Elaine Bergstrom is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

in the genres of fantasy and horror. She has had 13 novels published. She has been described by the ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'' as "one of Wisconsin's best-known horror novelists".

Personal life

Bergstrom was born and raised in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. She had

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

as a child, which she says brought her an early awareness of – and comfort with – death. She studied at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, and graduated with a degree in journalism with a minor in

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, histor ...

. She remained in Milwaukee to establish her career.Loohauis, Jackie (October 24, 2004). "Bergstrom has insatiable thirst for her next vampire kill", ''

''
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(registration required). Residing in Bay View, Bergstrom is divorced, raising two children, one with Down syndrome.

Career

Bergstrom's writing career started in advertising and newspaper reporting, including as a freelance writer for ''

The Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the ...

''. She taught some writing classes at

Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee Area Technical College (or MATC) is a public two-year vocational-technical and community college based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. MATC offers day, evening, weekend and online classes at campuses in downtown Milwaukee, O ...

. While working as a copywriter in the early 1980s, she returned to creative writing; her first published piece of fiction was her first novel, ''Shattered Glass'', the first in a series of vampire novels. Published in 1989, the novel introduced the character of the immortal Stephen Austra and artist Helen Wells, who had polio, along with Steffen's family of

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

. Its setting is Cleveland and nearby suburbs, in the 1950s. The novel was a critical success, and since then, Bergstrom has written five other novels in the series, including ''Daughter of the Night'', which featured

Elizabeth Bathory Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

as a half-breed Austra vampire. Using her grandmother's name, Marie Kiraly, Bergstrom wrote a sequel to ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' called ''Mina ... The Dracula Story Continues'' and its sequel, ''Blood to Blood ... The Dracula Story Continues'', which both look at Mina Harker as a woman changed by her experience in Transylvania, struggling to find her way in the repressive Victorian society. Both were featured in the Science Fiction Book Club (the former for more than a decade) and Doubleday Book Club. For ''Glass'' and its sequel ''Blood Rites'', she visited a number of major art glass producers. For the novel ''Madeline ... After the Fall of Usher'', she adopted Poe's journalistic style to tell a story in which the details of the last few months of Poe's life are correct, with her own fictional story overlaid on them. Bergstrom wrote

novels A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of '' ...

for the

Ravenloft Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a '' pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land piece ...

setting, including '' Tapestry of Dark Souls'' (1993) and ''Baroness of Blood'' (1995). ''Tapestry of Dark Souls'' introduced the first lesbian couple in a D&D/ TSR world; Bergstrom has a significant gay following. She also works as a television critic and feature writer. Her interviews have included the novelist

David Morrell David Morrell (born April 24, 1943) is a Canadian-American author whose debut 1972 novel ''First Blood (novel), First Blood'', later adapted as the 1982 First Blood, film of the same name, went on to spawn the successful Rambo (franchise), ''Ra ...

and director

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergstrom, Elaine 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women American fantasy writers American horror novelists American women horror writers American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers Living people Novelists from Ohio Writers from Cleveland Year of birth missing (living people)