Get LIT With Leza

Discussing the horror legacies of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein & Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House with living legend Kathe Koja, author of The Cypher, with re-release coming in November 2020 from Meerkat Press. 

Zac Smith is the author of 50 BARN POEMS, published recently by CLASH Books. We chatted about barns, the art of getting blurbs, ghosts, the lit scene & a bunch of other fun stuff. Zac is a funny guy & this is a funny ep. You can follow Zac on Twitter @ZacTheLinguist

I chatted with actor & author Kevin Bigley about indie lit, comedy, making art & working in Hollywood. He gave me the behind the scenes scoop of working in TV & working with Greg Daniels on his new show UPLOAD, out now on Amazon. His debut novel COMAVILLE, was published this March by CLASH Books. Follow Kevin on Instagram @kevinwbigley

Alexandra Naughton is the author of a place a feeling something he said to you, published by spooky girlfriend press. She is editor in chief of be about it press. More at alexandranaughton.com (photo by rohan dacosta). We chatted about her Blackout/Britney Spears themed zine antho, Lana Del Rey, Marilyn Monroe, toxic relationships, the symbolism of music videos & hexes. 

Chandler Morrison is a novelist currently residing in Los Angeles, though he originally hails from Cleveland, Ohio. His works include the currently-available Dead Inside, Until the Sun, Hate to Feel and Just to See Hell, as well as the upcoming novel Along the Path of Torment. He hasn't worn any type of footwear other than cowboy boots since 2011, and his tan is fake. We talked about necrophilia, Marilyn Manson, his strange obsessions & why acid is better than coke. Follow him on Twitter @mechachandler

Steve Anwyll is the author of Welfare (NY Tyrant) & is also a super chill Canadian. We talked about his tumultuous childhood, wild teens, literary muses, & reminisced about the time I pissed in a public park in Montreal with him & caught it all on video (video at Trash Panda Poetry on YouTube). Follow him @oneloveasshole on Twitter & IG.

Megan J. Kaleita has a BA from Hartwick College and an MA from Wilkes University. Megan has published in Luna Station Quarterly and Hello Horror, & JukePop Serials. She has $35k in student debt. This Book Is Brought To You By My Student Loans is her first book. Get the unbelievable true stories, by turns sad & hilarious. Anecdotes of a childhood of work, economic hardship, mental & physical health struggles, working in sexist environments, the MFA experience, & striving for something more despite constant adversity. Follow her on Twitter & Instagram @MeganJKaleita

Josh Malerman is a New York Times bestselling author & one of two singer/songwriters for the rock band The High Strung. His debut novel, Bird Box, is the inspiration for the hit Netflix film of the same name. His other novels include Unbury Carol & Inspection. Malerman drank Jack & Coke & I worked my way through a bottle of white wine. He talked about his writing & editing process. We geeked out about Italian horror movies, vintage collectibles, living writer heroes, the limitless reaches of art, & butchered classic movie titles. This was such a blast. Find Josh Malerman on the internet @JoshMalerman

Lindsay Lerman's debut novella I'M FROM NOWHERE is a dark tale of grieving & rebirth. After Claire's husband dies, she has to reassess her whole life, her idea of who she is. The setting is a dying planet. The atmosphere is her own soul in painful flux. Lindsay Lerman holds a PHD in Philosophy from Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She works as a translator & a teacher. We talked Existentialism, the dark side of love, grief, death, tragic heroines, & what comes next for female voices in literature. You can follow Lindsay on Twitter @lindsaylerman & IG @lindsay.lerman You can preorder her book at clashbooks.com & Amazon.

Kathe Koja writes novels and short fiction, and creates, directs and produces immersive performances and events with a rotating ensemble of artists. VELOCITIES, her second short fiction collection, is forthcoming in 2020, along with a reprint of her Bram Stoker Award winning debut novel, THE CIPHER. DARK FACTORY is her newest fiction and performance project. We talked books, artistic inspirations, her neverending obsession with Wuthering Heights, the cathartic medicine that is horror, real life ghost encounters & the power of story. Find her on Twitter & IG @KatheKoja & find her on Patreon creating her latest multimedia experience, DARK FACTORY.

Anna Suarez is a queer Cuban American poet and storyteller. She started her writing career by doing open mics at local Portland bars. Her publications include stories in Exotic Magazine, poetry in Unchaste Volume 2, and scholarly research in Comparative Woman. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and French from Portland State University. This is her first poetry collection out now from CLASH Books. We talked about everything from Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Anais Nin, to Catfish, dick pics & The Kardashians as I worked my way through an entire bottle of white wine & then onto red. Anna drank White Claw Hard Seltzer. They are the unofficial sponsors of this ep. Follow Anna on Instagram @rosemarygoddess

Andrew J. Stone is the author of the novellas The Mortuary Monster and All Hail the House Gods and the forthcoming novel The Ultimate Dinosaur Dance-Off (Rooster Republic Press, 2020). His short stories and poetry have appeared in Hobart, Gutter Eloquence, DOGZPLOT, among others. We talked about revolution, Mexican culture, & his weird asf fiction.

