[ISBW] The Sweet Spot of Horror and Desire with Sarah Gailey

Content warning: since Spread Me is erotic horror, this episode has an explicit tag.

I wrote it to have fun because I have written a lot of books that were not fun to write... -Sarah Gailey

In this episode, we welcome Hugo winning author Sarah Gailey, author of Spread Me, as we explore the wild world of erotic horror. Sarah shares their journey of writing a novel that takes inspiration from John Carpenter's classic film, The Thing, blending horror and erotica and humor.

We dive into the creative process behind Spread Me, discussing the unique premise of a research crew encountering a specimen with prurient interests, and how the protagonist's unusual attraction to viruses plays into the narrative.

(viruses!)

Sarah candidly reflects on the challenges of writing explicit content and the journey of finding the perfect title that captures the essence of their work. And we get Sarah's meticulous approach to outlining and how specificity in description enhances storytelling. 

Then we fight book bans! It's a magical time.

(This post went live for supporters on August 29, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or get my newsletter at Ghost!)

Transcript

Links

• Sarah Gailey

• Nightfire

• Know Your Station

• Authors Against Book Bans

• Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans

Evergreen Links

• See all books from Season 21

• Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing.

• Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate

• Theme by John Anealio

• Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends

• Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

• OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

— "The Sweet Spot of Horror and Desire with Sarah Gailey" is brought to you in large part by my supporters, the Fabulists, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon.

September 1, 2025 | Season 21 Ep 15 | murverse.com "The Sweet Spot of Horror and Desire with Sarah Gailey" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.