Beau Johnson is the author of the Bishop Rider Books. They include A Better Kind of Hate, The Big Machine Eats, All of Them To Burn, Brand New Dark, and Old Man Rider. This one time, at band camp on Twitter, the world’s least favorite/most racist Vampire Slayer tried to sick her followers on him. It didn’t work. Not as she hoped. He knows it’s been on Swanson’s mind ever since.
What first attracted you to horror writing?
Well, Mr. Stephen King from the hop. Misery being my first book and from there I never looked back. Add in Barker, Koontz, and Straub and my teen years were all right. Through it all, however, I have never strayed from the Beam or Forgotten the Face of my Father. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a crime writer, but as my writer life has gone on, I came to realize I do write about horror and one step beyond that, about a certain monster in particular. I also think horror and crime are cousins of a sort, so hey, my thought process, January embers, burns there too.
What is your most notable work?
Broken down, my guy is a broken man named Bishop Rider. He’s a man who had bad things done to him and chose to do worse things to others. As I’ve been known to say: Come for the rage, stay for the dismemberment. See how Bishop Rider makes them burn.
What are you working on now?
Funny you should ask that. After my last book, Old Man Rider, I thought I was done. I do say I’ll never say never a lot, and that I will always write, but the pull of telling my stories and having people read them is greater than the heartache which comes with the life of some writers I’ve found. And I’m fine with it now, just had to get out of my own head somewhat, you know? Once I did, I came to realize I was depriving no one but myself. And hey, for the six fans I do have, there will be at least one more ride. I call it The Abrum Files: A Bishop Rider Book.
What is your writing routine?
I’m a panster. Born and breed. But if I’m in the middle of something I will make the time. You have to. We must.
Who do you admire in the horror world?
Many. Legion. But Gabino Iglesias always sticks out, as do Laird Barron and Laurel Hightower. All three of them help me in ways they know about and some they probably don’t. I’m indebted all the same.
Do you prefer all-out gore or psychological chills?
A little from column A, a little from column B. But when you read a sentence you wished you wrote, man, that’s the stuff I live for. The stuff that makes me want to write.
Why should people read your work?
It’s a hard sell, my work. I don’t do myself any favours either. I know this. Short stories. Story stories collections. Short Stories that interconnect to a larger narrative but are told out of sequence. I do ensure you’re never confused or lost at any point in any book, but yeah, the short story part is the hardest sell for some reason. Always has been. Probably always will be. If you’re looking for something cathartic, however, well, me and Rider, we’re your guys. Let me leave it at that.
Recommend a book.
Just one? How about John Foster’s Rooster. Let’s start there. Then go with anything written by S.A. Cosby. Add in Laird Barron and Laurel Hightower and Friday Night Massacre by Michael Patrick Hicks and the new King book, Fairytale, and we have ourselves a deal. Long live crime fiction! Long live the dark stuff!
Buy Beau Johnson’s books
BOB PASTORELLA