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Silicon Valley, Body Horror and Shadowy Visions: Matt Casamassina's Degenerate episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 20, 2026 · 41 MIN

Silicon Valley, Body Horror and Shadowy Visions: Matt Casamassina's Degenerate

from Bookwild · host Matt Casamassina, Kate Hergott

This week, I talk with Matt Casamassina about his genre-bending sci-fi-horror-thriller Degenerate. He shares his unique approach to audiobook production, how reading Stephen King as a kid influenced his writing, and how one of his co-workers inspired the story. Degenerate by Matt Casamassina Mason Kowalski, a twenty-four year-old copywriter for a San Mateo startup, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown when he inexplicably suffers widespread vision loss in one eye. The doctors say it’s macular degeneration triggered by overwhelming stress, but he wonders if it’s something more, especially when the shadows in his peripheral vision begin to take shape and whisper wonderful and horrible things to him. Is it madness or destiny? The answer could destroy everything and everyone he holds dear. All the Bookwild Links: Check Out the Bookwild Substack Subscribe to Bookwild on YouTube Get Bookwild Merch Follow @imbookwild on Instagram Check Out Author Social Media Packages Follow Co-hosts On Instagram: Gare Billings @gareindeedreads Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland Halley Sutton @halleysutton25 Brian Watson @readingwithbrian MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 20, 2026

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Silicon Valley, Body Horror and Shadowy Visions: Matt Casamassina's Degenerate

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