Show Notes
The 300th author interview is here. And I’m delighted it’s with a debut author, about a truly wonderful book.
Dorian Ravenscroft’s The White North Has Thy Bones is a supreme slice of Polar Gothic and Queer Horror alike. It’s the story of a disastrous 1860 expedition to the Arctic, and the competing stories of brutality and survival told by the few who make it home. Despite all the bloodshed and … strange meat… it’s also, somehow, a moving love story.
We talk about all of those elements, as well as the weirder parts of Arctic naval history and just why the great frozen north is such a good backdrop for Queer stories. And I give my advice for how to survive being starvation on the ice.
Enjoy – and thanks for listening.
The Terror (2007), by Dan Simmons
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2025), by David Grann
Where the Dead Wait (2023), by Ally Wilkes
Coffin Moon (2025), by Keith Rosson
An Immaculate Deception (2026) by Isabela Livino
Support Talking Scared on Patreon
Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch
Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Talking Scared
In Solace House, Will Maclean takes us back to the 90s for a drug-fuelled trip through some mindbending architecture. It’s a chance to get nostalgic for a more innocent time, when the clothes were baggy, the music was better, and you could spend a summer spent renovating an old asylum without needing to put in on TikTok.
This episode needs no attempt at a witty introduction. Stephen King is back to talk about Other Worlds Than These – the concluding volume of The Talisman saga, begun with Peter Straub 45 years ago.
Leaning into absolute high geekery this week – with Kyle Winkler’s novel of how family game night can go badly wrong!
This week’s episode shows what a good haunted house can do.