Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. (November 2, 1941 – October 14, 2016) was an American writer and short fiction anthologist. He published in almost every genre, but is best known for his work in the crime, mystery, western, and horror fields. His non-fiction work has been published in such publications as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publication as of January 2019 and now operates an article-comprise ...

''. He has contributed to many magazines and other publications, including '' Xero'', '' Black Lizard'', ''

Mystery Scene ''Mystery Scene'' is an American magazine, first published in 1985, that covers the crime and mystery genre with a mix of articles, profiles, criticism, and extensive reviews of books, films, TV, short stories, audiobooks, and reference works. E ...

'', '' Cemetery Dance'', and the anthology ''

Tales of Zorro ''Tales of Zorro'' is a 2008 anthology of Zorro stories and is the first collection of original short fiction featuring pulp hero Zorro. It was edited by Richard Dean Starr and published by Moonstone Books. A second anthology, ''More Tales of Z ...

''.

Personal life

Gorman was born and grew up in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, where he spent much of his adult life as well. He lived for extended periods in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

;

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

; and

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was married twice, first to Catherine Anne Stevens for seven years. He next married Carol Gorman (née Maxwell), an award-winning children's and young adult author. They were married thirty-four years until his death in 2016.

Writing career

After twenty-three years in advertising, public relations, writing political speeches and producing industrial films, Gorman published his first novel ''Rough Cut'' (1984). Soon after he quit his day job and dedicated himself to writing full-time (thanks to his wife Carol's full-time teaching job). Gorman considered himself a genre writer. In the 1970s Gorman won a short story contest sponsored by

Charles Scribner & Sons Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. An editor there suggested he expand his winning story into a mainstream novel, but Gorman gave up after six months, saying, “I was bored out of my mind. I am a genre writer.” Gorman's novels and stories are often set in small Midwestern towns, such as the fictional Black River Falls, Iowa (the Sam McCain series), or Cedar Rapids, Iowa (''The Night Remembers''). For his Dev Conrad series, Gorman drew upon his years as a political operative. Gorman was one of the founders of ''

'' magazine, and served as editor and publisher until 2002. His column, “Gormania,” continues to appear regularly in its pages. In comics, he has written for DC,

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

, and most recently Short, Scary Tales, which will be publishing adaptations of his novel ''Cage of Night'' (as ''Cage of Night)'' and the short story "Stalker" (as ''Gut-Shot''). ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' has called him "One of the most original crime writers around." ''

The Bloomsbury Review ''The Bloomsbury Review'' (''TBR'') was a nationally distributed literary magazine founded by Thomas Auer (1953–2003) in Denver, Colorado in 1980. It focused on small, regional, university, and international presses, as well as "smaller" titles ...

'' noted: "He is the poet of dark suspense." ''The Oxford Book of American Crime Stories'' said: "His novels and stories provide fresh ideas, characters and approaches." Jon Breen at ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

'' once noted, "Ed Gorman has the same infallible readability as writers like

Lawrence Block Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Mas ...

Max Allan Collins Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his ''Road to Perdition'' series was the basis for a film of the same name. He wrote the '' Di ...

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

Ed McBain Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino,(October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author and screenwriter best known for his 87th Precinct novels, written under his Ed McBain pen name, and the novel upon which the film ''Blackbo ...

, and John D. MacDonald." Though Gorman was long considered to be a "prolific" writer, his pace of production slowed markedly after he was diagnosed with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...

in 2002; it was incurable.

Awards

He won a

Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

for Best Short Fiction for his short story "The Face" in 1992. His fiction collection ''Cages'' was nominated for the 1995

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1 ...

for Best Fiction Collection. His collection ''The Dark Fantastic'' was nominated for the same award in 2001. Gorman won the 1994

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Among the m ...

for Best Critical Work for ''The Fine Art Of Murder''. He was nominated for multiple Anthonys in short story categories. He is a winner of the Life Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and The International Horror Writers Award (previous winners include

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

and

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science ficti ...

). He was nominated for the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

Adaptations

His novel ''The Poker Club'' was adapted as a film in 2008 by director Tim McCann. His short stories “The Long Silence After” and “The Ugly File” were adapted as short films. In 2016, rights to his novel ''Cage of Night'' and short story “Stalker” were bought for adaptation as graphic novels, to be published by Short, Scary Tales.

Selected bibliography

Novels and short story

*''Graves' Retreat'' (1989) *''The Poker Club'' (1990) *''What the Dead Men Say'' (1990) *''Night Kills'' (1992) *''Cage of Night'' (1992) *''Wolf Moon'' (1993) *''Batman: I, Werewolf'' (1993) *''Shadow Games'' (1996) *''Cast in Dark Waters'' (with

Thomas Piccirilli Thomas Piccirilli (May 27, 1965 – July 11, 2015) was an American novelist and short story writer. Career Piccirilli sold over 150 stories in the mystery, thriller, horror, erotica, and science fiction fields. Some of his stories were include ...

) (2002) *''Gun Truth'' (2003) *''The Midnight Room'' (2009) *''The Man From Nightshade Valley'' (with

James Reasoner James Reasoner (5 June 1953) is an American writer. He is the author of more than 350 novels and many short stories in a career spanning more than thirty years. Reasoner has used at least nineteen pseudonyms, in addition to his own name: Jim Austin ...

) (2012) *''The Prodigal Gun'' (with James Reasoner) (2012) *''Fast Track'' (with

Bill Crider Bill Crider (July 28, 1941 – February 12, 2018) was an American author of crime fiction among other work. Biography He received a Master of Arts degree at the University of North Texas, in Denton. Later, he taught English at Howard Payne Unive ...

