David J. Schow (born July 13, 1955) is an American author of

horror novel Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

, and

screenplays A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...

. His credits include films such as '' Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III'', ''

The Crow ''The Crow'' is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fianc� ...

'' and '' The Hills Run Red''. Most of Schow's work falls into the subgenre

splatterpunk Splatterpunk is a movement within horror fiction originating in the 1980s, distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence, countercultural alignment and "hyperintensive horror with no limits.""Schow, David J." by Gary Westfahl in ...

, a term he is sometimes credited with coining. In the 1990s, Schow wrote ''Raving & Drooling'', a regular column for ''

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. All 41 installments were collected in the book ''Wild Hairs'' (2000), winning 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/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards were determined by ...

for best non-fiction in 2001. In 1987, Schow's novella ''Pamela's Get'' was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction. His short story ''Red Light'' won the 1987 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. And in 2015, ''The Outer Limits at 50'' won the Rondo Award for Book of the Year in a tie with ''The Creature Chronicles'' by Tom Weaver, of which Schow was a contributor. As an editor, Schow's work includes three volumes of writings by

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime fiction, crime, psychological horror fiction, horror and Fantasy Fiction, fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and ...

and a book of short stories by John Farris. Schow has also been a past contributor to

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

for cult film distributors Grindhouse Releasing/ Box Office Spectaculars, notably on the North American DVD release of Italian filmmaker

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...

's horror film, '' Cat in the Brain''.Icons of Fright News and Updates: Lucio Fulci's Cat in the Brain Coming to DVD March 31st
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/ref> He has also written text supplements for the DVDs of ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarant ...

'' and ''From Hell'', and has done DVD commentaries for ''

The Dirty Dozen ''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin, with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, ...

'', '' ''The Green Mile'''', ''

Incubus An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many c ...

'', '' Thriller'' and ''

Creature from the Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

''. The 2018 Kino Lorber Blu-ray and DVD editions of both seasons of ''The Outer Limits'' feature commentary by Schow on several episodes as well as booklet essays written by him.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Kill Riff'' (1988) * ''The Shaft'' (1990) * ''Rock Breaks Scissors Cut'' (2003) * ''Bullets of Rain'' (2003) * ''Gun Work'' (2008) * ''Hunt Among the Killers of Men'' (2010) (under the pseudonym "Gabriel Hunt") * ''Internecine'' (2010) * ''Upgunned'' (2012) * ''The Big Crush'' (2019)

Short story collections

* ''Seeing Red'' (1990) * ''Lost Angels'' (1990) * ''Black Leather Required'' (1994) * ''Crypt Orchids'' (1998) * ''Eye'' (2001) * ''Zombie Jam'' (2005) * ''Havoc Swims Jaded'' (2006) * ''A Little Aqua Book of Creature Tails'' (2014) * ''DJSturbia'' (2016) * ''DJStories: The Best of David J. Schow'' (2018) * ''Monster Movies'' (2020) * ''Weird Doom'' (2021) * ''Suite 13'' (2024)

Non-fiction

* ''The Outer Limits: The Official Companion'' (1986) (with Jeffrey Frentzen) * ''The Outer Limits Companion'' (1998) * ''Wild Hairs'' (2001) * ''The Art of Drew Struzan'' (2010) (with Drew Struzan) * ''The Outer Limits at 50'' (2015) * ''The Ultimate Outer Limits Companion'' (forthcoming)

As editor

* ''Silver Scream'' (1988) * ''The Lost Bloch Volume 1: The Devil with You'' (1999) * ''The Lost Bloch Volume 2: Hell on Earth'' (2000) * ''The Lost Bloch Volume 3: Crimes and Punishments'' (2002) * ''Elvisland'' (2003) (by John Farris)

Screenplays

* ''

Freddy's Nightmares ''Freddy's Nightmares'' (also known as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series'') is an American horror anthology television series that aired in syndication from October 8, 1988 until March 12, 1990. A spin-off from the ''A Nightmare on Elm ...

'' — "Safe Sex" (1989) * '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child'' (1989) (uncredited) * '' Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III'' (1990) * ''

Critters 3 ''Critters 3'' is a 1991 American science fiction comedy horror direct-to-video film and the third installment of the '' Critters'' series, directed by Kristine Peterson. The film stars Aimee Brooks, John Calvin, Katherine Cortez, Don Keith Op ...

'' (1991) * '' Critters 4'' (1992) * ''

'' (1994) * '' The Outer Limits — "Corner of the Eye"'' (1995) * ''The Outer Limits'' — "The Voice of Reason" (1995) (excerpts) * ''Perversions of Science' — "The Exile" (1997) * ''The Hunger'' — "Red Light" (1997) * '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' (2006) * '' Masters of Horror — "Pick Me Up"'' (2006) * '' Masters of Horror — "We All Scream for Ice Cream"'' (2007) * '' The Hills Run Red'' (2009) * ''

Mob City ''Mob City'' is an American neo-noir crime drama television series created by Frank Darabont for TNT. It is based on real-life accounts of the L.A.P.D. and gangsters in 1940s Los Angeles as chronicled in John Buntin's book ''L.A. Noir: The Str ...

'' — "His Banana Majesty" (2013) * ''

Creepshow ''Creepshow'' is a 1982 American horror comedy anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King, making this film his screenwriting debut. The film's ensemble cast includes Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, ...

'' — "The Finger" (2019) * ''

'' — "Bunny Didn't Tell Us" (2021) (unaired) * ''

'' — "Mums" (2021) (with

Greg Nicotero Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American Prosthetic makeup, special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film ''Day of the Dead (1985 fi ...

) (based on a story by Joe Hill) * ''

'' (2024) (additional literary material)

Literary Awards

References

External links

* *
David J. Schow
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schow, David J. 1955 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American horror writers American male novelists German emigrants to the United States Living people Splatterpunk World Fantasy Award–winning writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American television writers American male television writers American male screenwriters