In this episode, your hosts Adam Whybray and Ren Wednesday go way back to 1863 for their discussion of the bizarre and 'nearly unreadable' Victorian morality tale The Water-Babies, by Charles Kingsley.

Join us for an underwater spectacular of whimsy, heavy-handed moralising and offhand bigotry, that'll have you saying: 'I'm glad I didn't have to read this book!'

A full transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/17-waterbabies

Content note for discussion of a part of the novel that features anti-black racism.

In this week's podcast, your hosts Ren and Adam discuss the 1955 novel The Crysalids by John Wyndham in an unusually disciplined 45 minute episode!

This episode we chat about the implications of a telepathic society, enjoy descriptions of mutant flora, and congratulate Wyndham on his refreshing lack of misogyny, as well as try a little bit of telepathy of our own.

A loving hand-crafted transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/16-crysalids

Content note for references to suicide and torture.

Trees made of people, skeletons dressed in pumpkins, and a paddle steamer of holidaying frogs distraught at not getting to hear a bassoon - it can only be Over the Garden Wall! Join Ren Wednesday, Adam Whybray and special guest Alex Ava as they journey into The Unknown and discuss the charming, bizarre, and assuredly disturbing things they discover there.

A full transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/15-over-the-garden-wall

City kids, moonlight dudes and pearly queens, welcome to Philip Ridley week on Still Scared!

In this episode Ren and Adam discuss the urban fairy tales Mercedes Ice and Kasper in the Glitter and chat about imperfect parents, gender performativity and whether marmalade would taste good on banoffee pie.

Join us in the curious worlds that Ridley offers to get lost in.

A transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/14-mercedeskasper

What's up, fellow kids? Ren and Adam put on their backwards baseball caps, throw a skateboard over their shoulders, and show up to talk about the 2017 CBBC children's horror anthology series Creeped Out!

We talk spooks both high and low-tech, from Machiavellian puppets, to possessive AIs, body-swapping parasites to plants allergic to heavy metal, and are reminded of the the horrors of being a teenager.

Content note for discussion of emotionally abusive relationships in the context of the episode 'Marti'.

A full transcript of this episode is available at http://stillscared.podigee.io/13-creepedout.

Ren, Adam and special guest Ali Kay delve into Catherine Storr's 1958 novel Marianne Dreams, and the 1990 film based upon it, Paperhouse.

We go full children's horror this week, as we encounter a not-father brandishing a hammer, a pencil that makes your drawings come to life, and a sinister company of cyclopian standing stones.

The popular 'Texture of the Week' feature also returns, with some memorably unpalatable ice-cream.

Heads up for discussion of the father as a threatening and potentially abusive figure, and description of physical assault by a father figure in the context of the dream world.

A full transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/12-paperhouse

This episode your co-hosts go back to one of Ren's childhood favourites, Witch Week by Dianna Wynne Jones.

Adam and Ren discuss ad-lib approaches to magic, the horror of not being able to escape your classmates and exactly how difficult it would actually be to ride a broomstick, as they talk about this decidedly chilly and unsettling boarding school story.

Heads up for discussion of bullying and an extract from the book in which a character deliberately burns themselves.

A full transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/11-witchweek

Five teenage orphans are subject to an alarming test of both their morality and balance, in William Sleator's 1974 novel House of Stairs.

Adam and Ren discuss queer subtexts, classical conditioning and what on earth William Sleator's problem is with Blossom, and bring back their popular 'Texture of the Week' segment, for all you tactile fans.

Content notes: Discussion of fat-shaming in reference to one of the characters, allusions to sexual threat, mentions of a fascistic dystopian regime.

A full transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/10-houseofstairs

Enter into the board game with Ren and Adam as they begin a two-parter into William Sleator novels, starting with 1984's Interstellar Pig.

Laugh nervously, as they discuss gelatinous, slug-like invertebrates, and the '80s preoccupation with windsurfing. Have your hackles raised as they describe the creepy backstory of the captain's cottage. Ask yourself: will Barney's parents ever return?

A full transcript of this episode is available in the show notes at http://stillscared.podigee.io/9-interstellarpig.

Adam yearns for the sweet release of the void and Ren goes googly-eyed over Shelley Duval as Still Scared discusses Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, and the short films Frankenweenie and Vincent.

Your co-hosts discuss childhood home movies, and their love of stop-motion, as well as going a bit deeper with some chat about racial and class anxiety in Tim Burton's films.

A full transcript of this episode is available at: http://stillscared.podigee.io/8-beetlejuice