) (2014) *''Backshot'' (2015)

Short Story Collections

* ''Famous Blue Raincoat'' (

Crippen & Landru Crippen & Landru Publishers is a small publisher of mystery fiction collections, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1994 by husband and wife Sandi and Douglas G. Greene in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is named af ...

, 1999) * ''The End of it All and Other Stories'' (Ramble House, 2009) * ''Noir 13'' (Perfect Crime Books, 2010) * ''The Long Ride Back & Other Western Stories'' (Western Fictioneers Library, 2013) * ''Scream Queen and Other Tales of Menace'' (Perfect Crime Books, 2014) * ''A Disgrace to the Badge & Other Western Stories'' (2015) * ''Shadow Games and Other Sinister Stories of Show Business'' (Short, Scary Tales, 2016)

Series

''Dev Conrad Series'' # ''Sleeping Dogs'' (Thomas Dunne Books, 2008) # ''Stranglehold'' (Minotaur Books, 2010) # ''Blindside'' (Severn House, 2012) # ''Flashpoint'' (Severn House, 2013) # ''Elimination'' (Severn House, 2015)

''Jack Dwyer'' Series

#''Rough Cut'' (1985) #''New Improved Murder'' (1985) #''Murder Straight Up'' (1986) #''Murder in the Wings'' (1986) #''The Autumn Dead'' (1987) #''A Cry of Shadows'' (1990) #''What the Dead Men Say'' (1990) #The Reason Why (1992) *''The Dwyer Trilogy'' (1994) (a collection that includes ''The Autumn Dead'', ''A Cry of Shadows'', and the short story "Eye of the Beholder")

''Tobin'' Series

#''Murder in the Aisle'' (1987) #''Several Deaths Later'' (1988)

''Jack Walsh'' Series

#''The Night Remembers'' (1991)

''Robert Payne'' Series

#''Blood Moon'' (UK title ''Blood Red Moon'') (1994) #''Hawk Moon'' (1995) #''Harlot's Moon'' (1998) #''Voodoo Moon'' (2000)

''Sam McCain'' Series

#''The Day the Music Died'' (1999) #''Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow'' (2000) #''Wake Up Little Susie'' (2001) #''Save the Last Dance for Me'' (2002) #''Everybody's Somebody's Fool'' (2004) #''Breaking Up Is Hard To Do'' (2004) #''Fools Rush In'' (2007) #''Ticket to Ride'' (2009) #''Bad Moon Rising'' (2011) #''Riders on the Storm'' (Pegasus Crime, 2014)

''Dean Koontz Frankenstein'' series

From ''

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein ''Dean Koontz's Frankenstein'' is the collective title of five novels co-written by Dean Koontz. Though technically of the mystery or thriller genres, the novels also feature the trappings of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. The first thr ...

'' series (they are co-authored by

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as Thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and satir ...

): *Book No. 2 ''

City of Night ''City of Night'' is a novel written by John Rechy. It was originally published in 1963 in New York by Grove Press. Earlier excerpts had appeared in ''Evergreen Review'', ''Big Table'', ''Nugget'', and ''The London Magazine''. ''City of Night' ...

Pen name books

As E.J. Gorman

*''The Marilyn Letters'' *''The First Lady'' *''Daughter of Darkness'' *''Senatorial Privilege''

As Daniel Ransom

*''Toys in the Attic'' (1986) *''The Forsaken'' (1988) *''The Babysitter'' (1989) *''Nightmare Child'' (1990) *''The Serpent's Kiss'' (1992) *''The Long Midnight'' (1992) *''Night Screams'' (1996) *''The Zone Soldiers'' (1996) As Robert David Chase * ''Graveyard'' * ''Ghost Hunters'' * ''Werewolf: A True Story of Demonic Possession''

Graphic Novels

* ''Kolchak: Dawn of the Demons'' (with Ricky Sprague) (Moonstone Books, 2016) * ''Gut-Shot'' (based on the short story "Stalker," adapted by Ricky Sprague) (Short, Scary Tales, 2016) * ''Cage of Night'' (based on the novel, adapted by Ricky Sprague) (Short, Scary Tales, 2016)

Anthologies

As editor and/or contributor *''The Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction'' (Black Lizard Books, 1987) *''Stalkers: 19 Original Tales By the Masters of Terror'' (Dark Harvest Books, 1989) *''Cat Crimes'' (1991) with

Martin H. Greenberg Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ov ...

*''Prisoners and Other Stories'' (1992) *''Dark Crimes 1'' (1991) *''Dark Crimes 2'' (1993) *''Dark Whispers'' (1993) *''Cages'' (1995) *''Moonchasers'' (1996) *''Robert Bloch's Psychos'' (

Cemetery Dance Publications Cemetery Dance Publications is an American specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with ''Cemetery Dance'' magazine, whic ...

, 1997) includes the short story "Out There in the Darkness" *''The Big Book of Noir'' (1998) *''Famous Blue Raincoat'' (1999) *'' October Dreams'' (2000) *''Such a Good Girl'' (2001) *''The Dark Fantastic'' (2001) *''The Long Silence After'' (2001) *''The Long Ride Back'' (2004) *''Different Kinds of Dead'' (2006) *''Wolf Woman Bay and 9 More of the Finest Crime and Mystery Novellas of the Year!'' (2007) with Martin H. Greenberg *''

'' (2008) *''Kolchak the Night Stalker: Passages of the Macabre'' (2016)

References

External links

* *
Ed Gorman's blog
Ed Gorman Discusses His Writing
''Mystery Scene''
magazine co-founded by Gorman with Robert J. Randisi. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorman, Ed 1941 births 2016 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers American horror writers American male novelists American male short story writers Anthony Award winners Coe College alumni Macavity Award winners Writers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Iowa