The Monster She Wrote Podcast

Rachel Harrison's Play Nice

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Play Nice by Rachel Harrison, carefree Clio Barnes's life is interrupted when her estranged mother dies, and she and her sisters inherit their chil...

Sarah Orne Jewett's "The Landscape Chamber"

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Sarah Orne Jewett's short story "The Landscape Chamber," a woman travelling alone, in search of adventure, finds herself off the beaten path. When ...

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gothic horror The Bewitching , three different women across three timelines are interconnected by mysterious disappearances,...

Melanie Tem's Prodigal

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Melanie Tem's Prodigal, eleven-year-old Lucy is grappling with the mysterious death of her older brother–a suspected drug overdose–when her old...

Majorie Bowen's "The Crown Derby Plate"

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Marjorie Bowen's short story "The Crown Derby Plate" opens as "three elderly, cheerful women" sit around a fire for a cozy Christmas. They talk of a n...

E. Nesbit's "The Shadow"

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In E. Nesbit's story "The Shadow," a vibrant Christmas party has gone late into the night, and everyone stays over at the manor house, given the late ...

Mariko Koike's The Graveyard Apartment

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

SPOILERS ABOUND as we discuss Mariko Koike's The Graveyard Apartment. Be forewarned!  A young married couple has found the perfect apartment for thei...

Mary Wilkins Freeman's Luella Miller

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Mary Wilkins Freeman's short story "Luella Miller," a tale is told about a woman named Luella, who is prone to hysterics and drains the energy from...

Jen Julian's Red Rabbit Ghost

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last episode, we welcomed author Jen Julian on podcast. And this episode, Mel and Lisa discuss her book Red Rabbit Ghost in more detail.  College Fre...

Interview with Jen Julian

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we welcome writer Jen Julian to discuss her book Red Rabbit Ghost. Jen Julian is a writer from Eastern North Carolina. She holds a PhD in Engli...

Elizabeth Hand's A Haunting on the Hill

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Elizabeth Hand's A Haunting on the Hill, Holly Sherwin is living every writer's dream. She has grant money to finish her new play, which she uses t...

Tanith Lee's "Where All Things Perish"

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“She looks through water, / She looks through air,  She leaps at the moon / And she looks in. Give her silver, Give her gold,  / And bind her eyes...

MSW Classic: "The Summer People" by Shirley Jackson

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We are on a summer hiatus, but we will be returning with brand-new episodes soon! Please enjoy this classic episode on "The Summer People" by Shirley ...

MSW Classic: "Summer" by Tananarive Due

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We are on summer hiatus! So please enjoy this MSW Classic episode on Tanarive Due's "Ghost Summer"  Tananarive Due’s “Summer” (from her story c...

Interview with R. A. Busby (Part 2)

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author of WORDS MADE OF FLESH, the eco-horror YOU WILL SPEAK FOR THE DEAD, and the Stoker-nominated story “Ten Thousand Crawling Children,” R.A. B...

Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, two children from one of twelve districts in Panem are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, where they will fight each other to the ...

MSW Classic: R. A. Busby

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Please enjoy this re-run of a classic Monster, She Wrote episode.  Author of the novella Corporate Body and the Shirley Jackson Award-winning story "...

Interview with Tracy Cross

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tracy Cross is a dealer in dark fiction, her gripping stories featured in a range of podcasts and anthologies. Her debut novel, the gripping "Rootwork...

Reading Banned Books

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Banned Books Week (launched in 1982) is normally in September/October, but given the state of things, we thought it was a relevant topic. Buying physi...

MSW Classic: Moths by Rosalind Ashe

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We are rerunning the classic episode to celebrate the upcoming release of Moths through Valancourt Books as part of their Monster, She Wrote series. P...

"The End of the Voyage" by Bora Chung

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In “The End of the Voyage,” a short story in Bora Chung’s collection Your Utopia , a group escapes a pandemic here on Earth by jumping into a sp...

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison, Sloane Parker HATES birthday celebrations, but her husband and best friend Naomi conspire to give Sloane a weekend a...

Linghun by Ai Jiang

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Linghun by Ai Jiang is set in the mysterious HOME, a suburb of Toronto, where the residents live among the ghosts. Winqi, a high school senior, must n...

You'll Like My Mother (film adaptation)

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last episode, we read the Gothic horror You’ll Like My Mother by Naomi A. Hintze, which was recently re-released with Valancourt Books. In it, a pre...

