Stephen Zoltan is the acclaimed author behind Beëlzebub’s Bible, a collection of interlinking stories in a world reimagined where gods, goddesses devils and demons are real. To celebrate the release of the book, What We Reading sat down with Stephen to talk about everything from the inspiration behind Beëlzebub’s Bible, his love for Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, not fitting into conventional genres and what the future holds for his writing and universe!
Thanks for speaking with us, Stephen! First off, tell us a bit about the experiences that led to the development of Beëlzebub’s Bible.
I never set out to write a ‘bible’ – who would?
But our culture is infused with religion, so even if you’re not particularly religious, it’s all around us. So you can’t help reacting to that.
I mean, when you grow up, you hear all these stories of gods and devils and they sort of mess with your head, and you can’t help thinking, but what if they are really true?
So I got to writing stories imagining things like: what if the Garden of Eden was a real place, where God walked, then what if archaeologists find God’s footprints? Or if the people of ancient Babel really had only been told to go forth and multiply – what would city life be like without a full set of commandments? And what if there are other gods – and goddesses too – and angels and devils, roaming our streets, here and now?
And so these stories became a sort of alternative ‘bible’ – one that was irreverent and sceptical – but that could help make sense of this strange world we live in. Hence Beëlzebub’s Bible.
Talk to us about the book. It’s a collection of interlinked short stories, right?
Yes, I call it a ‘canon’ – like a set of different bible stories, that all link up to form a whole.
So the stories have different characters, and different voices, as if written by different authors at different times. But sometimes the characters reappear, and you might start to wonder how the stories may be related – who wrote what and why – again, just like the Bible.
What is the number one goal you want your work to have with readers?
I suppose I just want people to think – to think about what they believe – to see some of the bible stories in a different light, to imagine alternative interpretations.
I mean, a lot of people are probably brought up with some religion to some extent, and have a sort of hangover of half-digested things they were taught when they were young, but they still carry around these half-beliefs in their head. And that affects their outlook on life, and death, and so on.
So I suppose I am just inviting people to think about what they actually believe, from stories in the bible, and to take what they will from the stories in this book. So they’re free to draw their own conclusions, and follow their own path.
What do you think makes you stand out as an author?
I’m not sure that’s something I can answer – it’s really for readers to decide.
But what I would say is that Beëlzebub’s Bible doesn’t easily fit into any conventional genre. It’s got some science fiction, some religion, some fantasy… Some might say it’s satire, or allegory, or magic realism without the magic, whatever. So I’m not sure I can be pigeon-holed as an author, yet.
What would you say has been your biggest success as a writer so far?
Well, getting a full length work of fiction published probably has to be my biggest success –the fact that Beëlzebub’s Bible exists as an actual book!
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
I think I’ll go for Trainspotting [by Irvine Welsh]. I remember being blown away by those opening pages – writing about the city you live in, telling stories of real people, in their own voices – in a language that is part of your life, but you’d never seen written down. And so they – and you – suddenly find yourselves inside this world of literature; so literature is not just some gilded literary salon, that happens to other people, somewhere else. So I’d relish revisiting that, to sense that breaking down the barriers, and the glimmer of the idea that you too could write and have a story to tell.
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
I’d like to do more writing, of course. To follow up on Beëlzebub’s Bible, I suppose, but in different ways, going off in different directions. So, I’d like to do some more science fiction. Or write more stories involving different gods – but maybe as counterfactual or speculative fiction. Or a memoir, or the story of a particular character, that could become a full length work of fiction. So maybe I could end up writing a whole novel that better fit within a particular genre, after all.
Make sure to check out Stephen and all of his work on Twitter/X, Amazon or his website
Check out our interview with I.M. Solomon
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
