Hello, friends.

One of the most recent guests on This Is Horror Podcast was our dear friend and prolific writer, Josh Malerman. He recently released his first nonfiction book Watching Evil Dead which is part an account of a transformative night in his life, part a reflection on Evil Dead (but you don't need to have watched the movie to appreciate the book), and part as close to bottled inspiration as you're likely to find in a book form. There's writing and creative advice but this is less a book with prescriptive rules and more a book that just fuels your creativity and encourages you to write, be free, and discover your own creative vision.

So, it got me thinking about my friendship with Josh Malerman and all the times he's been on the This Is Horror Podcast. I could tell you about the first time I read Bird Box and how that experience led to Josh being on the show and then I could tell you about how that led to This Is Horror releasing Josh's novella, A House at the Bottom of a Lake, and how years later, my friendship with Josh would lead to Ryan Lewis becoming my film manager which would then have a financial impact that would save me from the toughest period of my entire life. I'm linking you to every single conversation we've had with Josh Malerman on the show, starting from our very first over ten years ago. So, experience the professional relationship, the friendship, and the wild rollercoaster right alongside me and Josh, and make your way through all 21 episodes if you dare. Here we go.

The First Conversation and First Three Episodes with Josh Malerman

The first conversation I have ever had with Josh Malerman was alongside the original co-host of This Is Horror Podcast, Dan Howarth. Dan had introduced me to Bird Box telling me it was an absolute must-read and Dan's recommendations have rarely let me down. What followed over ten years (or over 600 episodes if you measure your time in This Is Horror Podcast episodes) ago was an over three-hour conversation and the introduction to a writer and friend who would change my life for the better. The audio is rough but the passion and energy is high. Those were also the days where—like an absolute wild man—I wouldn't even necessarily put three-parter conversations out back-to-back, so those who started with part one in mid-March 2015 would have to wait until mid-May 2015 for the conversation's conclusion.

TIH 035: Josh Malerman on Bird Box, The ‘Horror’ Label and Overnight Success

TIH 037: Josh Malerman on The Film Adaptation of Bird Box, Story Ideas and Intimidating Writers

TIH 044: Josh Malerman on Ghastle and Yule, and How To Tackle Self-Doubt and Finish Your Story

Bonus Episode: Writers’ Craft Talk: Best Writing Advice

So this doesn't count as a full Josh Malerman episode but it is an episode featuring Josh Malerman. I ran a couple of episodes in 2016 compiling writing advice from some of the best writers in the world. Here Josh offers his best writing advice as do a host of other writers. Contributions from Stephen Graham Jones, Mercedes M. Yardley, Helen Marshall, Paul Tremblay, George Ttoouli, Nina Allan, David Moody, Jessica McHugh, John F.D. Taff, John C. Foster, David Bowles, Lisa L. Hannett, Bob Pastorella, Josh Malerman, Richard Thomas, Vincenzo Bilof, Jasper Bark, Sarah Langan, S. P. Miskowski and This Is Horror Podcast Host, Michael David Wilson (hey, that's me).

TIH 109: Writers’ Craft Talk: Best Writing Advice with 20 Writers

The Release of A House at the Bottom of a Lake

Around eighteen months later, I spoke with Josh for only the second time on the podcast, but man, had things changed. Not only was there a change to the host line-up and Good Ol' Bob Pastorella was now chatting alongside me, but Josh and I were days away from releasing his brand new novella, A House at the Bottom of a Lake. It's funny to think this was only the second time we'd spoken on the podcast (though the fourth episode thanks to that monster three-parter) and it was to launch a book he'd written and I was publishing, but that's how it went.

TIH 118: Josh Malerman on A House at the Bottom of a Lake, Halloween and Water in Horror

Bonus Episode: 300 Episodes of This Is Horror Podcast

So, it seems like every other 'bonus' episode featured Josh Malerman, and why not? What better treat for your ears than hearing from one of the most inspiring feel-good guests we've ever spoken to? It had been almost three years since we'd last had Josh on the show (something that may surprise some of you as alongside others such as Eric LaRocca, Jason Pargin, and Dean Koontz he's almost become a regular part of the programming) but we made up for lost time with this wonderful 35 minute chat in the middle of our longest ever This Is Horror Podcast episode (four hours for those counting).

In this whopper of an episode to mark 300 episodes of the show, we spoke with Adam Nevill about self-publishing, Joe R. Lansdale about genre-hopping, Josh Malerman about the impact of Bird Box‘s film adaptation, Alma Katsu on historical research, Damien Angelica Walters on self-editing fiction, Stephen Graham Jones about language and word choice, Jon Padgett on mental health and parenthood, and Kathe Koja on performative fiction amongst other things. This may be a long episode but I think it's one of our best in terms of actionable takeaways and writing advice.

TIH 300: Adam Nevill, Joe R. Lansdale, Josh Malerman, Alma Katsu, Damien Angelica Walters, Stephen Graham Jones, Jon Padgett, and Kathe Koja

Josh Malerman on the Bird Box movie and Life Stages

We may have taken almost three years to get Josh back on the show previously, but after the fun of episode 300, we only waited one month—or five This Is Horror episodes—as Josh returned for episodes 305 and 306 in a two-hour conversation full of writing joy and reflections. The Bird Box movie had debuted on Netflix and broke records around 11 months prior so to say Josh had been a busy man and had a lot of new experiences to talk about is an understatement. He also spoke about what I consider his infamous idea of celebrating different life stages and that we all experience and live different seasons. The end of something is the beginning of something else so we need not be sad. One season that was soon coming to an end as we recorded this was the This Is Horror edition of A House at the Bottom of a Lake. We had a beautiful three years together and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

