More From This
Author
www.richardbeauchampauthor.com
Other Works
And They Will Suffer
Horror in the Highlands
Black Tongue and Other Anomalies
Novel: Thrall
Release Date: November 18th, 2024
Available for Preorder, or add it to your wishlist!
About the Author:Richard Beauchamp lives on the far eastern cusp of the Missouri Ozarks. He has been writing and publishing horror fiction since 2017. You can find his stories in such esteemed anthologies and publications as Cohesion Press’s award-winning “SNAFU” series, the “Negative Space: Survival Horror” anthology from Dark Peninsula Press, and “Along Harrowed Trails” by Timber Ghost Press.
His debut fiction collection “Black Tongue & Other Anomalies” from D&T Publishing was a nominee for the 2022 Splatterpunk Award, and his story “Sons Of Luna” was a finalist for the 2018 Pushcart Prize for Best Short Story.
When Richard isn’t stuck in his office abusing a keyboard, he can be found deep in the wilderness where so many of his stories are set, or locked in his studio, composing spine tingling music for such acclaimed TV shows as 48 hours, Crime Scene Confidential, and more. When he’s not writing ficton or playing in bands, he can be found lounging around at home with his wife, their dog, and many cats.
In this exclusive interview, we dive into the mind of Richard Beauchamp, the author of Thrall. Drawing from personal experiences as both a metal musician and avid outdoorsman, Richard brings authenticity and compassion to characters like Jessie, the drummer for Blasphemer, who is drawn into a generations-deep mystery when her band’s van is run off the road in Carter, Missouri, and Charles Baumgartner, the hardheaded Sheriff whose life is spiraling into addiction. We explore Richard’s love of rural horror, and the profound influences of both real-life Ozark locations and literary giants like Manly Wade Wellman and Flannery O’Connor.
Heartland Horror Inspirations
What are some of the rural folk horror and Southern Gothic stories or authors that have inspired you?
First and foremost, Manly Wade Wellman, the progenitor of “Appalachian Horror”. While his stories are pretty tame compared to modern day horror, they are some of the most culturally accurate when it comes to representing Appalachian folklore.
Second would be Daryl Gregory, whose novel Revelator is one of the most engrossing and immersive Appalachian tales I’ve ever read.
Flannery O’Connor deserves an honorable mention here. While she’s not technically “Appalachian Horror,” her stories drip with Southern atmosphere, and stories like “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are what led me to fall in love with the Southern Gothic genre in the first place.
Finally, Ozark native Daniel Woodrell inspired me heavily as well. While his books are more rural noir and thriller than horror, he does an excellent job capturing the cultural anachronisms of the Ozark way of life and writes with a verbosity that rivals even my favorite author of all time— Cormac McCarthy.
A lot of Thrall takes place in real-life locations. What about these places inspired you?
Well, for people who are familiar with any of my short fiction collections, they’ll know the Ozarks are a place I hold near and dear to my heart. While the town of “Carter” is a real place in Missouri, the Carter of Thrall is fictionalized. Still, I wanted to blur the lines between reality and fiction because I find that region of Missouri, specifically the nearby Saint Francois Mountains, so fascinating.
The whole area is heavily steeped in mining culture (it’s called the Lead Belt for a reason) and geographically, unlike the rest of the state, the area around Carter feels like it’s stuck in the Twilight Zone. It’s the most rugged, wild, and isolated part of the entire state. Lots of small unincorporated ghost towns tucked away in the mountains were mining boomtowns at one point, reminiscent of the gold boom ghost towns of the American west. It’s not uncommon to find still functional trading posts and two pump Texaco gas stations with the old school radial dial gas pumps. My commutes often take me through those areas, and every time I think, Man, a disaster could unfold out here and it’d take weeks for the news to spread. Couple that with the extremely insular nature of the people that live in those hills, and you have a set piece ripe for the horrific imagination.
Are there any locations that you wish you were able to include?
So, like Stephen King, I am slowly building a vast interconnected universe comprised of fictional towns and counties set in Missouri and Arkansas. “Buck’s Point” is my Missouri homage to “Castle Rock” and at the time Thrall was written, I had just scratched the surface of this worldbuilding idea. Looking back, I wish I could’ve incorporated more of these fictional communities into this seminal novel of mine. But that’s what future novels (and short stories) are for!
Deep Dive into Character
Who is your favorite Thrall character and why?
Probably Jessie. While the whole of Blasphemer was formed to represent my various collective experiences being a performing metal musician, I imbued a lot of my own personality traits in Jessie. Not only that, but her character really blossomed as I wrote (and revised) Thrall, and I feel she is one of the most authentic, fleshed-out characters I’ve ever written.
What was your favorite scene to write?
If I had to choose, probably the scenes where Sheriff Baumgartner puts on his science hat and performs some *very* twisted experiments on certain inmates who shall not be named for spoiler purposes. So much of this story was painstakingly connecting plot lines, double checking historical references and making sure the pacing was correct. But having Baumgartner completely conked out on meth and running wild was just me having a boatload of fun and letting my imagination run wild.
How do you think you, Richard, would survive (or not) in the world of Thrall?
Well, on the one hand, I’m from the area, consider myself a seasoned outdoorsman and know my way around guns and knives. On the other hand, I’m also prone to claustrophobia, and would probably soil myself the minute I had to join my characters down in those caves… So, uh, I give myself a 50/50 shot?
What’s next for you?
Well, in the midst of working through the Thrall edits with Grendel, I’ve also been working with the fine folks at Anatolian Press to get my historical horror novel, And They Will Suffer, ready for publication. Along with that, I’ve got several short stories I’ve been working on, a few anthologies I’ve been invited to write for, and a whole backlog of first draft novels and novellas I really need to edit and clean up.
Thank you to Richard Beauchamp for sharing his process and the personal influences behind Thrall. His unique blend of real-life experience, love of heavy metal, and unsettling horror has created a story and characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading. We can’t wait to see what Richard brings to readers next!
