial Director. Tera is now the Managing Editor at Crazy Maple Studio for KISS and Scream, where she continues her work with bestselling authors and finding fresh new voices to bring to the romance, thriller, suspense, and horror genres. Tera holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies from Indiana University.

Tonight we're chatting with Patricia Gomez Zlatar, co-writer of SLAXX, which arrives from RLJE Films on VOD, Digital HD, and DVD on September 7, 2021. In SLAXX, a possessed pair of jeans is brought to life to punish the unscrupulous practices of a trendy clothing company. Shipped to the company's flagship store, the killer jeans proceed to wreak carnage on staff who are locked in overnight to set up the new collection. SLAXX is “stylish, sharp, and not to be overlooked” (Pajiba.com) and “just good, bloody, fun” (Flickering Myth). Check out the trailer: https://youtu.be/0lwxhrKJi6s Bonus features on the DVD include:● The Story Behind SLAXX● The Pants Are Alive● Producing A Killer Pants Movie● Call In The Death Consultant● Casting SLAXX● Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery