Shaun Hutson (born 1958) is a British novelist in the horror and

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

genres. Under his own name and various pen names, he has written at least thirty novels.

Background

A native of

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England, Hutson now lives and writes in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. According to his own official website, Hutson was expelled from school and worked a number of odd jobs from which he was fired, before becoming a professional writer. Hutson is a die-hard supporter of

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

Career

Writer

Hutson began his writing career in the early 1980s with the horror novel ''The Skull''. Although mainly limited to the United Kingdom in terms of publishing, Hutson received exposure in the United States after being profiled by Chas Balun in

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

magazine.

Film work

Hutson wrote the UK film novelization of ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whos ...

'', which was published in early 1985. In the new millennium, Hutson returned to film adaptations with a series of novelizations of

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

via Random House UK. ''Slugs'' was the basis for the film of the same title directed by

Juan Piquer Simón Juan Piquer Simón (16 February, 1935 – 8 January, 2011) was a Spanish film director best known for directing two cult classic horror film, horror exploitation film, exploitation films, ''Pieces (1982 film), Pieces'' (1982) and ''Slugs (1988 f ...

. A sequel based on Hutson's sequel novel ''Breeding Ground'' was announced, but never came into fruition. Hutson wrote a screenplay for The Figgis Brothers ( Jason Figgis &

Jonathan Figgis Jonathan Figgis is an Irish film director and producer. He was a co-founder and director of award-winning film production company October Eleven Pictures. Having left October Eleven Pictures in 2012, he now heads Figgis Visuals. Early life, fam ...

) for their company

October Eleven Pictures October Eleven Pictures is an Irish production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, com ...

' feature film titled ''Box''. Shooting was set to commence late Spring 2009. The film apparently remains unproduced.

Works

*''sledgehammer series'' *''The Skull'' (1982) *''

Slugs Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...

'' (1982) *''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

'' (1983) *''Erebus'' (1984) *''

'' (UK

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

- 1984) *''Shadows'' (1985) *''Breeding Ground'' (1985) *''Relics'' (1986) * ''Deathday'' (New York: Leisure Books, 1986),

paperback original A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

published as by Robert Neville, ; 1987 as by Hutson *''Victims'' (1987) *''Assassin'' (1988) *''Nemesis'' (1989) *''Renegades'' (1991) *''Captives'' (1991) *''Heathen'' (1993) *''Deadhead'' (1993) *''White Ghost'' (1994) *''Lucy's Child'' (1995) *''Stolen Angels'' (1996) *''Knife Edge'' (1997) *''Purity'' (1998) *''Warhol's Prophecy'' (1999) *''Exit Wounds'' (2000) *''

Compulsion Compulsion may refer to: * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...

'' (2001) *''Hybrid'' (2002) *''Hell to Pay'' (2003) *''Necessary Evil'' (2004) *''

Twisted Souls ''Twisted Souls'' is a horror novel written by Shaun Hutson Shaun Hutson (born 1958) is a British novelist in the horror and crime genres. Under his own name and various pen names, he has written at least thirty novels. Background A native ...

'' (2005) *''The Bumper Book of Lies'' (2005) *''Dying Words'' (2006) *''

Unmarked Graves In linguistics and social sciences, markedness is the state of standing out as nontypical or divergent as opposed to regular or common. In a marked–unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one. The dominant defau ...

'' (2007) *''Body Count'' (2008) *''Last Rites'' (2009) *''Epitaph'' (2010) *''

Twins of Evil ''Twins of Evil'' (also known as ''Twins of Dracula'') is a 1971 British horror film directed by John Hough and starring Peter Cushing, with Damien Thomas and the real-life identical twins and former ''Playboy'' Playmates Mary and Madeleine C ...

'' (novelization - 2011) *''

X the Unknown ''X the Unknown'' is a 1956 British science fiction horror film directed by Leslie Norman and starring Dean Jagger and Edward Chapman. It was made by the Hammer Film Productions company and written by Jimmy Sangster. The film is significant i ...

'' (novelization - 2012) *''

The Revenge of Frankenstein ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews (actor), Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. In ...

'' (novelization - 2013) * ''Monolith'' (2015) * ''Chase'' (2017) * ''Testament'' (2019)

References

External links

*
"The story behind Twins of Evil"
– essay by Hutson at Upcoming4.me (2014) * * – and links to seven pseudonyms, some shared {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutson, Shaun 1958 births Living people English horror writers People from Letchworth 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers