P.M. Raymond on Vicarious Revenge and Dark Catharsis

P.M. Raymond joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss her debut collection Things Are As They Should Be and Other Words To Die For.This New Orleans-inspired noir-horror exploration examines revenge, consequence, and the violence that seeps into the soil of communities.Raymond discusses blending crime noir's moral agency with psychological horror's supernatural consequences.We explore the distinction between Voodoo as a monotheistic religion and Hoodoo as magical practice.Raymond explains how New Orleans functions as a character with its own permissive moral weight.The conversation covers her Eleanor Taylor Bland Award-winning story A Nasty Business and the generational trauma embedded in Southern families.We discuss The Entitled Life and Untimely Death of King Booker, set in 1960s segregated New Orleans.Raymond shares her creative process of annual experimentation with different formats including screenplays, second-person POV, and writing in French.She explains her commitment to refusing editorial requests to sanitize cultural content or over-explain New Orleans-specific references.The episode examines how silence functions as both weapon and resistance in her interconnected stories.Raymond discusses the promise and inevitable failure of revenge as vicarious catharsis for readers.We explore Southern Gothic's treatment of home as trap rather than refuge.The conversation touches on her IT project management background and how analytical thinking shapes her chaotic emotional narratives.Raymond reflects on her uncle George Raymond's civil rights work and the research behind her historical fiction.This episode offers insight into crafting morally ambiguous characters, genre hybridity, and grounded escalation in dark fiction.Official WebsiteP.M. Raymond – Official Sitehttps://www.pmraymond.com​Email / ContactWebsite contact pagehttps://www.pmraymond.com/contact-us​Newsletter / BlogSubstack – “The Raymond Experience”https://pmraymond.substack.com​Blog via main websitehttps://www.pmraymond.com/blog​Social MediaInstagram – P.M. Raymond (@pmraymond_author)https://www.instagram.com/pmraymond_author/​Facebook – P.M. Raymond Author Pagehttps://www.facebook.com/pmraymondauthor/​PublisherUncomfortably Dark Horror – Author Pagehttps://www.uncomfortablydark.com/ourauthors​Goodreads / Reader PlatformsGoodreads – P.M. Raymond Author Pagehttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/39871595.P_M_Raymond​Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/P.M.-Raymond/author/B0BT8V74J3?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1768792762&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=af5cbe7a-dddd-412f-a13e-7cfa6d614597​Barnes & NobleBarnes & Noble – Search results for P.M. Raymondhttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22P.M.%20Raymond%22Barnes & Noble – Search results for “Things Are As They Should Be and other words to die for”https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Things%20Are%20As%20They%20Should%20Be%20and%20other%20words%20to%20die%20for%22​Anthologies / Other Work (Selected Purchase Paths via Publishers/Retailers)Uncomfortably Dark – Main site (for news on the collection and other titles)https://www.uncomfortablydark.com​Level Best Books – The Most Dangerous Games (anthology including P.M. Raymond)https://www.levelbestbooks.usDown & Out Books – Rock, Roll, and Ruin (anthology including P.M. Raymond)https://downandoutbooks.com​Support The Dark Mind PodcastPatreon – Support The Dark Mind Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast