Ep 435 - Human Monsters + Alma Katsu!

Summary

Reading Glasses – Ep 435: Human Monsters + Alma Katsu!

Airdate: October 30, 2025
Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Featured Guest: Alma Katsu

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Episode Overview

This special Halloween episode is dedicated to the theme of "Human Monsters"—stories where the scariest evil is created by people themselves, not supernatural entities. Brea and Mallory discuss their favorite horror sub-genre recommendations featuring slasher killers, mad scientists, cults, and more, all centering around terrifying, but very human, villains. They’re joined by author Alma Katsu to discuss her new horror novel Fiend, her own experience analyzing real-life human evil, and why humans are, at times, more fearsome than demons or werewolves.

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Episode Breakdown

1. What Are Brea & Mallory Reading? (00:45–04:33)

Brea’s Pick: The Manner of Dreams by Christina Lee (00:45)

• Haunted house with a Hollywood legacy.
• Spooky setting, multiple timelines, queer love story, but “not super scary.”
• Brea: “It very much reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, if that had a ghost story element to it.” (02:12)

Mallory’s Pick: Strange Houses by Uketsu, trans. Jim Rien (02:28)

• Japanese novel, mysterious author.
• Focus on unsettling, odd floorplans rather than hauntings.
• “It’s truly one of those books where I’m like, ‘How quickly can I get home and read this?’” (03:57)
• Written in mostly dialog and floor plans.
• Too creepy to read alone at night.

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2. Listener Feedback: Book Clubs & Reading Retreats (04:40–07:41)

• Rachel tells a story about a two-person library book club and the fun of reading at the same pace (04:58).
  • “If you have someone in your life who you can do this with, I 10 out of 10 recommend.” – Rachel (05:14)
• Riley organizes an annual reading retreat with a friend—reading, gift bags, digital detox, tandem reading (05:37).
• Sarah creates a three-person book club with friends in different states—all reading queer romance together online (06:45).
  • Mallory: “It’s really fun to figure out what the wheelhouse thing that you all have in common is and read books for that.” (07:34)

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3. Main Discussion: Human Monsters in Fiction (10:52–23:32)

Why Human Monsters?

• Brea: Finds “real stuff” scarier because it could really happen. Slashers, cults, and mad scientists appeal more than supernatural (11:24).
• Mallory: Not typically her go-to since she loves supernatural lore, but a well-written human monster sticks with her (11:49).

Book Recommendations

• Brea: The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monica Chem – POV of a woman spiraling into violence; slasher but with empathy for "the monster." (12:18)
• Mallory: The Daughter of Dr. Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (13:10)
  • “What’s really fun about this book is that the human-animal hybrids are the good guys. The bad guy is the human. The monster is the human.” (13:31)
• Brea: Lakewood by Megan Giddings – Shady experiments, racism, system as villain, horror/litfic blend (14:17).
• Mallory: Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
  • “It’s like a slasher buffet...all these different slasher franchises.” (16:21)
• Brea: A Better World by Sarah Langan – Cultish, walled-off community, human conformity and fear (16:38).
• Mallory: The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
  • “There is one moment from this book that's just a description of a sound...still haunting to me.” (18:05)
  • Unique, disturbing structure, serial killer, cat as POV character. (18:02–19:25)
• Brea: Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed – Post-apocalyptic cult controlling girls’ lives, dark, devastating (19:33).
• Mallory: Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon – Modern/fractured take on Frankenstein; decline and danger at an eerie Vermont facility (20:40).
• Brea: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind – Historical, obsessive killer with supremely developed sense of smell (21:35).
• Mallory: Stephen Graham Jones (blanket slasher recommendation): I Was a Teenage Slasher, Killer on the Road, etc.
  • “If you like slashers, you kind of can’t go wrong with Stephen Graham Jones.” (22:51)

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4. Interview: Alma Katsu on “Fiend” and Writing Human Evildoers (27:02–43:53)

What is Fiend about? (27:34)

• Alma: “It’s about this family…the Bresha family…one of the wealthiest families in the world. But it always seems like something not very nice happens to their competitors or anyone who crosses their path. And it’s sort of rumored that there’s some ancient evil that’s been helping this family out for a thousand years.”
• Succession struggle; the 'real' horror comes not from the demon, but from humans themselves.

Moving from Historical Horror to Contemporary (29:00)

• Alma: “It was easier and fun...I got the idea whole. It just all came to me—what the story was, what it would be about.”
• Fiend already optioned for TV (29:40).

Why Human Monsters Are Scarier (30:35)

• Based in Katsu's real expertise: working as an analyst on genocides and war crimes.
  • “When you see what really the average everyday person is capable of…You realize that the werewolf really has nothing.” (31:27)
  • “Humans can be really, really horrible.” (32:14)
• Explores evils of the powerful, their capacity for moral rot, and the normalization of cruelty in families.

Notable Quotes

• “The werewolf is actually a pretty reasonable guy. It’s not his fault, you know, once a month.” – Mallory (31:27)
• “It’s one of those really fun, rare books where you don’t like a character but you cannot stop reading about her.” – Mallory on Fiend (32:14)

On Problematic Romantic Archetypes in Literature (33:43–36:07)

• Katsu cites Oliver Twist’s Bill Sikes as a lasting, terrifying human monster.
  • “The bad boyfriend imprints on a lot of us.” (34:49)
  • She notes her first book, The Taker, explores the dangers of “bad men” as romantic ideals.

Horror Wheelhouses (39:45)

• For Katsu, it’s about innovative narrative form, grappling honestly with human evil.
  • Currently reading and recommending: You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White (40:26).

Where to find Katsu

• Wrapping up her event tour with final dates in Boston.
• Most active on Instagram and BlueSky; main updates via her Substack newsletter (43:08).

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5. Recommendation Request: Seeking Truly Horrifying Books (44:02–47:50)

Listener Sarah seeks books as scary as The Island of Dr. Moreau and Watchers, especially those with “creature feature, stalking woods, and scientific horror” elements.

Recommendations:

• Brea: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
  • “If that kind of thing scares you, where you’re hearing it from the monstrous perspective…this one would scratch that itch for you.” (45:52)
• Mallory: What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman
  • “If you have any content issues, please read the content warnings ahead of time. But this is a really unique body horror book that’s very haunting.” (46:58)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Brea on book club with friends:
  • “It’s very cute.” (05:37)
• Mallory on human monsters:
  • “So much of what I love about horror is the lore…so a lot of the human monster stories are just like, this person sucks and they’re bad.” (11:49)
• Alma Katsu on the most frightening monsters:
  • “Humans can be really, really horrible.” (32:14)
  • “You realize that the werewolf really has nothing. The werewolf is actually a pretty reasonable guy. It’s not his fault…” (31:27)
• Brea on Gather the Daughters: “It’s just a…really dark, but really well written…I really liked this book.” (20:23)
• Mallory on Fiend protagonist: “You don’t like a character but you cannot stop reading about her…it reminded me a little bit of Yellowface.” (32:14)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:45 – Brea’s “spooky season” read
• 02:28 – Mallory’s “creepy house” obsession
• 04:40 – Listener book club stories
• 10:52 – Human monsters: Sub-genre breakdown & personal taste
• 12:18 – Book recommendations: human evil
• 27:02 – Alma Katsu interview
• 27:34 – Summary of Fiend
• 30:35 – The reality of human evil
• 39:45 – Alma Katsu’s horror wheelhouse
• 44:02 – Listener reco request: most horrifying books

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The Tone

As always, the episode is light, warm, and a bit irreverent; the hosts giggle about their own horror boundaries and joke about making the “biggest Airbnb ever” for a Reading Glasses retreat, but the conversation turns sincere when they and Alma Katsu discuss how disturbing real human cruelty can be—both in fiction and in the world. The show’s hallmark encouragement for all types of bookish weirdness and found family are present throughout.

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Further Engagement

• Want more book recs? Email [e-mail]
• Sign up for their newsletter (link in show notes)
• Follow Alma Katsu on Instagram/BlueSky/Substack
• Buy Reading Glasses spooky merch (link in show notes)

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Closing

• Support the show by rating/reviewing or buying merch (“Help us feed our cats!”).
• To everyone: “Thanks for listening, and thanks for reading!”

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign. You're listening to Reading Glasses, a show about book culture and literary life designed to help you read better. I'm author and book devourer Mallory o'. Meara.

[B]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode. Hey, Happy Halloween. We're talking about stories with human monsters. Those are humans that do terrible, horrible things. And we are recommending extremely scary books. Plus, we interview a glasser favorite glass, Alma Katsu, about her new novel, Fiend, which we both loved.

[A]

This episode is so exciting for so many reasons, but this is a great interview, and we've been big fans of Alma for so long. So excited to finally have her on the show for sure. But before we get into it, Bria, what are you reading for spooky season?

[B]

I just finished a book called the Manner of Dreams by Christina Lee. Have you read this one?

[A]

No.

[B]

Okay. It's a haunted house book, which I know you love. And it's about basically this. This older.

[C]

This.

[B]

This. The first Chinese act win an Oscar.

[A]

Oh, I do know this.

[B]

Dies. Okay. And her family is called to the house to read the will, but then also the family of her longtime housekeeper, the daughter and granddaughter. And when they're called there, basically, they're like, great. You will get, like, what's left of her fortune, which is like $40,000 split between you, to the family and this giant mansion that's falling apart, but it is giant and worth a lot of money. Will go to the housekeeper's family. And so they're pissed. And it becomes sort of mystery of why she did that. Slash, it goes back, and you get to see the. The original owner of the house, this woman, Vivian, who was this famous actress. You get to see her life and sort of the tragedies that befell her. And then the whole time, the house. There's also something spooky happening in the house, and there's like. There's two, like, young women, the. The daughters of the family, and they start to sort of fall for each.

[C]

Other in a way.

[B]

So it's ghosts. It's multiple timelines. It's old Hollywood, which, you know, I really like. And it has a little bit of a. It has actually more than one queer love story in it. So it's very great. I feel like it checks a lot.

[A]

Of boxes for people, for sure.

[B]

And it's not super scary. So if you're looking for, like, a less scary horror book, it very much reminded me of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, if that had a ghost story element to it, honestly.

[A]

Great pitch.

[B]

Yeah, it was really fun. I really enjoyed it. What are you reading?

[A]

So I am reading for Scary Book season, a book that I fucking love. I already text. I texted Bria about it. It is Strange Houses by Uketsu. Just one word. This is like a. He's a Japanese author that, like, never shows his face. His author photo is like. Has a weird mask on.

[B]

Oh, really? I didn't know that.

[A]

Actually, like, nobody knows who he really is. It's translated by Jim Rien and it's a spooky house book, but I'm almost halfway through. I don't think it's a haunted house book. It's hard to describe, but the.

[C]

The.

[A]

The. The pitch is so great. This. There's this guy, he has a friend who's married, and him and his wife just find out that they're having a baby. And the main character is a journalist, and he kind of has a soft spot for weird stories. So his friend calls him up and says, hey, you know, me and my wife were having a baby and we've been looking at houses, and I know that you really like weird stuff. Can you look at this house? There's something weird about it. And he looked at the floor plan of the house and. And there's something really weird about the floor plan.

[B]

Ah, that sounds so good.

[A]

It is fantastic. So the main character, the journalist, is like, there's something off about this. So he calls an architect friend of his, and his friend immediately calls him back and is like, yeah, there's something fucked up about this house. And so he, like, writes a story about it. Something happens that confirms their suspicions about this house, and then they find out about the existence of a second house like this. And it is. That's all you. I'm all I'm gonna tell you it is. It's truly one of those books where I'm like, how quickly can I get home and read this?

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It is like, I just want to read this book. And it's also. It moves very. It's very quick. It's mostly. It's written in a really interesting way. It's like mostly dialog and then, like, floor plans. You're going to inhale it. It's. I had to wait to read it because I don't want to read it at night by myself.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So I had to wait until HWB came over last night so I could read more of it. And then I want to read it when I get home. The sun is still out because it's really creepy.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

But I'M really loving it. It's might maybe going to be one of my favorite, if not the favorite translated book of the year for me. So that's strange. Houses by Uketsu, translated by Jim Ryan.

[B]

And I read the Manner of Dreams by Christina Lee.

[A]

So I want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Rachel wrote in to say hi guys. I meant to send this email weeks ago, but oh well, better late than never. The two Person Book Club part of this year's challenge reminded me of something my best friend and I used to do in college when we had a free lazy day. We go to the library together and find a book there were two copies of, check it out and spend the rest of the day reading it.

[B]

Oh so nice.

[A]

Oh I love this. We read at a pretty similar pace and it was always so fun when one of us got a page or two ahead, gasped at something crazy that happened and we're like, oh my God, let me know when you get to page 187. Once we were both caught up, the reading paused for a little bit so we could gab about it. Obviously there are some pretty specific parameters for this to work, but if you have someone in your life who you can do this with, I 10 out of 10 recommend. It's really the most fun if you're reading something that's kind of ridiculous. I still remember reading a very soapy, tragic teen romance together and absolutely yelling about the plot twist.

[B]

Oh amazing.

[A]

I love this is how I read Game of Thrones with one of my best friends who lives in Ohio and we would literally just like call each other and be like, did you get a chapter two yet? Oh my God, are you on chapter 15? It. It really is like one of the most fun things you can do.

[B]

Really cute. It's very cute. Riley wrote in and said, every year my best friend from college and I go on a reading retreat for three to six days. We rent an Airbnb in either the woods or a cute little town, turn our phones on airplane mode and spend time reading and spending time together. Before we leave, we make each other little gift bags and we start the trip with a tandem read. Last year we read in more. I am together. It is the thing I look forward to each year. And I'm counting down the days 10 until we leave for the Reading Retreat 2025 in Sagatook. Oh my God. Sweet people have such sweet lives.

[A]

I know. This is wonderful. I wish we could do. We we actually got approached by like one of those travel companies to do something like this. But it was going to be so expensive for the glassers that, like, I just felt weird about it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But this does sound awesome.

[B]

Yeah. It's almost like we need to, like, do our own or something. Like.

[A]

Yeah, I wonder if people would be interested in that.

[B]

Yeah, it'd be fun.

[A]

We rent out, like, the biggest Airbnb ever. Yeah.

[B]

Or like, what are those? The Hicksville Pines or Hicksville.

[A]

Yeah. You know, like rent out a whole motel.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, yeah. That's fun.

[A]

Yeah, that would be really fun. Sarah wrote in this idea. Brian. Mallory, your podcast is my favorite thing every Thursday. It's my perfect commute home. I just wanted to write in about the two person book club task on the Reading Glasses challenge. I think it's been my favorite task thus far. A lot of my bookish friends live out of state and I had two in particular I wanted to see more often. So I did invite both of them and slightly broke the rules to make a three person book club.

[B]

We forgive you.

[A]

We. We forgive you. But this is the kind of situation where a three person book club works. Yeah, they let me pick the first book. But since we have turned into a monthly occurrence where we take turns suggesting books and we all agree on one, then we meet via Zoom every month to discuss. It's been a great way to keep in touch since we live in Wisconsin, Missouri and Arizona. It's helped us all find great queer romance to read since that's our common wheelhouse item. I think we will keep going for the foreseeable future and I have you to thank for it. Keep up the work and keep loving the things you love.

[C]

That's so sweet.

[B]

I love this.

[A]

It's really fun to like, figure out what the. What the wheelhouse thing that you all have in common is and read books for that.

[B]

It's nice.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

Very sweet.

[A]

I love this. Yeah. This part of the Reading Glasses challenge has been really popular.

[B]

Oh, good. That's great. I'm glad.

[A]

Very fun. So you can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes. Before we talk about human monster novels, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Green Chef. It's the tastiest time of year. There's a lot of great stuff happening right now. It's hockey season, scary season, haunted house Books, real life haunted houses that you could go in. But the best part is the food. You know, before we started recording, we were talking about X reading glasses team member Sean. And Sean was like, mallory, I went to Vermont and I had a real apple cider donut. Wow. Best thing ever.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

You know what the second best thing ever is? Being able to make delicious fall foods at home without having to go to Vermont. Unless you already live in Vermont. But Bria, what is Green Chef?

[B]

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[A]

That's the kind of food that I like.

[B]

That is nice. That is what Mallory enjoys. The recipes feature fresh organic seasonal produce and 100% responsibly sourced proteins to help you feel your best. Plus they have 80 weekly meal options. 80 more. Plus 80 more than 80. Many, many, many.

[A]

So much.

[B]

That means that you can figure out whatever your dietary lifestyle you need, whatever you're looking for. Mediterranean, gluten free, plant based, protein heavy and gut and brain health. Also calorie. Smart choices too.

[A]

Yeah. Bria and I both have weird diets. We have weird food allergies. Bria doesn't do gluten. I need high protein. Neither of us eat meat. This would normally be very complicated to accommodate for a meal kit. Not so with Green Chef. They've been a long time sponsor of the show for a reason. It really just is very, very easy to do. Doesn't matter what kind of food that you eat or can't eat. Green Chef has got you covered. And again, this is the most delicious time of year. This is the best time to try it out. Make this fall your healthiest yet with Green chef. Head to greenchef.com 50glasses and use code 50glasses to get 50 off your first month. Then 20 off for two months with free shipping. That's code [e-mail] 50glasses. 50glasses. So many glasses.

[C]

Hey.

[A]

Hey there.

[B]

Do you love reading smut?

[A]

Erotica, romance, Romantasy.

[B]

Is your e reader full of horny fairies and sexy shifters?

[A]

Are your shelves bursting with enemies? To lovers?

[B]

We're reading Smut, your new faded mate.

[A]

Every other Friday we dive into sexy books and talk to the people who love them.

[B]

Consider this our meet cute reading smut.

[A]

Every other Friday on maximum fun.

[C]

This week.

[A]

Happy Halloween. It is our annual Halloween episode and this year we're talking about human monsters. We've done quite a few supernatural horror episodes. So today it's all about slashers, mad scientists, cults, and more human evil.

[B]

Yeah. Although some of those people are doing supernatural stuff, but. Yes, but the humans are.

[A]

But the supernatural stuff is not the scary part.

[B]

Got it. Yes.

[A]

It's what the humans are doing.

[B]

The source of the human. Yeah.

[A]

All right, so, Bria, you. We're both big horror people. What do you think of this horror subgenre? Are you into scary? You like slashers a lot more than me.

[B]

Yeah, I find it really scary. I've been in slashers. I've written the slasher. Real stuff is always a little bit more scary to me because it could really happen. So I think the ones that are a little bit, like, more just scary humans with no supernatural is a little bit scarier to me. But we're doing wrecks for both humans doing supernatural things. Yeah, but not supernatural humans, if that makes sense. Yes, yes. What about you?

[A]

It's not normally for me, because so much of what I love about horror is, like, the lore, you know, and, like, the story of what happened here. So a lot of the human monster stories are just like, this person sucks and they're bad.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

But so.

[B]

But that's because they had a bad childhood.

[A]

But that's that When a human monster book is really good, it's like, it really sticks with me. Like, it really stands out. All right, so what are our human monster, Rex? What's your first one? Oh, I should have figured you were gonna.

