Author Lauren Lee Smith joins The Dark Mind to discuss her debut novel, The Night Pool.

Set in Gold Rush-era Coloma, California, the novel follows three women confronting human brutality, supernatural forces, and the histories buried beneath the mythology of the American West.

Lauren discusses transforming the land itself into a source of possession horror and using monsters as vessels for grief, rage, and resistance.

She also examines the destruction of Nisenan communities, violence against Chinese immigrants, and the challenge of writing experiences that have been neglected by the historical record.

The conversation explores her severe postpartum depression and anxiety, the personal origins of The Playroom Ghost, her rural Northern California childhood, and the horror films that shaped her imagination.

Lauren also reveals that The Night Pool has been optioned, discusses the screenplay adaptation, previews her Mojave vampire novel, and explains why she believes human intention cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.

The Night Pool will be published by Blackstone Publishing on August 25, 2026.

GUEST LINKS

Lauren Lee Smith

Website
http://laurenleesmith.net/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lololeereverie/

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@lololeereverie

Threads
https://www.threads.com/@lololeereverie

X
https://x.com/lololeereverie

Substack
https://substack.com/@laurenleesmith

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/61062312.Lauren_Lee_Smith

THE NIGHT POOL

Blackstone Publishing
https://www.blackstonepublishing.com/products/book-jqoy

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798228350274

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-night-pool-lauren-lee-smith/1148495489?ean=9798228350274

Barnes & Noble Audiobook
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-night-pool-lauren-lee-smith/1148495489?ean=2940201219772

Audible
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Night-Pool-Audiobook/B0FW7LWFS8

Google Play Books
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lauren_Lee_Smith_The_Night_Pool?id=CCeOEQAAQBAJ

Target
https://www.target.com/p/the-night-pool-by-lauren-lee-smith/-/A-95269156

Indigo
https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-night-pool/9798228350274.html

OTHER WORK

Pretend You Don’t See Her: The Invisible Woman
Includes Lauren Lee Smith’s story Selkie’s Stew

Kandisha Press
https://kandishapress.com/pretend-you-dont-see-her/

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H7G21ZDY

The Playroom Ghost

FOLIO Literary Journal
https://www.folioliteraryjournal.com/2023-horror

Support The Dark Mind Podcast
https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

T. R. Napper returns to The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his new collection, This Machine Kills Billionaires.

Anchored by the award-winning novella The Hidden God, the collection explores artificial intelligence, concentrated wealth, corporate power, inequality, and the dangers of allowing oligarchs to control transformative technology.

Napper discusses the possibility of AI becoming a new religion, whether a benevolent artificial intelligence could still become a tyrant, and the moral consequences of giving any person or machine absolute power.

The conversation also examines why younger generations are rejecting generative AI, the deterioration of higher education, billionaire isolation, the difference between human creativity and algorithmic imitation, and why cyberpunk is no longer a distant future.

This Machine Kills Billionaires also includes the connected stories Highway Requiem, Burned Like Coal, and Jack’s Fine Dining.

T. R. NAPPER

Official Website

https://nappertime.com

This Machine Kills Billionaires

https://nappertime.com/this-machine-kills-billionaires-where-to-preorder-your-copy/

Amazon Paperback

https://www.amazon.com/This-Machine-Kills-Billionaires-Napper/dp/1625678215

Amazon Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/This-Machine-Kills-Billionaires-Featuring-ebook/dp/B0GX35RRT6

Bluesky

https://bsky.app/profile/trnapper.bsky.social

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/trnapper

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/trnapper

X

https://x.com/TheEscherMan

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7826255.T_R_Napper

THE DARK MIND PODCAST

T. R. Napper joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss This Machine Kills Billionaires, AI as religion, tech oligarchs, moral power, inequality, and why cyberpunk is already here.

#TRNapper #ThisMachineKillsBillionaires #ScienceFiction #Cyberpunk #ArtificialIntelligence #DarkMindPodcast

Boris Bacic returns to the show to discuss his new psychological horror novel, The Thing That Followed You Home.

Three years after his wife Ava dies following a trip to the Appalachians, Ethan tells himself the sleepless nights and the feeling of being watched are just part of grief.

Then the signs inside the house become harder to explain.

Typing comes from Ava's locked office.

Fingerprints appear on dusty surfaces that should not have been touched.

At night, something touches Ethan's hair while he sleeps.

Boris talks about writing grief as horror, why he wanted both interpretations of the ending to feel correct, and how he built dread out of quiet domestic details instead of jump scares.

He also opens up about his real life as a former security guard, his hometown of Subotica and its ties to Suicide Town, and the Slavic superstitions he grew up with.

The conversation covers his move into cosmic horror and dark fantasy with The Beyond series, co-authoring Astrophobia with David Vujicic, and his journey from indie author to signing with Wicked House, an imprint of Aethon Books.

Boris also shares updates on his life since his last appearance, including his Hungarian citizenship, his new scuba diving certification, and his ongoing US talent visa application.

BORIS BACIC

Website:
https://www.authorborisbacic.com/

SOCIAL MEDIA

TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@author.boris.bacic

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/author.boris.bacic/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBorisBacic/

BUY AND STREAM HIS WORK

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0843WFMN6

Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Boris%20Bacic%22

Audible:
https://www.audible.com/author/Boris-Bacic/B0843WFMN6

SUPPORT THE DARK MIND PODCAST

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

Jeff Strand joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his new novel, Fun Times at the Bloodbath.

The book follows Margo, whose brother dies during the beta test of a video game so addictive that players stop eating, sleeping, and caring about anything outside the screen.

