Morbid Book Club: Victorian Psycho By Virginia Feito

[00:08] Hey, weirdos. This episode is brought to you by Ashley. [00:11] Your home should show off who you are. As the largest furniture store brand in North America, Ashley can help you create a comfortable, functional, and stylish home that you can feel proud of. And in a price range that works for you. With Ashley's lifestyle-driven designs, you don't have to choose between practical and being stylish. [00:28] Visit your local Ashley store or head to com to find your style. [00:37] All right, brothers, we're going to get into the actual intro.

But first, the Greg has something to tell you. I do have something to tell you today. [00:46] We have somebody very special on the pod, in the pod lab, the second pod lab. Ashkel's pod lab. Ashkel's pod lab. Welcome to the pod lab. It's still a little bit under construction, but we're working on it. It's pretty great. [00:57] We have. Whoa. [01:00] Thanks, Mikey. That was badass. We have Paul Tremblay. [01:05] on the pod today. Paul is the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Head Full of Ghosts, The Paul Bearers Club, Cabin at the End of the World.

And actually, that one has already been adapted to a film. It's Knock at the Cabin, I believe it's called. So go check that out. And Head Full of Ghosts is going to be adapted to a movie. So cool. Wait for that. His newest release right here, Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep, which is an amazing title. [01:35] Coming out June 30th. That's wherever you can find books. We have actually already recorded with Paul and had a fucking fantastic time. He was so nice. He's phenomenal. His books are phenomenal. And I urge you to go check them out.

And we're really excited for you to see our conversation with him. Woo! Before we get into the episode, we do just have to thank our sponsor one more time. Ashley is such an icon. I'm not talking about myself. [02:05] Frank are upon. We got, this is the Revion Lake sofa that we're sitting on. It's comfy. It's really comfy. It's chic. I love the color and it's washable, which is nice. I got the, the love seat over there. And then we have the Mailey coffee table, which I'm actually ordering another one to put in my living room downstairs because I love it so much.

I'd like to say really quick that the Schweppes on there was a mistake. A mistake. Yeah. Instacart. I'm not talking to [02:35] And finally, these are the core stone tables, the end tables. What I love about these is that I feel like I'm like a QVC girl. Yeah. I love that you can dress them up like the shelves. You can kind of just like put all your accoutrements, all your zikor, your trinkets, your chockies. Your hara movies. Your hara movies. Your awala. [02:55] your game that you crafted with your sister and hunt a killer you can just put anything on the end table so thank you to ashley for sponsoring today's episode and for sending us this really cool furniture because it's sick and without further ado let's get into it yeah hey weirdos i'm ash i'm elena [03:13] And I'm Grady Hendrix.

No, I'm Paul. We said, Paul, you can be whoever you want to be today. And he chose Grady Hendrix. Oh, yes. This is morbid. [03:36] This is a very special morbid. We have an amazing... We already introduced him, but I'm going to introduce him again. [03:43] Tremblay, if you don't know him, go figure it out because there's a body of work that you need to get into right now. [03:50] He's an amazing writer and you're missing out if you haven't read his books. So get to it. And also there's several adaptations that have been happening lately.

[03:58] Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah. The most recent would be a head full of ghosts wrapped filming. [04:03] Uh, in the Dublin area. [04:06] Which is where actually Victorian Psycho was filmed in Ireland as well. Oh, that's cool. Virginia and I talked a little bit about, but anyway, yeah, it wrapped and probably be out a year from now. [04:16] Yeah, super excited. I'm really excited for that. That's actually one of my favorite of your books. Thank you so much. So I'm very excited about that. It's going to be a scary movie.

Yeah, I love that. [04:25] They didn't pull any punches. So the directors, it was weird, we were talking, my wife and I on the way over, [04:30] The director is our Austrian niece and nephew. Like, like, it's kind of fun. Oh, my God. That's so cool. That is funny. Like us. Like us. Or I should say aunt and nephew. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Right. Cool. That's so cool. That's rad. I love that. Well, we mentioned Victorian Psycho. Yes. That's what we're going to be talking about today. Yes. This was actually your pick.

[04:52] Which we are very excited. And I had heard about this book. It's by Virginia Faito, excuse me. And I've heard about this book. [04:59] everywhere like i'm on tiktok like booktalk loves it i've heard about so many people have told me you have to read this book [05:06] And it's been on my TBR forever. So when you mentioned it, I was like, well, perfect time. Great. I ate this book up in one day. Like one afternoon. [05:16] Literally just ate it up. It's so easy to read. It is such a good book.

I think it's so unique. [05:22] I feel like I've never read anything quite like this. Yeah. You know, truly. Yeah. And we're going to get really into it in a minute. But first, I want to talk to you about you. Okay. Because you guys got to know who Paul is. I'm not Victorian. You're not Victorian. Are you a psycho? Yeah. Only when I don't. To be determined. We'll figure it out through this. So we were actually just talking about this. Congrats on finally becoming a full-time writer. Thank you. That's incredible.

I appreciate that. Yeah, it's a little weird, a little daunting. [05:52] Yeah, I've been a high school math teacher for 30 years, and people usually react more in horror to that than they do to horror writing. I was going to say that's horror to me. [06:01] Yeah, no, I totally get it. [06:03] um you know at a small school local to here and they were always super supportive let me be the weirdo or writing agnostic math teacher in a catholic boy school oh hell yeah that's badass that's awesome that's a story in and of itself that you need to write a thing that really is very thankful they're never you know if i missed a day or two to go to like a festival or something they were great oh that's so cool yeah that's so rare [06:25] Yeah.

Yeah. I can see why you stayed there for so long. No, it was like, I mean, my artistic writerly safety net. Yeah. Maybe similar to you, like you were just telling me how you kept your job for a long time. I mean, it was, it was just nice to know, Hey, I had this job that, [06:37] Sometimes paid our shitty health insurance. And then, you know, I could write a book and if it was weird, that's okay. If I needed to say no, I could because I didn't have to like do what the publisher said or what people expected.

I know. And I think that actually makes it better. I feel like you probably were a little able to be more free and creative with that when you have that safety net. Because when it's all on you, it's like, like this has to work. It has to be what everyone likes. No, 100%. Yeah. Always admire friends who make a go of it. [07:05] full-time and that's how they've been supporting their family for years. I mean, that's a pressure that I'll have to figure out. Well, my kids are older now, so they're on their own.

So whatever. Yeah. Well, you're definitely like the most successful like part-time writer I've ever seen. Like, that's crazy. When I saw, I think I saw you post about it and I was like, [07:24] Wait a minute. Like he's not full time doing this. What the hell? But you you seem to have come to the full time side of writing at the right time, because I feel like horror is having kind of like a cultural renaissance right now. Like we even like with movies and stuff like back rooms, weapons, sinners, Frankenstein, obsession.

Why do you think that's happening right now? [07:44] Yeah, I mean, that's hard to answer. [07:48] Um, I'm not sure. I mean, I think some of it was funny. Let me back up. So A Head Full of Ghosts was the book that sort of made me like that broke out. Um, and we were, when we were trying to sell that in early 2014, um, [08:00] a lot of publishers were like, ah, but it's horror. And like, it was, we eventually did get a, a, [08:05] published, which was amazing, but just, it's not that long ago, like now, like 11, 12 years later, it's like...

[08:11] People were like, oh. Publishers' weekly reports. I'm like, oh, the sale, like the... [08:16] The publisher acquisition of horror novels is up 25% from last year, which was up 25% from the year before. And it's just, you know, the worst case scenario person in me that, you know, powers my books is like, oh, no, it's going to be a bubble that pops. Yep. Like, that's going to happen. That's nerve-wracking. But, no, I mean, I think it's a healthy place. We're finally getting to see... [08:36] It's not just, you know, authors who look, you know, white, straight authors who look like me and Grady.

It's, you know, we're getting to see way more own voices. And, you know, to me, that's like one of the most exciting parts about what we're seeing, both in film and in publishing. Oh, yeah, I agree. I think it's like different point of views coming into it. I think finally people are being open to that, which is nice. And I love it. I love seeing that. And I love seeing them like win awards. I love all of like seeing this happen. I'm like, it's time. It's our time. [09:06] The other part of it is I think, you know, well, I mean, I'll talk about Gen X a little bit.

Like, I mean, so many of us grew up reading Stephen King and watching the movies and then – [09:13] you know, the later half of the previous decade, you know, so many of us were now publishing books like, [09:19] you know, the children, if not of Stephen King, but of, of that time period. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Like I say, there's less of it. There's still a stigma with horror, which I hope never leaves, frankly. I mean, I always want horror. Horror should be poking and prodding at uncomfortable things and on the boundaries.

So I hope it doesn't lose that. Um, [09:36] Yeah. So I think honestly, Get Out has a lot to do with it. Like when that came out, like that was the first time. Yeah. Broader culture, especially... [09:44] academia and... [09:46] mainstream reviewers were like, oh, there were, I remember literal articles in New York times. Like, do we need to take horror seriously? Yes. Because of that movie. They were like, yeah, that movie did change the landscape a little. That movie is flawless to me. I love that movie. Flawless. I love that movie.

So good. Now, do you remember the exact moment? [10:03] that you realized that you wanted to write horror. [10:05] Oh, geez. No, it's hard to explain how I got there. I mean, I'm a lifelong scaredy cat for one. So I've always had like a love terrified relationship with horror. That's how I feel. Yeah. Yeah. Still, like if I'm alone in the house, I'm not above sleeping with like a desk lamp on. Oh, yeah. Same. Or noise machines. Yeah. Still go up the basement steps too quick just because I'm ridiculous. [10:26] But I mean, I wasn't even like a huge reader as a kid.

Like I was just sort of like a nerdy... [10:31] math person, you know, loves the Celtics. And it wasn't until... [10:39] college or I met my wife Lisa she bought me right after I graduated [10:44] Two things happened. [10:46] My last, and I hope this isn't too boring, you can cut it. [10:49] I had to take an English requirement. I was in a freshman English class, second semester, senior year. Oh, damn. It blew my mind. I had like the stereotype experience. And the teacher was a big punk music fan. I was too, so we connected.

But anyway. [11:01] One of the stories I read in that class was Joyce Carol Oates's, Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? And I remember reading it, and I actually said aloud, I was like, I didn't know people wrote things like this. Oh, I love that. And shortly after that, Lisa bought me the stand after graduation, and I hailed that. I went off to grad school for two years and struggled by the skin of my teeth to get a master's degree. [11:20] That's when I was reading everything Stephen King wrote.

And from Dance Macabre, I branched out to Peter Straub and Clive Barker and Shirley Jackson. And then... [11:27] Two years after that, I got my first teaching job. I had the weird itch to try writing a story. Inexplicable. Like, why would I try writing a story? I love that, though. That's so cool. That's how I felt, too. When I first started writing my first book, I was like... [11:41] I don't know how to write a story. Like, I was like, I can't write a whole book. What am I doing? Like, I'll just imagine everybody feels that way when they first write something.

I feel like everyone has to feel that way, you know, in the beginning, being like, I'm not going to get to the end of this. Like, this isn't going to be something someone reads. Right. Like, I'm terrible at writing advice, so I don't give it. The only thing I tell, especially to younger people, it's like, hey, you know, hopefully you come to this realization a lot earlier than I did, but hopefully [12:05] you know, you come to the realization that it's okay to like things. It's getting harder and harder to do that.

