Novel Meets Evil, is the true-crime podcast for fiction readers, where we explore themes common to real-world evil and modern fiction. What makes us seek out the very stories that keep the normals up at night–and how can creeps, real and imaginary, teach us about ourselves? Welcome to Novel Meets Evil!
Ever since publishing Unravelling Oliver in 2014, Liz Nugent has been gifting us with deep character-driven novels full of twisted family drama, allowing us to reevaluate how we look at intergenerational trauma. It’s never just for shock–Liz actually has something to say.
Her five novels - Unravelling Oliver, Lying in Wait, Skin Deep, Our Little Cruelties and Strange Sally Diamond - have each been Number One bestsellers and she has won four Irish Book Awards, as well as the James Joyce Medal for Literature. I had so many questions and we only scratched the surface of why she writes the way she does, her struggles with the writing process, and her boundless fascination with weird humans. Today we are so lucky to have access to a unique mind in the fiction world–Liz Nugent. The author joined the podcast from her home in Dublin.
1 Feb 2024
Novel Meets Evil - Season 01 Episode 07 - MINISODE - "The Lonely Ones" Ray Bradbury meets Orville Weyant
The stories that scare often have a thread of truth in them. Sometimes there's much more than a thread, like when a story is based on a real person or series of crime. You'd never expect truth from Ray Bradbury one of the greats of American speculative-fiction. But in 'Dandelion Wine', Bradbury's debut novel, there's very little sci-fi or spec-fic to be found. He did, however, create one of the creepiest throwaway characters of his career with the coolest villain name: The Lonely One.
As it turns out, The Lonely One was based on a real figure from Bradbury's childhood -- a cat-burglar and boogeyman that scared the you-know-what out of any kids growing up in the area of Waukegan, IL, Bradbury's childhood home. This minisode holds both figures up to the light and we see what's similar and what's unique to each of these creeps.
Episode Notes:
NOVEL - Ray Bradbury's 'Dandelion Wine' [ 00:00-11:15]
Childhood Boogeymen [11:15-14:10]
EVIL - Orville Weyant [14:10-27:00]
Links:
Check out this great radio play (https://youtu.be/s0YMjllakrU?si=XVeRRGouSRk4y9EO)based on this character of The Lonely One.
Dandelion Wine (https://www.audible.com/pd/Dandelion-Wine-Audiobook/B07815BZBZ) on Audible
Free recording of 'Dandelion Wine' (https://youtu.be/fl2ZRr0P520?si=l6xFabpy2jLhlU-6) on YouTube
13 Jan 2024
Novel Meets Evil - Season 01 Episode 06 - "Lady Liars: Cindy James Meets Gone Girl"
Novel Meets Evil - Season 01 Episode 06 - "Lady Liars: Cindy James Meets Gone Girl"
Like a good thriller, the case of Canadian nurse Cindy James will have you scratching your head, questioning your own assumptions about who, if anyone, is telling the truth. She suffered for 7 years, was not believed by authorities, and ended up drugged, strangled and hogtied in an abandoned lot. So which is worse–that she was the victim of a stalker with a dedicated long game, or… of herself?
The novel Gone Girl is the story of Amy Dunne. Amy like to tell tall tales, including detailing the misdeeds of her secretly abusive husband Nick, who wanted her gone. Then Amy went missing and blood evidence seemed to point to Nick. As it turns out, nothing is quite as it seems with psychopaths.
Episode Notes:
Teaser - [0:00-0:]
Main Intro [ 01:16-02:00]
EVIL - The Case of Cindy James [2:00-27:00]
NOVEL - Gone Girl [27:00 33:30]
Mental Health Factors & Conclusion [33:30-49:03]
Links
Unsolved Mysteries Episode (https://youtu.be/3yJUBUF0s0U?si=tl1IgTbC8NZJyDs8) (Jan 30, 1991)
'The Deaths of Cindy James' (https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Cindy-James-Neal-Hall/dp/0771037848)book by Neal Hall
'Who Killed Cindy James' (https://www.amazon.com/Who-Killed-Cindy-James-Mulgrew/dp/0770424457#:~:text=He%20has%20conducted%20hundreds%20of,conclusion%20that%20Cindy%20killed%20herself.) book by Ian Mulgrew
'Gone Girl' (https://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Novel-Gillian-Flynn-ebook/dp/B006LSZECO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q3KC5KWQE8NC&keywords=gone+girl&qid=1705078628&s=books&sprefix=gone+girl%2Cstripbooks%2C56&sr=1-1) book by Gillian Flynn
30 Dec 2023
Season 01 Episode 05 - Scent of a Murderer: Patrick Süskind's 'Perfume' meets Jeffrey Dahmer
Episode Notes:
24 Dec 2023
Trailer - Season 01 Episode 05 - Scent of a Murderer: 'Perfume' meets Jeffrey Dahmer
Smell the Evil! Smell the Novel!
Patrick Suskind's accidental villain in his novel 'Perfume' goes toe-to-toe with Jeffrey Dahmer for the title of loneliest man of all time. Enjoy may not be the right word, but I hope you enjoy -- it's a weird one!
Episode Notes:
Kidnappers are as evil as full-blown murderers, as today’s episode will demonstrate. We compare the real-life case of Ariel Castro, a kidnapping creep who made his mark on Cleveland to the no-less-warped horror story encased in the thriller Strange Sally Diamond, by Irish author Liz Nugent. Monstrous men who just can’t help themselves, and lie as easily as breathing air, on Novel Meets Evil - Season 01 - Episode 04.
EVIL - The Cleveland House of Horrors [0:00-23:09]
NOVEL - Liz Nugent’s Strange Sally Diamond [23:09-39:59]
Conclusion - [39:59-47:41]
Like, Share, Subscribe!!!
