logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
16m 45s

Zakiya Dalila Harris and Oliver Jeffers ...

NPR
About this episode
It's almost Halloween, which means that we're in peak spooky season. So for today's episode, we bring you two books with two very different kinds of frights: a haunted house and...office politics. That's right: In The Other Black Girl, writer Zakiya Dalila Harris captures the all-too-real horror of being the only Black woman in her office. When another Black woman is hired, the tension gets dialed up even higher. And in There's A Ghost In This House, the author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers uses old photographs to create creepy illustrations that will give both children and adults goosebumps.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Yesterday
New books ask how we can protect threatened land in the Amazon rainforest and Hawaii
Two new books ask how we might protect vulnerable ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest and Hawaii. First, journalist Dom Phillips was reporting in the Amazon when he and a colleague were shot and killed. Phillips was in the middle of writing a book – and now, that project, How to ... Show More
17m 2s
Jul 10
With novel 'Among Friends,' Hal Ebbott says he wanted to take friendship seriously
In Hal Ebbott's debut novel, Among Friends, two wealthy New York families are spending a weekend in the country. They've gotten together for decades – but one act ruptures their close ties. In today's episode, Ebbott tells Here & Now's Asma Khalid that he's drawn to story premise ... Show More
10m 39s
Jul 9
David Litt's new memoir is about finding common ground through surfing
Former Obama speechwriter David Litt and his brother-in-law, Matt, couldn't be more different. But during the pandemic, Matt taught Litt how to surf. The time they spent together out on the water created what Litt refers to as "neutral ground" – a space that isn't coded as libera ... Show More
9m 23s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
Happy Halloween: Scary Book Recommendations
You don’t need Halloween to justify reading scary books, any more than you need sand to justify reading a beach novel. But the holiday does give editors here a handy excuse to talk about some of their favorite spooky reads. On this week’s episode, the host Gilbert Cruz talks with ... Show More
33m 39s
Jun 2024
Portrait of Terror: The Creepy True Story of a Haunted Painting
In this horror story, artist Svetlana Telets paints a piece of art called "The Woman of the Rain" that creates a sense of uneasiness to onlookers. Once the painting was purchased, the woman in the painting began to haunt the owners. And then another painting, The Hands Resist Him ... Show More
21m 29s
Nov 2017
Episode 8: 'Housekeeping' by Marilynne Robinson
In this episode, I talk about my intense and emotional experience of reading Marilynne Robinson's 1980 debut novel, "Housekeeping." The book tells the story of Ruthie and Lucille, two young girls haunted by loss--by the death of their grandfather, the suicide of their mother, and ... Show More
58m 3s
Dec 2019
22: S4E22 – "Merry Massacre" – Scary Stories Told in the Dark
In this episode of Scary Stories Told in the Dark, we bring you five terrifying tales from authors C.L. McLendon, Derek Hawke, R.D. Smithey, NateJay82, and Jeffrey Ebright, performed by host and narrator Otis Jiry, about unexpected storms, grisly gifts, perilous presents, sickeni ... Show More
1h 24m
Jan 2021
The Ghost Caretaker
Two scary stories in this episode, "The Ghost Caretaker" and "Just Across the Street". In the first story, a trip down a dark highway leads to an unexpected encounter. In the second story, the dark figure that haunts an apartment complex is making itself known.For the entire coll ... Show More
16m 43s
Oct 2016
Ep 204 - The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as "the greatest haunted-house story ever written." The house itself is vile. It's dark and impossible to navigate. It's dripping with blood. So why are four people trying to spend their summer there?!? This week's para ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2019
20: S4E20 – "An Exercise in the Occult" – Scary Stories Told in the Dark
In this episode of Scary Stories Told in the Dark, we bring you three terrifying tales from authors J.M. Cennamo, Tobias Wade, and D.D. Howard, performed by host and narrator Otis Jiry, about diabolical boxes, monstrous magic, and vengeful victims. See full episode details, inclu ... Show More
1h 8m
Oct 2018
20: S2E20 - "Sticks and Bones" – Scary Stories Told in the Dark
In this episode of Scary Stories Told in the Dark, we bring you four terrifying tales from authors N. Christ, Keith Daniels, Alex Lowe, and Alex Taylor, performed by host and narrator Otis Jiry, about repulsive reflections, fearsome forests, bone-chilling books, and lurid legends ... Show More
1h 8m
Aug 2023
2 Hours of Creepy Classics | Spooky Stories Compilation
Our latest compilation features The Pale Woman, Ask a Dead Man, The Boarded Window, Was it a Dream?, The Black Cat, The Haunted Inn, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Told by Shannon Leigh Webber, N.R. Collard, Terri Lynne Hudson, James K. White, Bob Morgan, and Mike Vendetti. ... Show More
2h 12m