Bad Books for Bad People

There's no debate that Judge Dredd, a character created by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, and Pat Mills for 2000 AD, is one of the most influential sci-fi figures of the late 20th Century. That makes it incredibly weird that this podcast episode marks the first time Kate and Jack read any comics featuring the scowling scion of justice. Join our hosts as they venture to Mega-City One and encounter Dredd's very first adventures in Judge Dredd The Complete Case Files 01. Robots: threat or simply a menace? Which Judge Dredd movie comes closest to the vibes we got from the comics? Did Rob Schneider and Jimmy Fallon make the same deal with the same devil? And when the hell do we get to see Judge Death? All these questions and more will be explored on this episode of the podcast. Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Anya Seton is a grande dame of historical fiction, a reputation earned by novels like Dragonwyck, her 1944 gothic romance. Join Jack and Kate as they explore the dark corridors and even darker history of a 19th Century Hudson Valley manor home. What are some warning signs that you're in for a rough ride with a romance protagonist? How many times will our hosts mispronounce Ms. Seton's name? Does breast size (once again) hold the key to understanding this book's female characters? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

We're celebrating the release of cohost Jack Guignol's debut novel Ornamental Women with a conversation that touches on inspiration, process, and motivation. Settle in for a wide-ranging chat about the novel, a dark gothic fantasy about the intersecting lives of three strange–and sometimes magical–women who want to solve the mystery of a disappearing corpse. How do you square conflicting feedback from test readers? What are some of the challenges that come with translating subculture influences into a fantasy milieu? Do "bad" characters deserve love? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode. Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

This month, Jack and Kate go into their stash of vintage paperbacks and engage in a little show-and-tell session. Kate brings The Phantom Detective: The Vampire Murders by Robert Wallace, a 1965 reprint of a pulp hero mystery from 1940, and Jack's choice is Tomoe Gozen by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, a psychedelic 1981 trip through a fantasy version of Japan. Who is the vampire of Vampire Mountain? At what point must a master of disguise admit he isn't? Is it ever ok to wield a foreign sword? How many double crosses must be double crossed before a cohost's brain actually breaks during recording? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.  Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Harry Crews' Feast of Snakes (1976) is a rough and raunchy southern gothic that opens with a lurid bang and never lets up. Jack and Kate are confronted with the seamy underbelly of Americana, from football bullies to dog fights to so, so, so very many snakes (reptilian and human). Why are debate club members the worst ever? Is the ultimate power move maintaining eye contact during scatalogical self-abuse? Can you guess which sex act indicates "true love?" All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.  Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

The Ninja is a 1980 novel by prolific genre author Eric Van Lustbader, which would kick off not only an eight-book epic series but play a vital role in the ninja boom of the 1980s. Jack and Kate wander into this world of martial arts mysticism, murder mystery, and erotic romance. Is it ever acceptable to slide a finger into your partner's butt on a first date? What the hell is up with the murderous sex ninja trope? Just how easy is it to get a teaching gig at Columbia University? Are we too far past the ninja boom to have someone steal great ideas like "Nashville Ninja" and "Ninja Cruising?" All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of Bad Books for Bad People.  Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Jack and Kate look at what they've read and watched in the year that was 2025 and make some recommendations in the world of books and beyond. The rules of engagement are simple: the hosts each choose one movie, album, TV show, and book that was the best experience of its kind, regardless of when it was actually produced. A little bit new, a little bit old, and a whole lot of weirdness is in store! Your hosts travel through vintage TV ghosts of the non-BBC flavor, the joys of being pandered to, and multiple Suicide Squads (without actually talking about the Suicide Squad). BBfBP theme song by True Creature.  Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Karl Edward Wagner's 1975 sword and sorcery epic Bloodstone is the first full-length outing for Kane, mighty-thewed protagonist of a series of short stories and novels. Jack and Kate navigate a treacherous world of shifting political alliances, alien technology, and bat-monster-goddess girlfriends to figure out where Kane fits in the world of fantasy fiction. Has there ever been a trustworthy alien intelligence in a fantasy novel? Can a simple outfit swap transform a butch into a femme? Is there a secret (or not so secret) gothic lineage to this fantasy series? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Hotel Transylvania (1978) is the first of 25 novels and two short story collections in Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's epic vampire series centering around the adventures of the Comte de Saint-Germain. Steeped in the court intrigues of 1740s Paris, Kate and Jack will encounter headstrong virgins, wicked yet incompetent Satanists, and a rather surprising amount of swashbuckling action. Why didn't Saint-Germain achieve the same heights of popularity as Anne Rice's Lestat? How do you handle a bunch of couch-surfing alchemists? What the hell is romantasy, anyway? All these questions and more will be explored in this episode of the podcast. Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Poul Anderson's 1961 novel Three Hearts and Three Lions is one of the cornerstone influences on Dungeons and Dragons: a medieval-inflected romp through creature encounters and chivalric romance, featuring the world's most terrifying version of troll. Jack and Kate, our paladins of pulp, armor up and prepare to do battle with a veritable monster manual of menace in this month's book. What makes old D&D art so damn compelling? How does Nazi-punching figure into this fantasy adventure? Why is this sword named after the virtual assistant inside my Microsoft device? All these questions–plus a lengthy digression on enormous tomes–and more will be explored on this episode of Bad Books for Bad People. Find us at BadBooksBadPeople.com, on Twitter @badbooksbadppl, Instagram @badbooksbadpeople, on Bluesky @badbooksbadppl.bsky.social, and on Facebook. Got questions, comments or feedback? Email us at [email protected]