Joseph A. Citro is a

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

author and

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

who has extensively researched and documented the

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

haunting The list of reportedly haunted locations throughout the world, that are locations said to be haunted by ghosts or other supernatural beings, including demons. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Ar ...

ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

, paranormal activity and occult happenings of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Early life and education

Citro was born in

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

. He grew up in

Chester, Vermont Chester is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,005 at the 2020 census. History The town was originally chartered by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth as Flamstead in 1754. The terms of the charter were n ...

, lived in Underhill, Vermont, and lives in Windsor, Vermont. His father was a machinist and storyteller, telling tales of the people and natural world of Vermont, and his mother encouraged his love of reading. As a child he wrote short stories and comic books. He graduated from

Keene State College Keene State College is a public liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Keene Norma ...

with a BA in English in 1971. He worked for the state's Department of Education and the Department of Human Service until 1983 designing vocational educational programs for people with developmental disabilities.

Career

Interested in

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

since he was a child, especially the works of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

and H. P. Lovecraft, Citro began his writing career by authoring several horror novels, including ''

Shadow Child Simon Neale (born 20 January 1977 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England), known by his stage names Shadow Child and Dave Spoon, is an English radio DJ and dance music producer. He's also part of the duo Avec alongside Doorly. He was part of the lin ...

,'' '' The Unseen'', Press Republican : Co-authors catalog region's weirdness Apr 25, 2003 and ''

Guardian Angels A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...

''. These novels blended the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

elements of Poe and the eldritch terror of Lovecraft with actual Vermont folklore and contemporary New England settings. Citro has sold the film options for ''Shadow Child'' five times, including once to

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

. Citro collects eccentric legends, folk tales, mysterious monsters,

UFO sightings This is a partial list by date of sightings of alleged unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including reports of close encounters and alien abductions. Second millennium BCE Classical antiquity 8th century 16th–17th centuries 19th ce ...

, haunted houses, and general uncanny activity of New England. This became the basis for his books ''Weird New England'' and ''The Vermont Monster Guide.''. He sees part of his role as a writer to keep myths and mythmaking alive by bringing them to a wide audience and getting people to share their own stories, creating community. He is frequently asked if he believes in ghosts. He has given many seminars about writing horror and non-fiction, and gave commentaries on Vermont Public Radio from 1990-2010. He has done public speaking in prisons and to students who are reluctant readers. He has taught at the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference. His works ''Guardian Angels'', ''The Unseen'' and ''Lake Monsters'' have been released in Polish, following the publishing boom for horror novels in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, after the

revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

. ''Lake Monsters'' has also been released in French.

Novels

*''

'' (1987) *''

'' (1988) *'' The Unseen'' (1990) *''

Lake Monsters A lake monster is a lake-dwelling entity in folklore. The most famous example is the Loch Ness Monster. Depictions of lake monsters are often similar to those of sea monsters. In the ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'', entities classified as "lak ...

'' (1991) *'' Deus-X'' (1994)

Non-fiction

*'' Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls and Unsolved Mysteries'' (1994) *'' Passing Strange: True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors'' (1996) *'' The Vermont Ghost Guide'' (2000) *'' Curious New England: The Unconventional Traveler's Guide to Eccentric Destinations'' (2003) (with Diane E. Foulds) *'' Cursed in New England: Stories of Damned Yankees'' (2004) *'' Weird New England'' (2006) (with a foreword by Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran) *'' The Vermont Monster Guide'' (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Citro, Joseph A. 20th-century American novelists American horror writers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Novelists from Vermont American folklorists People from Windsor County, Vermont American male novelists 20th-century American male writers