Chizmar, Richard T(homas) 1965-

views updated

CHIZMAR, Richard T(homas) 1965-

PERSONAL:

Born 1965; married; wife's name Kara; children: Noah. Education: University of Maryland, degree in journalism, 1989.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Baltimore, MD. Office—c/o Author Mail, Cemetery Dance Publications, 132-B Industry Lane, Unit 7, Forest Hill, MD 21050. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Cemetery Dance Publications, Forest Hill, MD, founder, editor-in-chief, and publisher, 1988—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Nominated, World Fantasy Award, 1997, for Midnight Promises; International Horror Guild Award, for October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween.

WRITINGS:

Midnight Promises (short stories), Gauntlet Press (Springfield, PA), 1996.

Also author of over fifty published short stories.

EDITOR

Cold Blood, Mark V. Ziesing (Shingletown, CA), 1991.

The Earth Strikes Back: New Tales of Ecological Horror, Mark V. Ziesing (Shingletown, CA), 1994.

Thrillers, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 1994.

Screamplays, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Monsters and Other Stories, Subterranean Press (Burton, MI), 1998.

(With William Schafer) Subterranean Gallery, Subterranean Press (Burton, MI), 1999.

(With Robert Morrish) October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2000.

The Best of Cemetery Dance, ROC (New York, NY), 2001.

Night Visions 10, Subterranean Press (Burton, MI), 2001.

Trick or Treat: A Collection of Halloween Novellas, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2001.

Shivers, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2002.

Shivers II, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2003.

(With Matt Schwartz) Shocklines: Fresh Voices in Terror, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2004.

Cemetery Dance—A Fifteen Year Celebration, Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2004.

Editor and publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and Crave Tales comic book.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A Long December, a dark suspense novel.

SIDELIGHTS:

Editor and author Richard T. Chizmar became a fan of horror tales when a high school teacher had the class read a story by Stephen King. Thereafter, Chizmar was hooked on the genre. In 1988, while still a journalism student at the University of Maryland, Chizmar began an underground horror magazine called Cemetery Dance. He chose tales for his publication that blended horror "with a strong dose of mystery and suspense and wonder," as noted on the Cemetery Dance Publications Web site. The first issue came out in December 1988 and included stories, interviews, and reviews on the theme of horror fiction and horror writers. A year later the magazine went from black and white to two-color and contained contributions from popular writers such as Ray Garton, Richard Christian Matheson, and David Schow.

Graduating from college in 1989, Chizmar decided to turn his hobby into a real job, upping the frequency of publication of Cemetery Dance from twice a year to quarterly and the page numbers per issue to at least one hundred. Soon his magazine circulation hit ten thousand, and big names such as Stephen King began to publish in its pages. Cemetery Dance Publication's book imprint started up in 1992 with the short story collection Prisoners and Other Stories by Ed Gorman. Writing on the Cemetery Dance Publications Web site, Chizmar explained this expansion: "The book imprint came about for pretty much the same reason the magazine did four years earlier. I saw an opportunity to put some of my favorite authors in hardcover and the temptation was too much to resist." Chizmar learned the ropes of specialty publishing as he went along, initially putting out only two or three hardcover titles a year. Then media notice was given his upstart publishing house by publications such as Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and soon the imprint attracted big names, including Ray Bradbury, William Peter Blatty, Peter Straub, and Dean Koontz. The house soon was publishing over ten titles each year and had evolved, as a contributor for Publishers Weekly noted, "into arguably the nation's most influential publisher of horror and other dark fiction."

Chizmar also became respected as an editor of horror anthologies, which were published by his own house and other publishers. His award-winning editorial career began with the 1991 collection Cold Blood. With The Earth Strikes Back: An Anthology of Ecological Horror, Chizmar gathered twenty tales of toxic disaster and environmental degradation from authors as varied as Poppy Z. Brite and Charles de Lint. The result was not the usual didactic, preaching tome on environmentalism; according to a Publishers Weekly critic, "almost every story is pleasantly creepy" in this "fantastic" collection. In a similar vein, Don D'Ammassa, writing in the Science Fiction Chronicle, called the book an "excellent … collection about ecological horrors and disasters."