Kenning JP García is an Afro-Absurdist diarist and the one and only NahNahist antipoet living in Albany, NY. Kenning is the author of This Sentimental Education, Slow Living, and Yawning on the Sands. Kenning is an editor at Five 2 One, Rigorous and runs the Ex-Spec Po section of the Operating System. We talked Proust, St. Rocco's Reading Series, Twisted Fairy Tales, serial killers & the appeal of tragedy, while he drank at a bar in Albany. Find Kenning being a sassy Cancerian on Twitter, IG & FB @KJPGarcia

Elle Nash is the author of the novel Animals Eat Each Other (Dzanc Books), which was featured in the 2018 June Reading Room of O - The Oprah Magazine and hailed by Publishers Weekly as a ‘complex, impressive exploration of obsession and desire.’ Her short stories and essays appear in Guernica, The Nervous Breakdown, Literary Hub, The Fanzine, Volume 1 Brooklyn, New York Tyrant and elsewhere. She is a founding editor of Witch Craft Magazine and a fiction editor at Hobart Pulp. We talked Witch Craft Magazine, astrology, social media k holes, & cemeteries. You can follow Elle on Twitter & Instagram @saderotica.

Big Bruiser Dope Boy has been writing for ten years. This is his first book. He lives in Colorado. He’s been published in Burningword, Deluge, Fanzine, Fluland, Hobart, New York Tyrant Magazine, Philosophical Idiot, Tragickal, Witch Craft Magazine, and Word Riot. He tweets @bigbruiserdopeb. Tune in for gay af poetry, Biggie love, & daydrinking.

Brian Alan Ellis runs House of Vlad Productions, is the author of novellas, short-story collections, Something to Do with Self-Hate, & Sad Laughter. His writing has appeared at Juked, Hobart, Monkeybicycle, Electric Literature, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Funhouse, Talking Book, and Queen Mob’s Tea House, among other places. We got down & talked suicide, his sad life & AWP travel plans. He lives in Florida, and tweets sad and clever things at both @brianalanellis and @HouseofVlad.

Autumn Christian is a fiction writer from Texas who currently lives in California. She is the author of The Crooked God Machine, We Are Wormwood, Ecstatic Inferno, and GIRL LIKE A BOMB, forthcoming from CLASH Books. We talked about her novel, Nymphomaniac by Lars Von Trier, Kids by Harmony Korine, Edgar Alan Poe, & TRAGEDY QUEENS: STORIES INSPIRED BY LANA DEL REY & SYLVIA PLATH. She blogs at autumnchristian.net and you can find her on Twitter & IG @teachrobotslove

Max Booth III is the Editor-in-Chief of Perpetual Motion Machine, the Managing Editor of Dark Moon Digest, a columnist for LitReactor, and the author of numerous novels, including The Nightly Disease, which some critics have labelled as the Holy Bible for the customer service industry. His next novel, Carnivorous Lunar Activities, is forthcoming through Fangoria’s new line of horror paperbacks. He lives in Texas. Follow him on Twitter @GiveMeYourTeeth. Had a lovely chat with Max about writing, travel, suicide & working the night shift at a hotel full of miscreants. 

Kailey Tedesco is the author of She Used to be on a Milk Carton (April Gloaming Publishing) and These Ghosts of Mine, Siamese (Dancing Girl Press). Her newest collection, Lizzie, Speak, will be available in early 2019 from White Stag Publishing. She is the co-founder of Rag Queen Periodical and an associate editor for Luna Luna Magazine. You can find her work featured or forthcoming in Fairy Tale Review, Prelude, Witch Craft Mag, fields, glitterMOB, and more. Follow @kaileytedesco. We talked travel, weddings, & witchy things.

Kat Giordano is a poet (1%) and massive millennial crybaby (99%) from Pennsylvania. She co-edits Philosophical Idiot and works for a law firm somehow. She is also the author of many highly embarrassing social media meltdowns. Her poems have appeared in Occulum, Ghost City Review, Awkward Mermaid, The Cincinnati Review, Rat's Ass Review, and others. Her debut full-length poetry collection, The Poet Confronts Bukowski’s Ghost, is available now.  

HE HAS MANY NAMES is the debut novella by Drew Chial. MetaHorror meets Haunted Hotel meets Luciferian horror. This is a mystery that takes you into the anxieties of the artist trying to create in the age of mechanical reproduction & soulless commercialism, & of the power of the mind to create & overcome the illusions & the nightmares that drive us. I chatted with Drew Chial about the paranormal, spooky hotels, metahorror, & more!  

