Mort Castle (born 1946) is an American horror author and writing teacher, with more than 500 short stories and 17 books to his credit, including ''Cursed Be the Child'' (

Leisure Books Leisure Books was a mass market paperback publisher specializing in horror and thrillers that operated from 1957 to 2010. In the company's early years, it also published fantasy, science fiction, Westerns, and the Wildlife Treasury card series ...

, 1994) and ''The Strangers''. Castle's first novel was published in 1967. Since then he has had pieces published in all sorts of places ranging from traditional

literary magazines A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

to more off-the-wall or risqué markets. He has been nominated eleven times for the

Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction The Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction is an award presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in horror writing for short fiction. Winners and nominees This category was previously titled "best short story". Nomi ...

and was winner three times. A dedicated writing teacher, Castle has been a working musician, a standup comic, a stage hypnotist, a high school English teacher (for 11 years), and a magazine and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

editor. He is currently writer-in-residence for two high schools, and teaching "Researching and Writing Historical Fiction" and "Story In Graphic Form" and other classes at Columbia College Chicago. He is a frequent keynote speaker at writing conferences, and has given over 1000 presentations to writers, would-be writers, and teachers of writing. One of his latest books, ''Writing Horror'', for which he served as editor, has become the "bible" for aspiring horror authors. It also includes interviews with some of horror's top stars, such as Stephen King. Castle is also the

Executive Editor Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

o
Thorby Comics
and currently fiction editor for ''

Doorways Magazine ''Doorways'' is a proposed science fiction series from writer George R. R. Martin. A pilot was shot in May 1992, starring George Newbern, Anne Le Guernec, Robert Knepper, Kurtwood Smith, Hoyt Axton, Max Grodenchik, and Carrie-Anne Moss, but was no ...

''. Castle has been a regular contributor to Eureka Productions' '' Graphic Classics'' series since 2006, with work in ''Graphic Classics:

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

,'' (second edition), ''Graphic Classics:

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

'' (second edition), ''Graphic Classics: Bram Stoker'' (second edition), ''Graphic Classics:

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

'' (second edition), ''Graphic Classics: O. Henry'', and ''Graphic Classics: Halloween Classics''. In August 2013 it was announced that Castle will be scripting the

Red Giant Entertainment Red Giant Entertainment, Inc. is a Florida-headquartered comic book publisher and "transmedia" entertainment company established in 2005. Red Giant was founded by Benny R. Powell, former marketing writer for Priceline.com. Other key players ...

comic book '' Darchon'', an ongoing feature of their '' Giant-Size Comics'' line of free print comic book titles set to debut on May 3, 2014, as part of

Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and is often cross-promoted wit ...

. '' Darchon'' will appear monthly in '' Giant-Size Thrills'', their horror-focused title. Mort Castle's short story, ''Oval Portrait'', was published in 3Elements Literary Review's fall issue no. 8, in October 2015.Mort Castle, ''Oval Portrait''
Review''.
Fall Journal, Issue No.8 (October 2015)

Awards

Castle has been nominated for various awards, including the Pushcart Prize, the

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 ...

(which he won three times), the ''DeMarco Prize'', and th
Emerson Fiction Award
''Leaders in the Arts for Chicago''.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''In Memoriam: Papa, Blake and HPL'' * ''The Deadly Election'' (1976) * ''The Strangers'' (1984) * ''Cursed Be the Child'' (1990)

Collections

* ''So Many Tomorrows: Three Stories About Children'' * ''Moon on the Water'' (2000) * ''Nations of the Living, Nations of the Dead'' (2002) * ''New Moon on the Water'' (announced by the now defunct Full Moon Press for 2010, currently being published by DarK Regions Press) * ''Knowing When to Die'' (2018)

Anthologies edited

* ''Nukes: Four Horror Writers on the Ultimate Horror : Stories'' (1986) * ''Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury'' with Sam Weller (2012) * "All American Horror of the 21st Century"

Non fiction

* ''Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association'' (1997) * "Writer's Digest Annotated Classics: Dracula"

References

External links

*
Bibliography
*

Interviews

One Woman's Writing Retreat: Interview

* Barrantes, Guillermo y Martín Valiente
"Reportaje a Mort Castle,"
''Boletín'' (Nov. 2003) panish {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, Mort American horror writers American fantasy writers American comics writers 20th-century American novelists 1946 births Living people American male novelists 20th-century American male writers