JOHN B. FORD - TERROR SCRIBE
The creature that would become known as John B. Ford was born sometime in 1963 in a mist shrouded house upon some lonely moor. He grew up as an extremely shy and abnormally quiet boy and spent much of his early childhood in isolation in the gabled attic of his ancestral home. At school he was shunned by the other children and finally left that institution with two ‘O’ Levels in English in 1979.
He attempted to live an ordinary life and worked as a probation assistant, a car park attendant and did a ten-year stretch as a factory labourer. You get less for murder he tells me, though how he knows this is unknown. Much of this period of his life is lost in a blur of memory but one cannot help but wonder what atrocities and horrors he might have witnessed (or even caused!) in these convenient blank spaces of his life.
On New Year’s Day 1995 he suffered a massive panic attack in a remote area of the Peak District, miles from anywhere or anyone and when he returned to civilisation he had been ‘reborn in his own body’ as John B. Ford. No record exists of his previous name.
John B. Ford devoted himself to writing and publishing horror fiction and soon caused quite a stir on the Small Press scene with his macabre and atmospheric fiction. He still suffers anxiety and occasional depression and likes to frequent cemeteries, haunted houses (one wonders if they were haunted before he came along!) and alehouses. He uses alcohol to good effect as a means to relax.
His fiction is dark in the extreme and mostly focused on the themes of death or madness, but he also possesses the ability to work accurately in the style of deceased authors such as Hodgson, Chambers, Lovecraft, Shiel, etc. He has also collaborated with many modern day authors that are much better known than he is, such as: Simon Clark, Thomas Ligotti, F. Paul Wilson, Brian Stableford, Tim Lebbon and Ramsey Campbell, to name but a few. Ford’s most famous story is The Illusion of Life. This has been reprinted in many publications since its first appearance in 1996.
For a number of years he ran BJM Press, which published his own writings and the work of other contemporary horror writers. He has edited many books both alone and with Paul Kane & Steve Lines for Rainfall Books, which he runs with Steve. He is also the author of several collections. He is editor of 'Terror Tales'.
JOHN B. FORD - BIBLIOGRAPHY
SHORT STORIES:

