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‘Occasionally amusing’: Stephen King has a ringing endorsement for a new podcast inspired by his work

Getting validation from the king of horror Stephen King himself is no joke.

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Image via Parade

The master of fright Stephen King took to Twitter to sing the praises of a horror fiction podcast that recently discussed his 1986 novel It. Talking Scared – hosted by Neil McRobert (@nakmac) – has caught the ear of King for its “insightful and thought-provoking” discussion on one of his most celebrated and popular horror works.

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Talking Scared released its 148th podcast episode titled “Feral Childhoods – The Big IT Deep-Dive (Part One)” with Ally Malinenko (@AllyMalinenko) and Nat Cassidy (@natcassidy), covering “the Losers, capturing childhood, controversy, and all the chaos and beauty” of It. The story was continued in the 149th episode, “Clowns at Midnight – The Big IT Deep-Dive (Part Two),” which eventually led to King listening in. The legendary writer then sang praises of the podcast in a tweet:

Ally Mainenko replied hoping “the way we love this book was clear above all else,” and King affirmed it. Meanwhile, the Talking Sacred official account also penned a thank-you note.

King’s endorsement has brought heaps of traffic to their channels and their Twitter account has crossed 5000 followers as of July 6. The Talking Sacred podcasts are available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more. Its description reads:

“Conversations with the biggest names in horror fiction. A podcast for horror readers who want to know where their favorite stories came from… and what frightens the people who wrote them.”

Neil McRoberts started his podcast journey in Sept. 2020. His very first episode featured the horror megastar Paul Tremblay, whose book The Cabin at the End of the World was recently adapted into the 2023 film Knock at the Cabin. McRoberts has since collaborated with various big names like Mike Flanagan, Margaret Atwood, Jo Kaplan, Max Brooks, and more.

His latest (and 150th) podcast featured the bestselling novelist Danielle Trussoni discussing her new tome The Puzzle Master.