6 Oct 2026
Neil McRobert on Good Boy: How Walking His Dog Sparked a Horror Novella Stephen King Loved
Neil McRobert is the host of the Talking Scared podcast, a PhD in Gothic literature, and the author of the Stephen King blurbed novella Good Boy, with the chapbook House of Butterflies coming in December.
Neil shares how a Vulture reading list for True Detective: Night Country led to Good Boy, a Northern Weird folk horror novella about a man, his dog, and a child-eating monster in a small English town. He explains why Good Boy is his answer to Stephen King's It, and what it really says about bigotry and getting stuck in your hometown. He gets honest about imposter syndrome at StokerCon, perfectionism, and why every podcast host should read the damn book. Plus, first details on House of Butterflies, set in a 1964 leaded gasoline refinery, and Bad Home, a violent home invasion novel about economic inequality.
Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Neil McRobert
02:44 – Harryhausen, Norse Serpents and a Lifelong Love of Monsters
04:31 – Dad Telling Him the Plot of Carrie on Holiday in Greece
05:19 – Point Horror and Getting His Mum Called Into School
07:00 – A Working Class Kid Who Wanted to Be a Film Director
08:47 – A PhD in Gothic Studies (and Horror Metafiction)
10:06 – Manny in Switzerland, Llama Farmer, Michelin Star Kitchen
13:10 – Why Writing Is Torture: Perfectionism and Type 2 Fun
15:32 – Imposter Syndrome and Not Feeling "In the Club"
17:52 – Quitting His Job in Lockdown and Emailing Paul Tremblay
21:30 – Fearless on Stage, Terrified of Rabies
24:25 – The Thrill of the Chase: How He Landed Stephen King
27:35 – A Rocky Mountain Horror Camp and Finding Your People
30:57 – Social Media Dopamine and Performative Rage Online
33:59 – The StokerCon Moment That Finally Made Him Write
37:43 – A Vulture Article, Bear Season and the Northern Weird Series
40:58 – 1,500 Words a Day: Writing Good Boy in Three Weeks
41:46 – Ted the Jack Russell and the Tree That Started It All
45:16 – Stephen King's It in a Small English Town
47:24 – Small British Towns, Bigotry and the Real Jim Howarth
50:35 – Doing Good Without Posting About It
52:18 – Growing Up on the Knee of Stephen King
57:33 – Why You Need to Read Dolores Claiborne
58:39 – Spinning Plates: Podcast Scripts and Reading Until 2 a.m.
1:02:53 – "Read the Damn Book": Why Hosts Have to Do the Homework
1:04:31 – The Day Stephen King Sent Him the New Talisman Manuscript
1:07:56 – House of Butterflies: Leaded Gasoline Horror in 1964 New Jersey
1:08:54 – Bad Home: Writing a Cruel Book With Heart
1:14:18 – Neil's Underrated Pick: The Hill in the Dark Grove
Grab your copy of Good Boy: https://www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/books/p/goodboy/9781068563102 (https://www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/books/p/goodboy/9781068563102)
Connect with Neil McRobert:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkscaredpod/ (https://www.instagram.com/talkscaredpod/)
X: https://x.com/TalkScaredPod (https://x.com/TalkScaredPod)
Talking Scared Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-scared/id1530064310 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-scared/id1530064310)
Follow Talking Horror Podcast:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/ (https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/)
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd (https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd)
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