Welcome to the third episode of the General Witchfinders Book Club – a spin-off from our regular British horror podcast, run in partnership with Teasel & Skylark, an independent bookshop in Dorchester.
To accompany our real-life, face-to-face book club meet-ups, host Ross Cleaver invites a special guest co-host onto the show every two months to discuss our latest reading choice.
On this episode, Ross welcomes Brontë Schiltz. Brontë is a journalist, writer, and PhD candidate researching Televisual Gothic at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her research and writing explore gothic literature, horror film, and the uncanny, with contributions to collections including Comma Press’s Monster Capital and The Book of Manchester. Together, they discuss Will Maclean’s 2020 debut novel, The Apparition Phase.
Twins Tim and Abi have always been different from their peers, spending their evenings in the attic of their parents’ suburban house, poring over reports of the unexplained. Obsessed with photographs of ghostly apparitions, they decide to fake their own and use it to frighten a girl at school.
What was supposed to be a harmless prank sets in motion a terrifying chain of events that neither of them could have predicted. Set in the 1970s, Will Maclean’s debut is a chilling, atmospheric tale of disturbed teenagers, malevolent spirits, and the haunting power of belief.
We want to build a community around these books, both locally in Dorset and remotely with our podcast listeners and zine readers.
If you are close enough to Dorchester, please order your copy through Teasel & Skylark and pop in to collect it. If you cannot get to West Dorset, please find your local indie store via Bookshop.org.