You know, [12:11] Obviously, which is, you know, social media life and everyone hates everything. You know, it's okay to like things. That means it's okay to be passionate about it and maybe want to try it yourself. And I mean, that's such an important, it has to be your first step. Yes. I'm so glad you said that because I'm constantly trying to tell my kids that. Like, I want to tell you now when you're young, like you can be passionately excited about things and not feel weird about it. [12:41] and so to want to learn everything you can about it like i feel like we have got to a place now where like everybody wants to be the same and everything's cringe and it's like right that's so cringy that you're into it's like stop i hate that unless i like grady henryk's books then we should really then that's cringe i love grady grady's a friend i just like making fun of him you love grady we had him on and we had the most fun with him he's great it was a fun episode he is so much fun he's so funny he was really fun with the would you rather so you're ready for that [13:11] Yeah.

And actually, like this kind of leads into my what I wanted to talk about next. So [13:16] Speaking of like a love of writing and getting passionate about things, AI. [13:21] I have to rant with you about it because I think we feel the exact same way about it. Oh, yeah. It's... [13:28] upsetting me so much that because like books like this like victorian psycho [13:33] aren't going to happen with AI. And it's making me crazy that it's become a thing. And I feel like you need to go through the whole, like being inspired to write something, coming up with the idea, like working through it at some point, like reading your own writing and being like, oh my God, I'm a genius.

And then the next day reading it and being like, I'm a hack and I should never do this. And then fighting through that feeling and coming out on the other side, like you need to have that full experience. And I feel like all of a sudden we're going to get these [14:03] need that [14:04] injected into the book for it to be [14:06] Yeah, I had no interest in reading it. I mean, the whole idea to me is reading something or watching a movie or any other piece of art. [14:13] What the connection is, oh, this person felt like I did.

Yeah. It feels like I do too. Right. And there will never be any of that. No. You know, with AI, nevermind that they steal our books. Exactly. You know, and I was a part of the first lawsuit suing OpenAI on behalf of writers. I love that. For two years. It's myself, other horror leading the way. Christopher Golden, another horror writer. Yeah. And Richard Cadre. And also weirdly, well, not weirdly, but like not weirdly. [14:40] horror writer, but Sarah Silverman. We were the first four and spent two years as a part of it [14:45] Um, they can, there's so many lawsuits, they consulted it all to one.

So then like, I didn't continue cause they, [14:51] also chose different lawyers was weird but yeah no i mean [14:55] Yeah, I'm sorry if it makes people uncomfortable, but, like, you're not a writer or a visual artist if you're using it. No. To use, like... [15:01] We don't have a union, but I'm going to use union terms. You're a scab. Exactly. Yeah. It's stolen work. Yeah. Yeah. It just, at the end of the day. It makes me crazy. And there's just no humanity behind it. Like, AI can't come up. I mean, you see, you can always see it in like metaphors and stuff that you'll see written by AI.

You're like, that doesn't even make sense. Like you, because you don't have the capacity as a computer to compare two things. Like you just don't, like it doesn't make any sense. It's, [15:28] I mean, in one way, it's like it's helped crystallize, like, why I'm, you know, still passionate about reading and, you know, watching movies and, you know, and viewing art, but... [15:36] It's the connection components. It's like, why do we have to defend this or explain why that this is important? Exactly. And it makes it so you have a book coming out on June 30th, and it's Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep.

I love that title. It's such a good title. It's such a good title. And it has some AI components in it, like in the story. It's about that. The plot seems so interesting to me. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Yeah, sure. I'm bad at the quick pitch. [16:06] I'm terrible at it, so don't worry. I think that's like a thing across the board of authors. Now that we have that out of the way. Yeah. So, you know, the main conceit is that there's someone who's like my age and Bill working for – well, not Google because I didn't want to get sued.

I think I called him Cecilion, a giant tech company in the Silicon Valley. Okay. He's working on campus in the mailroom and he – [16:26] Doesn't drop dead, but he has a massive stroke. [16:28] Uh, where, you know, he can breathe and his heart's beating, but he's not, you know, there's no consciousness. He's in a vegetative state. So they say. [16:36] He signed his [16:38] Body directly to over to the company, though, prior to this happening. As one does. As one does. And they implant AI and nanobots into his brain so someone can remote control him like they're playing a video game.

So most of that happens off page. The semi-estranged 24-year-old daughter of the CFO, she was an ex-professional gamer, is hired to basically weekend at Bernie's home across the country. Oh, my God. So I'm hopeful. [17:08] big chunk of this book, maybe the first two thirds of her, her chapters, Julia's chapters is definitely satire and hopefully very funny. Yeah. Um, [17:16] even though it's, you know, ultimately a serious thing. [17:19] So the book is split between her chapters and chapters are titled you, which is from the point of view of the man with the tech in his head.

So he, [17:26] He is still conscious because of what they've put in his head. He's going through like a phantasmic oracle hellscape. And then the two sort of, the two narratives sort of link up at the end and everyone's happy and hugs. Oh, I love this. I love the dual POV. That, [17:41] That's going to be good. I'm really. Yeah. I love a dual POV. Love it. That's really cool. And to think about just like. [17:48] being unconscious but conscious at the same time that's that's wild that's honestly my no definitely very horrific yeah very black mirror and the control aspect of it is my literal worst nightmare i am the biggest control freak in the world the idea of somebody controlling me when i can't right yeah [18:05] One of my fears writing the book is even though the premise seems absurd, I was like, man, I got to get this done before it can actually happen.

Two weeks ago, there was a story where some company has brains in jars, like some companies do, apparently, like Futurama. And they were testing either both pain medication or... [18:26] addiction to drugs, testing the brains. [18:29] And one of the, the, the spokesperson said, Oh, you know, the wiring is almost taken out of what it would take for them to be conscious. Almost. [18:38] You're like speed writing. You get it into your editor. You're like, please hurry. Oh my God. Oh, I hate that. I want to go back to something that you said earlier because I related to that so much.

