Stephen Volk (born 3 July 1954) is a Welsh

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and novelist who specializes in the horror genre."Waffling With Horror Writer Stephen Volk"
''Themoviewaffler.com''. Retrieved 04-03-2017. Stephen Jones,''The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 24''.Hachette UK, 2013. , (pp. 360-1) He wrote the screenplays for numerous horror films, including

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

's ''

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

'' (1986), '' The Kiss'' (1988), and

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...

's ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' (1990). In 1992, Volk wrote the teleplay for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...

'' Ghostwatch''. Other screenwriting credits include '' Octane'' (2003) and '' The Awakening'' (2011).

Early life and work

Stephen Volk was born in

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest () ...

, Wales on 3 July 1954. Volk has stated his interest in horror was triggered by watching the TV drama ''

The Stone Tape ''The Stone Tape'' is a 1972 British television horror drama film written by Nigel Kneale and directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Michael Bryant, Jane Asher, Michael Bates and Iain Cuthbertson. It was broadcast on BBC Two as a Christmas gh ...

'' by

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Scr ...

, and the film ''

Don't Look Now ''Don't Look Now'' ( it, A Venezia... un Dicembre rosso shocking, lit=In Venice... a shocking red December) is a 1973 English-language film in the thriller genre directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from the 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurie ...

'' by

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), '' Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (197 ...

. He studied at

Lanchester Polytechnic , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

in Coventry, and the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

. Volk then worked as an advertising copywriter before becoming a full-time writer. Volk's first produced work was

's film ''

'' in 1986. Volk also wrote a script, ''Horror Movie'', for

Goldcrest Films Goldcrest Films is an award-winning independent British distribution, production, post production, and finance company. Operating from London and New York, Goldcrest is a privately owned integrated filmed entertainment company. Goldcrest Films ov ...

that was never made due to Goldcrest's collapse.

''Ghostwatch''

His most famous work is '' Ghostwatch'', a controversial drama shown on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...

on Halloween 1992.Paul Long, Tim Wall ''Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context''. Routledge, 2014. (pp. 150-1) It is commonly misrepresented as a hoax documentary, but this was never the intention. It was originally planned as a six-part series for the BBC. However, the producer of the series, Ruth Baumgarten, didn't believe it had commercial viability. Stephen reworked the script so that everything would be set "Like episode six" and repitched it as a 90-minute live broadcast drama on behalf of BBC's ''Screen One'' drama segment. Ruth accepted the new format.

Other work

Volk's TV work often involves the supernatural and the paranormal, such as with the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 pu ...

thriller series '' Afterlife'' (2005–06). Volk has written fiction in the

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction ** Korean horror, Korean horror fiction *Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing on ...

and ghost story genres; some of these stories were collected in the book ''Dark Corners'' (2006). In 1995, Volk wrote two serials of the series ''Ghosts''. Volk's fiction often features real people as characters: the novella ''Whitstable'' (2013) features the actor

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

, while ''Leytonstone'' (2015) deals with a young

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

. In 2018, Volk published ''The Dark Masters Trilogy'', an omnibus featuring ''Whitstable'' and ''Leytonstone'', as well as a new novella, ''Netherwood''. ''Netherwood'' features fictionalised versions of the writer

Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series w ...

and the occultist

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prop ...

. Volk also wrote a monthly column about horror for ''

Black Static ''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', is a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine has won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while individual stories have won other awards. In addition, numerous stories ...

'' magazine until the end of 2016. Volk's story "The Chapel of Unrest" was read on stage by actor

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. He won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his supporting role as John Bayley in the feature film '' Iris'' (2001), as well as winning a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe for ...

at London's

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a sp ...

in 2013.

Bibliography

Novels and novellas

* ''Gothic'' (1987, novelisation of the 1986 film) * ''Vardøger'' (2009) * ''Whitstable'' (2013) * ''Leytonstone'' (2015)

Short story collections

* ''Dark Corners'' (2006) * ''Monsters in the Heart'' (2013) * ''The Parts We Play'' (2016)

Filmography

Personal life

He and his wife Patricia, who is a sculptor, live in

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

, Wiltshire.

References and notes

Sources

External links

*
Filmography

BBC interview

Stephen Volk's Website

Story behind "Monsters in the Heart" - Online Essay by Stephen Volk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volk, Stephen 1954 births Living people Ghost story writers People from Bradford-on-Avon People from Pontypridd People from Wiltshire Alumni of the University of Bristol Welsh male novelists Welsh screenwriters Welsh horror writers Welsh television writers