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, definiti ...

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 movement, garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 United Kin ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England, Hutson now lives and writes in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. According to his own 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 (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

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, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in t ...

'', 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 classi ...

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 fil ...

. 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 Jason Figgis is an Irish film director known for his work on a variety of projects ranging from documentaries to horror films. He was born in Ranelagh, Dublin, and attended St. Mary’s College in Rathmines before studying art at Ballyfermot Sen ...

and Jonathan Figgis) for their company October Eleven Pictures' 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 sma ...

'' (1982) *''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, 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: Armageddon' ...

'' (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 ...

- 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, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

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, Compulsive, Compelling, or Compulsory may refer to: Psychology * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compul ...

'' (2001) *''Hybrid'' (2002) *''Hell to Pay'' (2003) *''Necessary Evil'' (2004) *''Twisted Souls'' (2005) *''The Bumper Book of Lies'' (2005) *''Dying Words'' (2006) *'' Unmarked Graves'' (2007) *''Body Count'' (2008) *''Last Rites'' (2009) *''Epitaph'' (2010) *'' Twins of Evil'' (novelization - 2011) *''

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

'' (novelization - 2012) *''

The Revenge of Frankenstein ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews (actor), Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn, Oscar Quitak, Eunice Gayson and Michael Ripper. Made by H ...

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

References

External links

*
Shaun Hutson page on DLS Reviews

"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