Had a rad late night conversation with with horror author Brendan Vidito about body horror, trauma, sexuality, fairy tales, horror as creative catharsis, and his upcoming collection, Nightmares in Ecstasy. Brendan Vidito is a short story author and novelist from Sudbury, Ontario. His work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies, including Splatterpunk's Not Dead, Dead Bait 4 and the upcoming Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey and Sylvia Plath. NIGHTMARES IN ECSTASY is his first book. You can visit him at brendanvidito.wordpress.com

Had a rad time chillin with Wrath James White talking poetry, strange sex, and art theory at Killercon. Wrath James White is the author of the dark erotic poetry collection If You Died Tomorrow I Would Eat Your Corpse out now through CLASH Books.

Things get fun & dirty with Kim Vodicka as we talk Elvis, poetry, love & of course, sex. Kim Vodicka is the spokesbitch of a degeneration and heart-reactionary at the rearguard of the rose arts. Her poems, art, and essays have been featured in Spork, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, Makeout Creek, Luna Luna Magazine, Paper Darts, Tarpaulin Sky, Best American Experimental Writing, Nasty! and many others. Her poetry collection, Psychic Privates, from White Stag Press is out now! Cruise her at kimvodicka.com.

Bethany Moore is a poet, witch, and activist who has published in various online journals and print magazines. She has been writing poetry and practicing Paganism since before the age of twelve, and enjoys the study of healing, alchemy, and ritual work. Moore is also an activist who has published in various online journals and print magazines. We talked about her federal marijuana activism, witchcraft, my upcoming Gnostic wedding, & our mutual love of poetry.

Lindsey Frances Pellino is a poet, animal rescue manager, and hospice worker living in the not rich part of Connecticut. Her first collection of poetry HYSTERICAL SISTERS, published by Vegetarian Alcoholic Press on Valentine's Day, is about fictional and real life women and sisters. We talked about her poetry collection, hysterical Sisters, Laura Palmer, tragic feminie archetypes, toxic masculinity, Greek Tragedy, Sylvia Plath, Tragedy Queens, and Astrology.

Erin Khar lives, loves, and writes in New York City and sometimes other cities too. Her work has been featured many places, including Marie Claire, SELF, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, The Manifest-Station, and Cosmonauts Avenue. We talked addiction, the #MeToo movement, depression, & other not fun things that were somehow fun to talk about with her. Join the F**ed up girl's party for this episode full of amazing true stories & cathartic revelations & if you want more advice from Erin, you can write into her Ravishy column , Ask Erin. Find her on Twitter @ErinKhar

Tiffany Morris is a writer from Nova Scotia. Her horror fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have been published in Eye To The Telescope, Room Magazine, and Devolution Z, as well as in anthologies from Clash Books and Carrion Blue 555. We talked about mental health, dating, iconic female literary voices such as Mary Shelley, Sylvia Plath & Lana Del Rey & her story 'The Lazarus Wife' in Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey & Sylvia Plath. Check her out at tiffmorris.com or on twitter @tiffmorris.

Chris Kelso is an award winning writer, editor and illustrator from Scotland. His short stories and articles have appeared in magazines and journals across the UK, US and Canada. We talked Bizarro, books, weird shit, being vegan & life in Scotland.

shy watson is a poet and painter living in brooklyn, ny. she wrote Cheap Yellow (CCM 2018) as well as four chapbooks. we talked about NYC life, poetry, art, AWP & Whale Prom. tune in & find out if blondes really do have more fun.

J David Osborne is the publisher of Broken River Books & author of Black Gum, By The Time We Leave Here, We'll Be Friends, & Low-Down Death Right Easy. He is also the host of the JDO Show (podbean & iTunes). We mostly talked about aliens, magick, drugs, getting drunk, & lucid dreams. Join us!

Linda Addison born in Philadelphia, PA is an American poet and writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Addison is the first African-American winner of the HWA Bram Stoker Award®, which she won four times for her collections Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes (2001) and Being Full of Light, Insubstantial (2007) and How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend (2011) and Four Elements (2014). You can find her at lindaaddisonpoet.com. We talked about the shifting landscape of horror lit from the 70's to the present, poetry, Fairy Tales, Feminism, & so much more!

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, and Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press. We talked about Tragedy Queens & Sylvia Plath, horror, magic, Black Mirror, social media, & had lots of laughs. Follow Wytovich at http://www.stephaniewytovich.com/ and on twitter @SWytovich

Molly Tanzer is the British Fantasy and Wonderland Book Award-nominated author of Vermillion and The Pleasure Merchant. We talked about her newest book, Creatures of Will & Temper, geeked out about Oscar Wilde, Victorian lit, Harry Potter, & her strange obsession with ginger. Find her at mollytanzer.com & follow her @molly_the_tanz on Twitter or @molly_tanzer on Instagram.

