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RB: Hello, Mr. Freeman. Thank you for speaking with me today. I see that PS Publishing is about to publish a new book by you called Walking with Ghosts, a 29-short-story collection. Is this your biggest collection so far in your career and does it feel exciting?
BJF: It is easily my larger collection to date. It contains revised versions of previously published stories and a few new ones, too. I’m very excited for this book to be seeing print and I’m thrilled to finally have something published by PS Publishing!
RB: For those that are new to your writing, what would you tell a reader to expect from your kind of horror tales?
BJF: Most of my stuff is very quiet. Very little gore and direct horror, although there are some things that happen “off the page” that is very bloody and horrible. Readers say that’s why some images from my stories such as a tipped over lawnmower or a tea kettle screaming on the stove have stuck with them for so long. They didn’t see the awfulness happen; instead, they had to think more deeply about what must have happened and let their imagination work it out, which made the horror of the event last longer.
RB: As a long-time reader of your work, I’ve notice some small interconnections in your works. Should we expect any of that in this collection... like repeating characters or locations?
BJF: There are several locations that show up time and time again, and at least two stories that are so directly connected they’re basically brother and sister.
RB: I’ve noticed the theme of family is very common in your work. What other themes are favorites of yours to write about and why?
BJF: I don’t actually have a great answer to this! I’m more of a “gut” writer, so I don’t think too hard about themes until after the early drafts are done. Then I will do a pass specifically to see if there’s something my subconscious was poking at, and I’ll try to weave that thought into the work a little better. But I only tend to think of themes at that point, so it’s more about what my subconscious has been dwelling on than which themes that are my favorites.
RB: I know it’s probably hard to choose, but do you have a favorite story in this collection?
BJF: Very difficult to pick one! “Mama’s Sleeping” or “Pop-Pop” or “Ice Cold Dan the Ice Cream Man” are at the top of my personal list right now simply because they’re fairly new and that feeling of “hey, this might be good!” is still lingering. On the other hand, “Running Rain” took years of revisions to get the prose where I wanted it, and I love the story because of all the work it took. “Walking With the Ghosts of Pier 13” is one of the older stories and writing that one changed how I approached storytelling, which in turn changed the entire direction my writing was headed in. That said, “The Last Beautiful Day” might be my favorite story I’ve ever written, which is why it closes out WALKING WITH GHOSTS.
RB: How do you recommend readers go through your new book: front to back, jump around, one story a night, etc.?
BJF: Readers can approach the book however they’d like, but please don’t read the story notes at the end first! Spoilers abound there. That said, I spent much of this year trying to get the arrangement of the stories just right, so I should probably say to read the book in order!
RB: Are any stories brand new to this collection? Have any been published in the UK before?
BJF: Several are brand new or were only offered to my Patreon.com supporters previously.
RB: One of my favorite parts of some short story collections is when the author talks a little bit about each story candidly, will we get that with this collection?
BJF: Yes! I love reading story notes from the author, yet I had great hesitation about writing them for my own collection. Part of the reason is I’ve noticed some authors use the story notes as a way to kind of “prop up” a work they see as being less than their best. I firmly believe a story should stand on its own. You send it out into the world to live or die by what you’ve put on the page. If you have to explain something, you failed. But... I do love story notes, so I gave writing them a try this time. There’s a note for every story, actually.
RB: I noticed there is a brand-new Introduction by William Peter Blatty. How did that come about?
BJF: Bill and I stayed in touch after I worked on the production materials for his short novel Elsewhere in 2008 and 2009. He was a generous guy with his time, he offered me some excellent advice when I needed it, and he is dearly missed.
RB: Thank you, again, Mr. Freeman.
BJF: Thank you, Robert!
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