
Show Notes
This week we’re sharpening our swords and checking our armpits for boils!
Christopher Buehlman is the guest, author the hugely-acclaimed 2012 medieval horror fantasy, Between Two Fires – now being reissued for a new, wide audience. It’s a book that everyone has been screaming at me to read, and I’m glad I did.
Christopher and I get hellishly geeky, talking history, plague, angelology and demonology, Biblical reference and epic poetry. But he also tells us about his past career insulting drunk people at ren-fairs.
Enjoy!
Other books mentioned:
Those Across the River (2011), by Christopher Buehlman
The Blacktongue Thief (2021), by Christopher Buehlman
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death (2005), by John Kelly
Angel Down (2025), by Daniel Kraus
The Starving Saints (2025), by Caitlin Starling
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
The 300th author interview is here. And I’m delighted it’s with a debut author, about a truly wonderful book.
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!