[B]

Yeah. I actually kind of need to retire this book, but I am gonna recommend it right now, which is because it is sort of a human monster, slash human monster that you are feeling a little bit of sympathy or empathy for. It's the Eyes Are the Best Part by Monica Chem. It's told from the point of view of a young woman who's tired of being treated like shit by her family, tired of. Of men fetishizing her because she's Asian, and she's also dealing with some obvious mental health issues. And she decides to see. Like, she just keeps wondering what a human eyes taste like. And it ends up being this sort of slasher from the point of view of the slot and, like. And I wouldn't call it. It's not, you know, Friday the 13th or anything like it, but it is scary and also has a lot more sympathy for the main character. But I think it's a really interesting one if we're talking about, like, humans who do bad things. Y is a really Fun one for sure to play with. What's your first one?

[A]

The daughter of Dr. Moreau by Silvia Moreno Garcia.

[B]

When I saw this on your list, I was like, oh, we're doing Supernatural too.

[A]

Well. But it's like. It's a human doing the bat, the hue. The thing that is fun about this. So this is a reimagining of the island of Dr. Moreau. It's a story about a mad scientist.

[B]

Great book. I love this book.

[A]

Yes. Is the blending humans with animals. But that's the thing is what's really fun about this book is that the human animal hybrids are the good guys.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The bad guy is the. Is the human.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The monster is the human. So that's what's real. I really love about this, you know, we. Your big Morena Garcia heads on this show. And this is what's also fun, is if you're a setting reader that's set in the Yucatan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I just, like, whenever I remember this book, I think about, like, that setting.

[B]

I think about being there in that, like, jungly.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So if you were a settings reader, this is really good.

[B]

They have this pool. They go this, like this, like this.

[A]

Like, weird, old, strange, beautiful house.

[B]

Yeah. And, like, it's just very cool.

[A]

Yeah. And I feel like you don't get a lot of books set there.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Our share of night a little bit. But it's very sweet because you. You're. You're empathizing with the. The quote monsters, but the real monsters, ma'. Am.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

What's your next one?

[B]

My next one is Lakewood by Megan Giddings. It's also an experimentation kind of thing, but on experimentation on humans, but not like a mad scientist in a traditional sense. It's like, not like one guy. It's about. So the book is about this young black millennial who gets a good job for the first time. She's very excited. It has health insurance. Her grandmother died, and she really needs this job. And everything seems normal until they're like, oh, you know, we actually need to do this test with these eye drops, see if they'll turn your eyes blue. And she's like, what?

[A]

Excuse me?

[B]

And her family, they're broke again. Grandmother died. But things start getting weirder and weirder. And this is like horror slash literary fiction book that gets quite dark. It's not a traditional, like, straight up horror book. It's a very, like, slow burn watching her end up where, like, the bad person is more of, like, the bad. The system is bad. The system is Bad. And it's designed to be shitty and racist and take advantage of people, but obviously there's like a sort of supernatural element to the things they're doing there. It's great. What's your next one? Oh, yeah, great. This is a great one.

[A]

Final girl support group by Grady Hendrix and other big slasher. Yeah, I mean, this is, this is like a slasher buffet.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because this is obviously another Glasser favorite. We love Grady here on the show. Basically, it's this kind of reimagining where all of the slasher franchises really happened and all the final girls from all of these crimes, they get together and they have this sort of secret support group where they're like, they're, they're all. They're all really fucked up. They're all really traumatized and they're not quite friends with each other, but they understand each other more than anybody else will. And you know, they're. They're still trying to stay safe. So they keep the support group secret until one of them goes missing. And they need to band together to figure out how she went missing, who sold them out, and who's trying to take them out one by one. It's. It's really great because it is a horror book, but it's almost paced like a thriller. And it's. Because it's all these different. It's like taking inspiration from all these different slasher franchises. Like I said, it's like a little slasher buffet.

[B]

Yeah. Literally it's. It like goes back into. It's like, oh, this is clearly the one that's similar. Similar to Friday. Yeah, yeah. And you get to see these characters and like what, you know, there's backstories, but yeah, it's just a very creative book.

[A]

Yeah. Loved it. What's your next one?

[B]

My next one is A Better World by Sarah Langan. This is.

[A]

She's good at human horror.

[B]

She is. Because you could also read Good Neighbors, that would also be one. But this is about a walled off community that is very culty. But this family, if you don't live in like one, it's a world in which you don't live in one of these Waldorf communities. You kind of live in like not a great world. Like, there's a lot of crime. You might, you. You don't have help from, like, it's hard to make money. So basically they get this opportunity, this family, to go live in this walled off community and go and work there. But the people there are weird, a little strange. And then everyone seems A little scared to speak out against, like, what's going on in the community when something weird happens. And there's obviously some things happening within the town that is sort of like, leading up to this big day. And what could possibly be happening on this big day? And again, it's as like. Like a little bit more literary fiction. And I would also say it's horror. Ish. Like for scaredy cats. Very good at this one.

[A]

Dread very.

[B]

Dread very. Yeah, yeah. And it's not like if you are not a horror fan, you could pick this up and you wouldn't be like, oh, it's too horror for me. It's gonna like, yeah, scratch the itch of horror, but also literary fiction. But, yeah, culty, weird. I think a lot of mine are culty, which I do.

[A]

But it's really good human horror.

[B]

Yeah. Because it's like the humans are following the rules and they don't need to be. What's your next one? Oh, this is a great one.

[A]

This is. This one's gonna you up.

[B]

This one is so. This is hard. This is a. This is.

[A]

There is one moment from this book that's just a description of a sound.

[B]

Yeah, that.

[A]

I'll say off mic after that. Ice is still, like, haunting to me. It's the Last House on Needless street by Catriona Ward. She actually has a couple. Like, Little Eve would be good for this. I mean, you can't lose with Catrion Awards. She's another, like, sundial also.

[B]

Yeah, I almost did Sundow.

[A]

Oh, there you go. Yeah. Honestly, this is. I have another recommendation coming up that's just a blanket recommendation for an author and we probably could have done that for Catriona.

[B]

Yeah, that's true.

[A]

So this one, it's one of those books that kind of. And the pitch can kind of seem pretty straightforward. It's just a story about a serial killer. There's a missing child, but the structure of the book and the POV characters make it just completely unique. Very haunting. So all you know is that there's a man, his name is Ted, he's living with his daughter and his cat, and his mind is not working completely right. And one of the other POV characters is his cat, who is overseeing everything that's happening in this house. And then there's Dee, who is the sister of the girl that went missing many years ago. And she moves in next door because she suspects that Ted is the serial killer. And I'm not going to tell you anything else. Those are the three different POVs. And you should really go into this book completely unknowing. And please read the content warnings. Yeah, please. I mean, that is like, it is a blanket warning for any book we talk about in the show. If you have any content issues, please read the content warnings ahead of time.

