Have you been saying your prayers, horror lovers? From CJ Leede, the author of Maeve Fly, comes AMERICAN RAPTURE a terrifying new novel in which American Gods meets The Last of Us in, an epic, sweeping story about the end of the world as we know it.
This feverish odyssey spotlights Sophie, a “good Catholic girl” amid the sudden onset of a gristly disease that transforms everyone around her into something monstrous. As she journeys through the Midwest’s splintering Americana to escape the contagion, Sophie faces shredded limbs, her strict religious upbringing and the pained dissonance of growing up during the end times.
RUE MORGUE recently had the opportunity to sit down with Leede to chat about AMERICAN RAPTURE – now available from Tor Books.
What inspired you to set this apocalyptic horror novel in the Midwest and, more specifically, in Wisconsin in particular?
The book really could have been set anywhere in America, but I really love Wisconsin for the fact that it has such a strong and unique cultural identity and frankly, just some of my favorite roadside attractions. I love the Midwest and Wisconsin, and I’m kind of working my way through America one state at a time trying to highlight and showcase what makes this country so special.
Religion and horror have long been intertwined, but Sophie’s journey addresses a very contemporary moment in our society. Were you inspired by previous religious horror novels while writing AMERICAN RAPTURE, and if so, how did you channel them in this work?
I was largely inspired by the ONE BIG BOOK (the Bible), or rather, what I was taught from it as a kid, and honestly, religious horror has historically scared me so much that I’ve mostly stayed away from it. However, I did read Carrie (and reread it), and I think it’s absolutely perfect. I also did the Books in the Freezer podcast and got a big education on religious horror from that, and I love Chuck Tingle’s Camp Damascus, too. I’ve also read a lot of Anne Rice over the years, and her back and forth with Catholicism probably has factored into my work in ways I don’t realize since I’m just such a huge fan of hers.
Without giving too much away, it’s safe to say that AMERICAN RAPTURE ends with a bang. Did you always know that’s how the story would end, or did it come together in pieces as you were writing it?
I always knew what the very last moments would be, but where, exactly, they took place and how the characters got there was a bit more of a journey to find. But I love writing endings; They’re my favorite part. I have so much fun figuring out where it’s going and then, combing back through the book and making everything move right toward that moment very intentionally.
How did the process of writing AMERICAN RAPTURE compare to the process of writing your debut Maeve Fly?
Maeve clawed her way out of me in no time at all. I plotted the book in two days and then wrote it and did multiple edit rounds in a matter of, like, four months. AMERICAN RAPTURE on the other hand, [had] so many big ideas that I was grappling with. And I started it when I didn’t know how to write anything, so it’s been a journey. It’s taken me ten years on and off to really figure it out.
Are there any specific lines or scenes that stuck with you after you finished writing AMERICAN RAPTURE? Do you have a favorite character or setting from the book?
I added a scene toward the end in which Cleo talks to Sophie and the others in a hotel room about Catholic guilt and the ways in which the ideas we’re taught about sin and our thoughts might affect Sophie throughout her life. It was actually very emotional for me, and I felt it was so vital to write it for myself and, at the same time, very painful. I think every book worth writing should have a cost, and I paid one a lot of times over with this book – and I’d gladly do it all again.
