Castle of Horror Podcast

Tonight we’re chatting with Rio Youers, author of the new book Lola on Fire, which releases 2/16 from William Morrow. People have called the book a mix of Killing Eve, John Wick and Kill Bill.

About the book:
Brody Ellis is short on luck and even shorter on cash to buy the medication his sister Molly needs.

Desperate, he robs a convenience store, but on the way out, he bumps into a young woman and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It’s Blair Mayo—the woman he bumped into—and she’s got the missing billfold.

Brody will get it back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother’s diamonds from her wicked stepmom. But when he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene—and a security camera. Brody knows he’s been framed.

Back home, the terrified young man gets another call. The police won’t get the incriminating video footage, Blair says. Instead, her daddy, the notorious mobster Jimmy Latzo, will exact his own kind of revenge.

Brody and Molly realize that they’ve become pawns in a mysterious game—one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear who brutally crossed paths with Jimmy Latzo twenty-six years before. . . a ghost from the past who is intimately connected to their lives.

About the author:
Rio Youers is the British Fantasy and Sunburst Award–nominated author of Westlake Soul and Halcyon. His 2017 thriller, The Forgotten Girl, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Sleeping Beauties, a comic book series based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife and their two children.

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Tonight we’re chatting with Barbara Howe, author of The Wordsmith, which releases worldwide on February 15, 2021 from IFWG.
The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.
THE WORDSMITH by Barbara Howe
Irene van Gelder’s drudge job is killing her, but how can she earn a living as an air witch when her own guild calls her a fraud?
The Fire Warlock doesn’t ask for her credentials, but with tensions rising between the Fire and Air Guilds, proving her value to him is not a safe move. With the White Duchess and her son intent on revenge, what defenses can a failure as an air witch muster? All she has is words. Will that be enough to save herself, and Frankland?
For more, see https://ifwgaustralia.com/title-the-wordsmith/.
About Barbara Howe:
Her bio:
Barbara Howe lives on the third rock from the sun, while her imagination travels the universe and beyond.
Born in the US (North Carolina), she spent most of her adult life in New Jersey, working in the software industry, on projects ranging from low-level kernel ports to multi-million-dollar financial applications. She moved to New Zealand in 2009, gained dual citizenship, and now works as a software developer in the movie industry. She lives in Wellington, in a house overflowing with books and jigsaw puzzles, and wishes she had more time to spend universe hopping.

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This week we continue a retrospective on the Alien films with the 1958 film It! The Terror from Beyond Space. This is Episode 328.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space is an independently made 1958 American science fiction horror film, produced by Robert Kent, directed by Edward L. Cahn, that stars Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith (Shirley Patterson), and Kim Spalding.[1] The film was distributed by United Artists as a double feature with Curse of the Faceless Man.[2]
The story involves Earth's second mission to Mars to discover the fate of the Challenge 141 and its crew. Only a single survivor is found still alive from that crashed spaceship. The survivor, the expedition's former commander, claims that his crew were killed by a hostile Martian life form. No one from the rescue ship believes him until the creature, now a stowaway, begins hunting the crew on their return trip to Earth.
The film's premise has been cited as an inspiration for screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's screenplay for Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien.[2]

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Tonight we’re chatting with Kaaron Warren, author of the book Slights, which is a re-release from IFWG coming out now.
The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.
When Stevie Searle almost dies in the accident that kills her mother, she doesn’t see a shining path or a golden light.
Instead, she sees everyone she’s ever slighted, waiting to take a piece of her in a cold, dark room. The person whose place she took in the queue, the schoolmate she cheated off, the bus driver she didn’t pay? All waiting. All wanting to take their revenge when she finally crosses over.
Stevie is fascinated by the dark room so she sends herself there again.
And again.
And Again.

About Kaaron Warren
Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She was recently given the Peter McNamara Lifetime Achievement Award and was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy 2018, Stokercon 2019 and Geysercon 2019. Kaaron was a Fellow at the Museum for Australian Democracy, where she researched prime ministers, artists and serial killers. She’s judged the World Fantasy Awards and the Shirley Jackson Awards.
She has published five multi-award winning novels (Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone) and seven short story collections, including the multi-award winning Through Splintered Walls. She has won the ACT Writers and Publishers Award four times and twice been awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her most recent novella, Into Bones Like Oil (Meerkat Press), was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award, winning the Aurealis Award.

