About this episode

Neil McRobert interviews Megan Bontrager about her debut novel, exploring themes of monsters, mythology, and Lovecraftian influences.

I hope you have your headtorch this week – cos we’re going to some deep, dark places.   Megan Bontrager’s debut novel, The Sea Hides its Dead, is a story of a mysterious cave, an unprepared expedition, and the monstrous secrets they find within. It’s shadowed by Lovecraft, it has big freaky monsters, and a whole deep mythology to unpick.   In short it’s my kinda story. The exact level of geekery I like to discuss.   Discuss we do. Meghan and I talk about video game inspirations, global sea cults, monsters and mysteries in The Bible, and worst of all – sleazy academics.   Plus, I give my honest opinion on spelunking! (It’s not favourable)   Enjoy   Other books mentioned: The Eye of Ouroboros (2024), by Megan Bontrager The Caretaker (2026), by Marcus Kliewer The Fisherman (2017), by John Langan The Ruins (2006), by Scott Smith Babylon, South Dakota (2026), by Tom Lin The Faceless Thing We Adore (2025), by Hester Steel   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…

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