Gary A. Braunbeck (born July 1, 1960) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

and horror author.

Biography

Braunbeck was born in

Newark, Ohio Newark ( ) is a city in Licking County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located east of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus at the junction of the forks of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 United ...

(the city that serves as the model for the fictitious Cedar Hill in many of his stories). He writes in a number of different genres, but principally horror. Nearly 200 of his short stories have appeared in various publications such as ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...

'', '' Cemetery Dance'', ''Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar'', and ''

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1988 to 2007. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospect ...

''. Some of his most popular stories are mysteries that have appeared in the ''Cat Crimes'' anthology series. In 2007 his story "Rami Temporales" was adapted by

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

into a short film entitled "One of Those Faces" starring

Toby Turner Tobias Joseph Turner (born March 3, 1985), also known by his stage name Tobuscus, is an American Internet personality, actor, and musician. Originally from Osborn, Mississippi, he is best known for his YouTube videos including vlogs, Let's Pla ...

. Braunbeck also taught creative writing at

Seton Hill University Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in their low-residency Master of Fine Arts degree program in Writing Popular Fiction. He has also served as co-editor for the fifth installment of the ''Masques'' horror-anthology series created by Jerry Williamson, Masques V. For a time he was also a regular contributor to

Everything2 Everything2 (styled Everything2 or E2 for short) is a collaborative online community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. E2 is moderated for quality, but has no formal policy on subject matter. Writing on E ...

and served briefly as a content editor there. In 2005–2006, Braunbeck served a term as President of the

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with ...

. He was married to Lucy A. Snyder (divorced 2023), a science fiction/fantasy writer. He dubbed the Dreadtime Stories series April Fool.

Awards

His work has received several awards, including 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 ...

for Superior Achievement in Best Short Fiction in 2003 and 2005 for "Duty" and "We Now Pause for Station Identification". His novella "Kiss of the Mudman" received 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 Long Fiction in 2006. That same year, he won a Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection with his anthology ''Destinations Unknown'', published by

Cemetery Dance Publications Cemetery Dance is an American company known for their specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense and their horror magazine of the same name. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. Ce ...

. In 2007, he won two Bram Stoker Awards, for Long Fiction with "Afterward, There Will Be a Hallway", and for

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

with ''Five Strokes to Midnight'' (edited with

Hank Schwaeble Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

). In 2010 he won their award for nonfiction with ''To Each Their Darkness'', published by

Apex Publications ''Apex Magazine'', also previously known as ''Apex Digest'', is an American horror and science fiction magazine. This subscription webzine, ''Apex Magazine'', contains short fiction, reviews, and interviews. It has been nominated for several a ...

. He won the 2013 Bram Stoker Award for Long Fiction with "The Great Pity."

Bibliography

Novels

* (1998) ''Time Was: Isaac Asimov's I-Bots'' (co-written with

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...

) * (2000) ''The Indifference of Heaven'' * (2000) ''Dark Matter #1: In Hollow Houses'' * (2001) ''This Flesh Unknown'' * (2004) Cedar Hill #1: ''In Silent Graves'' * (2005) ''We Now Pause for Station Identification'' * (2005) ''In the Midnight Museum'' * (2005) Cedar Hill #2: '' Keepers'' * (2006) ''Prodigal Blues'' * (2007) Cedar Hill #3: ''Mr. Hands'' * (2008) Cedar Hill #4: ''Coffin County'' * (2009) Cedar Hill #5: ''Far Dark Fields''

Collections

* ''Things Left Behind'' (1997) *''Escaping Purgatory'' (2001) *''Sorties, Cathexes, and Personal Effects'' (2002) *''Graveyard People: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories, Volume 1'' (2003) *''X3'' (contains three science fiction

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

s: "One Brown Mouse", "At Eternity's Gate", and "Palimpsest Day"; 2003) *''A Little Orange Book of Odd Stories'' (2003) *''From Beneath these Fields of Blood'' (2004) *''Home Before Dark: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories, Volume 2'' (2005) *''Destinations Unknown'' (2006) *''Smiling Faces Sometimes'' (2007) *''Cages and Those Who Hold the Keys'' (2011) *''Rose of Sharon'' (2013) *''Halfway Down the Stairs'' (2015) *''There Comes a Midnight Hour'' (2021)

Nonfiction books

* (2004) ''Fear In A Handful Of Dust: Horror As A Way Of Life'' * (2010) ''To Each Their Darkness''

Books edited

* (2006) ''Masques V'' (co-edited with Jerry Williamson) * (2007) ''Five Strokes to Midnight'' (co-edited with Hank Schwaeble)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Braunbeck, Gary A. 1960 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American horror writers American male novelists American science fiction writers Living people Writers from Columbus, Ohio People from Newark, Ohio Seton Hill University American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Ohio