Welcome back to Scare Me! a weekly horror newsletter. Today, I’m being a little self-indulgent. My new podcast is launching on Friday and I’m so, so excited about it!

Nearly eight months ago, my friend Maya Rector texted to let me know she’d decided to quit her startup job. Leaving a job is stressful, so I respectfully waited 24 hours before pitching her the idea of starting a podcast together. I was beyond thrilled when she said sure, why not?

Our friendship began in the corporate marketing trenches, so I already knew Maya had unmatched work ethic and a wildly creative mind. In the months that followed—through hundreds of Google Meet videos and texts and TikTok DMs—we melded our creative visions together.

Slowly but surely, the concept took shape. When I start a new project, I always like to collaborate with an artist early on. Telling someone whose artwork I admire about my idea creates accountability and somehow makes me follow through. We commissioned some beautiful artwork from Chris Panatier:

Next, we began booking guests. The first recording, with author Inigo Mort, put our idea to the test. It sounded fun in theory, but would authors agree? Inigo’s kind words of encouragement gave us a much-needed spark of motivation.

From there, we powered through five consecutive weekends of recording interviews. We built a website and claimed our social handles on Instagram and TikTok. We spent the past week learning the audio editing ropes.

And now, suddenly, we’re ready for your ears.

Our show will be released biweekly, starting on July 24 (tomorrow!!!) with our conversation with Lucy Rose about her bestselling debut novel The Lamb. For each episode, Maya pulls three tarot cards (at random) that serve as a starting point for all of our interview questions. You can think of it like a tarot reading for the book, rather than the author.

Until the episode goes live, you can follow us on Instagram and TikTok—tomorrow, the audio will be available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and we’ll have video up on YouTube.

Below, I’ve gathered up a list of all of our planned episodes, all of which have been either recorded or scheduled. (TBD on release dates—we’ll keep you posted!)

I’m sure in the future, when I’m older and wiser, I’ll look back on these episodes and hear all the things I’ll someday know how to fix. But here, today, the fact that Maya and I took a creative concept from idea to something other people will get to see—it feels like actual magic.

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The first time I met Lucy Rose, I was so nervous I felt faint. I’d devoured her debut novel, The Lamb, and it left me reeling. I was in awe of this debut novelist whose courageous, heartfelt, unflinching storytelling made me feel so many complicated emotions.

Fortunately, Lucy is a ray of sunshine who instantly put me at ease. Our conversation ended up in the fourth issue of Phantasmag, one of my all-time-favorite magazines. (Issue 005 is out now!)

As we began talking about the podcast, I knew I wanted to invite Lucy to take part. We hopped on a call in early July and yapped for nearly two hours about paranormal experiences, Shirley Jackson, and vibey movies. And The Lamb, of course! If you’re a fan of stories that explore girlhood, complex trauma, and queerness, this is an episode we truly made for you.

Kitten forced me to confront one of my greatest fears: Feeling my feelings. It’s the story of Katie, a recent college graduate who’s paralyzed by the plethora of choices that stretch out before her. As Katie struggles with parental estrangement and her rapidly dwindling bank account, she becomes captivated by her wealthy, older boyfriend’s cat, Silver.

What a novel! When I wasn’t reading, I was wondering what would happen next. Stacey applies her keen observational powers to a very specific and unstable moment of early adulthood. The cards prompted us to embark on a conversation about choices, conflict, and hard-won clarity—eerily spot on for the novel’s themes.

I slid into Chloe’s DMs earlier this year after a few months of friendly banter in comments we’d been trading back and forth. Little did I know how much her debut novel would mean to me!

The Flayed Man is a precise, impeccably crafted vampire tale set in Vegas, off the strip and deep in the dusty, low income suburbs. As I wrote in my soon-to-be-published Macabre Daily review, Chloe both engages and evolves the vampire subgenre. It’s also a queer novel, a road trip tale, and a love story about both romantic and familial bonds. I genuinely consider it to be one of my favorite books, and getting to know Chloe was an absolute treat.

We departed from horror novels into the realm of short fiction for this episode. Thankfully, we had the incomparable Rae Wilde as our guide. Rae is one of the funniest people I follow on social media; her withering takedowns of AI sloppers and men’s rights activists never fail to brighten my day.