[B]

Especially horror books.

[A]

But. Yeah, horror books. But this book is one of the most unique, haunting books I've ever read in my life. What is your next one?

[B]

I'm sticking with the cult thing and I'm doing Gather the Daughters by Jenny Malamed. This one is pretty horrifying. So again, like Mallory said, check those content warnings. This takes place in a society that has also separated from the U.S. like, the U.S. is basically becoming a wasteland. And they're like, we're going to create our own little society. But they're very strict religious cult. And when the girls become like, get their periods and become of age where they can have children, they are married off. And when they can no longer have children, they are disposed of. So women are only around for that part of their lives. And one girl, it actually is really interesting because it has a, like a whole element of like, before they go and get married off, they're allowed to kind of run free and have these like wild summers as kids, which is like, like really sad.

[A]

Just, it's like when you let cows, like, live in a nice field before you eat them.

[B]

Yeah, kind of. And one girl decides she doesn't want to be married off and she feels there's some sort of secret that the group is hiding and she is correct and she has to figure out what that is. And it's. It's just a. It's really dark, but really well written. I. I really liked this book. But yeah, check those content warnings. What is your next one?

[A]

I have, like, it's funny, I have two, like. You have two cult books. I have two like mad scientist books.

[B]

I almost did a Mad scientist one, so I'm glad you did too.

[A]

Okay, this is Children on the hill by Jennifer McMahon. This is a Frankenstein inspired story, I think. Actually one of the characters last name is shelley. So there's two timelines. One in the 1970s is this like, woman, she's this brilliant doctor. She runs a very special treatment center in Vermont and she one day she has two kids and she brings this strange young girl from the treatment center over to live with her. And then in the modern timeline, this is podcaster, she comes to town where the treatment center used to be, and she's researching a disappearance that may be connected with A sighting of a monster in town. And that's all I'm gonna tell you. It's twin timelines is really fun, but it's definitely like humans doing bad things and weird stuff happening and it's great if you were. If you. Frankenstein inspired stuff is in your wheelhouse. You'll love this. What's your last one? Oh, this one. I can't believe I didn't think of this one.

[B]

A classic from the 80s. That's a classic, right? Which is Perfume, the Story of a Murderer. Sus kind of by Patrick Suskind. This one, it's. It's translated, I think the one I read that was translated by John E. Woods. But there's I think multiple versions out there. I also listened to it and I can't remember who the narrator was, but originally it was in German. It's a. It is a serial killer one, but it is about a young boy who has this extraordinary sense of smell. And he can smell scent. And he's like, oh, this is like bergamot and. And whatever put together. Like, he can like tell what any scent is.

[A]

Cuz he has no scent.

[B]

He has no scent. That's right.

[A]

Yes. He is like, he is born with this genetic mutation where he has no. Like everyone has their own smell. He doesn't.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And it allows him to smell.

[B]

Smell everything and be able to identify anything. And he uses that to get a job, an apprentice job with this perfumer. And then at some point he starts to get obsessed with like, where he's like, I think I can mimic the smell of like a doorknob. I think I can make the smell of this. And then he starts to get obsessed with the smell of death path. And then that leads him down a very dark path. It is a really well written book and they made a movie of it. But I just, I really enjoy read it for my. One of my book clubs.

[A]

Oh, the movie's really good too.

[B]

I've never seen the movie.

[A]

The movie is very good.

[B]

What's your last one?

[A]

This is my blanket recommendation because we love Stephen Graham Jones here on the show. And Stephen has like four slasher books, like, or maybe five. Angel Lake trilogy. But he also has I Was a Teenage Slasher. His new one, Killer on the Road. If you like slashers, you kind of can't go wrong with. With Stephen Graham Jones. We're big fans here. I Was a Teenage Slasher is I think came out last year. And it's just. Yeah, I mean, he just. The thing that's great about Steven is he loves slashers. And you can always tell when someone writes a book like this, and they are just, like, huge fans of the genre. And I was a teenage slasher is kind of his, like, love letter examination of the genre. And, yeah. Can't go wrong.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, so you can send your Lester reading glasses podcast gmail.com before we talk to Almakatsu about her new book Fiend, which we can both highly recommend. So good. Great human monster. Even though it has a demon in it, but it's human monsters for sure. We're gonna take a quick break. Reading Glasses is brought to you in part this week by Ingram Spark. Bria, there's a lot of writers who listen to this show.

[B]

So many writers. A lot of writers. Maybe you're gearing up to do NaNoWriMo. Maybe you're like, I'm gonna write a book this year. It's not too late. It's not too late. You can still get that book written if that was one of your goals for the year. And guess who can help you do that?

[A]

Ingram Spark. Because when you write a book, so much of the difficulty is focused on, oh, my God, I'm writing the book. But when you're an author, you realize that after you write a book, that's just the first step.

[B]

It's so true.

[A]

And if you're. If you're an indie author, you have to. You have to format it. You have to do all of these. These things to get it ready to. You can't just put it out there as a Google Doc. You have to format it as a book. It's very difficult if you're an indie author to get your book in stores. IngramSpark can help you with all of that. It can help you reach millions of readers. They help with every step of the publishing process, from formatting physical books and ebooks to selling. You can use their large network to help you get your books into retailers worldwide. That's always such a dream, is to see your book in a bookstore. And IngramSpark can help you do that. We get a lot of fan mail from people who are writers who listen to the show. They're always looking for, for advice, for tips, especially indie authors. IngramSpark can really help you with all of it. I mean, they can't help you with actually writing the book, right? Unfortunately, correct. They're not going to be there giving you ideas. But maybe in the future, who knows? But right now, they're going to take care of the actual hard part, which is getting the book ready to sell and getting it in stores.

[B]

So get started for free at IngramSpark.com forward slash. Learn more glasses. Hi, I'm Travis McIlroy. I'm here with Maria and we're excited because as a member of the month. Maria, thank you so much for being a listener and a supporter of the show.

[A]

Hi.

[B]

How did you find out about the shows?

[A]

When my daughter was in high school, we kind of connected over Taz. She introduced me to Schmanners and Sawbones.

[B]

What made you decide to become a Max Fund member?

[A]

I kind of decided that with the economy being so difficult, it was worth me giving up my Starbucks to join in with you guys.

[B]

Well, Maria, I owe you a cup of coffee. Then at some point I'll get a cup of coffee into your hands to pay you back.

[A]

Ok?

[B]

Maria, again, thank you so much for your support.