Rios de la Luz is a queer xicana/chapina author of the short story collection, The Pulse Between Dimensions and The Desert and the novella, Itzá. She lives in El Paso with the love of her life and her beautiful dog. We tallked about magic, dreams, Korean dramas, & dealing with trauma through art.

Born and raised in a small harbor town in the south of Ireland, Kealan Patrick Burke knew from a very early age that he was going to be a horror writer. He has written five novels, over a hundred short stories, six collections, and edited four acclaimed anthologies. In 2004, he was honored with the Bram Stoker Award for his novella The Turtle Boy.

Lucas Mangum is the author of Flesh and Fire, Mania, Engines of Ruin, and Gods of the Dark Web. He currently lives in Austin. His podcast, The Mangum Show, can be found on iTunes and Podomatic. Follow him on Twitter @LMangumFiction.

Andrew Goldfarb is a multi-mediumistic artist of the fanciful and macabre. He performs as the Slow Poisoner one man band, draws a comic strip called Ogner Stump, writes an advice column for PORK magazine, and paints laughing hyenas and zombified Elvises on black velvet. He's also written five Bizarro book for Eraserhead Press, the latest being "Midnight Earwig Buffet."

Maxwell Bauman is the author of The Anarchist Kosher Cookbook, out now from CLASH Books, which will give you the recipe for a Nazi skinhead killing Golem, along with hilarious, irreverent tales of horny ghost virgins, burning bushes (literally ;), Baphomitzvah's & more! You can find him @MaxwellBauman

Cooper Wilhelm is the coolerst warlock of indie lit. His new book of poetry, Dumbheart/Stupidface, out now with Civil Coping Mechanisms. He tweets @cooperwilhelm

Beach Sloth is an internet phenomenon, an enigma, an alt lit weirdo & a really cool dude. We talked about crust punks, gentrification, aliens, & the weirdness of moving from NYC to the country. Find him on Twitter @Beach_Sloth, Facebook @DamnItFeelsGoodtobeaBeachSloth, & beachsloth.com

Sam Pink is an artist & writer & pretty cool/weird dude that you can find on Twitter @sampinkisalive & Instagram @sam_pink_art  garbage times/white ibis' out in may 2018 from soft skull press

What does Mathematics, Surrealism, Architecture & Bizarro Fiction have in common? Pedro Proença & Brian Auspice! Two weird writers for the price of one, on this episode of Get Lit With Leza.

Drunk writers talking out of their asses with occasional pearls of wisdom at pre-Bizarrocon house party. Recorded in Portland, the land of legal weed. Andrew J. Stone talks baout writing & teaching at CAL Arts. Andrew is the author of the novellas The Mortuary Monster (2016) and All Hail the House Gods (July, 2018), both from StrangeHouse Books. His short stories have appeared in Hobart, Red Fez, Drunk Monkeys, and New Dead Families, among other places. If he were a dinosaur, he'd be an apatosaurus. If he valued money, he'd quit writing.

Daniel Knauf chats with me about the dark side of Hollywood, serial killers, being a writer in a competitive industry, The Blacklist, & why his daughters need therapy.

Tune in for a geekfest celebrating the films of Alfred Hitchcock, ranking Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window. Which will be the winner? Find out! 

Horror writers, beer, and moustache wax, what more can you want! I got the pleasure of hanging out with these two talented and charming horror pros at Camp Necon this year. We delve into their books and the abyss.

Talking with indie writer Ben DeVos. It was chill. He likes to listen to rap & smoke weed while he writes. We talk writing, alt lit controversies, Taylor Swift/Kanye West rap battles, our mutual love for Sam Pink and much more! Ben is the author of Lord of the Game & lives in Philadelphia.

Troma director, Salem Kapsaski, came on to talk about his most recent film, Spidarlings, which is a punk horror musical full of drama, Drag Queens, deadly spiders, & lesbian romance. It has to be seen to be believed. It is surreal, beautiful, and romantically grotesque. Chill with us as we talk movies, true crime, and life in his hometown of Manchester, England.

Talking 70's porn, horror, sex, violence, publishing, rock n roll, & living in Canada, at Camp Necon with ChiZine's Brett Savory. This convo is fun, lude, & full of important info about FB reactions & what book Cons are cool to go to. 

It was the last night after much 'festivity' at Necon & we recorded it outside until the rain came, at which point we made our way dow the hallway, waking up grumpy ppl. This is real, raw, & uncut. We talked about all my favorite subjects including witchcraft, Kenneth Anger, Marilyn Manson & Marilyn Monroe. So much fun. Enjoy!