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Tonight we’re talking to Jordan Graham, director of SATOR, which comes out from 1091 Pictures on February 9. It's a haunting and atmospheric indie horror shockingly inspired by true events, and compellingly dives into the relationship of fact and fiction, and you can watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e_Ij0S-sBw&feature=youtu.be

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This week we continue a retrospective on the Alien films with the 1986 film ALIENS. This is Episode 327.
Aliens is a 1986 American science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise. Set in the far future, the film stars Sigourney Weaver as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship. When communications are lost with a human colony on the moon on which her crew first encountered the alien creatures, Ripley agrees to return to the site with a troop of colonial marines to investigate. Aliens features Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Carrie Henn in supporting roles.
Despite the success of Alien, its sequel took years to develop; it was delayed by lawsuits over profits from the first film, a lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox, and repeated changes in management. Based on his scripts for The Terminator (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Cameron was hired to write a story for Aliens in 1983. The project stalled again until new Fox executive Lawrence Gordon advocated a sequel. Relatively inexperienced, Cameron wanted to direct the film and was given the role based on his success directing The Terminator. On an approximately $18.5 million budget, Aliens began principal photography in September 1985. Like its development, filming was tumultuous and rife with conflicts between Cameron and the British crew at Pinewood Studios over their work habits and Cameron's relative inexperience. James Horner composed the film's score. The difficult shoot also affected Horner, who was given little time to record the music.
Aliens was released on July 18, 1986, to critical acclaim. It was well-received for its action, but some reviewers were critical of the intensity of some scenes. Weaver's performance received consistent praise; other members of the cast were positively received, including Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein (who played colonial marines). The film received a number of awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Weaver at a time when the science-fiction genre was generally overlooked. The film earned $131.1–183.3 million during its theatrical run, one of the highest-grossing films of 1986 worldwide.
Since its release, Aliens is now considered to be among the greatest films of the 1980s; one of the best science-fiction or action films ever made, and one of the best sequels ever made. It has been called equal to (or better than) Alien. Aliens is credited with expanding the franchise's scope with additions to the series' lore and factions such as the colonial marines; these led to its appearance in other media, such as comic books and video games, and the development of the Alien vs. Predator franchise. With its impact on popular culture and fan following, Aliens has inspired a variety of merchandise which includes video games, comic books, board games, clothing, music, books, toys, and collectibles. The film was followed by two direct sequels – Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997), both critically panned but financially successful – and crossover films in the Aliens vs. Predator franchise. The Alien series has prequels to Alien (Prometheus and Alien: Covenant), and a fifth sequel was in development in 2020.

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Tonight we’re chatting with Venero Armanno, author of the new book The Crying Forest, brand new from IFWG.
The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.
Agata Rosso, a once-mighty yet now prematurely aged European witch, believes that the special gifts in a young girl named Lía Munro can restore youth and vitality both to herself and her bedridden husband. She sets a deadly plan in motion to capture and use Lía—but will the girl have enough power to protect herself, plus the father she loves so much?
Armano was born in Brisbane to Sicilian migrant parents. He is the author of two books of short stories and nine critically acclaimed novels.

His book Firehead was shortlisted in the 1999 Queensland Premiers Literary Award for Best Novel of the Year and The Volcano won that award in 2002. The Volcano was also shortlisted for the Courier Mail Best Book of the Year. Also a trained screenwriter, Veny teaches creative writing at University of Queensland.

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Tonight we’re chatting with Amanda Dewees, author of the new gothic horror collection THE RATHBURN LEGACY AND OTHER STORIES.
Atlanta author Amanda DeWees received her PhD in English from the University of Georgia and wrote her dissertation on 19th-century vampire literature—the perfect training, although she didn’t know it at the time, for writing Victorian gothic romance novels. Her books include With This Curse, winner of the 2015 Daphne du Maurier Award in historical mystery/suspense, and the Sybil Ingram Victorian Mysteries series. Her other passions include costuming, movies, and the elegant deployment of apostrophes.

