Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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This week, I talk with CJ Leede about her new horror novel Headlights!

Listen to hear about:

How CJ originally planned to become a medieval historian, but after a professor helped her discover storytelling was what she wanted to pursue.

How Headlights began with the idea of people waking up on the side of a highway wearing the skin of strangers, and evolved into a story about grief, mortality, family legacy, and the search for meaning.

Why Leede treats setting as a character, using Colorado's beauty, danger, wildlife, and landscapes as metaphors for the novel's larger themes about life, death, and the unknown.

How the novel contains investigative thriller and horror elements, but is really a book about confronting sadness, loss, and the things we cannot outrun within ourselves.

Why horror can uniquely encompass mysteries, romance, literary fiction, supernatural stories, social commentary, and psychological explorations, making it one of the broadest and most creative genres available.

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