Megan Mostyn-Brown:

As a kid, I was a voracious reader. My parents have several photos of me asleep in bed curled up around piles of picture books. I didn’t end up writing my first novel until I was well into adulthood and had taken a twirl through various other modes of writing (plays! TV!), but my love for books never waned.

These days, the piles are on my nightstand. I’m not the type of person who can read several books at once, so the pile is a mix of what I’ve read and what I want to read next. I like a good scare before bed, which I’ve found can come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I recently finished Saratoga Schaefer’s truly bonkers horror novel, Trad Wife. It’s a wild mix of body horror, cannibalism, conservative gender roles, and influencer culture. I blew through this book in two days. Even though it’s a quick read, it nestles in your bones. It’s pretty hard to gross me out, but this one did — in the best way.

I’m currently reading Marcus Kliewer’s The Caretaker, which I was lucky to receive an advanced copy of via my publisher. It’s a horror novel about a young woman strapped for cash who takes a job caretaking an elderly woman’s property for the weekend. Often, when I read a book, I can see where it’s headed, but I’m halfway through this one and have zero idea where I’m gonna end up, which is very exciting.

I recently went to Iceland to see Björk deejay at a rave during the solar eclipse, and I was afraid I’d finish The Caretaker and then have nothing to read, so I did a thing I never do: I started reading a second book while not finished with the first. At the suggestion of my partner, I brought Bret Easton Ellis’ Glamorama on the trip. He thought I’d like it because its tone feels akin to sections of my debut novel, The Need. He was correct. Glamorama also brought back memories of living in Y2K New York City. It was a true jump-scare to realize how long ago that was.

I rarely read nonfiction, but when I do, it’s typically a celebrity biography. The last one I read was Kathleen Hanna’s memoir, Rebel Girl. I’ve been a huge fan of Hanna since I was a teenager, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. It doesn’t disappoint. It’s frank, vulnerable, and a stark reminder of what a horror show the patriarchy is.

[Photo by Brian Hennigan.]

Megan Mostyn-Brown is a playwright and TV writer/producer who’s written for shows on Fox, Netflix, AMC, Amazon, and Paramount+. The Need is her first book. She lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Jordan Harper, and her dog, Tuesday.