Johnny Compton is a Stoker Award-nominated author whose short stories have appeared in Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, The No Sleep Podcast, and several other publications. His fascination with frightening fiction started when he was introduced to the ghost story "The Golden Arm" as a child. The Spite House, his debut novel, was released in 2023. His second novel, Devils Kill Devils, was released in 2024. His latest novel is Dead First, and he recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog.
What was your inspiration for Dead First?
I've wanted to write a detective mystery for a while. I've had a fascination with crime fiction crossing over with horror that dates back to childhood, and it's cropped up in some of my short stories, such as "FFUNS," "Safety in Numbers," and others. For Dead First, I wanted the mystery to be something startling and unusual, and the idea of a man who can't die wanting to know why, and the detective who agrees to it having a dark secret of her own she's afraid will be unearthed if she doesn't agree to the job, felt like a great jumping off point.
Are Shyla, Jinh, Remy, Braith, or any of the other characters in the novel inspired by or based on specific individuals?
Shyla is somewhat inspired by Easy Rawlins, but I didn't try to emulate that famous, splendid character too much. And Braith is something of an amalgam of some of the spoiled, rotten billionaires we have in modern society, although I like to think he's more fascinating than any of them.
How did the novel evolve and change as you wrote and revised it? Are there any characters or scenes that were lost in the process that you wish had made it to the published version?
There were a number of changes over the course of the revision. Originally, Shyla's backstory was significantly different, but I'm more than happy with where it actually ended up. In my initial idea for the book, there would have been a different, additional character, besides Jinh, to accompany Shyla during her investigation, but I ended up removing that character and spreading their role through Jinh, Remy, and even to a certain extent through Luisa.
The only thing that was lost, out of necessity, that I still wish could have made it into the story involved a little bit more of Galveston's gangster era, but the sections containing those tidbits needed to move a little faster, so that was removed.
Your biography says that you currently live in San Antonio, which is where a lot of Dead First is set. Is the Inspiration Sweet Hotel in the novel inspired by or based on a real place in San Antonio (or somewhere else)?
The hotel is inspired by a couple of different places and pieces of history. Layout-wise, it's inspired by an actual boutique hotel I'd been to in the city once, whose name actually escapes me, but the person I was meeting there told me it was allegedly haunted, that you could see something standing on the stairs at night, or even blood coming from under a certain doorway that never gets rented out. I don't even know if they were just making it up on the spot, knowing I love ghost stories, or if they based it on some genuine lore, but it stuck with me.
The Gunter hotel in San Antonio is famous for being the location where legendary blues musician Robert Johnson made his only surviving recordings, so that plays into the fictional history of my imagined hotel, as well.
Do you have any favorite places in San Antonio? A hidden gem that someone visiting should not miss, but would only learn about from a resident?
I would say my friend Max's bookstore, Ghoulish Books, but I'm hopeful that people even from outside of San Antonio are growing increasingly aware of how great it is. There is also Pandora's bookstore downtown, which I like to tell people about if they've never been to the city before. It has a little café, it's cozy as hell, and has a very well curated selection of books, and I imagine most people wouldn't know about it if they didn't have someone from the city to let them know about it. In relatively recent years, some of my other favorite, hidden gems have closed, unfortunately, like the movie theater The Bijou, where I caught a lot of foreign and independent films over the years, but it didn't survive past 2021. So if anyone wants to come to San Antonio and open a new small theater with local artwork adorning the halls and more under-the-radar flicks on the screens, I'd sing your praises until I got hoarse.
In the biography on your website, you describe yourself as a "tall person" and a "whiskey dilettante." How tall are you? Do you have a favorite whiskey? A favorite whiskey-related activity (I'm guessing drinking is a given)?
Writers Tears is probably my favorite, and not just because of the name, although that does make it a fun recommendation. Beyond that, as a tried and true, I like to try different brands out, especially anything with a local connection. And you guessed correctly that writing with a little whiskey in me while I'm up in my office is something I indulge in from time to time. As far as how tall: 6’4”.
Are you a fan of noir/detective fiction and films? Can you tell us about some of your favorite writers or filmmakers? Favorite novels, short stories, or films?
I love the book Devil in a Blue Dress as well as its film adaptation starring Denzel Washington, and Don Cheadle (who absolutely steals the show). One of my favorites.
Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest is a classic, as well, and the novel Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg is the source of the probably better known, somewhat infamous 80's film Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet. Falling Angel is especially interesting to me given its blend of hardboiled detective fiction and the supernatural.
Dead First would make an amazing film or series! If/when it is adapted, who would your dream cast be?
Thanks!
I think Keke Palmer would be great as Shyla. Someone in the Alexander Skarsgard mold immediately jumps to mind for Braith. Let’s say Ashley Park from Only Murders in the Building as Jinh, and maybe Stephanie Beatriz who played tough really well as Rosa in Brooklyn 99 as Remy.
What's currently on your nightstand?
The Best American Mystery and Suspense – 2024 edited by S.A. Cosby; a collection of crime and mystery short stories. I'm about a third of the way through, and it's very impressive so far.
What is the last piece of art (music, movies, TV, more traditional art forms) that you've experienced or that has impacted you?
You know, a few days ago I saw a film on television called Small Town Crime, and it's a flawed but very entertaining little neo-noir from 2017 with a cast loaded with reliable professionals. John Hawkes in the lead, Octavia Spencer, Anthony Anderson, Clifton Collins Jr., Robert Forster, and more rounding it out. And I just still can't get over how perfectly solid it was, and how "good" has become great because it's sort of what we're missing! I understand why people chase the "epic" or meaningful, powerful stories, but simple "good" art deserves a space. It wasn't a story that added anything new to the genre or threw any curveballs that would trick anyone who's seen even a handful of crime movies, and it didn't aspire to make a big statement (although I feel like any art of merit inherently makes some kind of statement, and doing so without trying sometimes is the point). It's just a film that assembled a fun cast of talented professionals, and it impacted me because I feel like that's a little bit of a lost art, so to speak, and I'd love to see more of it.
What are you working on now?
I have a sci-fi horror novella coming out later in the year, titled Chimera Skin, and I'm in progress on my fourth novel to also come out through Putnam.