The Cemetery Of The Ocean -- The Doppelganger Broadsheet -- Feb 96
The Midnight Caller -- Really Quite Cosmic -- Feb 96
The Rose Of Lamia -- Footsteps -- April 96
The Illusion Of Life -- Saccade --May 96
Tongue Tied -- Bats And Red Velvet -- May 96
The Sea Of Strangeness -- Really Quite Cosmic -- July 96
Long Black Hairy Legs -- The Doppelganger Broadsheet -- Nov 96
Destiny -- The Sky's Gone Out -- Nov 96
In The House Of Chained Souls -- Black Planet -- Nov 96
A Visit To The Gooja Bird -- Reader's Feast -- Dec 96
The Illusion Of Life -- Sink Full Of Dishes -- Dec 96
In The House Of Chained Souls -- The Doppelganger Broadsheet -- Dec 96
The Illusion Of Death -- Strix -- Dec 96
Grondak -- Writers' Express -- Feb 96
Love Hearts -- Unreal Dreams -- March 97
The Menace Of Manifold Valley -- The Doppelganger Broadsheet -- March 97
Life On Ice -- Odyssey -- April 97
The Illusion Of Life -- Peninsular -- April 97
Dead Man's Handle -- Nasty Piece Of Work -- June 97
The Darkest Of All Healings -- Strix -- July 97
The Illusion Of Life -- Penny Dreadful -- August 97
The Lucky Man From Atlantis -- Flickers `n' Frames -- August 97
The Man Who Drank Death -- Visions -- August 97
A Visit To The Gooja Bird -- Lateral Moves -- August 97
Strange One Off The Rails -- Unreal Dreams -- August 97
The Halloween House -- Oktobyr -- Oct 97
The Curse -- Nightchillers -- Oct 97
The Cemetery Of The Ocean -- Unreal Dreams Oct 97
The Song Of Weeping -- The Doppelganger Broadsheet -- Dec 97
Satanic Rose With Crimson Bud -- Tales Of The Arabesque And Grotesque -- Dec 97
The Keeper Of Souls -- Strix -- Dec 97
The Men Who Glowed -- Scared To Death -- Dec 97
The Rose Of Lamia -- Penny Dreadful -- Jan 98
Black Snakes And Rats -- Saccade -- Feb 98
The Superintendent Of Death -- Scared To Death -- March 98
Transfiguration -- Tales Of The Arabesque And Grotesque -- April 98
The Song Of Weeping -- Strix -- April 98
The Sea Of Strangeness -- Penny Dreadful -- May 98
The Things In The Weed -- Scared To Death -- June 98
The Song Of Weeping -- Scared To Death -- June 98
Satanic Rose With Crimson Bud -- Scared To Death -- June 98
To Dwell On Tainted Ground -- Enigmatic Tales -- June 98
In The House Of Chained Souls -- Sackcloth And Ashes -- Sept 98
A Visit To The Gooja Bird -- Strix -- Sept 98
The Curse -- Penny Dreadful -- Sept 98
My Lady Of Starlight -- Writers Express -- Sept 98
The Rose Of Lamia -- Unreal Dreams -- Sept 98
Destiny -- Sierra Heaven -- Oct 98
The Man With Electric Balls -- Tales Of The Grotesque And Arabesque -- Oct 98
The Church Of Unholiness -- Oktobyr -- Oct 98
My Lady Azia (Written With Richard Bennet) Terror Tales -- Dec 98
The Pools Of Sadness -- The Dream Zone -- Dec 98
The Illusion Of Life -- Roadworks -- Jan 99
Earth Spirit -- The Doppelganger Broadsheet -- Jan 99
The Island Of The Undead -- Strix -- Jan 99
The Darkest Of All Healings -- Penny Dreadful -- Feb 99
Sweet And Sour Dreams -- The Dream Zone -- March 99
The Midnight Caller -- Penny Dreadful -- June 99
Dead Things (with Paul Bradshaw) -- Dead Things Magazine -- July 99
Sex Dwarf And The Disco Dollies -- Charnel House -- July 99
The Cycle (with Joe Rattigan) -- Strix -- July 99
The Island of The Undead -- Monomyth -- July 99
A Visit To The Gooja Bird -- Songs of Innocence -- August 99
Strange One Off The Rails -- Penny Dreadful -- Oct 99
Croxton's Return (written with Derek M. Fox) Enigmatic Tales -- Dec 99
The Nightmare Plot (written with Gary Greenwood) The Dream Zone -- Feb 00
Soul Light -- Songs of Innocence -- Feb 00
The Song Of Weeping -- Penny Dreadful -- April 00
Giving You The Eye -- Penny Dreadful -- April 00
The Maze For Jaded Brains -- Redsine -- April 00
Doctor Calargi's Black Box -- Roadworks -- May 00
The Eternally Descending Blade -- Dream Zone -- June 00
Earth Spirit -- Songs Of Innocence -- August 00
Mrs Drasic's Farewell Party (Written with Eddie M. Angerhuber) -- Nocturnal Products -- 2002 
Behind The Painted Face -- Shadow Writers #1 -- October 2002
A Box Full Of Nightmares -- Penny Dreadful -- April 2005

CHAPBOOKS:

Within The Sea Of The Dead -- BJM Press -- 1996
The Derelict Of Death (Written With Simon Clark) -- BJM Press -- 1998
Macabre Delights And Twisted Tales -- BJM Press -- 1997
Ghouls And Gore And Twisted Terrors -- BJM Press -- 1998
Death Songs of Carcosa (with Steve Lines) -- Rainfall Books -- April 2006

BOOKS:

Dark Shadows On The Moon -- story collection -- Hive Press -- 2001
Tales Of Devilry And Doom -- story collection -- Rainfall Books -- 2001
The Evil Entwines -- collaborative stories -- Hardcastle Books -- 2002
The Haunted Ocean -- Novella -- Rainfall Books -- 2004
The Evil Entwines (Extended Version) -- collaborative stories -- Rainfall Books 2005
Comments on the writings of JOHN B. FORD
The horror is so all-pervading and INTENSE that sometimes reading the book I feel as though I am wading through the treacle of the damned
Nick Granger-Taylor