I'm such a horror fan, but I'm also such a frady cat. And you said the same thing. I wonder, do you have any fears that you've never explored in your writing that you would eventually want to someday? [18:59] That's a great question. No one's ever asked it in that way. Hey, look at that. [19:05] I mean, there's some fears that I won't write about just because it's too scary for me. And being just a child, teen of the 80s, like nuclear war stuff really... [19:12] Anything that brushes up against that is too much for me.

That's how I feel too. I don't write about it. Avoid. So I won't watch Offenheimer. Yup. I'm sure it's a good movie. End of the World. Yeah, to me is like too real. Yeah. Mm-hmm. [19:24] I don't know. I mean... [19:26] I use so much of my own life, much of the chagrin in my family, in my books. [19:32] You know, it's hard to say what's coming next. And I wish I was someone who had like a... [19:36] a bullpen of ideas. And for novels, I just go from novel and then I'm like, oh, no, what am I going to do now?

And just try to start from scratch. And hopefully there's some inspiration. So, yeah, I don't know. I can't say like, oh, I definitely want to try this or that. I don't know. I'm just totally focused on the thing I'm working on. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. You got to see it through. Yeah, I get that. I have the weirdest notes in my note app of like ideas, but they're like, they're like, sometimes I'll look at them and I'm like, I don't know what I meant with this. [20:06] back to that you also have the weirdest dreams that i feel like i do like nightmares i should say i feel like so many of your ideas come from a little blip in your dream yeah or my kids weirdly where like they'll tell me a little bit of a like nightmare or something that they're scared of and i'm like can i use that like is that cool if i put that in the book you even asked them permission yeah i'm like is it i know i should just take i'm like i made you my poor children

[20:36] including a head full of ghosts. I scarred my wife, Lisa with it because young Mary, the eight year old character was definitely our daughter, Emma, when she was eight years old, that was her personality. [20:46] yeah that's so cool i mean hey you have to write what you know right you do yeah yeah i think my youngest had uh an imaginary friend we well skelton was one but he's not going to be in a in a in a book the mister but the mister and she named him the mister which is what he once told us he'll always find you yeah so like she literally sat on a cover she said don't worry the mister will always find you i think it was because they were playing hide and seek her and my husband and [21:16] Like, who's finding us?

She was like, the mister. And he was like, I'm sorry, what? And she was like, don't worry. He'll always find us. And he was like... [21:23] I hate this book. What does that mean? That's terrifying. That's a great Baroque title. The Mister Will Always Find You. The Mister Will Always Find You. I like it. [21:31] Mine. Going back to scary memories or anything like that. Do you know, or can you think of the first story that ever scared you so badly that it's still with you to this day? Maybe you read it or you heard it.

Oh yeah. So, I mean, for me it was all movies. I mean, I think, yeah, [21:46] I'm trying to think age-wise. There was... [21:49] When I say this area, I don't want to give away where you guys live, but in the New England area, I'm old enough that there was a program called Creature Double Feature that played, man, this was like late 70s, early 80s, on Saturday. So they showed two movies. The first movie was always like Godzilla or Gamera, a kaiju movie. And that's what drew me in. Yeah. The second movie was a horror movie, like a Hammer horror movie or Black and White.

I love this. You know, some of the just dumbest horror movies that eventually were on Mystery Science Theater. Right. Oh, hell yeah. Those gave me nightmares. [22:19] hack of the killer shrew nightmares. I still remember. It's such a bad movie. Um, I had nightmares from the movie alien before seeing it. Cause I was listening to my parents, my aunt talk about how scary the movie was. Oh my God. That used to happen to me when I was little all the time. In fact, I remember you were there at one of my uncle's houses and all of you guys were talking about it.

And I just heard like the tail end and like little bits of your conversation. And I was afraid of whatever it was. I didn't even know what it was, but I was so scared of it for [22:49] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yep. [22:51] But by far, Jaws gave me the most nightmares by far. [22:53] Jaws is such a foray into horror, isn't it? Yeah. I really started at my high school, which is weird. When I was in fifth grade, they were showing summer movies at the high school because they had an auditorium.

Okay. And my dad took me, and he pitched the movie to me this way. He's like, oh, there's a scene in this movie that captures what it feels like to catch a fish. That moment, right? When you catch it on the hook. And you're like, awesome. I'm in. He's true. I didn't watch that. I mean, yeah, that scene where Quint hooks him. It's there. It's there, but he could have told me some other things about that movie. You left out some bits. [23:23] Yeah. So like I, it's one of my favorite movies.

I've seen it 50 times since, but I still cover my eyes when Quince gets, sorry for the spoiler, but when Quince gets bit, when he gets bit in half, that broke my little 10 year old brain. And I'm exaggerating. I had 10 years of Shark Nightmares after that movie. Oh, I believe that. So I've seen the movie I've watched with my kids and we'll ceremoniously put the pillow over our faces. I love it. I've seen way more gorier stuff. I'm just like, that one just has something. My brain will return to the 10 year old brain.

Yeah, probably would. [23:53] It's a core memory, you know? [23:55] Your kids want to see Jaws so badly. So now we're going to rethink that one. And my oldest are 10. They're 10-year-old twins, and they want to see it so badly. So I've been, like, easing them in by being like, here's a picture of Bruce the Shark as a robot. Like, it's not real. I'm trying to be like, here's the behind the scenes of all of it. So hopefully it'll help. But I'm like, I don't know. You have a pool or friends with a pool and put the TV in and be on floats while you're watching them.

I want to do it so bad. That would be so good. We have the projector, too. We do need to do that. [24:25] like they're so brave at first about horror things like i can do this let's do it but then the nighttime you'll be brave during the day yeah and we regret it immediately that's how i am still yeah very brave during the day and then at night i'm like this is so scary and i don't want to ruin horror for them so i'm trying to like ease it in i'm like i don't want to give you trauma right off the bat yeah yeah have you seen have they seen gremlins they haven't yet we were just calling them i was gonna say i refer to them as gremlins a lot because at nighttime they always have like [24:55] of ailments and nightmares and eating i'm like literally i can't feed you after midnight can you wet straight up precarious uh i do wonder going back to your writing process what's the strangest place that you've gotten inspiration from a book that you can think of um there was a moment of like panic when i was on a train in england okay uh [25:19] I was doing an amazing book tour over there for The Cabinet at the End of the World.

Okay. And I knew the next book was due in less than a year at this point. And the novel I was imagining doing... [25:30] was going to take [25:32] It was going to be a big one and it was going to take way longer than a year. I'm like, oh no, what am I going to do? I've got to come up with an idea. And I had this weird what if for a zombie that I don't want to say necessarily because it spoils the book. Okay. Okay. [25:43] So that was sort of like forced, I guess, panic-induced inspiration.

The other way is it's just fun, like, where it comes from. You never know, like – [25:53] My book horror movie came from friend and amazing writer. Sorry to name drop. I've already mentioned Grady, but Stephen Graham Jones, you know, amazing guy. Right. And amazing. Hey, you should watch this YouTube. My friend Walter Chow was just, you know, [26:06] great critic and he hosts these matinees and talks about the movie. So basically it was an hour of Walter and writer musician, John Darnielle. [26:14] talking about Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was a movie that I didn't, I wasn't brave enough to watch until I was in my late thirties.

I love that. But since I've seen it, I love that movie. Such a good one. Their discussion sent me into a rabbit hole that became horror movies. So I don't know. It's just, you never know where it comes from and just try to be open to it. Yeah. Nice. I'm actually, I am in the middle of reading horror movie right now and I love it. So there's that. That's on my TBR list here. You're coming up close. Once you read it, I'll just steal it from [26:44] So going with the writing process still, do you have, do you start with an ending in mind or do you just kind of like, [26:52] torture it out of your characters and see what happens.

I like how you put that. [26:58] I typically have some notion of the ending. Sometimes it's really foggy. Sometimes it can be, this is the last line. I have to earn my way there. So I'd say most of the time it's, obviously I have a beginning, and a vague or sometimes... [27:11] the end in mine and it's like the hard part is all the stuff getting in the middle yeah yeah yeah yeah and you're kind of so you're like kind of the king of ambiguous endings i feel like that [27:21] You have to figure it out.

You get to decide. Yeah, I've done that a few times. I don't know if you've heard that. But do you always know the true ending? [27:32] Or are you kind of... [27:33] Feeling that way too. It depends on the, I guess it depends on the story. So a head full of ghosts in my mind, there's no true ending. And I think, you know, when I wrote it, I had to purposely divorce myself from thinking there was a true ending. Cause I, [27:45] I thought... [27:46] then, [27:47] A true, like the true ending would have leaked through.

And I didn't want that. Like I want to head full of ghosts. If it was scary at all. [27:52] to be scary precisely because we didn't know and have that. [27:56] you know, to me, that's just the scary part of life. Like we have beliefs and, but ultimately we just don't know. And I think anytime you use ambiguity, it, [28:04] It helps trigger that a little bit, which, you know, [28:07] Helps maybe scare people if it works that way. I like that. You know, the cabinet at the end of the world, I way underestimated how many people are going to be upset, not knowing if the world was ending or not.

Because to me, the story became not about that. It became about the two, the two, the husbands. And what they were going to decide. To me, that was the story. But something like the Paul Bears Club, [28:27] You know, it plays with the ambiguity, but yeah, I'm pretty sure she's a vampire. Yeah. If you don't want to believe she is, that's fine too. Yeah. I would not, you know, I definitely wouldn't want to like spoil someone's reading experience, but, uh. [28:38] But she's a vampire. I mean, that's fun. Who wouldn't want that to be the ending?

I think so, too. I like that. I think it's more fun that way. I think so. Because it lets somebody, it, like, stays with someone longer when they have to sit there and think about it and wonder. Yeah, I think so. It goes through the different, you know. I hope it's never, I never want it to be, like, a cheap, like, twist. You know, twists are fun, but, like, I don't want that to be just, like, a gimmick. Yeah, you don't want that to be, like. I, you know, even if, you know, anyone out there has read it and doesn't like it, just, I don't know if this assures you or makes you feel better.

[29:08] It's like, if I'm going to do this, I know I'm asking a lot to read 300 pages and then maybe having open-ended stuff. Yeah. [29:14] I don't know. I try to write books that I want to read. Yeah. And like, I like... [29:18] I like having sort of the questions linger afterwards. Yeah, I like that too. I think it's scarier, like you said. One last question for you about your writing process or just writing in general. If readers can take one thing away from your work beyond the scares, what would you want that to be?

[29:32] Oh, wow. And we're ending on a heavy question. That's hard. [29:37] *Sigh* [29:39] Well, especially with the novels, what I typically lean towards doing is I'm trying to make it feel like as realistic as possible. This is what it would feel like if there was a maybe demon possession or this would this is what it would look like. OK, yeah. [29:53] And maybe just hopefully people take away like the characters. Like I can really only think of, [30:00] Prior to the novel, it's coming out like one mustache twisting villain in all my prior books in Cabin.

You know, there's one character who might be a villain. But everyone else I want... [30:09] people to, to, [30:11] Again, some of the horror, I think, is these people are doing terrible things. I write them in such a way, hopefully, that you still understand why they did it and maybe recognize, like, oh, if not but for other circumstances in my own life and the luck that I've had and the privilege that maybe that would be me. You know, that's a scary sort of realization. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean – [30:29] But, you know, it depends on the story.

