In this episode of Horror Joy’ Meet Your Maker series, Jeff and Brian welcome author Chris Dileo to discuss his new book, Empty Devils (Cabelo Books, 2025), and his deeply personal relationship with horror. Dileo emphasizes that reading is a process of cooperation between the reader's imagination and the writer's world. He discusses how he used Empty Devils to distill the national tragedy at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 into a horror narrative. Jeff and Chris also chop it up over teaching Shakespeare and how the bard shows up in the story. Ultimately, all three find joy in the project of reading, writing, and celebrating how the horror genre allows us to work through difficult and sometimes violent political and ideological activity in the real world.

***Chris Dileo's Books from the Coffin***

Cat Delaney – Unclaimed Property

Killer on the Road – Stephen Graham Jones

Philip Fracassi - Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

Sam Rabelein – Galloway’s Gospel

Keith Rosson – Coffin Moon

Kat Silva – Where the Soul Goes

Jonathan Janz - Veil