With The Best of Cemetery Dance, Chizmar celebrated almost a decade of publishing his magazine with an anthology culling some of the best contributions to Cemetery Dance. Stephen King's "Chattery Teeth" begins this collection of sixty tales from the first twenty-five issues of Chizmar's magazine. Other contributors include Dean Koontz, Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterton, and Rick Hautala in a "primer for learning what horror and dark suspense are all about," as Ray Olson noted in a Booklist review. For Olson, the "bone-chilling fantasy stories are escapist reading at its best." Laudatory remarks also came from a Publishers Weekly critic, who called the collection "hefty and satisfying," as well as an "embarrassment of riches about which everyone can be proud."

For Subterranean Publishers, Chizmar has also edited popular anthologies, including Subterranean Gallery, in collaboration with fellow editor William Schafer, and Night Vision 10. Reviewing the former title, a critic for Publishers Weekly noted that this collection of tales from Gorman, Norman Partridge, Douglas Clegg, Ray Garton, David B. Silva, and Richard Laymon should be read by "anyone interested in the darker corners of genre lit." The work of Jack Ketchum, John B. Shirley, and Silva are featured in Night Vision 10, a reprise of a series title published in the 1980s by Dark Harvest. A contributor for Publishers Weekly called Chizmar's effort "a fine return, dipping lightly into a wide pool of horror styles and themes."

Halloween is the theme of other anthologies from Chizmar. October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween, with fifty different contributors who supply stories and personal Halloween memories, is "a behemoth about Halloween," according to a critic for Kirkus Reviews. Edited with Robert Morrish, the book was the "most enjoyable horror anthology of the year," as a contributor for Publishers Weekly noted. The same reviewer went on to comment that October Dreams "is the most impressive Halloween anthology in memory," and D'Ammassa, of the Science Fiction Chronicle, observed that the book is "more than just a collectors' item, it's also a good read." Trick or Treat: A Collection of Halloween Novellas reprises the Halloween theme with novellas from five authors, but a reviewer for Publishers Weekly found these a "mixed bag," and "not up to their authors' usual standards." Shivers and Shivers II continues the spooky story motif. Reviewing Shivers, which contains contributions from Al Sarrantonio, Thomas F. Montelone, and Simon Clark, among others, a writer for Publishers Weekly felt that the "diversity of contents and writing talents ensures something to suit each horror reader's tastes."

Chizmar turned author with Midnight Promises, his first collection of sixteen stories with tales of crime, mystery, and horror. A reviewer for Publishers Weeklythought the stories in this "sterling collection" are "skilled variations on classic themes." The reviewer had special praise for the tale "The Silence of Sorrow," which was deemed an "understated masterpiece" about child abuse. D'Ammassa also praised Chizmar's book in the Science Fiction Chronicle, calling the author a "talented writer of dark suspense fiction."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1998, Ray Olson, review of The Best of Cemetery Dance, p. 896.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 1998, review of The Best of Cemetery Dance, p. 71; November 1, 2000, review of October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween, p. 1516.

Library Journal, March 15, 1998, Jackie Cassada, review of The Best of Cemetery Dance, p. 99.

Locus, February, 1995, Charles N. Brown and Carolyn Cushman, review of The Earth Strikes Back: New Tales of Ecological Horror, p. 55.

Publishers Weekly, March 25, 1996, review of The Earth Strikes Back, p. 81; April 15, 1996, review of Midnight Promises, p. 52; January 26, 1998, review of The Best Cemetery of Dance, p. 71; June 7, 1999, review of Subterranean Gallery, p. 77; April 24, 2000, "PW Talks with Richard Chizmar," p. 66; October 16, 2000, review of October Dreams, p. 54; March 26, 2001, review of Night Visions 10, p. 68; October 8, 2001, review of Trick or Treat: A Collection of Halloween Novellas, p. 50; November 25, 2002, review of Shivers, p. 47.

Science Fiction Chronicle, October, 1996, Don D'Ammassa, review of The Earth Strikes Back, p. 80; June, 1997, Don D'Ammassa, review of Midnight Promises, p. 45; April, 1998, Don D'Ammassa, review of Screamplays, p. 58; October, 2000, Don D'Ammassa, review of October Dreams, p. 57.