I mean, these are just the things that aren't right. Like in the book that's coming out, you know, the AI in the book is definitely not to be sympathized with in any way. [30:49] All right, guys, we're taking a quick break so that we can talk about one of our most favorite sponsors, Ashley. I am obsessed with Ashley, and they were nice enough to send us this gorgeous furniture that you see me sitting my little bum on. And we got a coffee table. We got this gorgeous sofa. We got the love seat over here.

We'll show you all these different pieces. It was so important to me when I was updating my studio that I really wanted like a timeless, almost kind of like vintage feel. [31:19] see this is the core stone end table one I love again the rich dark wood but also the fact that you can kind of dress up the bottom shelves or like the little shelves right there with your decor style this is the Revion Lake sofa and the matching love seat over there one I love that it goes really well with what we have already for morbid decor and two I just feel like the color fits so well with the paint color and the overall vibe that we have in here so thank you so much to

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And I was like rooting for her in a weird way. You know? Yeah. I was like, yeah, kill that family. No, like I was laughing and gasping. Yeah. Less cringey. Like I couldn't, you know, so we're going to get spoilery. This is good. Yeah. We're going to get spoilery. It'll be in the notes too. So you guys know. Yeah. We're going to be talking about it. Yeah. Yeah. [33:09] Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, I was lucky to be sent like an ARC, and I happened to have the time to...

[33:15] you know, to be able to read it [33:18] And I was a little nervous going into it only because like anytime, like, and I know this from experience, like, [33:25] using a title that references like a, [33:27] famous work. Yeah. Ooh, you know, we'll see, which I've read and actually, you know, you know, it's pretty awful. You know, I really do like that book. Yeah. So I was like, all right, we'll see what happens. But man, she had me at the end of the first chapter. [33:43] uh mrs abel i'm used as a woman who has never held a penis it was just the timing of it she was describing you know like i'm so bad i remember in the the character names but describing the woman who was in charge of like the house and everything it's just like you were not expecting that line there were so many lines that you were just not expecting it was just said so plainly that's what i loved yeah she was just so funny and like the littlest sides that she would make to the reader were so funny i felt like we were like friends throughout the reading process because [34:13] I was like, we're in this together.

Yeah, you're right. Yeah. And I love that she had like, it was like the little asides that you didn't see coming where she was like, I teach them history and arithmetic and what corpses smell like in French. And I was like, wait, what? Back up. That's part of it. [34:29] And they're just sprinkled everywhere in this book. They really are. I loved it. She surprised me. [34:34] everywhere. She did. Yeah. [34:36] also like with the like cringy moments i felt like there was so many genuinely hilarious moments that i felt guilty laughing at at times yes like um there was a point when she this is awful but with like original baby when she's like original baby and the baby was killing me the entire time and when she says i spit out the blood and see as so often happens when one slits an infant's carotid

[35:06] and awful. [35:07] Like, I was so nervous going into it because one of my friends read this before me and she's like, just so you know, there's like a kid death and like, she like kills babies. And I was like, I don't know if I'm going to like that. And then she's like, you know, as so often happens when you kill a baby. And I was like, why is that hilarious? No, I don't know how that is. [35:37] Virginia is manipulating the reader to get you to be somewhat on her side.

And I think people... [35:46] based on what I see online, have like false memories of this book because they want to root for her. And they assume, oh, no, she's only killing bad people. Like, yeah, she's killing the patriarchy and she's killing like, you know, the rich people. She's kind of killing everybody. She's killed babies. Like nobody is spared. She's an equal opportunist killer. Which I really admired about her approach because it could have been like – [36:09] I mean, it makes us feel good, but it could have been like, yeah, like superhero, like she only kills the bad people.

Right. Like, I don't know. I only get so much mileage out of some of those stories because it doesn't feel like real life. Yeah. Like when I read like happy, not all happy endings, but like when I read stuff like that, like I actually feel worse because it's like, oh, that made me feel good. But. [36:25] That's not the way it is. But that's not real. Even though it's as wild and fantastical in some ways that this book is, it just feels like, oh. She just went for it. Yeah. I love that.

Yeah, because she says the dead babies in the boxes that she sent to the nuns. [36:40] With like the sorry, here's another one note. I was like, I'm sorry, what? Here's one more. And they kind of like touch on that earlier. I think when she's sitting down with them and she's like about to eat and kind of interview with them. Like they're like, oh, that's so awful that that's happening. And in the back of your mind, you're like, is that her doing that? Are you doing that? And then she's like, can confirm.

Yeah. Can confirm. Just with a note, sorry, here's another one. I was like, what? [37:01] And just like breaking out of sort of the Victorian speak a little bit too. Yeah. There was a few times she did that for sure. And it worked so well. [37:09] And I think just like at one point she says, reader, she doth make a fine point about Priscilla. And I was like, she does. She really does. I'm with you on this. I know. When she found the tooth in her mouth that wasn't hers. And then it just never was explained again.

Whose tooth was that? Whose molar was in her mouth? And like, did that happen? There were so many things that happened that I was like, did that happen? Yeah. Like, I think when she's really starting to unravel, she walks by one of the rooms and there's a bunch of like plague doctors. And you're like, they're not there. It's Christmas. Like, what? [37:39] just like, and then they just close her out of there. Yeah. Or when original baby just talks to her out of nowhere. That's how original baby got got. Yeah.

I started talking. I loved that. Yeah. On my second read, you know, to prepare for this, cause I wrote it, I read it like, you know, two, two and a half years ago at this point, um, because I got the early, early copy. Yeah. [37:57] Yeah, I was like, oh, maybe this is a little bit more, way more ambiguous than I thought. Even like, because it's written in present tense, and there's some times where I forget the end of one chapter is like, [38:08] you know, it's not like, will they survive the night?

And then she says they don't. It breaks from present tense. You're wondering about the state of these people in the house to her saying now they don't like now. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, [38:20] Her as a storyteller is a part of it. It could just be explained away as it's a choice of how she's telling it because she's, [38:26] you know, by the end, you know, when she's on the gallows sort of explaining – [38:30] It just made me think, how am I learning the story? How are we hearing this?

[38:35] She even like says, you know, sometimes I'm not right in the head. Yeah. Not in those words exactly, but. Yeah. She's truthful. She is. Which I love because that was like, oh, this is a book that I could read multiple times and still, you know. And still wonder. And still even know like I won't have the shock of the baby that he killed and replaced with some poor farmer's baby that she just plucks from the ground. She just runs down the street. Yeah. Who's going to have a different nose later on.

I loved that. There's still so many other pleasures to get from this when you read it. Yeah. [39:05] like I'm sorry what like you're just like okay you're gonna get caught after this like this isn't the end I loved that that was really cool yeah [39:13] Do you think, Winifred, do you think of her as a psychopath, a villain, or the most honest person in the room? Or all of the above? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I gotta be all three, I guess. I mean, yeah, that's what I think that to a baby.

Yeah, I feel I feel that. Yeah, the baby line. But you know, the rest of the people in the house are. [39:31] Awful. [39:32] Probably as bad as she, or as bad as she is in different ways. Yeah, I think so. I think so, for sure. Yeah, Mrs. Pounds. I hated Mrs. Pounds. I was ready. From the dump, too. Yeah. And the green dress she gave her, that was probably poison. It was like, yeah. I missed that on the first read somehow, I think. Oh, yeah. Yeah. On the second read, there was more time spent with that, and that could be messing with her brain and everything.

[39:54] yeah oh yeah because they used to make those we looked it up they used to make those dresses out of like arsenic so like [39:59] wear them a few times and then start dying yeah literally damn they put it in wallpaper too like any vibrant green thing back in the day was probably with arsenic wild [40:10] What was the first scene that made you realize this book was going to be feral? Was it the one that you already read? I think it was probably, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was like the...

[40:19] I think it was like the first chapter at the end when she says, in three months, everyone in this house will be dead. I was like... [40:26] I took notes, a couple of notes, and that was the first thing I wrote down. I was like, oh, okay. That was the first one I tabbed. I was like, damn. And I think she starts it off by being like, yeah, it's going to be like really cold and it's going to get colder and then everyone's going to die. Yeah, it's crazy. Okay.

Wow. All right. [40:40] I'm into it. Yeah. And again, I feel like we just were all, I was rooting for her pretty early on. And I, which I was shocked by because at first when I read that, I was like, Oh no, like she's going to be, is she going to be irredeemable when she's going to kill like a whole family? And she is irredeemable. That's the weird thing is like, she's completely irredeemable. But like, why did I like her? I was like, that is so hard to write a character that way and have it work.

Yeah. It's impressive. Yeah. It's like the voice is just so humorous and inviting. [41:10] And she's letting you in on it. So, obviously, that sort of gets you over to her side. Yeah. Because she is, you know, these people are pretty terrible, right? Don't you think? Except, you know, people aren't so terrible who are also getting it. It's true. She's equal opportunity. Now, the scene in the book also, like you were thinking, the feral scene, what comes to mind to me is the – [41:31] the decayed crow pudding oh my god when she was away at school those kids oh my god clergy daughter school or whatever that actually made my stomach turn when i was reading it that was that was she's like covering it up like with the maggots and everything i was like oh my god that was i yeah that was a lot that's i think when she one of the first mentions of like and i will be hung at some point during this i was like yeah yeah that's not good but then i also felt like weirdly [42:01] to her she was saying and that was the one time that like they needed her [42:04] I know it reminded me.

Have you seen yellow jackets? [42:07] I haven't. Oh, okay. That's all right. It kind of reminded me of Misty, one of the characters who like, she's a psychopath, but she like wants to be needed so desperately. And she's like bullied and kind of pushed around a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. So when she's needed, she like, she makes a situation where she is needed. Yeah. Essentially. It felt very much like that. And that's what she did. She made a situation where she was. She's like, it's the only time that they ever were like nice to me.

I'm like, oh, sad. And I, I like to that. Like, like we [42:37] in the book is technically like Winnie she went for this worst person in the book but probably there's other people that you're like these people are also really terrible like Mr. Pounds is gross Mr. Pounds is really gross like all those people at the dinner party like the dowager I hated the dowager such a bitch with their cane just hitting people when she finally got caught with that cane I was like all right I'm into that like a perfect way to take her out yeah it really was and I'm

[43:03] I mean, she the thing with Winifred is she exists. [43:07] in this like weird space in the book. And I think it makes it really interesting because she's a governess. So she's in charge of the kids and she, she's not, she's not known to be family in the beginning. She's not one of the servants technically. And she's also definitely not an equal. No, not at all. But she's like, [43:25] She has this unique ability to be able to like wander around the house and sit at the table and have more access to places and people without getting the same kind of respect that someone would.

And I feel like that helped tell the story really well. Yeah. Because she has all this access, but she's treated so poorly. Right. You know, and I really liked that. I thought that made it unique for sure. Absolutely. Absolutely. [43:47] And I think there's a lot of... [43:49] Obviously, the Victorian High Society is... [43:52] like a character in this book yeah the setting like it does become a character itself and i think it's like kind of flipped on its ear here because a lot of people think of victorian high society is like you know fancy and like gilded and like everything was so like you know like they're elite they're this but she portrays them as disgusting filthy disgusting like the victorian elite are just foul yeah and i loved that it was like little things like when she's going upstairs [44:22] in all of their rooms and she mentions the earwax on the pillow at some point i was like oh like and like just little thing like lard it was in one of their hair to keep their hair back like the scene where they're all eating yeah that i think mikey had warned you beforehand because elena has misophonia so like hearing things i swear you could hear it as you were reading it was foul that scene yeah i'm saying that was like almost like a nice counterbalance to the the

[44:52] these were things that were specially prepared. Yeah. Yeah. And how they were eating it. Oh, I know. They're just like, Oh, it's horrifying. Like, [44:59] like gouging it into their faces it's so gross and i think it's i love that they presented it that way that like these people look like may have all this money and they're they have all the power they are just as disgusting if not more than everybody else yeah like i loved that i know it was almost like the like the servants in the house were like higher society than the high society people they had it more together yeah like and the high society people [45:25] Parents of other baby never even notice.

Yeah. That, that. They do not even. Blew my mind. So like attuned to like their own kid that. Yeah. Yeah. [45:33] Oh, and the fact, too, that Winifred knew that that wouldn't be an issue. She's like, oh, yeah, I feel like she had done that before. [45:40] You know, and I was wondering, too, when she brought new baby. [45:45] in i was like what's gonna happen here right because in my head i'm like of course she's gonna know it seemed like a corner impossible to write out of yeah it really did because she was just like yeah you're not gonna notice i love it oh yeah like that's and it was part of the whole like look how disgusting these people are she doesn't even know her own child right like even and it wasn't like oh i picked a baby that's like the same size right she was like this doesn't look like this baby at all and not only that it's like it's not as big as this baby doesn't look

[46:15] scrapes it off i'm also like is the baby bleeding when you return it like what like that outfit it was wearing was like covered in blood but she's like ah i don't know like babies they throw up like she said she's like i've learned through experience that like mess looks like blood it's the same and i was like and she and it works they just showed up the next at the next thing being like here's the baby [46:36] Like the next thing with the baby, a little older and looking even less, even less like it should have.

And I loved it. Cause she was like, it's nose is going to look different. And that's going to be a conversation. I was like, I thought that was so funny, but yeah, it was, and it was, [46:51] What's cool, too, is she obviously, like, did a lot of research about... [46:55] Victorian times and like weird Victorian customs because, you know, [47:00] They were nuts. Like that whole mummy unwrapping part. I was like, what is this? And in my head, I was reading it and being like, this is crazy. And then I looked it up and I was like, [47:10] Oh, that was a thing.

Like they actually like wealthy Victorian families would go to Egypt. They would buy an entire mummy as a souvenir, bring it home, have a party, and then they would all just unwrap the mummy. [47:24] And I was like, what? That's the weirdest. I'm sorry, what? We're a strange society. And like, for what purpose? I don't understand the problem. I feel like, why are we doing this? Ford rich imperialists. It's so weird. Very much that. Yeah. Yeah. And we were reading more like they were, you know, [47:43] They were talking like when she's dressing Drusilla and getting her ready and like all these like features that they find to be desirable are all like features of like tuberculosis.

[47:53] Like that's and that was considered desirable back then. It was like being super pale and like super frail and, you know, the flush in the cheeks and literally looking sick, looking consumptive was the cool thing. And I love that she put it in there. Yeah, because it was all very real. Like, again, the green dress, like that's the thing. I think she mentions the Belladonna. [48:16] eye drops. That was a thing to dilate their pupils. And they would just go blind after a while. But they'd be gorgeous. They'd be gorgeous with big eyes.

Like, what? But one thing I really liked about this was [48:30] In the end, when Drusilla joins in and is all like doing all the things for days. They're the 12 days of Christmas. The 12 days of Christmas. And when they set them all up at the table. [48:45] And like... [48:45] feed them, like, food. Like, they're just, like, having a whole feast with them. I was like, this is the most fucked up thing I've ever read, and I love it. But do you think... [48:54] That Drusilla actually was taking part in that?

Or do you think she was chained up the whole time? [48:59] Yeah, that's a great question. I was going to ask what you thought about Lucila at the end too. Yeah. [49:05] To go back to like, you know, how much is this, how much more of this is ambiguous than maybe we think. There's a line early on the book where I think, you know, Winnie is confessing stuff. You know, she says, I fear I am succumbing to elaborate flights of fancy. Yeah. [49:21] you know, the shots be like other times or something, you know, yeah.

So she's like fairly early on. So, [49:26] Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I... [49:28] I think just because it's so weird to say that you enjoy your time with Winnie that you want to think all of this happened. Yeah. Just as she says. That you're there, just as she says, and that you're there with her at the end. And so you actually, we feel, or as the reader, I felt betrayed by Drusilla. Yes, I did too. Yeah. Yeah. Which is so weird. She's just a kid. Yeah. Yeah. Like, why do I feel this way?

Yeah. When I got to the end, I was like pissed at Drusilla. I'm like, come on, that's your sister. You're supposed to like ride together. But then once I finished reading, I was thinking about just her being kind of an unreliable narrator. [49:58] like, [49:59] Maybe. I don't think Drusilla actually did help with all that. And then I think when she sees Drusilla in the crowd at the gallows and she's crying, I don't think Drusilla is crying because they have this killing bond together or anything like that. I think she's crying because of what happened to her family.

Yeah. Like she massacred her. I think she was chained up for the whole thing. And I think Winnie just didn't want to be in an alone, maybe. Right. Cause that's a hard switch to flip. I mean, I think there were no clues of Drusilla's potential psychotic behavior. [50:29] you know prior to the you know just to the like caligula sort of told days of christmas that you know that when he says she took a part in yeah and that's the only thing i could think of with that that i went back to and i think this was smart of her to plant these little things in there was like the painter like the lecherous painter that she was into and now you know the mother got mad and then the father made her hold the locket up and shot it toward them so i was like you planted that which like