Shareable episode link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2272814/14037475 (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2272814/14037475)
Email address: novelmeetsevil@gmail.com (mailto:novelmeetsevil@gmail.com)
Author’s Website: https://www.liznugent.com (https://www.liznugent.com)
Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NovelMeetsEvilPodcast/ (https://www.facebook.com/NovelMeetsEvilPodcast/)
Link to Audiobook:
Listen on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Strange-Sally-Diamond-Audiobook/B0BRLZXZ6L?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
2 Dec 2023
Season 01 Episode 03 - Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Dwarf’ meets Bernard Goetz, aka. The Subway Vigilante
Guns a' blazin' on this episode of Novel Meets Evil. In this episode's NOVEL segment Ray Bradbury is at it again with another short story called 'The Dwarf', in which a small-minded carnival worker bothers a small-bodied man he calls Mr. Big, to bad effect. In our EVIL segment we delve into a creep named Bernie Goetz, who New York City called the Subway Vigilante in the 1980s for his inability to mind his own business and keep his rage in check.
Episode Notes:
Teaser - [0:00-0:39
Main Intro [0:39-01:27]
NOVEL - Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Dwarf’ [1:27-20:33]
Interlude - Mirrors and Self-Image [20:33-31:52]
EVIL- The Subway Vigilante [31:52-53:10]
Conclusion [53:10-1:00:05]
On Novel Meets Evil Season 01 Episode 04 - Kidnapper's Delight: Ariel Castro Meets Liz Nugen'ts 'Strange Sally Diamond'.
9 Nov 2023
Trailer - Season 1 Episode 3 - Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Dwarf’ meets Bernard Goetz, aka. The Subway Vigilante
On Novel Meets Evil Season 1 Episode 3, Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Dwarf’ meets Bernard Goetz, aka. The Subway Vigilante, and we compare two loose cannons
9 Nov 2023
Trailer - Season 1 Episode 2 - Doppelganger Fever: Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘William Wilson’ meets Marie Hilley”
We're always excited to bring you two spine-tingling tales, one true evil and one fiction. S01 E02 brings you Edgar Allan Poe's 1839 short story 'William Wilson' juxtaposed to the hard-to-believe true story of Marie Hilley, a woman with no soul who almost got what she deserved. Almost...
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In Novel Meets Evil Season 1 Episode 1, Jeffrey Dahmer meets 'Pickman's Model', an H.P. Lovecraft short story about an artist with a preternatural ability to depict the horrors lingering in the backstreets and tunnels under Boston. Two very weird but compelling stories come to life in this collision of fiction and non-fiction.
6 Nov 2023
Season 1 Episode 0 - Our Origin Story
Welcome to Novel Meets Evil. Season 1 Episode 1 is a brief introduction to why I created a podcast exploring the overlap of fiction and true-crime stories, what scares me and why I forced myself to turn fear into creativity. I want to spread the fear, but not just to scare you–it’s a bit deeper.
Episode Notes
Main Intro [0:00-0:40]
Podcast Origin Story [0:41-7:41]
6 Nov 2023
Season 01 Episode 02 - Doppelganger Fever - Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘William Wilson’ meets Marie Hilley”
Episode Notes:
Main Intro - [0:00-0:44]
Thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe [0:44-3:35]
NOVEL - Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘William Wilson’ [3:35-24:44]
Interlude about 1999 Films [24:44-27:08]
EVIL- Marie Hilley [27:08-42:08]
Conclusion [42:08-49:59]
***
If you're looking for more info on this Marie Hilley creep, this book is extensive: https://www.amazon.com/Poisoned-Blood-Hilley-Cold-blooded-Killer/dp/1854791133 (https://www.amazon.com/Poisoned-Blood-Hilley-Cold-blooded-Killer/dp/1854791133)
***
Read 'William Wilson' here: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2148/pg2148.txt (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2148/pg2148.txt)
(Thank goodness for The Project Gutenberg!!! Can I get an AMEN?)
They also made a horrible TV movie about Marie's crimes starring Judith Light, blech: https://youtu.be/tQCI9uu01r0?si=ysr31lsvG4wnQT48 (https://youtu.be/tQCI9uu01r0?si=ysr31lsvG4wnQT48)
What’s in a picture? In HP Lovecraft’s short story ‘Pickman’s Model’ we enter Lovecraft’s imagination via a traumatized narrator who struggles to describe his horrific experiences until a photograph is discovered. Similarly, but non-fictionally, a photo was the undoing of one of our favorite creeps to analyze–The Milwaukee Cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer. Each of these stories–fictional and real–came to a screeching halt at the discovery of a simple image. If not for these photographs, who knows if anyone would believe their sordid tales. The power of an image, on Novel Meets Evil Season 1 Episode 2.
Episode Notes:
Teaser - [0:00-03:22]
Main Intro - [03:22-4:17]
EVIL - Dahmer’s Parlor [4:17-16:45]
NOVEL - HP Lovecraft’s ‘Pickman’s Model’ [16:47-31:49]
I am not scared by supernatural horror. Things that break the laws of physics require a suspension of disbelief I can hardly muster. However, Lovecraft straddles the line between speculative-fiction and fantasy. Somehow you wonder if his ghoulish creations could exist, they've just been hiding out in tunnels and burrows and forgotten seaside haunts. 'Pickman's Model', and many other Lovecraft stories, scare the hell out of me. That's the magic of fiction!
Read the story here: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/pm.aspx (https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/pm.aspx)
If you prefer to listen, go here: https://youtu.be/7LKzs5Y0lVk?si=uPI8J8gAeX8zbtk9 (https://youtu.be/7LKzs5Y0lVk?si=uPI8J8gAeX8zbtk9)
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