Season Two of The Dark Word takes the ferry cross the Mersey to conclude in style. Ramsey Campbell was born in Liverpool in 1946 and still lives Merseyside. The Oxford Companion to English Literature describes him as “Britain’s most respected living horror writer”. He has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Gran…

Josh Ruben is an award-winning actor, writer, and director whose feature film SCARE ME—which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Aya Cash and Chris Redd—debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. For television, Josh directed sketches for "The Late Late Show" with James Corden and episodes of TruTV's "Adam Ruins Everything." As one of the …

Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the United States, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. Her fourth novel, the gothic thriller Sundial was Observer Thriller of the Month and a USA Today, CNN and Apple Books selection for best new fiction. Stephen King called it ‘Authentically terrifying.’ Ward’s third breakout novel The Las…

What's changed? Everything. Brian Keene says the thing that’s changed the most in the years since he sold his first story in 1997 is the rise of the indie press. “The Big Five weren’t publishing horror novels in the mid 90s so you saw the indie press grow and blossom.” And now, maintains the wildly successful author of over fifty books, the gap bet…

Chuck Wendig is the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers, The Book of Accidents, Star Wars: Aftermath (plus tons of other Star Wars stuff), and more than two dozen other books for adults and young adults. A finalist for the Astounding Award and an alum of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, he has also written comics and games, and for film a…

As the operator of her own small press, Dark Hart Books, Sadie Hartmann has developed deep expertise in the marketing of this genre. Here she chats with Philip Fracassi about building a "bookstagram" presence (her Mother Horror persona boasts over 21,000 followers), where Stephen King is an active follower, and also talks our agorophobic host throu…

It's different with friends. Listen in as Jeremy Robert Johnson reveals to his host Philip Fracassi—his good friend—how it's done for anyone who aspires to write horror stories that thrill and chill. Book and Film Globe counted Johnson's novel The Loop as one of The Most Anticipated Horror Novels of 2020, describing it as "Alien meets World War Z" …

In the grandest tradition of "very special episodes," this week's edition of The Dark Word features an in-person interview before a live audience at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles. Philip Fracassi speaks to Dutch phenom Thomas Olde Heuvelt, an international bestselling author who broke through with the novel HEX. Since then, Heuvelt's work has b…

Eric LaRocca (he/they) is the author of several works of horror and dark fiction, including the viral sensation Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and the intriguingly titled You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and currently resides in Boston with his partner. For more information, please f…

Rachel Harrison is the author of SUCH SHARP TEETH, described as a “darkly comedic love story is a brilliantly layered portrait of trauma, rage, and vulnerability,” CACKLE and THE RETURN, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature’s Recommende…

Brian Evenson is the author more than a dozen books of fiction, most recently the story collection The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell. His collection Song for the Unraveling of the World (2019) won the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times’ Ray Bradbury Prize. His novel Last Days won the Ameri…

Josh Malerman is a New York Times bestselling author and one of two singer-songwriters for the rock band The High Strung. His debut novel, Bird Box, is the inspiration for the hit Netflix film of the same name. His other novels include Unbury Carol, Inspection, A House at the Bottom of a Lake, and Malorie, the sequel to Bird Box.Malerman’s new book…

For the final episode of Season One of THE DARK WORD, Victor LaValle joins Philip Fracassi to discuss early story sales (and rejections), writing in bursts, tips on a great agent query letter, and much more. A season one finale you won’t want to miss. Victor is the author of the short story collection Slapboxing with Jesus, four novels, The Ecstati…

Legendary writer and winner of ten Bram Stoker Awards discusses his 50-year career. The legendary Joe R. Lansdale joined THE DARK WORD to talk about his 50-year career as a writer, sharing advice on writing, including working with the time you have, his editing process, and how he’s had success writing for himself. Joe has written novels and storie…

Bestselling author Ronald Malfi joins Philip to discuss two decades in publishing. We hit double digits! For our 10th episode, bestselling author Ronald Malfi joins The Dark Word to discuss his twenty years of publishing experience, working with agents, and offer a behind-the-scenes look at how books are adapted for film and television. Ronald is t…

Author of nearly 30 novels stops by to talk writing with Philip Fracassi This week, we were delighted to have bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones visit The Dark Word to discuss his early publishing career, the importance of reading, his unique approach to writing fiction, and some real-world advice on writing mechanics. Stephen is the New York …

Bram Stoker Award-winning author chats with Philip Fracassi about Road of Bones, Ararat and other works. You won’t want to miss our Dark Word interview with Christopher Golden, in which we discuss his vast publishing experience, editing anthologies, writing for comics and his take on the most important book every writer must have. Golden is the New…

Legendary editor hits Philip Fracassi with tips for aspiring horror writers We had a great conversation with legendary editor Ellen Datlow in which we discuss anthologies, tips for new writers when submitting a story, the nuts and bolts of creating a killer table of contents, and much more. Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, an…

Alaskan horror writer speaks to Philip Fracassi about her The Fervor. Alma Katsu joined us on The Dark Word today to share her publishing experiences, offer great advice on researching historical fiction, and ways to build suspense in your stories. Alma is the award-winning author of seven novels. Her latest is The Fervor, a reimagining of the Japa…

Head Full of Ghosts author raps with Philip Fracassi about his writing career. It was great to speak with Paul Tremblay about his early writing career, early publishing disappointments, and his experiences working with big 5 publishers. Paul has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of Survivor Song, …

Author of New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears Speaks with Philip Fracassi. Batting clean-up for The Dark Word is episode #4 and it’s a great one. Bestselling writer S.A. Cosby talks to Philip Fracassi about writing a great thriller, the importance of beta readers, agents and luck, books on writing, and much more. Cosby is an Anthony Award-wi…

For Halloween Half-life, Host Philip Fracassi dishes with Award-Winning Author. Ready for your third session of chills? In episode 3, Lisa Morton joins The Dark Word to discuss non-fiction writing, screenwriting, editing for anthologies and much more. Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, and a fiction writer. She is a six-tim…

Host Philip Fracassi gets prolix with prolific author of Bram Stoker-award winning Writing in the Dark Tim Waggoner has published over fifty novels and seven collections of short stories. He’s written tie-in fiction based on titles such as Supernatural, Grimm, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, and others. He’s also written novelizations for films suc…

Hello and welcome to the Dark Word. This is Season 1, Episode 1 and I’m your host Philip Fracassi. The Dark Word is a podcast about writing, writers, and those who read those writers. The goal of this podcast is to focus on the profession of writing—the creative process, the business side of things, or simply offering advice on how to be a professi…