[A]

Thank you very, very much for your time and getting a chance to be the member of the month. My daughter was shocked when she found out about it, so I can't wait for her to actually maybe catch a little bit of this. I can rub it in her face a little bit.

[B]

That's what we do it for.

[A]

Thank you and thanks to everybody for your support. Maria, have a great month. You have an amazing month as well. Become a Max Fun member [e-mail] join. So here we are with reading glasses hall of famer, big glasser favorite. We're so happy to have her on the show. Alma Katsu. Alma, thank you so much for joining us. Before I get into this book that I'm so pumped to talk about, what are you reading right now? We're recording in October. It's spooky season. What do you got going on right now?

[C]

I'm reading you were never meant to be human. Oh, I think it's. Oh, I know. I forget his name. It's three words like we'll put it.

[A]

We'll figure it out and put it in the show notes. Okay.

[C]

Awesome. It is so good. I was just out in California and a bookseller recommended it to me and I know I'd been seeing it everywhere, so I picked it up and you know, it's folk horror, but it appears to be have been written right where I live in West Virginia.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

It's really funny. Yeah, so. But it's great.

[A]

Oh yeah. I always forget you live in Virginia. See, I'm a Washington Capitals fan, so I. I remember that you live over there. Okay, so you have your new book out, Fiend. Please tell us about it. It's a little bit different from your other books. Bri and I have already talked about it on the show. Give us the pitch.

[C]

Oh, well, I mean, the short pitch is that it's about this family, the Bresha family, who's one of the wealthiest families in the world. But it always seems like something not very nice happens to their competitors or anyone who crosses their path. And it's sort of rumored that there's some ancient evil that's been helping this family out for a thousand years. But we drop in, is one of the adult children has decided that she's really the best person to run the family business and run the family, be the head of the clan and not her brother, who happens to be older than her and is sort of earmarked to take over everything. And so when she tries to convince her parents of this, that's when the family falls apart and everything starts to.

[A]

Unravel and it gets. It's so scary. Okay. So we've been huge fans of your horror, your historical horror, since the Hunger came out. And I was so excited to see that you were doing a modern horror book. What was the experience like? Because you do have other. You do have modern books, just not modern horror. Was it harder? Was it easier? Was it weird? Was it fun?

[C]

It was easier and fun. Now, I don't know if it makes it funner, but this was very different for me because I, like, got the idea whole. It just, like, all came to me, what the story was, what it would be about. Yeah. What the evil was going to be. And so I wrote it very quickly. And of course, I had to do some rewrites, but that's not how it usually happens for me because I'm usually either writing historical or spy novels, and they are very complex. I usually have to plot out very meticulously. So this was like writing probably should.

[A]

Be like when you. When people who run with ankle weights finally take them off and book it down the road.

[C]

Yes. That's a great analogy. Yes. So I really enjoyed it. It was just so much fun. And I don't know if you know, but it's been optioned for TV already. Okay.

[A]

I was gonna ask, because that is. This is a perfect book to adapt. It's gonna be so great. I think so. Oh, that's so exciting.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And they want to know if there's going to be a sequel. I think they're trying to envision what the three season arc is gonna look like. And we've talked about a few things that have actually made Me a little excited for writing a sequel, but I haven't talked to Putnam about it.

[A]

Oh, that's. Oh my God, that is awesome news. Okay, so this is our special Halloween episode. This year we're doing human monsters. So Fiend features a demon, of course, but the real terror comes from some of your human characters who are so fun to read about from a writer perspective. How are you making a human person scarier than an actual demon?

[C]

Well, you know, to me, the humans are the scary thing. I mean, I know you've heard me say this before, but, you know, I did have this episode in my past in Intelligence where I was one of the analysts who worked on genocides and war crimes. And so, you know, that is very much neighbor on neighbor violence. So when you see what really the average everyday person is capable of, just the, you know, and we're kind of seeing it a little bit in this country, the, the propensity for just this, you know, mean, petty, evil vindictiveness. You know, you're mad at your neighbor because they've been, you know, blowing the leaves on their lawn too early in the morning. So you pick up a machete and you slaughter the entire family. You know, when you see that, then you realize that, you know, the werewolf really has nothing.

[A]

The werewolf is actually a pretty reasonable guy. It's not his fault.

[C]

You know, once a month. Yeah, it's just, you know, so. Yeah, I mean, I just, I know this sounds terrible, but if you sit and think about it, humans can be really, really horrible. And so the whole idea behind this story is the evil rich. Like, why do people who have more resources than any one person should be allowed to have. Why do they continue to just, just, you know, wreak havoc on their fellow man? To feel like, you know, the fact that, that these people are struggling their day to day existence isn't bad enough that they're going to heat more misery on them. What makes a person like that? And that's what I wanted to kind of show in this book.

[A]

Well, you nailed it. This is, it's one of those really fun rare books where you don't like a character but you cannot stop reading about her. You're just so. It, it reminded me a little bit of Yellow Face. Like it's, it's such a, such a wonderful. It just sucks you right in. I, I was so invested in her and her story and I mean, all of the characters. But you could see where in her mind she's not thinking about all this stuff, which is probably the scariest Thing of all.

[C]

So, yeah, I mean, how it is you get when, especially when you're a child and your family teaches you that a certain behavior is normal and desirable, you don't question it, maybe until later in life if you're lucky. But these are all sort of young adults and, you know, not quite realized yet. So, yeah, it was, it was really interesting. And because that's also sort of my observed behavior, I'm older and, you know, when I think back on the younger people that I've worked with and that sort of thing, you know, you, you kind of see these behaviors, not to this extent, thank God, but you know, where maybe they're not asking the questions they should before they do something.

[A]

Yeah. So you are, you're, you're a legend in the horror world. You've written so many wonderful horror books. We are, we're such, such big fans. What are some of the scariest human characters in horror? What are some, some books that feature humans that you, that have really stuck out to you as really scary books.

[C]

You know, so I have a hard time really being scared. Well, you, goes back to the Genesis.

[A]

Yeah, I was gonna say you've seen some real life horror. So I don't think vampires and haunted houses are gonna cut it totally for you.

[C]

Not totally. Not totally. You know, it's funny when you prep me with the question, the first thing that popped into my head is not a horror story, but it's from Oliver. Oliver Twist, the boyfriend of the Heart of Gold Hoard. Nancy. He was just such a evil character. I mean, he was evil to the boys, he was evil to Nancy, he was evil to Fagin. But, you know, you kind of understood where he's coming from because he had, you know, such, they all had such horrible, terrible lives. But it was how Nancy just, she was afraid of him, but she idolized him. And I guess I just read that and then of course on the musical, too early in life. And it just made an imprint on me. Right. Like what men were supposed to be like, what romantic interests were supposed to be. Like, that's leaving my husband out of there. I'm talking about early mistakes in life.