You'll Like My Mother by Naomi A. Hintze

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pregnant Francesca finds herself a widow at a young age after her husband is sent to Vietnam. Without support from her family, she embarks on a cross-...

MSW Classic: The Woman in Black

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mel and Lisa are busy gearing up for a new season in this new year! In the meantime, enjoy this classic episode of the podcast, perfect for the Gothic...

MSW Classic: Adaptation

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Enjoy this classic podcast episode and have a happy and safe holiday season! NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at ...

MSW Classic: Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Enjoy this classic podcast episode and have a happy and safe holiday season! NEWS: We have a Bookshop.org shop now! Find all of our favorite books at ...

Jenny Kiefer's This Wretched Valley

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In Jenny Kiefer’s This Wretched Valley, there is a bad place just off a highway in a secluded forest in Kentucky. When a small group made up of geol...

Interview with Jenny Kiefer

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jenny Kiefer is a debut author, avid rock climber, and Kentucky resident. She also owns and manages Butcher Cabin Books, a horror bookstore in Louisvi...

Halloween Special: Agatha All Along

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For Toil and Trouble, our book, we did a deep dive into research of the witch. And since the witch is a mainstay of this time of year, we thought it w...

Christa Carmen's The Daughters of Block Island

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we are discussing Christa Carmen’s meta Gothic novel The Daughters of Block Island with special guest Crystal O’Leary-Davidson. ...

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

About The Unmothers: After the death of her husband, journalist Marshall is sent to the small town of Raeford to investigate a clearly ridiculous rumo...

Interview with Leslie J. Anderson

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Leslie J. Anderson has spent much of her life riding, training, and caring for horses. Her collection of poetry, An Inheritance of Stone, was nominate...

Joyce Carol Oates's "The Long-Legged Girl"

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Joyce Carol Oates’s story “The Long-Legged Girl” (collected in Night-Gaunts) is part horror story, part cozy mystery…after all, the plot of th...

Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Join Mel and Lisa as we discuss Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory. When 12-year-old Robert Stephens is sent to Gracetown School For Boys, a reformato...

Lora Senf's The Clackity

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Join Lisa and Mel as they discuss Lora Senf’s The Clackity. Young Evie lives with her aunt in Blight Harbor–a seemingly quiet small town where eve...

Announcing Our Bookshop.Org Shop!

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

 We have a bookshop.org shop set up. Now you can shop for all of your favorite horror books by women. You’ll find Lisa's books, Mel’s books, and ...

Gwendolyn Kiste's "Your Mother's Love is an Apocalypse

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mothers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are good, caring, and loving. And some are a bit more complicated. Sometimes it feels like a mother can be ...

Rachel Harrison's Black Sheep

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

SPOILERS ABOUND! This novel contains a TWIST you don’t want to ruin, so listen at your own risk.  Vesper Wright left home at eighteen to escape her...

Tananarive Due's "Summer"

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tananarive Due’s “Summer” (from her story collection Ghost Summer) is set in her fictional town of Gracetown, Florida, where the humid and murky...

Cynthia Pelayo's Forgotten Sisters

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sisters Anna and Jennie live in a big house right on the Chicago river, where they are dealing with the grief following the aftermath of a family trag...

Interview with author Cynthia Pelayo

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award® winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet. She is the author of Children of Chicago,...

Tanith Lee's "Beauty"

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you ever thought to yourself, “I wish Beauty and the Beast had aliens in it,” then today’s story is for you. In her short story “Beauty,”...

Gwendolyn Kiste’s The Haunting of Velkwood

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The mysterious Velkwood Vicinity is an occult and paranormal marvel, occupying the interest of scientists and conspiracy theorists alike. But for thre...

Interview with Gwendolyn Kiste

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Join Lisa and Mel as we talk with author Gwendolyn Kiste about her newest novel, The Haunting of Velkwood. Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Sto...

Fill Your TBR Pile!

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is a little different from our usual format, but we promise you'll love it. It's all about book recommendations and what Mel and Lisa are...

"Shambleau" by C. L. Moore

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A rogue adventurer meets a woman with snakes for hair, and he falls under her seductive spell. Luckily, a friend gives our hero a heads up: don’t lo...

Kelly Link's "Stone Animals"

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly Link’s “Stone Animals” begins with an unspoken question, immediately throwing readers into an ambiguous but nightmarish journey as a famil...

T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What Moves the Dead is T. Kingfisher’s retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” More than that though, it’s the tale...

