Joe Lansdale is here to give us all a smack upside the head.

 

We are talking about The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale – his brand new career-retrospective, collecting the stories that have defined him for decades as one of the most edgy, provocative writers of the grim and grotesque.

 

We cover some of the classics, like “Bubba Ho Tep,” “Mr Weed Eater” and “On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks” – asking where the craziness came from, and finding the roots in Joe’s colourful life.

 

But we also discuss more serious matters, such as the hatred depicted in “The Night They Missed the Horror Show,” and what it means in our current puritanical, easily-outraged era.

 

Enjoy! Beware!

 

Other books mentioned:



The Thicket (2013), by Joe R. Lansdale


Paradise Sky (2015), by Joe R. Lansdale


The Nightrunners (1987), by Joe R. Lansdale

“A Rose For Emily” (1930), by William Faulkner

“Cannibalism in the Cars” (1868), by Mark Twain


“Duel” (1971), by Richard Matheson


Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), by Mark Twain


Neither Beg Nor Yield: Stories With an S&S Attitude (2024), edited by Jason M. Waltz


Swords in the Shadows (2025), edited by Cullen Bunn


The Only Good Indians (2020), by Stephen Graham Jones


The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (2025), by Stephen Graham Jones


The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild (2025), by Bryan Burrough


Lonesome Dove (1985), by Larry McMurtry


 

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 [email protected]


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ver todos los episodios