Gary A. Braunbeck (born 1 July 1960) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

and horror author.

Biography

Braunbeck was born in

Newark, Ohio Newark ( ) is a city serving as the county seat of Licking County, Ohio, United States, east of Columbus, at the junction of the forks of the Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 census, which makes it the 15th largest city in ...

(the city that serves as the model for the fictitious Cedar Hill in many of his stories). He writes in a number of different genres, but principally horror. His work has received several awards, including 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 ...

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 Superior Achievement in Best Short Fiction in 2003 and 2005 for "Duty" and "We Now Pause for Station Identification", respectively. In 2007, he won two Bram Stoker Awards, for Long Fiction with "Afterward, There Will Be a Hallway", and for

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

with ''Five Strokes to Midnight'' (edited with Hank Schwaeble). He also won their 2006 award for Best Fiction Collection with his anthology ''Destinations Unknown'', published by

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 ...

, and their 2010 award for nonfiction with ''To Each Their Darkness'', published by

Apex Publications ''Apex Magazine'', also previously known as ''Apex Digest'', is an American horror and science fiction magazine. This subscription webzine, ''Apex Magazine'', contains short fiction, reviews, and interviews. It has been nominated for several awa ...

. He won the 2013 Bram Stoker Award for Long Fiction with "The Great Pity." His novella "Kiss of the Mudman" received the

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of Horror fiction, horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards wer ...

for Long Fiction in 2006. Nearly 200 of his short stories have appeared in various publications such as ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'', '' Cemetery Dance'', ''Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar'', and ''

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1987 to 2008. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospective e ...

''. Some of his most popular stories are mysteries that have appeared in the ''Cat Crimes'' anthology series. In 2007 his story "Rami Temporales" was adapted by

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

into a short film entitled "One of Those Faces" starring

Toby Turner Toby Joseph Turner (born March 3, 1985), also known by his stage name Tobuscus, is an American Internet personality and actor. Originally from Niceville, Florida, he is best known for his YouTube videos. As of November 5, 2021, Turner has a to ...

. Braunbeck also taught creative writing at

Seton Hill University Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Formerly a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded in 1885 by the Sist ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in their low-residency Master of Fine Arts degree program in Writing Popular Fiction. He has also served as co-editor for the fifth installment of the ''Masques'' horror-anthology series created by Jerry Williamson, Masques V. For a time he was also a regular contributor to

Everything2 Everything2 (styled Everything2 or E2 for short) is a collaborative Web-based community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. E2 is moderated for quality, but has no formal policy on subject matter. Writing on ...

and served briefly as a content editor there. In 2005-2006, Braunbeck served a term as President of the

. He is married to

Lucy A. Snyder Lucy A. Snyder (born 1971) is an American science fiction, fantasy, humor, horror, and nonfiction writer. Biography Born in South Carolina, Snyder grew up in San Angelo, Texas, after her father was briefly assigned to Goodfellow Air Force Base ...

, a science fiction/fantasy writer, and they reside together in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. He dubbed the Dreadtime Stories series April Fool.

Bibliography

Novels

* (1998) ''Time Was: Isaac Asimov's I-Bots'' (co-written with

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Journey during their most commercially successful periods from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He also wrote/co ...

) * (2000) ''The Indifference of Heaven'' * (2000) ''Dark Matter #1: In Hollow Houses'' * (2001) ''This Flesh Unknown'' * (2004) ''In Silent Graves'' * (2005) ''In the Midnight Museum'' * (2005) '' Keepers'' * (2006) ''Prodigal Blues'' * (2007) ''Mr. Hands'' * (2008) ''Coffin County'' * (2009) ''Far Dark Fields''

Collections

* ''Things Left Behind'' (1997) *''Escaping Purgatory'' (2001) *''Sorties, Cathexes, and Personal Effects'' (2002) *''Graveyard People: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories, Volume 1'' (2003) *''X3'' (contains three science fiction

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

s: "One Brown Mouse", "At Eternity's Gate", and "Palimpsest Day"; 2003) *''A Little Orange Book of Odd Stories'' (2003) *''From Beneath these Fields of Blood'' (2004) *''Home Before Dark: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories, Volume 2'' (2005) *''Destinations Unknown'' (2006) *''Rose of Sharon'' (2013) *''Halfway Down the Stairs'' (2015) *''There Comes a Midnight Hour'' (2021)

Nonfiction books

* (2003) ''Fear In A Handful Of Dust: Horror As A Way Of Life'' * (2010) ''To Each Their Darkness''

Books edited

* (2006) ''Masques V'' (co-edited with Jerry Williamson) * (2007) ''Five Strokes to Midnight'' (co-edited with Hank Schwaeble)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Braunbeck, Gary A. 1960 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American horror writers American male novelists American science fiction writers Living people Writers from Columbus, Ohio People from Newark, Ohio Seton Hill University American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Ohio