[A]

Don't worry. I'm sure, I'm sure he's not offended.

[C]

No. You know, I think that kind of character, the bad boyfriend, imprints on a lot of us.

[A]

Yeah, it definitely does. I mean, and it's, I, I, it's a great point because I feel like when you're older and you go back and read this stuff and you go, oh my God, this was. I thought this was so romantic when I was a teenager. I thought this was so wonderful. I was a big Phantom of the Opera person when I was a teenager. And I remember thinking, God, how could she not want the Phantom? And then you go back and reread and you're like, oh, my God, what was wrong with me? So it's just the horror of it. It's the. It's the horror of the effect that it has on when you read it too young, I think.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. And, I mean, I do feel like that is a terrible thing that girls get trained in. And I'd like to think that it happens less, but I know it still happens in some culture. You know, my very first book, the Taker, was about that. But at the time, I couldn't say, this is about the bad things that women are taught to aspire to because it was embraced by the romance community.

[A]

And you're like, so though. Yeah.

[C]

Even though it wasn't happily ever after. Yeah, it was.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

To me, that is something that I. I just, you know, I recognize it in myself and I. Maybe it's a recurring horror for me. I don't know.

[A]

I could. I could definitely, definitely see that. It's something that is very. I'm thinking of. We've always lived in the castle, Uncle Chart. Like, there's there that. That type of figure is. Is really, really horrifying.

[C]

Yeah. So what about you? What's. Can I ask you?

[A]

Oh, yeah, well, that was going to be. My example is I'm a huge Shirley Jackson fan and we've always lived in the castle. Like, the idea of this man coming into your space thinking that he knows better than all of you, you know, kind of, you know, he's being. He's being creepy. At Constance, there's just something about. I hate a story where someone is coming into your space and taking away your agency and taking control of your space. And that. I mean, that book is. Is the epitome of it for me. And. Oh, and in the film adaptations to Please, played by Sebastian Stan. He's so great. But it is. Oh, it's such a. It's such a scary role. It's like. But it's. You know, every. Every teenage girl goes through that. There's like an older man who you think is so charming and so handsome. And of course, everything. All of his opinions become your opinions. And you think that every. The. Whatever. However he does things is the right way to do things suddenly. And. And you can't really see it unless you're outside of it. And even though Mary Cat is, you know, kind of strange, she's got the right idea. So.

[C]

You know, the really scary thing is it's not just teenage girls because it's something that I'm really awake to now. So when I'm out, albeit events, you'll see this, you know, fangirling over there, the men figures and stuff, and you just want to take them and shake them.

[A]

You know, there's better options out there. We can, we can raise those standards. It's something we talk about on our other show a lot where so many, so much of the fantasy for a lot of women now is just a man that treats you well. Like we. The, the stand. The standards have gotten so low that it's you. A lot of these really classic stories that. And there's the bad boy that everyone wants and is, you know, the, you know, Phantom of the Opera, of course, like I said, but. And you look back and you're like, oh, no, this is awful. If I met this man in real life, I'd want to hit him with my car. But you know, you get in the space of like, of being in a story or reading it when you're a teen and you just. Yeah. You think it's so, it's so romantic when it's really not.

[C]

Yeah. I'll tell you, the taker has two horrible men in it. They, the actual villain and just the love interest is very self absorbed and narcissistic. But he's upfront about it. Like he doesn't try to hide. Right. He's not even that charming really. But the villain Adair got so popular and it was really popular overseas. Like it was a big hit in Brazil, which makes me really feel. Yeah, it gives you some cultural insights there.

[A]

Interesting.

[C]

But you know, people would write to me and tell me they named their babies.

[A]

Oh my God. Oh, no. Right?

[C]

It's like Nazi's really bad guy. I mean, the villain was super charming, but he was really bad. And that's what makes me a little worried for people's psyche. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, my God. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Truly human monsters. Oh, my God. So we have talked about your book so much on our show. I am so excited to find out. So what is your horror wheelhouse? You've written so many different types of horror. So many. I mean, you've got your, your new demon book, but there's ghosts and all kinds of werewolves that, that you wrote that great short story. What is your horror wheelhouse? What gets you to pick up a Horror book. What are you most interested in reading about?

[C]

Well, you know, I'm pretty open. I, I'm a very, you know, I read widely, so not only outside of the genre, but within the genre. I'm really curious to see what other authors are coming up with. I mean, I like when they play with narrative form the most, but really I like anything that's sort of new. Right. How they approach it or their take on a particular type of evil or something like that. And so like right now, it's such a great time to be a horror reader because that's what's going on. Everybody's. So, for instance, this book, you weren't meant to be human. Not exactly sure how to describe it, but it's about a trans character.

[A]

Is it by Andrew Joseph White? Yes. Okay, I remember the name. All right, Got it.

[C]

But I'm so glad I read it because it's so well done. Just how the author makes you think about the character and feel about the character from the get go and you know, how honest the author is about the. Makes the character. Right. So you feel every, you understand where this character is coming from in every instance. Even when, even when Crane knows that, you know, the choices are not good. I just like a book that really tries hard.

[A]

Yeah, no, I mean, that's what's. Like you said, that's what's great about this horror boom right now is we're seeing new takes and new perspectives and it's making the genre such a pleasure to read and such a pleasure to be a part of.

[C]

Yeah. And it's so honest, you know, so honest about human desires and, you know, wants and emotions which you don't get in a lot of other books. Some genres. I'm really tired of them because they're just so manipulative and so openly manipulative. Oh, I have to confuse you. So I'm gonna whipsaw you back and forth. Even though it makes no sense. That is my least favorite kind of book. You know, the nonsensical, hysterical main character.

[A]

Yes, yes, I totally get you. But like you said, there's just, there's so much grace horror right now that is, it's. I feel like I was just having a conversation with a writer recently and he was not a horror person and he was like, oh, I'm kind of surprised. Seems like horror is a big thing. And I'm like, I remember not that long ago when we people were still selling supernatural thrillers, you know, and now we can, we can use the H word. Horrors, horrors, Big. It's a wonderful time to be a horror fan. So speaking of, Fiend is out now. Where. Where can people find you? Are you doing any more event? Where are you on social media?

[C]

Well, I'm winding up the events. It's been a little over a month. By the time it ends, it's going to be two months. I can't believe it.

