Back on the trails for a mind-melting trip this week. Wendy Wagner is in the hot-seat, playing shaman as we discuss The Girl in the Creek – her brand new novel of fungoid-terror, eco-thrills and psychedelic strangeness. It’s a beautiful, bewildering hallucination of a book. Wendy’s inspirationsrange from cutting edge science to the antics of Scooby Doo and the gang, along with a sprinkle of Lovecraft, and a hint of self-hypnosis. We cover it all, along with a discussion of eco-grief, higher states of consciousness, weird non-fiction obsessions and a little bit of trail running chat – which I promise we make macabre. Enjoy! Other books mentioned: “An Infestation of Blue” (2023), by Wendy Wagner The Deer Kings (2021), by Wendy Wagner Entangled Lives (2023), by Merlin Sheldrake Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are? (2016), by Frans de Waal The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens – and Ourselves (2020), by Arik Kershenbaum “The Colour Out of Space,” (1927), by H.P. Lovecraft Lost in the Dark, and Other Excursions (2025), by John Langan The October Film Haunt (2025), by Michael Wehunt Support Talking Scared on Patreon Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.