S08.16: Winter 2026 Preview

It’s demons and death and decorative gourd season, and we’re talking about all of them, along with sewer monsters and twelve-foot tall skeletons and a vampire or two! If you’re looking for a Halloween read, we’ve got you this week with a little something for everyone. This is the next in a long line of spooky reads episodes, so when you’re done with this one, head over and listen to the rest (a list of them is in show notes!) Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative wraps up this weekend—we’ll be calling Michigan to get out the vote for Abdul El-Sayed ! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates. If you’d like to come over and talk about Halloween reads with us, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!! Books The Demon’s Curvy Angel by Brill Harper Decorative Gourd Season by DL White No Bones About It by Cassandra Elizzabeth A Date with Death by Kelly Creagh What Happens at Nightfall by Lauren Willig Fangbanger by Sophia Travers Demons and Diplomacy by Megan Frampton The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren Jenny Will Eat You Now by Gillian Daniels Die For Me by Shirlene Obuobi

Early voting is happening in most states, with the remaining few coming online in the next few days. Enjoy this Season six episode on the way to or from the polls. The Rest For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2023/10/24/s0607-happy-halloween-devils-in-romance-novels If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates. Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough. If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

We’re talking about the mythmakers again this week with a chat about romance’s sister genre, horror! We’re joined by NEA fellow, Bram Stoker Award winner and bestselling horror writer Stephen Graham Jones, and librarian and horror expert Becky Spratford. We talk about Stephen’s lifelong love of horror, the way horror reflects the world, the rules of horror and how romance and horror are actually two sides of the same coin. Happy spooky season, book lovers. Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week—we’ll be calling Tennessee to get out the vote for Justin Pearson in the Tennessee 9th, and into Montana to get out the vote for Sam Forstag, candidate in the Montana 1st! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates. If you’d like to come over and talk about horror with us, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!! Horror Fiction, Film, and Television Mentioned in This Episode The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones Why I Love Horror by Becky Spratford Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews The Howling (1981) The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Heart Eyes (2025) I was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones The Indian Lake Trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones Widow’s Bay (2026) Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm Angel Down by Daniel Kraus The Grip of It by Jac Jemc Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Barker Scream (1996) Sinners (2025) Horror for Weenies by Emily C. Hughes The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Headlights by CJ Leede This Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want by Hailey Piper Kiss, Slay, Replay by Rachel Harrison The Reformatory by Tananarive Due The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

This one is very meta (complimentary): Fated Mates (the duo) explains Fated Mates (the trope) on Fated Mates (the podcast). We can’t believe all these years in, we’ve never talked fated mates! We’re rectifying that right now with a collection of paranormal romances (and a few that aren’t) that are going to give you a lot of joy. We talk about demons and vampires and alpha’s and ice planet barbarians, star-crossed lovers and soulmates and what it really takes to convince a reader you’re fated. Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week—we’ll be calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and democrats up and down the ticket! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates. If you’d like to come over and talk about your favorite fated mates romances (or your favorite fated mates podcast), please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us! Books Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole Wicked Abyss by Kresley Cole Rejected by Jaymin Eve The Tyrant Alpha’s Rejected Mate by Cate Wells Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon Claimed by The Orc King by Roxy Taylor The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole MacRieve by Kresley Cole Hot Blooded by Heather Guerre Pack Darling by Lola Darling Feral Warriors series by Pamela Palmer The Mane Event by Shelley Laurenston Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren Whiteout by Adriana Anders Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

We’re talking about romance with baking and sweet treats today! This is one of romance’s most common Romance Jobs, and we’re getting to the bottom of the appeal of the bakery in romance. Why do we love it when one character makes masterful desserts? What is so compelling about characters who know their way around the oven? We’ve got historicals, reality tv competitions, magic baking and menage — a little something for everyone this week! Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a chat with Leah Greenberg, the co-Founder and co-Executive Director of Indivisible, our Fated States phonebanking partner! Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week! We’ll be calling Georgia to get out the vote for Jon Ossoff, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and democrats up and down the ticket! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates. If you’d like to come over and talk about your favorite romance bakers, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us! Books Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas How the Dukes Stole Christmas Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee Fake It Til You Bake It by Jamie Wesley A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley Battle Royale by Lucy Parker Sweethand by NG Peltier Lips Like Sugar by Jess Hardy Craving It All by Kati Wilde Tart by Lauren Dane The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish Delectable Desire by Farrah Rochon Delicious Destiny by Yarrah St. John