25 - Gemma Files and the Witch in Her True Ornaments

Send us a text Have you ever had a book scare you so much that part of you wishes you hadn’t read it? That’s the experience I had reading Gemma Files’ latest collection, In That Endlessness, Our End. I don’t know how Gemma does it, but with each story she finds a psychological pressure point that feels specifically mine, and the presses down on it hard with her pen.  On more than one occasion I had to stop reading this book because it freaked me out too much. And I mean that as the highest praise.  In That Endlessness, Our End is full of stories of multimedia gone mad, sensory overload, mad gods and strange houses, and an alleyway that may take your child and give you something else in return.  Gemma is a wealth of fact and opinion on horror. In our conversation we go deep, into the mechanics of horror writing as well as the inspiration behind some of the tales. We get into night terrors, how you evoke panic on the page, and how neurodiversity informs her unique brand of horror. But despite all this fear and intensity, we also have a good laugh. Gemma even takes the time to tell us as fairytale!! Enjoy! In That Endlessness, Our End is published by Grimscribe Press on 15th February 2021.  Other books we mention include: The Elementals (1981), by Michael McDowell Ancient Images (1989), by Ramsey Campbell Every House is Haunted (2013), by Ian Rogers Burnt Black Suns (2014), by Simon Strantzas Grotesquerie (2020), by Richard Gavin Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected]. Thanks to Adrian Flounders for graphic design. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices