290 – Liam Higginson & Awful Things in Lonely Farmhouses
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What makes Wales the perfect backdrop for a folk‑horror novel?
Hello and welcome to Talkin' Scared. I'm your host, Neil McRoba, and it's time to venture into a haunted land, a heart of darkness where this show has never before dared tread. Whales. Yeah. Our guest this week is Liam Higginson, whose debut novel, The Hill in the Dark Grove, settles on a farm in the Welsh Mountains, where disastrous things wait to be unearthed. Liam and I talk about the landscape and history of Wales and the stories buried deep within both. We discuss the twisted links between folklore and nationalism, and we ask why it's always the men who turn mad and murder us in these lonely places. Personally, I think they need better hobbies. This is one of my very favourite books of 2026, and I have to give a big, big thanks to friend of the show, Emily Hughes, for putting it on my radar.
I think you should all go and enjoy Liam's novel, but also take a look at Emily's new venture, Darker Times. It's a new online magazine devoted to really intelligent, fun horror commentary and criticism. It's worker owned. owned by very good people and it's the kind of thing that can disrupt the online culture in a good way. Get us away from the algorithm and the same five websites that have choked us all. Choose something curated by good people who care. Just go to darkatimes.com and no, that isn't a paid ad. I genuinely believe what I'm saying. And if you enjoyed this conversation, then you know what to do. Leave a nice review wherever you listen, many, many thanks, and maybe, if you fancy it, become a Patreon subscriber.
You get ad-free listening, a wide range of bonus episodes from honest book reviews to entirely exclusive deep dives, and you can join the Discord and chat horror and all sorts of other stuff with us like-minded weirdos. That's all at Patreon.com. dot com slash talking scared pod And it's the best and most rewarding way to support my work. But now all that self and friend promotion aside, let's talk about The Hill in the Dark Grove, one of the best books of the year. Come with me to a parcel of land in the shadow of Snowden. Grab your shovel, there's a long, long day's work to be done. Let's talk scares.
Hello, Liam. Welcome to Talking Scared, mate. How are ya? I'm good, thank you, mate. Yeah, thank you for having me. It's great to be here. Well, you
say be here. Where are you speaking to us from? Where are you? I'm uh I'm at home in Slandidno in in North Wales at the moment. Uh this was a nice excuse to to get out of work a bit early, so so thank you, that's a nice bonus. Happy to please.
Basically I've I've forced you there to mention North Wales early doors because the region and the landscape is a massive part of the book. We're gonna talk about your debut, The Hill of the Dark Grove. And before we get to the book, I want to briefly discuss the land, because a lot of my letters are overseas. Yeah. And I'd like them to have a have a f a grasp of where this story is set. So not exactly where you live, but it is like, you know, Snowdonia, the mountains of of North Wales. Talk about Snowdonia in all its grandeur.
Um, for people who aren't familiar with with North Wales, I usually I usually describe it to people by by saying if you've got an image in your head of of how you imagine, say, Scotland or Ireland to be. You'll probably be pretty close in terms of, you know, a lot of mountains, a lot of countryside castles, um, kind of rugged coastlines and beaches, that kind of thing. So if you if you have that kind of mental image of of those places that you might be familiar with, it's it's probably gonna be pretty close to to how things here in North Wales are. And are you born and bred in that part of the world? I am, yeah. I grew up um not too far, about half an hour from from where I live now. So So uh I haven't always lived round here but a a big portion of my life I've uh I've been in this area.
So how rural was your You think. I mean Rurals uh it's it's relative, I suppose, depending on what you're used to. I mean, the the village where I grew up, uh it's a little place called Trevnant over near near Denby, if anyone from the area is listening.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What makes Wales the perfect backdrop for a folk‑horror novel?
0:11–9:39
2
How does *The Hill in the Dark Grove* introduce Carwin and Rian’s story?
9:39–18:48
3
Why does the novel blend folk‑tales, history and nationalism?
18:48–28:08
4
What is the significance of the Tilith Tig (fairy) folklore in the book?
28:08–36:28
5
Why do men, not women, tend to become the obsessive “mad” characters?
36:28–46:51
6
How did Liam’s writing process (vomit draft → revision) shape the novel?
46:51–56:24
7
What does the novel say about legacy, heritage and modernity?
56:24–1:04:34
8
Which other books does Liam recommend for fans of folk‑horror?
1:04:34–1:14:41
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Talking Scared
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