
London-based Owen Booth, author of What We’re Teaching Our Sons and The All True Adventures...of Daniel Bones, is "low-key obsessed with Frankenstein."
Which, coincidentally, makes this episode perfect listening for spooky season.
Owen’s short story (with a long title), Frankenstein's Monster is Drunk and the Sheep Have All Jumped the Fences, took the Moth short story prize in 2020 and has been adapted for the stage "entirely by accident” more than once (premiering at the Origin Theatre Festival in New York, 2023).
Owen's formative influences – vintage horror movies, and Stephen King’s exploration of fright fiction in Danse Macabre set the tone for a conversation that stumbles delightfully from horror to comedy.
We settle the score between art vs. craft, bouncing from the inside of Mark E. Smith’s head to True Grit, the perils of PowerPoint (see Play from Current Slide), the pleasure of live readings, and a writing process that lets Owen's “subconscious out to play.”
You’ll probably learn (and definitely laugh) with this one. And if you’re new to Owen’s work, check it out – whether by accident or design, it’s excellent stuff.
Find Owen on his site
Enjoying Niche ID? Please follow us and share with your friends. Subscribe to the Niche ID with Laura Markwardt newsletter for episode updates.