This week I am going to utterly ruin your festive mood!My guest is Ross Jeffery – author of Juniper, Tome (for which he was Bram Stoker nominated) and numerous short stories. His work is grim, gritty, gory and other words beginning with G - but they are nothing compared to the sheer horror of his latest work, Only the Stains Remain.Yeah, this is one of those special episodes in which I feel duty-bound to roll out the trigger warnings. Only the Stains Remain is about child abuse, and it pulls no punches. Feeling festive yet, Ho Ho Ho, etc. The novella is a savage revenge-trip of blood and guts in which awful things happen – but thankfully – often to awful people.So, you’ve been warned. But also be reassured. Neither the conversation, nor Ross’s book goes into exploitative details – and we manage to talk about a surprising number of very jolly things - from why Ross is drawn to such extreme projects, why writing for shock alone never really works, what it was like to be Bram Stoker-ed out of the blue, and what the members of Ross’ church make of his writing.It’s a mix of the horrific and the wholesome this week. Which could describe most of my Christmases. Enjoy Books discussed in this episode include:Boys in the Valley (2021), by Philip FracassiThe Girl Next Door (1989), by Jack KetchumHaunted (2005), by Chuck PalahniukThings Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021), by Eric LaRoccaGhoul n’ the Cape (2021), by Josh Malerman Support Talking Scared on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/TalkingScaredPod Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, and TikTok Or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Download Novellic on Google Play or Apple Store.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/talkingscaredpod)