Edo van Belkom (born 1962) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

author of horror fiction.

Early life and education

Edo van Belkom was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, in 1962. he graduated from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

with an honors degree in creative writing. He worked as a full-time journalist for five years, first as a sports reporter at '' The Brampton Times'' from 1987 to 1990, then as a police reporter with the ''

North York Mirror Metroland Media Group (also known as Community Brands) is a Canadian mass media publisher and distributor which primarily operates in Southern Ontario. A division of the publishing conglomerate Torstar Corporation, Metroland publishes more than 7 ...

'' for two months, and then he had the position of assistant sports editor for the ''

Cambridge Reporter The ''Cambridge Reporter'' was a local daily newspaper in Southern Ontario serving the community of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1846 as the ''Galt Reporter'' by Peter Jaffray, a Scottish settler who was originally from Stirlin ...

''.Marchand, Philip (August 28, 2000). "Writer gets teeth into horror: A genre that has made the least inroads in Canada", ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', p. E1. He re-evaluated his career and his finances and then became a full-time freelance writer in 1992. He has also taught short story writing for the Peel Board of Education, was an instructor at

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west-Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded in ...

, and has lectured on horror and fantasy writing at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

. Early in his career, he admired writers such as

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

and

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

before deciding that the horror genre was the best fit for him.

Career

Van Belkom is the author of the ''

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in t ...

'' setting novel ''Lord Soth'' (1997), and the novels ''Wyrm Wolf'', ''Mister Magick'', ''Teeth'', ''Martyrs'', ''Scream Queen'',Doolan, Susan (July 30, 2004). "Helping local writers tap into their talent: Award-winning author Edo van Belkom will be in Innisfil next week to help aspiring writers", ''

Barrie Examiner The ''Barrie Examiner'' was a daily newspaper published in Barrie, Ontario, Barrie, Ontario from 1864 to 2017. History The ''Examiner'' was founded in 1864. Publisher William Manley Nicholson launched the paper as an alternate to the ''Norther ...

'', p. C1. ''Army of the Dead'' and ''Wolf Pack'', amongst others. He is also the editor of ''Aurora Awards: An Anthology of Prize-Winning Science Fiction'' (1999). He has published about 200 stories of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mystery in such magazines as ''Parsec'', ''Storyteller'', ''

On Spec ''On Spec'' is a digest-sized, perfect-bound, Canadian quarterly magazine publishing stories and poetry in science fiction, fantasy, and allied genres broadly grouped under the "speculative fiction" umbrella. History and profile Based in Edmon ...

'' and ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'', and the anthologies ''Northern Frights 1, 2, 3, 4'', ''Shock Rock 2'', ''Fear Itself'', ''Hot Blood 4, 6'', ''Dark Destiny'', ''Crossing the Line'', ''Truth Until Paradox'', ''

Alternate Tyrants ''Alternate Tyrants'' is a 1997 Tor alternate history anthology, edited by Mike Resnick. The anthology contains 20 short stories, with each story by a different author, and presents a scenario where an individual becomes a tyrant or dictato ...

'' (where his story "The October Crisis" was featured), ''The Conspiracy Filed'', ''Brothers of the Night'', ''

Robert Bloch's Psychos ''Robert Bloch's Psychos'' is a 1997 horror anthology that was being edited by American writer Robert Bloch until his death in 1994. Martin H. Greenberg completed the editorial work posthumously. List of stories The book featured the following ...

'', ''Year's Best Horror Stories 20'' and ''Best American Erotica 1999''. His short story collection, ''Death Drives a Semi'', which includes twenty of his stories, was published by Quarry Press in 1998. His non-fiction book, ''Northern Dreamers: Interviews with Famous Authors of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror'', published by Quarry Press in 1998, has interviews with twenty-two of the best writers in Canada. He also wrote a how-to book, ''Writing Horror''.Keene, Brian (December 2001). "Oh, the horror!", ''

Science Fiction Chronicle DNA Publications was an American publishing company that existed from 1993 to 2007 and was run by the husband-and-wife team of Warren Lapine and Angela Kessler. Initially based in Massachusetts, DNA Publications relocated to Radford, Virginia. A ...

'' 22 (12): 55. He was hired as an on-air host at

Scream-TV Dusk was a Television in Canada, Canadian English language specialty channel. Dusk broadcast programming consisting of films, dramatic programming, television dramas, and reality TV, and documentary-style television series from the thriller (gen ...

in 2001. Van Belkom has been described by ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...

'' as "one of Canada's leading writers of erotica",Wigod, Rebecca (June 2, 2001). "A much-published writer of erotica isn't some old guy, hunched over the keyboard, drooling", ''

'', p. D15. mostly under the pseudonym Evan Hollander. He wrote the how-to book ''Writing Erotica'' (2001). Outside of the horror genre, for several years he wrote a

magazine serial In literature, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ''parts'' or ''fascicle ...

for ''

Truck News A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

'' that recounts the adventures of a former private investigator who becomes a trucker.Taylor, Bill (September 26, 2002). "Sleuth drives a semi", ''

'', p. B5.

Awards

''Wyrm Wolf'' is a Locus bestseller and a finalist for the 1995 Bram Stoker First Novel Award. In 1997, he won the Stoker Short Fiction Award from the

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of Horror and Dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with t ...

for "Rat Food" (co-authored with David Nickle).Volmers, Eric (March 26, 2003). "Fright king takes on horrors of rejection: Success as writer can be a long, hard road, Edo van Belkom tells Guelph students", ''

Guelph Mercury The ''Guelph Mercury'' was an English language daily newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It published a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, w ...

'', p. B6. His story, "The Rug" was a 1998 Stoker finalist. Other stories have twice been nominated for both the

Aurora Award The Aurora Awards (french: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year."Literary glow of Auroras lure ...

and the

Arthur Ellis Award The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadians, Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and Mystery fiction, mys ...

(presented by the

Crime Writers of Canada {{primary sources, date=January 2015 Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is a national, non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Derrick Murdock and other professional crime writers. Its mandate is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the p ...

). He has also won the

Ontario Library Association The Ontario Library Association (OLA) was established in 1900 and is the oldest continually operating library association in Canada. With 5,000 members, OLA is also the largest library association in Canada and among the 10 largest library associ ...

's Silver Birch award.

Personal life

He lives in

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

, Ontario, with his wife Roberta and son Luke. Roberta is a librarian.

References

External links