Award-winning author Amanda DeWees is known for her tales of mystery, suspense, romance, and the supernatural, often in Victorian settings. Now, for the first time, fifteen of her short stories are gathered in one collection—including all seven stories and novelettes featuring Sybil Ingram, Victorian actress, spirit medium, and sleuth. Also included are four stories never before published! Here are a few of the tales inside:

—A Victorian woman photographer finds an unconventional way to save a man who is possessed by a malicious spirit (“The Rathburn Legacy”).

—While pursuing her hobby of taking gravestone rubbings, a gentle spinster encounters the uncanny (“The Woman Who Loved Dogs”).

—On the night of a mysterious butterfly phenomenon, a high school senior tries to rescue a little girl and make big choices about the future (“On Shadowed Wings”).

—A medium who senses emotion through fabric seeks the cause of two poisonings that prevented a wedding (“The Deadly Dress”).

—Sybil Ingram and her husband, Roderick Brooke, solve mysteries involving a haunted violin, a gang of women criminals, a pair of children who may be possessed by malicious spirits, and more.

With an introduction by horror/suspense author Charles R. Rutledge, this collection also features author notes on all the stories. From the charming to the chilling, the tales included here are all unique and unforgettable.

“An enjoyable blend of Austen, Dickens and Mrs. Gaskell – Gothic with a light touch, packed with family curses, mysterious paintings and romantic chills, plus more adventures of the indefatigable psychic, Sybil Ingram.” John Linwood Grant, author of The Assassin’s Coin

“A delightful, oft eerie, romantic, and decidedly splendid set of stories which pay homage to many classic Gothic traditions...offering fresh perspectives and heroines to wholeheartedly cheer for.” – Leanna Renee Hieber, award-winning and bestselling author of the Strangely Beautiful and Spectral City series

“I love this collection of stories. Amanda DeWees sends shivers down your spine, tugs your heartstrings, and creates heroes to die for. She will keep you guessing who done it while turning pages late into the night.” —Raven Hart, author of The Vampire’s Seduction

“While you will find a great deal of wit, charm, and romance [here]…Amanda DeWees knows her way around a horror yarn and she has a few surprises waiting for you.” —Charles R. Rutledge, horror/suspense author

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This week we kick off a retrospective on the Alien films with the 1979 film ALIEN.
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon. It follows the crew of the commercial space tug Nostromo, who encounter the eponymous Alien, an aggressive and deadly extraterrestrial set loose on the ship. The film stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. The many many awards it earned and the success of Alien spawned a media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys. It also launched Weaver's acting career, providing her with her first lead role. The story of her character's encounters with the Alien creatures became the thematic and narrative core of the sequels Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997).[20] A crossover with the Predator franchise produced the Alien vs. Predator films, which includes Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). A prequel series includes Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), both directed by Scott.
This is Episode 326.

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Tonight we’re chatting with Russell Kirkpatrick (based in Canberra, Australia) author of the new book Silent Sorrow from IFWG Publishing International, arriving Feb 1.
This is the first of several interviews on books coming from IFWG International. The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, Silent Sorrow, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.
About the book:
Silent Sorrow (The Book of Remezov)

Brilliant and ambitious, Remezov is already recognised as the best earthquake predictor in the business. He travels to the ancient city of Hanemark to be received into the powerful Guild of Geographers, the youngest inductee in decades.On the way he finds a dead scientist’s diary, warning of an imminent invasion. Nonsense, of course—except the diary explains otherwise puzzling occurrences. Does he surrender it to the Guild, risking accusations he killed the scientist and stole the diary—all for an invasion that may never come—or does he keep it and use it to make his name? He has to decide soon, because he’s being hunted by something leaving a trail of mutilated bodies across the city.The lizards are coming…
Russell Kirkpatrick (born 1961, Christchurch, New Zealand) is a geography lecturer, cartographer and a novelist. He holds a PhD in geography from the University of Canterbury, and lectured at the University of Waikato in Hamilton until 2014. He is currently living and writing in Australia, and moonlights as a sessional lecturer at the University of Canberra. He has worked on seven atlas projects, including the New Zealand Historical Atlas (1998), and authored the Contemporary Atlas of New Zealand (1999/2004). He also wrote and was photographer for a book about New Zealand waterfalls - Walk to Waterfalls (2011). He has written two fantasy trilogies, Fire of Heaven and Husk. Across the Face of the World was the biggest selling debut fantasy in the United States in 2008. He won the Julius Vogel award in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

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