[A]

That's great, though.

[C]

Yeah, the reception's been really good. The next two events, and these are the last two events, are both in the Boston. In Boston. I can't even say Boston area. So I'll be at the Boston Book Fest this coming Saturday the 25th, and then it's a gap of two weeks. And I'll be at the Boston Public Library, the South End branch, doing an event with Sarah Devello, which I'm very excited about. But then that is it. That is a hard line.

[A]

And then you get to rest and.

[C]

I get to work on the next two books. And the best way to follow me, I am on social media. I'm on Instagram probably the most, and Blue Sky. But the best way is if people would subscribe to my newsletter because then I know they're getting it. And I'm on substack, so if you just go substack and my name on Makatsu, it'll come up. And I do a weekly. I never thought I'd do a weekly newsletter, but I'll probably drop back a little bit in the future. It's just been really busy for the book and I give away books while I'm on the road. I always buy books and usually get swag from bookstores and then I'll just give it away. So if you like free things, please go follow me.

[A]

Hey, we love free books. All right, Alma, thank you so much for joining us. This was wonderful.

[C]

Thank you. And you guys are so kind. I really appreciate your support. It means everything.

[A]

Now let's answer a recommendation request from Sarah, who says, hi, Brian, Mallory. I want a truly horrifying book. I've spent years trying to recapture the terror I felt as a tween reading baby's first horror books. And it's hard to get that feeling back as a jaded old woman. Sarah, I don't think you're an old woman. I've looked on Reddit for some scariest books posts, but I noticed that people never specify what is scary to them, so it makes their recommendations less than helpful to me. But fear not, I know what scared the out of me. It's just weirdly specific. And it can easily be not scary depending on the writing style. Especially if it ends up having a logical real life explanation. There are two books I can look back on and say I was hide under the COVID scared by. The first is island of Dr. Moreau, the almost clinical way the animals were described in the details given about the vivisections and what they became after the warring between their force, humanity and their instinc. And the second book was Watchers by Dean kz Again, a humanoid monster created by the real monsters. Humans hunting down a piece of itself and stalking a man throughout the woods. There's just something about that. It icks me out in the best ways. There's no way H.G. wells hit the nail on the head in 1896 and no one has been able to top it since. Right? There's got to be something else that's scary. Thank you both for everything you do. Bria, what do you think Sarah should read?

[B]

Okay, so I feel like it's possible you want to hear things from the monster's perspective. That kind of seems like. Like I think you need to like kind of figure out exactly what that is. I like, at some point you wrote Creature feature, stalking wood. Scary, but I think there's like other things there sounds like. So I have a few suggestions, but I'm going with the newer one. Although I do think you should check out Octavia Butler's fledgling, because that is from the point of view of a monster. I'm going with a brand new book, which is when the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. It has a woman and a boy, and she basically finds out they're being stalked by various scary things. But one is a giant wolf who doesn't understand where he came from. I thought this book was legit scary story. And if that kind of thing scares you, where you're hearing it from the monstrous perspective and they're like, why am I here?

[C]

Why was I born?

[B]

You know, or whatever. This one would scratch that itch for you.

[A]

Yeah. I think.

[B]

What do you have for Sam?

[A]

I think it's really perceptive to be able to. I mean, that's the. That's the. The secret sauce, right, Is to figure out why what it. What specifically is about a certain thing that scares you. And I think I. I totally agree. It's not just the fact that it's a creature. It's that it's a creature that was created by man. Something else that it might hit on that is also scary for me is like the body horde, loss of control over your body. That is like, I won't even watch movies like that. Like Human Centipede Tusk.

[B]

Like, I hate those. I actually have trouble with those. I don't like medical horror.

[A]

Yeah, it's. It's not even just the medical thing. It's like someone forcefully changing your body. Oh, yeah. Really freaks me out. And I think that, like, it's so much so that, like, it's too scary for me. Yeah, I agree. And yeah, I avoid a lot of body. Body horror for this reason. People doing it to themselves doesn't bother me. Like, chlorine didn't bother me.

[B]

I almost recommended. I almost. But it wasn't that scary one.

[A]

That is kind of scary. That I will recommend. That is body horror is what kind of mother by Clay McClellan Chapman.

[B]

Great. This is a really great suggestion. This is great.

[A]

We love Clay. This is a great one. It came out a few years ago. It's about a single mom. She has to move back to her hometown in Virginia. So she's like, settling back in. She's kind of not happy to be back in her hometown. And she reconnects with her high school sweetheart, a man whose son disappeared five years ago. And she' palm reader. And she kind of is like, kind of bullshitty about it. But of course, when she reads his palm, she starts seeing some real and she starts getting visions of his missing son that lead her to something very strange and scary. Obviously, check the content warnings, especially if you're a parent, but this is a really unique body horror book that's very haunting.

[B]

I texted Mallory in the middle of reading this book, and I was like, I cannot believe this. Yeah, like, I cannot believe what's happening.

[A]

In this wild term.

[B]

Yeah, it's wild, but it's.

[A]

There's. There's a. There's a really freaky creature body horror element to this. And you know, we love Clay on the you. We love his book so much. So I am recommending what Kind of Mother by Clay McCall Chapman, and I'm.

[B]

Recommending when the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy.

[A]

If you want us to answer your recommendation request, Senator reading glasses podcast gmail.com. as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Remember, folks, this is Halloween, but you still buy Halloween bookish merch in our store. There's a link in the show Notes to our Void merch store. You can buy a horror reader shirt. You could buy all kinds of spooky stuff. You can be love Halloween all year round.

[C]

And.

[A]

And Help us feed our cats. We got, we got. Actually got a bump last month from people buying merch. So we really appreciate the folks taking the time to buy a T shirt, buy a sweatshirt, buy some stickers. It really helps us pay some bills. Again, there's a link in the show notes for that. And if you like the show, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. As of right now, as of us recording this. God, folks, we're so goddamn close. We are at 928 ratings or 1928 ratings, folks. Come on. There's 72 of you out there. The 72 of you out there who have not rated the show. Give us a five star rating. You don't even have to write us a review even though we do appreciate it and we have been reading the ones that people have been leaving. Come on, 72 of you. We know you're there. We see the numbers every week. There's plenty of you who have not reviewed this show on Apple Podcasts. Please take a moment and when you do, as soon as we hit 2000, we're dropping a silly AMA episode. It's true. Don't you want to know what Bria's least favorite toe is? Aren't you burning with. With with curiosity? Please take a moment. You can email us reading glasses podcast gmail.com. find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[B]

Thanks for reading.

[A]

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