In this episode of Talking Horror, Rachel Redd sits down with national bestselling author Christina Henry, writer of nearly 20 books spanning urban fantasy, dark fairy tale retellings, and modern horror, including Near the Bone, The House That Horror Built, and The Place Where They Buried Your Heart. Her upcoming novel Pinfeathers drops this November.

Grab your copy of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart: https://amzn.to/4vbTAQG

Christina opens up about writing her first novel longhand in a notebook at age 12, why she still writes every single book by hand, and the discovery-based process that lets her pants her way through nearly two decades of publishing without ever plotting. We dig into her Gen X horror origin story (Ouija boards, slumber party slashers, and a Freddy Krueger fear that genuinely haunted her) and what eventually shifted horror from scary to fascinating. Christina also gets into why she fought hard not to be typecast as "the retellings girl," how a Guillermo del Toro interview sparked The House That Horror Built, the single image of a house where three boys went in and two came out that became The Place Where They Buried Your Heart, and the tiny black needle appearing under a baby's arm that started Pinfeathers. Plus: the best piece of advice she ever got about bad reviews, what it was like to get a three-book deal while her toddler climbed a slide at Gymboree, and why she's patiently waiting for the right zombie novel idea to arrive.

Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Christina Henry
04:21 – Starting in Urban Fantasy: Black Wings
05:17 – A Gen X Girl's Horror Origin Story
11:59 – Writing Every Book by Hand: The Process Explained
14:45 – Pantsing 19 Novels: How Her Brain Works on Simmer
18:14 – The Road to Publication: Writing Black Wings During Nap Time
22:18 – Three Editors, Same Publisher: 16 Years with Ace/Berkley
25:32 – The Urban Fantasy Boom and Bust
26:24 – Writing Alice and Changing Her Own Career
27:23 – Jumping Genres and Writing for Herself
29:02 – Don't Do It If You Don't Love It
30:20 – Why Bad Reviews Aren't Really About Your Book
36:04 – From Retellings to Horror: Not Wanting to Be Typecast
42:23 – The Real Horror: Vulnerability and Poverty
44:15 – Building Dread Without Jump Scares
46:31 – When the House Is the Villain
47:25 – The Place Where They Buried Your Heart: Moving from Forest to Buildings
54:27 – Pinfeathers: Coming November
55:15 – A Baby, a Pin Feather, and Body Horror
58:47 – Juggling Multiple Books at Once
59:46 – What Comes After Pinfeathers: Dark Humor Returns

Grab your copy of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart: https://amzn.to/4vbTAQG

Connect with Christina Henry:
Website: https://www.christinahenry.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorchristinahenry/

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!

In this episode of Talking Horror, Rachel Redd sits down with New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten, known for the Wilderwood duology (For the Wolf, For the Throne), the Nightshade Crown trilogy (The Foxglove King), and her brand new adult horror debut, Reliquary. Hannah opens up about how she started writing For the Wolf in the grip of postpartum depression, rewrote it from the ground up at least four times, and spent five years getting it from a spell-checked first draft to a TikTok sensation.

Grab your copy of Reliquary: https://amzn.to/3Q2bTbZ

We dig into her childhood as a "spooky little kid" sneaking Goosebumps into her school desk, why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is "in the bedrock of her soul," the religious-trauma threads running through her work, and the Ready or Not-inspired spark behind Reliquary. Whether you're a fan of lush gothic atmosphere, slow-burn dread, a love triangle where everybody wins, or a theater kid who loves a dark twist, this conversation is for you.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Buffy in the Bedrock: Where the Whimsy Comes From
00:37 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Hannah Whitten
02:18 – A Spooky Evangelical Kid Sneaking Goosebumps Into Her Desk
05:31 – Best House on the Block: Halloween & Vintage Goosebumps
07:57 – Writing Since She Could Hold a Pen
09:27 – Postpartum Depression & the Birth of For the Wolf
12:44 – Meeting Erin Craig, Edit Letters & Rewriting the Book Four Times
15:46 – From YA to Adult: The Five-Year Road to Publication
18:56 – Advice for Writers: Finish It & Be Your Own Audience
23:13 – Building the Wilderwood Duology
25:01 – Becoming a TikTok Sensation (Without Being on TikTok)
27:09 – Trolls, Doom Scrolling & the Spider-in-the-House Rule
30:48 – Melting Fairy Tales & Balancing Whimsy With Horror
35:09 – Monsters, Grief, Religious Trauma & Female Power
39:01 – Going Darker: The Nightshade Crown & a Love Triangle Where Everyone Wins
43:23 – Lore the Performer & the Theater Kid Confession
46:13 – Soft Power vs. Hard Power in Romantasy
48:14 – Writing Her First Horror: The Ready or Not Spark & a Secret 55K Draft
52:43 – Meet Claire: Her Most Challenging Protagonist
53:54 – "She's Drew Barrymore in Scream" & the Art of the Slow Burn
57:10 – Anxiety, ADHD & OCD on the Page
59:04 – A New Era? Second Horror & Hawthorne and Oak
1:01:15 – Book Recs: The Starving Saints & Coffin Moon
1:02:39 – Dark Fantasy This or That
1:05:02 – Goodbyes & Reliquary Out August 11th

Connect with Hannah Whitten:
Website: https://hannahfwhitten.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwhittenwrites/

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!

In this episode of Talking Horror, Rachel Redd sits down with Nat Cassidy, USA Today bestselling author of Mary, When the Wolf Comes Home, and the brand-new short story collection I Know a Place, Rest Stop, and Other Dark Detours. Nat dives deep into how his background as a New York playwright and theater actor ultimately shaped his approach to pacing, dialogue, and creating deep, immersive tension on the page.

We discuss his childhood memories of browsing graphic VHS covers at Blockbuster, the intentional choices behind writing a premenopausal female protagonist in Mary, and what it was like to receive a dream-come-true foreword from Stephen King. Whether you're a fan of slow-burn body horror, action-packed thrillers, or a theater kid who loves a dark twist, this conversation is for you.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Podcasting Interventions & Questioning Authors

00:38 – Introducing Nat Cassidy & The Messiness of Being Alive

03:14 – Childhood Monsoons, Macabre Textbooks, and a Mother’s Horror Legacy

07:18 – The Magic of 80s Video Stores & Unexpected Scares in Kids' Movies

16:02 – Discovering Shakespeare's Macbeth & The Hyperactive Child Actor 1

9:49 – Writing Stephen King Knockoffs Set in Maine

22:39 – How Playwriting Teaches Authors to Capture and Keep an Audience 2

8:37 – Designing Tension in a Sunken Submarine with a Low Budget

35:09 – Writing Mary: Tackling Invisibility and Hormonal Thresholds

42:31 – Sensitivity Readers, Toxic Patriarchy, and the NIH Reading List

53:54 – When the Wolf Comes Home: Moving from Slow-Burn to Terminator 2 Action

1:00:08 – Receiving the Ultimate Blessing: The Stephen King Foreword 1:11:36 – I Know a Place: Public Restrooms, Squids, and Live Violin Performances

1:19:18 – The Album Experience: Why You Must Read Short Stories in Order

1:21:20 – The Ultimate Literary Bromance: Appreciating Clay McLeod Chapman

1:26:36 – Why Horror People are the Best and Most Welcoming People in Fiction

Grab a copy of "I Know a Place": https://amzn.to/43VW6ih

Connect with Nat Cassidy:

Website: https://www.natcassidy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natcassidy/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/natcassidy

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

If you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!