The Star, Hope, and Horror Book Recs with George Dunn
Welcome to episode 6 of This Might Sound Strange, a horror fiction podcast where tarot cards direct the conversation. Today’s guest is George Dunn. If you’ve spent any time on horror Bookstagram or BookTok, you’ve almost certainly run across George’s book recommendations. His handle is “georgesreads” and he’s a frequent book reviewer on FanFiAddict and Darker Times, among other places. He also recently launched a podcast called Why Are You Making Me Watch This?, in which he terrorizes his mom by watching horror films with her.
We usually pull three tarot cards for each conversation, but in our new Major Arcana series, we focus on a single card instead. From there, we share some book recommendations inspired by the card’s themes and symbolism. Today’s card is The Star!
To be clear and give credit where it’s due: These episodes are our loving homage to Stephanie Gagnon over at Books in the Freezer, which is one of our favorite podcasts. If somehow anyone listening doesn’t listen to Books in the Freezer yet, please pause this episode and go subscribe. You will get the best horror book recommendations of your life.
If you enjoy today’s episode, consider writing a review or a comment wherever you’re listening to help others find the show. If you do, send your best mailing address to sound.strange.pod@gmail.com! We’ll put something fun in the mail for you.
Until next time…stay strange!
xoxo,
Michelle & Maya
Credits:
Logo and artwork by Chris Panatier
Music by Tony Morales
Books Recommendations
Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison
Cackle by Rachel Harrison
Itch by Gemma Amor
Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
The September House by Carissa Orlando
Darker Days by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle
Exalted by Anna Dorn
The Haar by David Sodergren
Coup De Grace by Sofia Ajram
Crushing Snails by Emma E. Murray
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
Paradise by Fernanda Melchor
The Diving Pool by Yōko Ogawa
The Flayed Man by Chloe Lauter
Films mentioned
Happy Death Day (Dir.Christopher Landon)
The X Trilogy - Pearl, Maxine, X (Dir. Ti West)
Mulholland Drive (Dir. David Lynch)
Dead Lover (Dir. Grace Glowicki)
TV shows mentioned
The X-Files (1993)
Widow’s Bay (2026)
Yellowjackets (2021)
Articles mentioned
George Dunn, “Backrooms Reading List: 5 Must-Read Liminal Horror Novels”: https://www.phantasmag.com/articles-3/backrooms-reading-list-must-read-liminal-horror-books
Anna Dupre, “SpongeBob HorrorPants: Diving into Bikini Bottom’s Greatest Horrors from Season One (1999 - 2001)”: https://www.darkertimes.com/spongebob-horrorpants-season-one/
Stay in touch:
Website: https://www.soundstrangepod.com/
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Website: https://www.mayarector.com/
Michelle Delgado:
Scare Me! Newsletter: https://scare-me.beehiiv.com/
Macabre Daily: https://www.macabredaily.com/authors/michelle-delgado