Keith Rosson joins Talking Horror to talk Coffin Moon, his gritty 1970s vampire western, and the wild road that took him from legally blind art school dropout to acclaimed horror novelist. Rachel Redd sits down with the author of Fever House, The Devil by Name, and Smoke City for a conversation about grief, addiction, found family, and the recklessness it takes to survive ten books in ten years.

Keith opens up about discovering at age ten that he'd been legally blind his whole life, and how that diagnosis turned into a twenty five year career illustrating punk album covers and band merch. He talks about dropping out of art school twice, getting 97 rejections from literary agents before his debut sold, and writing Fever House during COVID lockdown while fostering and adopting two toddlers during the George Floyd protests in Portland. He breaks down the phone call from Random House editor Caitlin McKenna that changed his career, why he set Coffin Moon in the 1970s so his vampires could still warp in mirrors and cameras, and how he trimmed his cast down to just a handful of characters after Fever House's sprawling ensemble. Plus his unflinching take on killing off main characters, the question his editor asks to keep violence from feeling gratuitous, and a first look at his upcoming novel Crone, based on a real unsolved disappearance that's haunted him for decades.

Grab your copy of Coffin Moon: https://amzn.to/4gLNCBV

Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Keith Rosson

03:34 – How a Stephen King Paperback at Age Ten Started It All

06:06 – Legally Blind: The Diagnosis That Shaped His Art

08:08 – Designing for Punk Bands and the Cover He's Proudest Of

12:06 – Art School Dropout Twice Removed

14:20 – From Punk Zines to 97 Rejections Before His First Yes

26:31 – Fever House: Writing Through Lockdown While Fostering Two Toddlers

31:05 – The Call From Random House That Changed Everything

36:06 – Why He's Not Afraid to Kill a Main Character

37:19 – Earning the Violence: What Makes Brutality Land

40:31 – Coffin Moon: Turning Vampires Into a 1970s Western Revenge Story

48:33 – Trimming the Cast: Why Coffin Moon Went Smaller 5

0:55 – The Redemption Question Running Through All His Books

56:11 – Crone: A Missing Daughter, a Biker Gang, and a Real Unsolved Case

59:09 – His Advice After Ten Books in Ten Years

Connect with Keith Rosson:

Website: https://www.keithrosson.com/

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

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

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

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

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In this episode, Rachel Redd sits down with Luke Dumas, the author of A History of Fear, The Paleontologist, and Nothing Tastes as Good for a wide-ranging conversation on obsession, grief, identity, and writing horror that feels deeply human.

Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Luke Dumas
02:40 – Reading Roots: A Storyteller Before He Was a Reader
03:29 – The Boy Wizard Phase and Falling for Fantasy
04:22 – A Lifelong Jurassic Park & Dinosaur Obsession
06:50 – Discovering Horror: Weekends With Dad and the Haunted Hotel
08:42 – The Comedy Writer Who Wanted to Be David Sedaris
10:27 – Early Writing Dreams and Delusions of Fame
11:55 – Studying Literature and the Master's in Scotland
16:26 – Letting Go of the "Wonder Kid" Pressure
17:58 – The Risk-Averse Path: Writing Around a Day Job
18:29 – Grant Writing, Zoos, and Mining the Day Job for Fiction
21:08 – Book Five: How A History of Fear Found Its Agent
23:00 – The Overnight Offer That Made Him Cry
24:23 – Finding Resilience Through Five Unpublished Books
28:06 – Why Storytelling Is Woven Into His Soul
30:45 – Craft vs. Plot: Refusing to Sacrifice One for the Other
32:46 – The Heavy Plotter Who Loves Outlining Most
34:15 – The Two Wolves: Beautiful Writing vs. Getting It Out
37:37 – "I Hate Research": Faking It for The Paleontologist
40:32 – Interstitial Documents and the Book-Within-a-Book
43:43 – A History of Fear, Edinburgh, and Scottish Demonic Lore
46:02 – The Walk Through the Meadows That Sparked the Story
47:57 – Religious Trauma, Identity, and the Harm of Repression
50:13 – The Paleontologist: Excavation as Metaphor
51:31 – From "I Just Love Dinosaurs" to Ghosts in a Haunted Museum
53:55 – The Grim Ending and the Horror That Makes Him Giggle
56:46 – Raving About Nothing Tastes as Good
59:22 – Knowing When It Was Time (and Stephen King's Thinner)
01:00:20 – Weight-Loss Drugs, Ozempic, and Perfect Timing
01:01:19 – Writing Fatness From a Male Perspective
01:02:52 – Emmett: The Monster You Can't Help Rooting For
01:07:11 – Lisette, Body Positivity, and a Cousin Named Rachel
01:11:16 – Sitting With the Discomfort of "Just Change"
01:12:11 – First Look at We Don't Call Them Cages (Spring 2027)
01:13:53 – "Madagascar for Adults": Rewriting Childhood as Horror
01:14:56 – Wrap-Up & Thanks

Grab your copy of Nothing Tastes as Good: https://amzn.to/4fnO7PY

Connect with Luke Dumas:

https://www.lukedumas.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thenewdumas/?hl=en

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!

Chuck Tingle joins Talking Horror to talk Fabulous Bodies, the pink mask, and why love is the ultimate weapon against the cosmic void. In this episode, Rachel Redd sits down with the USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus, Bury Your Gays, and Lucky Day for a wide-ranging conversation on horror, empathy, and creating without fear.

Chuck opens up about the surprising life-or-death story behind the pink mask and how it eased his chronic pain, why he never writes to market and has hit the jackpot twice by following his soul, and how believing humanity is innately good lets him write villains you actually understand. Plus the Collateral-meets-monster idea that sparked Fabulous Bodies, why he builds novels like screenplays as a self-taught outsider artist, and a gratitude practice built on succulents and Cheetos.

Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Chuck Tingle
04:32 – Baby Chuck: A Storyteller From the Start
09:32 – Dungeons and Dragons at Four and the Primal Urge to Tell Stories
12:16 – Drawn to the Taboo: Horror, Erotica, and Punk Rock Art
15:00 – Horror as the Metal of Writing (and Why Dark Romance Is Wilder)
18:39 – Self-Publishing the First Tingler
22:00 – Building a Utopia: The Politics of the Tingleverse
25:08 – Where Chuck Feels Most Artistically Fulfilled
26:38 – Hope as Innate, Not Intentional
30:12 – Never Writing to Market: Hitting the Jackpot Twice
33:57 – Authenticity on the Page and Art as Subconscious Communication
36:32 – The Pink Mask: Safety, Anonymity, and Coming Out
39:29 – How the Mask Eased Chronic Pain and Saved His Life
44:51 – The Mask as Amplifier: Becoming a Symbol
50:11 – Talking Camp Damascus and the Cost of Apathy
53:41 – Why Chuck Believes Humanity Is Innately Good
56:13 – Fabulous Bodies: Writing an Unlikable Hero and a Fun Villain
59:34 – The Slow Burn of Lucky Day and the Power of a Deep Cut
01:04:16 – Hit Singles vs. Art House: Reading His Own Catalog
01:07:47 – The Outsider Artist Who Writes Novels Like Screenplays
01:08:36 – Collateral Meets a Monster: The Origin of Fabulous Bodies
01:10:38 – Where Does Love Come From? The Heart of Fabulous Bodies
01:16:06 – Succulents, Cheetos, and a Daily Gratitude Practice

Grab your copy of Fabulous Bodies: https://amzn.to/4fNjB2z

Connect with Chuck Tingle:
Website: https://www.chucktingle.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chucktingle/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realchucktingle
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/chucktingle

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!