[Ad Free] Episode 291 – Natasha Pulley & No Priests Were Harmed in the Making of this Podcast
Summary
Neil Mrober interviews Natasha Pey about her novel *The Salt King*, which blends folk horror with Catholic doctrine. They discuss the book’s setting in an isolated, ancient English village and its exploration of faith versus institutional corruption. The conversation covers the distinction between personal belief and church politics, the anthropological roots of folklore, and the biblical origins of the salt-based apocalypse.
Topics discussed
Introduction and guest welcome
Full circle moment with The Kingdoms
Introducing The Salt King premise
Setting: The Fens and isolated landscapes
Footnotes, humor, and world-building
Adjacent reality and linguistic invention
Krayot Water: Geography and salt mines
Folk horror and mythologizing 'other' people
Avalyn's perspective and cultural translation
Matriarchy and societal norms in Krayot
Krayot as an independent nation-state
Faith, belief, and the author's atheism
Writing from a position of disagreement
Satire, miracles, and church hypocrisy
Nuance within the Catholic institution
Forgiveness, scandal, and moral lines
Father Lee and the character of Avalyn
Sodom and Gomorrah: Biblical context
Avalyn and Jericho: A tender relationship
Theology of shame and sexual desire
Romance in Jordan and cultural norms
Nuclear waste and long-term warning systems
The Atomic Priesthood and folklore
Combining folk horror and apocalypse
Recommendation: Father Alberto and the Flying Girl
Podcast recommendations: Magnus Archives and Petrified
Outro and upcoming episodes
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