Bio

Given that I've scribbled quite a few horror stories, I suppose my own story should start out with my being ripped violently from my mother's womb. No such luck, I'm afraid. I was born under the sign of Cancer in the year 1958 in the fine city of Baltimore. There were no horrified gasps as I arrived. No ohmigawd-it's-got-a-tail from the attending doctor. With the exception of my family the event went largely unnoticed, although I understand I was distinguished by having a large tuft of red hair that was constantly being tied in a bow by the nurses, much to my parents consternation (He's a boy!).

Mine was a happy childhood. I wish I could say it was filled with a love for horror movies and wonderfully funky creep-show magazines, but by and large I avoided such things. Quite frankly they scared me and I could do without the nightmares. It wasn't until I neared adulthood and realized there were much scarier things in real life, that I began to embrace horror. Clive Barker was the one who did it for me at first (I still consider The Books of Blood a major inspiration - thanks Kevin for turning me on to them), and then Ray Bradbury took me to another level. I mixed these elements up with everything else I could get my hands on - John le Carre, Martin Amis, Annie Proulx, Gunther Grass, Anne Rice, Thom Jones, and of course the master, Elmore Leonard.

So how did I end up writing horror and speculative fiction? Honestly, I don't know. When I began writing in earnest in 1992, that's just what came out and by and large it has been coming out ever since. In On Writing, Stephen King compared writing fiction to working on an archeological dig and I'd have to say I agree. I sometimes feel like I'm the channel for a story that's already out there and that it's just the peculiar way that I tell it and piece it together that makes it mine. I believe in having a muse and given I write about ghosts and their ilk, this only stands to reason. So does that explain it? Not really, though beyond the sheer enjoyment of placing characters in bizarre situations, I haven't any other explanation.

And thus I write. You've read some of my offspring no doubt or you wouldn't be here. Hopefully you'll continue to read them just as I hopefully will continue to get them written and published. I'll try not to be boring.

To wrap this up let me shout out a quick thanks to all my supportive friends and family: Mom and Dad; my wife, Deb; stepkids, Kristina and Brennan; best friend Kevin Toth; Shelley Sykes, Lois Szymanski, and the Carroll Writer's Guild; teachers Madeleine Mysko at Johns Hopkins and Christine Frey at CCC; Dennis Kirk at Outer Darkness for being a great fan and editor, and lots of other friends too many to mention.

Scott Emerson Bull May 29, 2003

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