Brian Keene

Brian Keene is an American author, primarily of horror, crime fiction, and comic books. He has won two Bram Stoker Awards. His 2003 novel The Rising is often credited (along with Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comic and Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later film) with inspiring pop culture's current interest in zombies. In addition to his own original work, Keene has written for media properties such as Doctor Who, Hellboy, Masters of the Universe, and Superman.

Early life

Keene was born in 1967. He grew up in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and many of his books take place in these locales.^[1] After graduating high school, he served as a radioman in the U.S. Navy aboard an LPD. After his enlistment ended, Keene worked a variety of jobs before becoming a full-time writer. Among them were stints as a foundry worker, truck driver, data entry clerk, dockworker, telemarketer, customer service representative, repo man, bouncer, disc jockey, salesman, store manager, daycare instructor, custodian, and more. In interviews, he credits this diverse background as the key to the characters that populate his books.^[2]

Bibliography

Novels

• The Rising (April 2003): Delirium Books.
  • (January 2004) Leisure Books.
• Terminal (June 2004): Bloodletting Press.
  • (June 2005): Bantam Spectra. Revised and expanded version of the Bloodletting Press edition.
• City of the Dead (January 2005): Delirium Books.
  • (June 2005) Leisure Books.
• The Conqueror Worms (May 2006): Leisure Books.
  • (September 2005) (first released in hardcover as Earthworm Gods): Delirium Books.
• Ghoul (February 2007) Leisure Books.
  • (March 2007): Delirium Books.
• Clickers II: The Next Wave (with J.F. Gonzalez) (April 2007) Delirium Books.
• Dead Sea (August 2007) Leisure Books.
  • (September 2007): Delirium Books.
• Shades, co-written with Geoff Cooper (November 2007): (Out of Print) Cemetery Dance Publications.
• Kill Whitey (April 2008): Cemetery Dance Publications.
• Dark Hollow (February 2008): Leisure Books.
  • (July 2006): (first released in hardcover as The Rutting Season) Bloodletting Press.
• Ghost Walk (August 2008): Leisure Books.
  • (September 2008): Delirium Books.
• Darkness On the Edge of Town (October 2008): Infernal House Press.
  • (February 2010): Leisure Books. Revised and expanded version of previous edition.
• Castaways (February 2009): Leisure Books.
  • (March 2009): Bloodletting Press.
• Urban Gothic (August 2009): Leisure Books.
• Clickers III: Dagon Rising (2010) Delirium Books.
• A Gathering of Crows (August 2010): Leisure Books.
• The Girl on the Glider (2010) Cemetery Dance Publications
• Entombed (2011) Deadite Press
• Take the Long Way Home (2011) Deadite Press
• Jack's Magic Beans (2011) Deadite Press
• Scratch (2011) Cemetery Dance Publications
• The Damned Highway (2012) Dark Horse Publishing
• Alone (2012) Thunderstorm Books
• Earthworm Gods II: Deluge (2013) Deadite Press
• Earthworm Gods: Selected Scenes From the End of the World (2013) Deadite Press
• Sundancing (2013) Thunderstorm Books
• The Rising: Selected Scenes From the End of the World (2013) Deadite Press
• Clickers vs. Zombies (2014) Deadite Press
• An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley (2014) Deadite Press
• Sixty-Five Stirrup Iron Road (2014) Deadite Press
• The Last of the Albatwitches (2015) Deadite Press
• The Lost Level (2015) Apex Publications
• King of the Bastards (2015) Apex Publications
• The Rising: Deliverance (2015) Deadite Press

Collections

• No Rest For The Wicked (2001): (Out of Print) Imaginary Worlds Publishing.
• No Rest For The Wicked Redux (October 2001): (Out of Print) Vox 13 Publishing.
• Fear of Gravity (2004) Delirium Books
• A Little Silver Book of Streetwise Stories (2007) Borderlands Press
• Unhappy Endings (2008) Delirium Books
• A Conspiracy of One (2012) Thunderstorm Books
• Blood on the Page (2014) Self-Published
• Apocrypha (2014) Thunderstorm Books
• Where We Live and Die (2015) Lazy Fascist Books

Novellas & novelettes

• Tequila's Sunrise (2007): Bloodletting Press.
• Redemption (with Shane Ryan Staley) (2008): HM Press.

Anthologies edited

• In Delirium (January 2006): (Delirium Books). Published as a 26-copy leather-bound and a hardcover 274-copy limited hardcover.
• New Dark Voices II (January 2009): (Delirium Books). Published as a hardcover 150-copy limited hardcover.

Awards

2001 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction (for "Jobs In Hell")^[3] 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in First Novel (for "The Rising")^[4] 2004 Shocker Award for Non-Fiction (for "Sympathy for the Devil")^[5] 2014 World Horror Grand Master Award^[6]

In 2004 and 2005, Keene spearheaded a Books For Troops program, in which various horror authors supplied free, signed books to American troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world. Keene was honored for this in 2005 by the 509th Logistics Fuels Flight Squadron based at Whiteman A.F.B. in Missouri.^[7]

In 2014, an American flag was flown in Keene's honor in Afghanistan and presented to him by the United States Army International Security Assistance Force.^[8]

Comics and graphic novels

In 2006, three stories from Keene's Fear of Gravity were adapted in the graphic novel Brian Keene's FEAR. The stories were "Castaways", "Red Wood", and the award-winning "The King, in: Yellow". In 2008, Marvel Comics announced that Keene would be writing for them. His first project for the company was the four-issue limited series for their MAX imprint: Dead of Night: Devil-Slayer.^[9] Keene wrote the 25-issue series "The Last Zombie" for Antarctic Press. Keene's work for DC Comics has included Doom Patrol, the 2010 "DCU Halloween Special", and "Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Hordak". He was originally part of the writing team for Future's End but left the project along with writer Greg Rucka, also walking away from writing Animal Man and Booster Gold.^[10]

Film adaptations

• In 2004, The Rising was optioned for film and videogame adaptations.
• In 2005, City of the Dead was optioned for the same.
• In 2006, the short story "The Ties That Bind" was optioned for film, and it had its world premiere on April 4, 2009 at the Garden State Film Festival.
• In 2009, Dark Hollow was optioned for film by director Paul Campion.^[11]
• Ghoul was made into a TV movie directed by Gregory Wilson and starring Nolan Gould^[12] and debuted on the Chiller Network on April 13, 2012.
• In 2011, Darkness at the Edge of Town was optioned, and Castaways was optioned by Drive-In Films.
• On May 1, 2013, the screenplay adaptation written by Robert A. Masciantonio based on the Castaways (novel) was made available to the public. The script can be downloaded and the reader may leave their input and vote via stars. Enough attention may get the attention of Amazon Studios for development.
• In July, 2015, a film adaptation of Keene's short story "Fast Zombies Suck" was released for free via YouTube.^[13]

Personal life

Keene currently lives in York, Pennsylvania.

Keene is actively involved in fundraising for the Scares That Care charitable organization.^[14]

References

External links

• Official website
• Brian Keene at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database