About this episode
Neena Viel discusses her novel 'I’ll Watch Your Baby' and explores themes of horror and societal issues.
Disgust, despair and belly laughs on the show this week – with Neena Viel and her new novel, I’ll Watch Your Baby. It’s a dense, troubling tale of child theft, social horror and demons, with plenty of putrid feet to give you a summertime ick! But if the book is a sickener, the author is a delight. Neena makes me do a proper full-on guffaw (has anyone EVER guffawed?), whilst we talk about urban-vs-rural horror, reprehensible acts and problematic protagonists, and the abiding lie of the Welfare Queen trope. Enjoy. Laugh. Even learn (up to you!) Other books mentioned: Listen to Your Sister (2025), by Neena Viel The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth (2019), by Josh Levin On Sundays She Picked Flowers (2026), by Yah Yah Schofield The Night Pool (2026), by Lauren Lee Smith Support Talking Scared on Patreon Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch Come talk books on Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Neil McRobert
Guest: Neena Viel
Topics covered
- child theft
- social horror
- urban vs rural horror
- problematic protagonists
- Welfare Queen trope
Keywords
- Neena Viel
- I’ll Watch Your Baby
- social horror
- child theft
- Welfare Queen trope
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: I’ll Watch Your Baby, Listen to Your Sister, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth, On Sundays She Picked Flowers, The Night Pool
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