Ford's writing is Old School. He's like Ligotti, he's like Rickman, he's like Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth. He's macabre, classy and very unusual. If guts are spilled, it's only as an aside to the overall atmosphere of unease and dread. It's not the main feature, but rather, is seamlessly integrated into the story line. That's very refreshing these days. I believe this to be Ford's most extensive collection to date. These stories are brief, very dark, and bite like a rabid terrier. I like John Ford and I think he fits quite nicely into these pages. Have a look.
Mark Ziesing

And finally, I have just received a copy of John B.s anthology, Dark Shadows on the Moon, and it looks sensational; a collection of the very best of his work; a must for all those who have never read The Darkest Of All Healings, The Illusion Of Life, Transfiguration, or any of his Sagasso Sea stories.
David Price

Some stories have the mood of Ligotti blended with Pugmire, which is a HIGH praise! Definitely my favorite thus far (I'm on page 62) was INFECTION OF TIME - wow!!! The visual of those green-glowing walls!!!
Jeffrey Thomas

First, how could I not love "The Strangest Interview" when it is comprised of one interviewing himself, and is headed by an epigraph/endorsement from Tom Ligotti? 
Matt Cardin

I read "The Darkest of All Healings" and "The Sea of Strangeness" last night and enjoyed them very much. I look forward to reading the rest as time allows.
Stanley C. Sargent

I read In the House of Chained Souls last night and enjoyed it  immensely. I found it very intense, and, if this is not too obvious an  observation, dark.
Quentin S. Crisp

I had to stop reading DARK SHADOWS when I reached a third of the way through, as it was disturbing me so much and actually gave me nightmares...Honest!
I'll get back to it when I'm feeling more sturdy.
Nick Granger-Taylor

There is a certain sub-genre of fantasy horror that has seen a resurgence in recent years and is almost exclusively confined to the small press in Britain and the USA.  I'm sure someone will have coined a cute term for it but the best I can do is Pseudo Gothic.  John B Ford is one of the leading lights of this style and manages to imbibe his stories with a turn-of-the century air even when anachronisms such as videos and Ford Orions are present!  That is no mean feat.
Noel K. Hannan

I thought this very impressive. Quite masterful.
Nick Granger-Taylor on The Illusion Of Life

It was only recently and by accident that I stumbled across some (of Ford's) fiction on the internet, and I must say that it's been quite a long time since a literary first encounter left me in such a state of pleasant shock.
Still dazed,
Alexander Zartl

I've just read The Maze For Jaded Brains. In my view it's one of the best stories in "Dark Shadows". The descent into insanity of the narrator and the murderous presence of Dr. Sepoire in the background is extremely skilfully handled. The outward description of Pierre as a drooling imbecile as contrasted with his interior view of the bizarre nature of the world really gave me a start. I'm carrying "Dark Shadows" around with me wherever I go at the moment, such is my admiration for it.
Mark Samuels

To say Ford arrived on the horror scene would be wrong; more accurately he exploded all over it. Courageously disregarding modern trends in writing horror, he wrote his stories in the classic style – at first emulating the likes of William Hope Hodgson, M.P. Shiel and Algernon Blackwood. But he quickly found a distinctive voice which, although it echoes writers of a certain vintage, is clearly his own.
If anything, dark veins run through Ford's prose of madness, death, and nightmare, infusing his work with such an intensity that his passionate visions of hell-like worlds and characters threatened by nameless horrors linger in the reader's mind long after the story is over.
Simon Clark

Funny, if only John B Ford would enter his MAZE FOR JADED BRAINS here (you know, if no-one knew about it and I hadn't just spilled the beans on the writer) now THAT would be my winner. That final scalpel scene will stick in my mind for a good long time, JB. Schweet. Hertzan Chimera

The book gets underway with 'Behind the Painted Face' from John B. Ford (the leading Terror Scribe -   and one of the folk behind Rainfall Books), which gets the collection off to a good start, even if is not up to some of Mr. Ford's better writing. In this tale he explores the often held nightmarish feeling of evil clowns, and by playing on a familiar dread and not having to set too much of the background he can concentrate on applying the scares. Lesley Mazey, The Eternal Night.
Fiendish Ford