146 – Paula. D. Ashe & A Bizarre & Bitter Reprieve

 If horror is indeed a broad church, then our guest this week is preaching from the darkest of pulpits. 

Paula D. Ashe is the author of We Are Here To Hurt Each Other – a collection of short stories that has accrued infamy and acclaim in equal measure over the last 12 months. Her stories are cruel. They present a depraved world of man (and woman’s) direst excesses, a world that rubs against the numinous and the cosmically amoral. 

Can you say ‘trigger warnings needed’!

We talk at length about the allure of extreme horror, about whether an author can truly consider their readers’ feelings, about horrendous crimes and the difference between the horror of imagery and action. We also give a lot of love to Clive Barker and his influence on Paula’s own mythos-building.

This may be the most extreme episode of Talking Scared ever recorded.

Enjoy (whatever that means!) 

We Are Here To Hurt Each Other was published on 21st Feb 2022, by Nictitating Books 

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

• Where I End (2022), by Sophie White
• Stephen (1991), by Elizabeth Massie
• The Hellbound Heart (1986), by Clive Barker

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