Tanith Lee's "Louisa the Poisoner"

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Louisa was raised in isolation in a cottage deep in the woods by a mysterious witch. It sounds like the start of a fairy tale, but this story takes tw...

Our 100th Episode!

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We made it to 100 episodes!   Join us as we look back at the writing of the book and as we look to the future of the podcast! UP NEXT: Tanith Lee’s...

MSW Classic: "Christmas Meeting"

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are on hiatus for the December holidays. Please enjoy this classic episode from our archives.  We will be back in 2024 with a brand new season and...

MSW Classic: Connie Willis's "Newsletter"

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Please enjoy this classic episode from our archives.  Enjoy your holiday season, and we will be back in 2024 with a brand new season and a special ce...

Ada Buisson’s “The Ghost’s Summons”

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A young doctor is called into the home of a wealthy man, but rather than seeing the sick patient he is expecting, he is greeted with a seemingly healt...

Rachel Harrison's The Return

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Exactly two years after she disappeared, Julie mysteriously comes back, with no memory of where she’s been. To celebrate her return, Julie’s frien...

Edith Wharton's All Souls

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Clayborne is a widow, living alone in an old and stately manor house called Whitegates. One Halloween, Sarah takes a walk and slips on a frozen ...

Halloween Special

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Halloween from the Monster, She Wrote podcast! UP NEXT: "All Souls" by Edith Wharton Buy Toil and Trouble here!

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's "Lacrimosa"

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ramon left his home in Mexico a long time ago, settling first in California and then in Vancouver. But now, he worries that his past may have followed...

Spooky Season Recommendations

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we are doing things a little differently. Since this is our first episode in October–the best month of the year if you ask us–we thought we...

Lisa Does the Unthinkable: Watches Star Trek (AKA Our “Sub Rosa” Episode)

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Dr. Beverly Crusher’s grandmother passes away, she visits her home planet, a place made to look like old world Scotland on Earth, in order to p...

Rosalind Ashe’s Moths

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rosalind Ashe’s Moths (1976) was marketed as a book for fans of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. And there are some similarities: a beautiful old esta...

My Cousin Rachel (2017 film)

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, we discussed Daphne Du Maurier’s novel My Cousin Rachel. Today, we thought it would be fun to look at the 2017 film adaptation, starring ...

Daphne Du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Phillip has lived with his guardian Ambrose Ashley on Ambrose’s manor in the English countryside since Philip was a child and his parents’ death l...

In Margaret St. Clair’s “Flowering Evil"

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Margaret St. Clair’s “Flowering Evil," Amy Dinsmore is quite the gardener. She loves tending to her collection of Martian and Venusian plants, ...

Interview with Sadie Hartmann

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sadie Hartmann aka Mother Horror is the co-owner of the horror fiction subscription company, Night Worms and the Bram Stoker Awards® nominated editor...

Nadia Bulkin's "Wish You Were Here"

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Nadia Bulkin’s story “Wish You Were Here,” Dimas is escorting American tourists on a city tour in Bali. He’s only trying to do his job, but...

Margaret St. Clair's "The Island of the Hands"

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dirk has lost his wife, Joan, and he is devastated by grief. Joan was a pilot who crashed during a routine flight, and he knows there isn’t any hope...

Get to Know Lisa and Mel: Reader Edition

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Get to know Mel and Lisa: reader edition!   Recommended in this episode: Shirley Jackson’s short stories   UP NEXT: Margaret St. Clair’s “The ...

Interview with R. A. Busby

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Author of the novella Corporate Body and the Shirley Jackson Award-winning story "Not the Man I Married," R.A. Busby spends her spare time running in ...

R. A. Busby's "Not the Man I Married"

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

TW: Domestic Violence/Abuse  The narrator of “Not the Man I Married” has a happy life. She lives in a big house with her husband, Charles, and th...

Chesya Burke's "Haint Me Too"

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ghosts come in many forms. In Chesya Burke’s story “Haint Me Too,” this ghost is of the angry kind. She haunts the Myrtle House, a Southern plan...

“The Debt” by Ania Ahlborn

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In her short story “The Debt,” Ania Ahlborn weaves a modern fairytale. Karolin is an 11 year old girl, supposedly visiting her grandmother in Pola...

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Following the Mexican War of Independence, Beatriz finds her life in ruins: her father has been executed and she is left to take care of her family. H...

Lisa Loring, the first Wednesday Addams

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Wednesday Addams is a well-known and much beloved character in the horror genre. We all know her trademark macabre attitude, all-black goth dress with...

