Johnny Compton is the author of the new story collection Midnight Somewhere. His other books include The Spite House.
Q: Over how long a period did you write the stories collected in Midnight Somewhere?
A: Some of these stories were published in other magazines or anthologies several years ago, but most of the previously unpublished stories were written within the last five years or so.
Q: The author L.P. Hernandez said of the book, “Compton shines a light on the walkways between liminal spaces, invigorating tropes with fresh perspectives.” What do you think of that description?
A: I'm grateful for L.P.'s positive feedback to the book, firstly. I think it's a fitting description of this collection.
"Liminal space" is a popular term in the horror community currently, and I love to see it in use, but I also think of it in a more classical sense, which is partly what my writing explores. Old haunted houses, the woods at night, and abandoned churches are, to me, liminal spaces just as much as the famous "backrooms."
I appreciate L.P. saying I'm offering a fresh perspective to the tropes I explore, because I love vintage elements of horror, but I like adding something unexpected, where appropriate, to the scares people might be more familiar with.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I came up with the title. To me it signifies that the dark is always present, even when it's not hovering high over our heads. Midnight is often associated with an eeriness, but also a certain amount of magic.
These stories aren't exclusively set at night, at least not every scene, but each evokes the feeling of thinking anything could be out there in the world after dark. Things you don't believe in, things you've been told can't be real, all of it's possible at midnight, and it's always midnight somewhere.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: Hopefully readers come away entertained, terrified, moved emotionally a little bit, and even amused.
It's a book that showcases my range. There's monster horror, there are ghost stories, there's a crime story, some harder to identify fiction on the more bizarre side, and even some comedic horror. I want readers to feel like they've experienced a variety of sensations.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Working on my fourth novel, a crime horror hybrid about a violent man with a criminal past returning to his hometown to try to solve the murder of his childhood friend.
I'm also working on a sci-fi horror novella inspired by The Thing, The Philadelphia Experiment, the short story "The Fly," and a little more.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Horror has had a great 2025. I'm thrilled to be part of it. I love this genre.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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