TIH 305: Josh Malerman on Malorie: A Bird Box Novel, Writing Movies and Adaptations, and Selling Rough Drafts

TIH 306: Josh Malerman on Post Bird Box Success, Life Stages, and Horror Trends

Josh Malerman on Malorie and returning to the Bird Box World

It took us around 10 months before we had to get Josh back on the show. This was another big three-parter, and quite frankly, why not? It was 2020 and the world was basically quarantined anyway. What else were we gonna do other than hang out, have a good time, and talk about books and horror? At this point I had been introduced to Ryan Lewis who was my film agent for a wonderful five years (that life season ended recently but it was so pivotal and life-changing for me and I'm so thankful to know him—and I now have an exciting new life season with my film agent, Alec Frankel; you see the end of something beautiful can be the beginning of something else beautiful?).

TIH 359: Josh Malerman on Spin A Black Yarn, Making It, and Film and TV Adaptations

TIH 360: Josh Malerman on Malorie, Returning to Bird Box World, and Carpenter’s Farm

TIH 361: Josh Malerman on Writing Habits, Writing Process, and Film Production Company

Bonus Episode: Launching They're Watching!

For the twelfth (!) This Is Horror Podcast appearance, Josh Malerman joined me, Laurel Hightower, and Bob Pastorella for the live podcast launch of mine and Bob's collaborative novel, They're Watching. If you wanna talk about life seasons—and apparently I do cos ever since I mentioned them, I haven't gone a section in this newsletter without a callback—then this really shows things were escalating both in terms of my friendship with Josh and my professional development as a writer. When I first spoke with Josh, I had aspirations to publish my own fiction but had yet to do so. Here we are, Halloween 2020, and I was launching my second book, and I'd written it alongside Bob Pastorella (so the Bob Pastorella season of my life had really escalated from guest to host to collaborator).

TIH 378: They’re Watching Live Event with Michael David Wilson, Bob Pastorella, Josh Malerman, and Laurel Hightower

Spin A Black Yarn

Almost three years without Josh Malerman on This Is Horror Podcast passed again and it wasn't until the summer of 2023 that Josh returned to the show. What I hadn't known when we'd recorded the They're Watching event was how much my life was about to change in a matter of weeks. At the time of recording, I had gone through the worst period of my life—was almost done with divorce and custody proceedings, had been separated from my daughter for almost eighteen months but was reunited again. So, what I'm saying is, my life had entered a bad season and it was a miracle I'd done anything much less kept the podcast going (but I had), yet here we were, the gang back together again, and Josh had done so many good things that we had another of our epic three hours conversations to cover as much as possible.

TIH 511: Josh Malerman on Writing Routine, Writing A Novel Documentary, and A Ben Evans Film

TIH 512: Josh Malerman on Half The House is Haunted, Argyle, and Samhattan

TIH 513: Josh Malerman on Egorov, Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer, and The Jupiter Drop

The High Strung

It occured to me, as I was recording the previous episode that despite our years of conversations and despite Josh having appeared on several other podcasts, too, at no point had he really spoken about The High Strung in depth. So, there and then it was decided that we would record a podcast in which we spoke about Josh's band, The High Strung, and their journey, including some of the stories from the early years on the road. Thus just two months later, Josh was back for more.

TIH 524: Josh Malerman on The Early Years on The Road, Living Off $10 Per Day, The High Strung, and The Hall of Fame Van Story

TIH 525: Josh Malerman on The High Strung, Writing an All-Time Horror Novel, and Stories From The Road

Incidents Around the House and the Writing Documentary

Then just last year, Josh Malerman wrote not just one of the best horror novels of the year but one of the most genre-defying and defining horror novels of the decade, Incidents Around the House. Not only did he write Incidents but he created an incredible 'on writing' documentary. Naturally, I had to record podcasts with Josh on both which was how we wound up releasing episodes with Josh in both July and August of last year.

TIH 573: Josh Malerman on Incidents Around the House

TIH 577: Josh Malerman on Writing Documentary, Trusting the Publisher, and Staying in Motion

Watching Evil Dead

Which brings us all the way to the present day and episodes 633 and 634 in which I spoke with Josh about his brand new book, Watching Evil Dead. This brings the grand total of Josh Malerman appearances on This Is Horror Podcast to 21 episodes (including bonus episodes). What an adventure it's been!

TIH 633: Josh Malerman on Watching Evil Dead, Unearthing the Radiant Artist Within, and Sequencing Book Order Like an Album

TIH 634: Josh Malerman on Fully Embracing Your Writing, Lessons Learnt Watching Evil Dead, and Jizzly Bear

Here's to the next 21 episodes with Josh Malerman! For those who prefer video versions, here are our conversations with Josh in video format (we don't have video for all of them).

Josh Malerman Interview: Writing Routine & Writing A Novel Documentary (This Is Horror Podcast 511)

Josh Malerman Interview: Half The House is Haunted and Samhattan (This Is Horror Podcast 512)

Josh Malerman Interview: Egorov and The Jupiter Drop (This Is Horror Podcast 513)

Josh Malerman Interview: Incidents Around The House (This Is Horror Podcast 573)

Josh Malerman on Watching Evil Dead (This Is Horror Podcast 633 and 634)

Now, check out all those wonderful podcast episodes and articles on This Is Horror below.

If you like what I’m doing, if you want to support my writing then support Michael David Wilson on Patreon. If you want to support the This is Horror Podcast and help make it my full-time endeavour then support This Is Horror Podcast on Patreon.

Keep believing in yourself. Keep writing.

Have a great, great day.

Michael David Wilson

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