Tananarive Due's The Between

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Hilton James’s wife, the only elected African American judge in Dade County, FL, begins receiving racist hate mail threatening her and Hilton a...

“The Cactus” by Mildred Johnson

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Edith Porter’s friend Abby sends her a cutting from a cactus she found while on a trip in Mexico, Edith decides to try to bring it back to life...

2022 In Review

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Join Lisa and Mel as they share their favorite books, television shows, and movies from 2022.  Next Episode: Mildred Johnson’s “The Cactus” (We...

Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An unusual episode for an unusual book!  Helen Oyeyemi’s novel Gingerbread is a tale about a mother Harriet and her daughter Perdita–and Harriet’...

MSW CLASSIC: Connie Willis's “In Coppelius’s Toyshop”

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Coppelius’s Toyshop is one of the busiest stores in New York during the Christmas season. With life-sized toy soldiers on either side of the entranc...

Connie Willis's "Newsletter"

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Christmas is not always the easiest time of year for people. There’s often the headache of travel through busy airports, the annoyance of trying to ...

Priya Sharma's "Fabulous Beasts"

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This Priya Sharma story was published on Tor.com in July of 2015, and collected in her 2018 collection All the Fabulous Beasts. Here is the descriptio...

Rachel Harrison's Cackle

01 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Annie’s life has been turned upside down. Her boyfriend broke up with her after nearly a decade together, and she can’t afford to live in New York...

Interview with Rachel Harrison

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Harrison is the author of Cackle and The Return, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her sho...

Episode 69: Ellen Oh's "Spirit Hunters"

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

12-year-old Harper Raine and her family have moved from New York City to a suburb of Washington, D.C., for a new start. Harper is trying to work throu...

Episode 68: "The Sin Eater"

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

PREORDER TOIL AND TROUBLE In Elizabeth Walter’s story “The Sin-Eater,” Clive Tomlinson gets more than he bargained for on a trip to the Welsh Bo...

Episode 67: Women in Science Fiction (Nichelle Nichols)

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

PREORDER TOIL AND TROUBLE You know her as Uhura from the Star Trek universe, but her impact went far beyond the sci-fi world. Born in 1932 in Illinois...

Episode 66: Interview with Gwendolyn Kiste

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, Boneset & Feathers, And Her Smile Will Un...

Episode 65: The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

WARNING FOR THIS EPISODE: We do discuss sexual assault as it relates to the plot of the story.  Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania, is a dying coal town....

Episode 64: Donna Tartt's The Secret History

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are back from our brief hiatus, and in this episode, we welcome writer and academic Crystal O'Leary Davidson! Make sure to check out her short fict...

Bunny by Mona Awad

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

NEWS: Mel and Lisa are taking a brief hiatus so the next episode will be four weeks away instead of two...WE WILL BE BACK! Samantha Heather Mackey is ...

Allison V. Harding’s “The Underbody”

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When his six year old son says he saw a man outside their home, Dr. Holland thinks it is a case of overactive imagination. Mister Mole, as his son cal...

“The Corner Shop” by Cynthia Asquith

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The narrator in Cynthia Asquith’s “The Corner Shop” has a relatable problem: he needs to buy a wedding gift. So, one foggy, cold London night, h...

“Harry” by Rosemary Timperley

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

 In Rosemary Timperley’s 1955 story “Harry,” a mother finds herself terrified of her daughter’s new imaginary friend named Harry. At first, i...

“Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds” imagines a world that has been ravaged by a disease. The illness ravages the brain especially, attacking the ab...

Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves”

19 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Wolves are a staple of horror literature and fairy tales alike. They are fierce creatures that walk the woods, reminding us of the dangers that lurk o...

Everil Worrell's "The Canal"

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Two words: Goth Byron The narrator of Everil Worrell’s “The Canal” is a man who enjoys long walks at night on the edge of the city. Really, what...

Dorothy Quick’s “The Artist and the Door”

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

“The advent of the artist and the door was almost simultaneous. I have always wondered if the one would have been as sinister without the other.” ...

Nalo Hopkinson's "The Easthound"

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nalo Hopkinson’s “The Easthound” tells the story of twins, Millie and Jolly, as they navigate the dangers of a post-apocalyptic world. A pandemi...

"The Prayer of Ninety Cats" by Caitlín R. Kiernan

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

“The Prayer of Ninety Cats” by Caitlín R. Kiernan is a story about a film critic watching a film, specifically a fictional film about Elizabeth B...