Weird Tales Presents: Johnny Compton’s short story collection ‘Midnight Somewhere’
“I’m capable of dark endings. Hopefully, that contributes to the dread I try to inject in all my stories.”
In this article:
About the horror fiction collection Midnight Somewhere
About horror author Johnny Compton
The author talks to Monster Complex® about Midnight Somewhere
Related links for the author and the book
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The new horror short story collection Midnight Somewhere
The brand-new horror collection Midnight Somewhere features stories from Stoker Award-nominated author Johnny Compton. His short fiction has previously appeared in the magazine Weird Tales, the Nightlight horror fiction podcast, the anthology The Rack: Stories Inspired By Vintage Horror Paperbacks, plus Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, The No Sleep Podcast and more.
In the past, Monster Complex® has already talked to Compton about his horror novels The Spite House and Devils Kill Devils. Below, we interview the author about his new short story collection, Midnight Somewhere. He talks about how his fiction represents him as an author, explains the differences—to him—between his writing short fiction with his longer fiction, and shares his excitement working with the folks at the legendary Weird Tales.
Part of the Weird Tales Presents book series, Midnight Somewhere is a frightening collection of thought-provoking stories perfect for fans of Stephen King’s Night Shift, Tananarive Due’s The Wishing Pool, and the work of Junji Ito.
A man gets into a car that can take him anywhere he can imagine—including the past, into the worst mistake of his life, a memory he does not want to relive, cannot escape, and is even more afraid to alter…
A seemingly harmless, forgettable film about “alien hand syndrome” inspires a wave of self-harm among viewers—and even stranger things among those who become obsessed with it…
A woman tries to bring her dead lover to life through a macabre ritual that requires attacking his corpse. Is it because she longs to be with him again—or because the two of them have unfinished business?
The assorted characters in this thrilling collection encounter horrors that range from mysterious to murderous, discovering that darkness can find anyone, anywhere, at any hour of the day. After all, it’s always Midnight Somewhere…
“Johnny Compton thrives in the short-story form,” notes Agatha Andrews, host of the gothic, mystery, and horror podcast She Wore Black. “These stories use the merciless surrealism of Dali to create a more frightening Twilight Zone experience.”
Buy Midnight Somewhere
Bookshop.org (which supports your local bookstore)
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About author Johnny Compton
As a kid, Johnny Compton’s fascination with frightening fiction started when his kindergarten teacher played a record of the classic ghost story “The Golden Arm” for her class. Since then, he grew up to have his fiction published in several places, including his novels.
Earlier, he told us what he enjoyed the most about horror fiction:
“Probably my favorite thing overall is the ability to scare, thrill, and/or captivate people while also fashioning a strange, living history. So much horror relies on past events coming back in some way to terrorize people in the present. I love a good horror story that also incorporates some sense or element of history, whether or not it’s the centerpiece of the story, or be it genuine history, more folkloric and mysterious, or entirely fictionalized.”
Compton is a member of the Horror Writers Association. His podcast Healthy Fears covers how our fears are explored through horror fiction.
Interview: Johnny Compton on his collection Midnight Somewhere
Q: For readers meeting you for the first time, how do you compare them starting with your short fiction vs. your longer fiction?
One of the benefits to short fiction is that it’s a quick way for a horror writer to establish how far they’re willing to go, and make themselves even more unpredictable. I kind of love the idea of someone being introduced to me through my short fiction—because then if they move on to read my novels, they’ll know that I’m capable of dark endings.
And I think that has to sit in their minds a bit. Hopefully that contributes to the dread I try to inject in all my stories.
Q: What to you are the pros and cons of writing short fiction vs. writing your novels?
Short fiction and long fiction both give you different forms of freedom. In long fiction, you’re largely freed from the constraints of word counts. You’re free to roam and explore more of the story.
Short fiction frees you from certain expectations of explanations and deep details.
The opening story, “ffuns,” for example, had a lot more backstory to it in my original idea for the story. We learn more about our main character and the circumstances that bring her to do what she does.
I had a funeral scene in mind, a couple of extra characters including a police detective and a very intimidating matriarchal figure. It’s part crime story, and the criminal saga that forms the events of the tale were fleshed out in my brain.
But when I sat down to actually write it, I realized that in the short story format I’m freed from describing all of that. It would just slow down or distract from the primary thing I’m hoping most readers will be interested in.
So, as much as I love diving into backstory and side characters, I can shake off that desire to indulge and just get right into the heart of this story about “reverse snuff films.”
Q: For this collection, how wide is your authorship represented? That is, are these all relatively recent stories, or do they represent more of your time as an author?
These are all relatively recent, at least to my mind. There’s only one story here that was previously published before 2020, if I’m not mistaken.
I had my first significant sale, with Pseudopod, back in 2007, and a few other smaller “token” payment sales in the years prior to that. So, that’s coming up on 20 years of having horror stories published, which is kind of insane now that I think about it.
Q: How much did you grow as an author during the time they represent?
I think the stories here show considerable growth compared to some of my earlier work. Primarily with respect to me having more willingness to try different things, and also lean into the heart and sincerity that’s vital to my style.
The story “No Hungry Generations” was originally going to be a mostly—almost purely—comedic “splatstick” story. The dinner scene would have been a lot more detailed and grisly, and would have been the climax of the story, and damn near the whole show.
But then I found myself liking these characters more than I expected to, and came up with a different fate for them, which is arguably worse than the one I originally planned, so that’s a strange way to show my affection for the characters. But that’s where I ended up.
In the past, I think I would have just forced the original idea onto the page and doubted that anyone would want to read the less cynical, more emotional, still horrific version that I ended up creating. Instead, that story originally was published in a wonderful anthology (Death in the Mouth) and was then reprinted in Pseudopod.
Q: How cool that your collection is part of the ‘Weird Tales Presents’ collection! From your perspective, do you see that as a “label” thing (like any publisher name) or do you feel the historical significance?
Oh, it’s definitely a thing! Weird Tales is a legendary name. For me, it’s like getting to have my stories presented in Tales From the Crypt (the old EC Comics, no disrespect to the TV adaptation) or presented on a classic horror radio series like Lights Out. The horror genre has an incredible, rich history and I relish this opportunity to be part of that.
Find out more about horror author Johnny Compton here:
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The horror author talks about his brand-new short story collection, how his fiction represents him as an author, and his excitement working with the folks at Weird Tales.