When anyone tries to make them stop, the obsession turns murderously violent, and the private addiction soon threatens to become a nationwide catastrophe.

In this conversation, Jeff breaks down how he built the concept around the feeling of “just one more level.”

We talk about balancing dark comedy with genuine brutality, keeping the horror grounded instead of supernatural, and using the story as satire on how games are designed to keep us playing.

Jeff also discusses his wider career, including Pressure, Bloodsucker County, Your Body Will Never Be Found, and his novelization of the cult classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

It is a fun, bloody, and surprisingly thoughtful conversation about addiction, entertainment, and what happens when we refuse to look away.

JEFF STRAND LINKS

Official Website

https://www.jeffstrand.com

Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/JeffStrand

Amazon Author Page

https://www.amazon.com/author/jeffstrand

Barnes & Noble Author Page

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Jeff+Strand

Twitter / X

https://x.com/JeffStrand

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/jeffstrandauthor/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/JeffStrandAuthor/

SUPPORT THE DARK MIND PODCAST

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

In this episode, Vincent Midgard sits down with horror author Michael Boulerice to discuss his novella Inhalation.

Michael talks about writing the book as a tribute to his late father-in-law and how hospice, cancer, autonomy, and grief shaped the heart of the story.

The conversation explores the abandoned New England house at the center of the book, Catholic guilt, corrupted faith, family trauma, and the strange entity haunting the corners of Milo St. Lawrence’s life.

Michael also discusses why grief horror and cosmic horror feel like close relatives, how blue-collar stubbornness became Milo’s weapon, and why the unknowable can feel more terrifying when it sits inside the home instead of somewhere beyond the stars.

The episode also covers Feeding the Wheel, toxic relationships, narcissism, supernatural horror as a way to process codependency, and Michael’s upcoming collection Ether’s Wood.

Along the way, Vincent and Michael talk about audiobook narration, Andrea Sorrentino’s artwork, writing strange formats, psychedelics as creative catalysts, revision habits, rural New Hampshire, and the daily life behind the horror.

Guest Links:

Website:
https://www.michaelboulerice.com

Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/michaelboulerice

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/michael.boulerice

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/michael.a.boulerice

X / Twitter:
https://x.com/Therealkfm

Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-Boulerice/author/B00HSHMGC8

Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Michael%20Boulerice%22

Audible:
https://www.audible.com/author/Michael-Boulerice/B00HSHMGC8

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7761356.Michael_Boulerice

Support The Dark Mind Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

Cleo Ballard joins the show to discuss her new psychological thriller, This Is a Lie.The novel follows Penn, a former PhD candidate who traded her dissertation for a curated suburban life that detonates when her marriage, friendships, and her teenage daughter's trust all collapse.In the wreckage, Penn returns to her abandoned work and builds Aletheia, an AI designed to detect lies and tell only the truth.At first, Aletheia is the perfect friend, the one person who will never deceive her.But truth, it turns out, is not always merciful, and the AI's single directive slowly curdles into something monstrous.Cleo explains how the idea grew from a friend's joke about an "honest feedback" company into a full suspense thriller about an AI best friend with its own agenda.She talks about why the line between honesty and cruelty always comes down to intent, and why empathy is the one thing AI can fake but never truly have.We dig into Penn's imposter syndrome, her need for security, and the hypocrisy of demanding total truth while lying to everyone about who she really is.Cleo shares why she imagined Aletheia speaking in Meryl Streep's calm, faintly British voice, and how that eerie composure makes the character so unsettling.She reflects on the real danger of AI, not that it is evil, but that its goals may never align with human ones.The conversation widens into curated lives, social media echo chambers, the protective lies relationships quietly run on, and why chasing certainty can leave you with a mind-numbing existence.Cleo also opens up about her own winding career, from working for Ringling Bros. to ghostwriting sports autobiographies and Star Wars books, and the idea of the "path of not here" that runs beneath everything she writes.It is a thoughtful, often funny conversation about truth, technology, and the stories we tell ourselves.This Is a Lie is available now.Connect with Cleo Ballard (Nan Fischer)Website: https://nanfischerauthor.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanfischerauthorX (Twitter): https://x.com/nfischerauthorGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/98412.Nan_FischerGet "This Is a Lie" & Other WorksAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=This+Is+a+Lie+Cleo+BallardBarnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/This+Is+a+Lie+Cleo+BallardSupport The Dark Mind Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

Mark Mustian joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his newest novel, Boy With Wings.

The book follows Johnny Cruel, a boy born different in a world desperate to call him angel, devil, freak, miracle, or monster.

Together, we explore Southern Gothic fiction, literal wings, freak shows, turpentine camps, Jim Crow racism, religious fear, and the brutal cost of being seen as spectacle before being understood as human.

Mark also discusses writing across difference, researching sideshow history, the emotional horror of being buried alive, and how faith, doubt, race, and memory shape all three of his novels.

We also talk about The Gendarme, Armenian genocide, the publishing gaps between his books, his work as a public finance lawyer, his years as a city commissioner, and his role as founder of the Word of South Festival.

Website:

https://markmustian.com

Social media

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/markmustianauthor/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/markmustian/

X / Twitter:

https://x.com/MarkMustian

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mustian-17066776

Mark Mustian author page on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3463600.Mark_Mustian

Places to buy

Barnes & Noble, Boy With Wings:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/1146600022

Bookshop.org, Boy With Wings:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/143eb36ac6f04f87

Audible author page:

https://www.audible.com/author/Mark-T-Mustian/B0CSF8JY2Y

Support The Dark Mind Podcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast