Scarred For Life

Come and See Scarred For Life LIVE with special guest Rhys Thomas - Sunday 18th October at The Bedford - London - if you can't make it in person, buy tickets for the livestream!
Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup

In another of our special Halloween mini series during the month of October, we’re joined by legendary British horror author Ramsey Campbell, one of the most acclaimed and influential voices in modern horror fiction. From Lovecraftian cosmic horror and classic ghost stories to psychological terror and the unsettling darkness hidden inside ordinary life, Campbell has spent more than six decades crafting fiction that gets under readers’ skin.
Ramsey reveals the childhood experiences that first taught him to be afraid—including a genuinely disturbing Rupert Bear Christmas story, “Rupert’s Christmas Tree,” and the eerie illustrations that stayed with him long after childhood. We explore how those early encounters with the supernatural helped shape his imagination, his love of weird tales, and his eventual path into professional horror writing.

We also go deep into the craft of horror. Where do frightening story ideas come from? Has Ramsey ever experienced writer’s block? How does he continue generating fresh ideas after more than 60 years in the genre? And what does it actually take to write horror that lingers with readers long after they finish the final page?
Ramsey discusses the writers who influenced him, including H.P. Lovecraft, and explains why he always carries notebooks filled with ideas, revealing why rewriting is one of the most important—and most enjoyable—parts of his process. He also shares practical advice for aspiring horror writers, from finding ideas in everyday life to trusting suggestion, atmosphere, and the reader’s imagination.

With a career spanning more than 60 years, Ramsey has also met some of the biggest names in horror literature. From Robert Bloch and Fritz Leiber to Stephen King, Dennis Etchison and Karl Edward Wagner, he’s spent decades rubbing shoulders with the writers who helped shape the genre. But perhaps the loveliest revelation is that he and fellow British horror author James Herbert became firm friends after meeting in the 1970s, when Stephen King first came over to Britain and the pair arranged to meet him. Ramsey also shares memories of attending the early World Fantasy Conventions in America, where he encountered so many of the writers whose work helped define modern horror.

We also explore how horror fiction has changed over the decades, why the supernatural remains so powerful, and why the familiar world can become far more frightening than any monster. Ramsey reflects on the difference between showing audiences something terrifying and allowing dread to grow quietly in their minds.
If you love horror books, supernatural fiction, ghost stories, weird tales, classic horror authors, H.P. Lovecraft, M.R. James, or behind-the-scenes conversations about the creative process, this Halloween deep dive with Ramsey Campbell is essential listening.

🎃 Welcome to a very special Scarred for Life Halloween episode.

Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup
To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm
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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @NikkiMacabreLondon
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Come and See Scarred For Life LIVE with special guest Rhys Thomas - Sunday 18th October at The Bedford - London - if you can't make it in person, buy tickets for the livestream!
Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup

What would happen if you took a group of ordinary people, dropped them into an abandoned American town with no running water, no electricity and barely any food, and told them to survive for 28 days?

That’s exactly what happens in Channel 4’s Apocalypse, and this week on Scarred for Life, we’re joined by producer Jo Harcourt-Smith and contestant Stephen McKell to find out what it’s really like to live through it.
Stephen spent 28 days inside the abandoned Indiana location, where hunger, exhaustion, social tension and the constant pressure of survival pushed the contestants far beyond their comfort zones. We hear about food being stolen, rivalries developing, the psychological effects of hunger, going without phones or TikTok for a month, and the surprising ways people change when survival becomes the only thing that matters.

Jo also reveals what went into creating the experiment, how contestants were psychologically assessed and supported, and why the producers deliberately chose ordinary people rather than survival experts.
But then we get to the real scars…

Jo reveals her lifelong fear of getting lost, abandoned buildings and labyrinths, while Stephen explains how Deep Impact gave him a lifelong fear of tidal waves and why watching Scream 2 as a child left him terrified of Ghostface for years.
There’s also a 1970s survival manual, childhood prepping, haunted psychiatric buildings, Gremlins, the terrifying prospect of being trapped in a maze, and plenty of discussion about the fears and films that can stay with us long after childhood.

So… could YOU survive 28 days in an apocalypse?
And what childhood film or nightmare has stayed with you for years?
📺 Watch Apocalypse on Channel 4.

🎃 Welcome to a very special Scarred for Life Halloween episode.
Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup
To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm
Send us a voice note on WhatsApp - 07457 404 279
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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @NikkiMacabreLondon
#Horror #APOCALYPSE #HorrorMovies #ScarredForLife
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Leigh Francis — the man behind Keith Lemon, Avid Merrion and Bo’ Selecta! — joins Scarred for Life to talk about the things that genuinely scare him, the films that shaped him, and the strange experiences that have stayed with him for decades.
Leigh reveals his three scars: The Exorcist, frogs and long division. From watching The Exorcist as a child and being terrified by its demonic themes, to a childhood encounter with a frog that left him with a lifelong fear of amphibians, Leigh explains where some of his biggest fears came from.

He also talks about growing up obsessed with films, horror, comedy and physical media, getting into older-rated movies as a kid, and why 1970s horror still has a particular ability to unsettle him.
But this is also a conversation about the career behind some of Britain's most recognisable comedy characters. Leigh talks about creating Avid Merrion, the origins of Bo’ Selecta!, his love of celebrity culture, working on Through the Keyhole, Keith Lemon, Celebrity Juice, and how social media has completely changed the idea of celebrity.
There are stories about Star Wars, collecting movie memorabilia, famous clothes, Pamela Anderson, horror films, art college, long division, and why Leigh would much rather draw something than deal with numbers.
Leigh also talks about making things independently for YouTube, his Keith Lemon Forever channel and his Work Experience series — and explains why Keith Lemon is very much a fictional character rather than Leigh himself.

Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup
To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm
Send us a voice note on WhatsApp - 07457 404 279
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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @NikkiMacabreLondon

#LeighFrancis #KeithLemon #BoSelecta #AvidMerrion #ScarredForLife #TheExorcist #Horror #Comedy
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Come and See Scarred For Life LIVE with special guest Rhys Thomas - Sunday 18th October at The Bedford - London - if you can't make it in person, buy tickets for the livestream!
Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup

Filmmaker Jed Shepherd joins Scarred for Life for the first of our special Halloween deep dives during October into the horror industry — and we explore the strange films and TV shows that scared him growing up.
Jed is the writer of HOST, the lockdown horror phenomenon made almost entirely through Zoom, which went from a prank between friends to one of the most talked-about horror films of 2020.

So how did HOST actually happen? Jed reveals how an innocent Zoom prank became a viral sensation, how the feature film came together, why some of the actors were genuinely surprised by what happened on screen, and how the limitations of making a film during lockdown became part of what made HOST so frightening.
We also get into the horror of isolation, why the unknown can be scarier than showing a monster, the psychology of being trapped behind a computer screen, and how a film made for a relatively tiny budget ended up reaching audiences around the world.
But this is Scarred for Life, so we also need to know what scared Jed Shepherd as a kid.

His three scars take us through some wonderfully strange corners of British and Australian television: ROUND THE TWIST, including the unforgettable fox with lemons for eyes; CHOCKY, which still genuinely unsettles Jed decades later; and SPITTING IMAGE, whose grotesque puppets became something altogether different when viewed through the eyes of a child.

Jed also talks about growing up as a horror obsessive, discovering classic horror films, collecting VHS, hunting down obscure and hard-to-find movies, and why physical media still matters to him in the age of streaming.And if you've ever dreamed of making your own horror film, Jed has some very practical advice. He explains why you don't necessarily need film school, why making short films is the best place to start, and how modern phones give aspiring filmmakers access to technology that previous generations could only dream of.
Plus: VHS horror collecting, The Blair Witch Project, lockdown, Zoom séances, childhood nightmares, British horror, filmmaking, and Jed's new horror projects.
🎃 Welcome to a very special Scarred for Life Halloween episode.

Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup
To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm
Send us a voice note on WhatsApp - 07457 404 279
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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @NikkiMacabreLondon
#Horror #Host #JedShepherd #HorrorMovies #ScarredForLife
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Comedian, writer and podcaster Alasdair Beckett-King joins Andy Bush and Dave Lawrence on the Scarred for Life podcast to talk about the films, books and television that left a lasting impression on him as a child.

Alasdair reveals three very different childhood scars, beginning with the unsettling 1970s animated series Murun Buchstansangur, before moving on to a disturbing playground story inspired by Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory and, finally, one of the ultimate childhood nightmares: Return to Oz.

We get into what makes Return to Oz so genuinely creepy, from the Wheelers and Princess Mombi to its bleak atmosphere, disturbing imagery and unsettling storyline (electroshock therapy anyone?). Alasdair also discusses British sitcoms, children’s literature, The Chronicles of Narnia, his love of unsettling production design and why good children’s books never really have an age limit.

Plus, we talk about his comedy and podcasting career, including Loremen and Eleanor and Alasdair Read That, as well as his Montgomery Bonbon mystery books for children.

If Return to Oz traumatised you as a kid, this is definitely an episode for you.

Get your live show tickets now at: https://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/lineup

To join Scarred Club and get fortnightly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and access to the members forum - sign-up here - https://scarredforlife.supportingcast.fm
Send us a voice note on WhatsApp - 07457 404 279
Follow us on socials: Scarred For Life - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Produced and edited by Nikki Druce @NikkiMacabreLondon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.