I called this book a collection of feral feminist tales in my Macabre Daily review—and I stand by that description. We talk about selkies and mermaids, male manipulators and murderers, and the many ways the patriarchy poisons everything it touches. For all of Rae’s sharp observations, there’s a lot of love and empathy throughout this book, too. Also a glory hole. The cards sent us down some wild conversational byways.

Like I said above—Inigo was the very first person who we interviewed, and we couldn’t have chosen a kinder guest. It’s completely on brand for Inigo, who can be found in comment sections all over BookTok engaging with fellow horror readers. He’s always got a book recommendation, a supportive word, or a positive message to share.

In case you haven’t read Inigo’s work yet, he’s also an incredibly talented writer. Angels of London is his first full-length novel, set in the grimy muck of 18th century London. The cards prompted us to go deep on the real history of gay men during this period as we discussed Inigo’s extensive research into primary source documents. If you’re a big Sarah Waters fan like me, I think you’ll enjoy this conversation.

I’m convinced that Rachel Harrison is one of the most consistent writers working today—but even by her standards, Kiss Slay Replay raises the bar. In my opinion, it’s her most formally complex and ambitious novel, breaking and remaking the novel’s traditional conventions. The result is a story that feels thrillingly new.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t typically enjoy time loop narratives. In this one, our main character becomes trapped at a wedding alongside her ex, forced to relive the ceremony again and again as each day ends in a fresh wave of horrors. But I’m not exaggerating when I say that Rachel’s take on a Groundhog Day scenario made me rethink my entire relationship to this subgenre. She does something so unexpected that I can’t even describe it, for fear of spoiling too much.

We’ll be speaking with her in a few weeks and I can’t wait to see what cards fall out of the deck!

You might know C. N. Vair’s novel by its gorgeous UK cover and alternate title, Fawn. It’s a witchy tale set in Appalachia, about a woman on the brink of death who makes a deal with the devil. She survives unspeakable violence, but emerges bound to the land.

The land eventually becomes a wildlife sanctuary, protected by the spells our protagonist has carefully woven. But a strange fawn threatens to upset the land’s delicate balance, and as Tess becomes its protector, more threats emerge from the town nearby. She can’t allow the devil to further ensnare her any more than she can allow the local pastor to go unchecked. How will she find a new way forward?

The witchy themes and natural setting immediately grabbed our attention, and I’m dying to dive into this book ahead of our recording in a few weeks.

I’m currently reading Worry Box and loving it so far. Chris writes with so much warmth, humor, and empathy that the horrific moments feel even more shocking by contrast. The story follows Lailah, a preteen girl who hardly dares to hope she’ll get to exit the foster system. She’s been living with the Martin family—a loving, wonderful family who desperately want to adopt her—but the future is far from certain.

As Lailah and the Martins nervously await a judge’s decision, they move into a seemingly idyllic house. It’s almost perfect…except for the odd smell. And the way objects move on their own. And the bleak, shocking history of its past inhabitants. And Lailah’s increasingly disturbing intrusive thoughts.

As an adoptee myself, I’m always intrigued by stories about displaced children and complicated family situations. With Chris, we’re in good hands—this is a story written with sensitivity and care. I actually need to wrap this newsletter up so I can go find out what happens next!!

Finally, because we can’t do anything casually, we’re also launching a series-within-a-series. The Major Arcana episodes will depart from our typical format: Instead of choosing three tarot cards, we’ll pull a single card from the Major Arcana.

These cards—Death, the Lovers, the Sun, Justice—are symbolically powerful. Our guests on these episodes will riff with us, offering up thematically relevant book recommendations. We had a lot of fun with George Dunn this past weekend, who curated a wonderful list for The Star, a card that’s all about going through dark times and emerging changed and lucky.

Are you reading Darker Times yet? If not, I’m sure you will be. The brand-new site launched earlier this summer, and this week I caught up with co-founder Emily C. Hughes to learn all about what it’s like to launch a worker-owned media outlet in the utterly weird internet landscape of 2026.

If you’re still mourning the loss of 2010s blogging culture (especially The Toast / Awl / Hairpin universe of sites), this interview is truly made for you! I’m looking forward to sharing it next Thursday.

Scare Me! is a free weekly horror newsletter published every Thursday morning. It’s written by Michelle Delgado, featuring original illustrations by Sam Pugh. You can find the archive of past issues here. If you were sent this by a friend, subscribe to receive more spooky interviews, essays—and maybe even a ghost story or two.