Hodge, Brian 1960- (Brian Keith Hodge)

views updated

Hodge, Brian 1960- (Brian Keith Hodge)

PERSONAL:

Born 1960; companion of Dolly Nickel. Hobbies and other interests: Photography, music, and hiking.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Boulder, CO. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author. Has previously worked in the advertising department of a newspaper.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Bram Stoker award nomination, 1993, for Death Grip, 1995, for novelette The Alchemy of the Throat, 1997, for The Convulsion Factory, and 1998, for short story "Madame Babylon"; International Horror Guild Award for outstanding short fiction, 2004, for "With Acknowledgments to Sun Tzu."

WRITINGS:

Dark Advent (novel), Pinnacle Books (New York, NY), 1988.

Oasis (novel), Tor (New York, NY), 1989.

Nightlife (horror novel), Dell Publishing (New York, NY), 1991.

Deathgrip (novel), Dell Publishing (New York, NY), 1992.

The Darker Saints (horror novel), Dell Publishing (New York, NY), 1993.

Shrines and Desecrations (stories), TAL Publications (Leesburg, VA), c. 1994.

Prototype (novel), Dell Publishing (New York, NY), 1996.

The Convulsion Factory (stories), Silver Salamander Press (Seattle, WA), 1996.

Falling Idols (stories), limited edition, Silver Salamander Press (Seattle, WA), 1998.

Wild Horses (novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 1999.

Lies & Ugliness (novel; includes music CD Inkarnate), limited edition, Night Shade Books (San Francisco, CA), 2001.

On Earth as It Is in Hell ("Hellboy" series; novel), Pocket (London, England), 2005.

World of Hurt (novel), limited edition, Earthling (Northborough, MA), 2006.

Mad Dogs (novel), Cemetery Dance (Forest Hill, MD), 2006.

Contributor to "Hellboy" series of books. Work represented in anthologies.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nominated for several Bram Stoker Awards, Brian Hodge is the author of horror and crime fiction. In his novel Nightlife, Hodge tells the story of a green powder called skullflush that can turn its users into human versions of wild beasts who go on killing rampages. When the drug is smuggled from the Venezuelan mountains to the United States, a Yanomamo warrior named Kerebawa comes to America to retrieve the drug, but not before various people find out its effects too late. Wild Horses features Allison Willoughby, who, after discovering that her lover has cheated on her, begins a cross-country trip. Allison does not realize, however, that she has left with some of her boyfriend's extremely valuable computer files. The files actually belong to some tough thugs, who set out after her. Noting that Hodge provides "action tough and dirty," Nancy McNicol also wrote in her Library Journal review that the author has "an amazingly delicate touch … [with] the vulnerable aspects of his characters." A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that Hodge's "well-drawn criminals make a memorable batch of bottom-feeders."

In his short-story collection Lies & Ugliness, Hodge presents twenty-one horror stories focusing on the erotic. His tales feature a wide range of well-known horror figures, including Vlad the Impaler, Grendel, and the Green Man. In a review for Booklist, Ray Olson felt that since the author "writes bright, sassy prose, suspending disbelief is usually a pleasure." A Publishers Weekly contributor commented that "readers will have to look far to find a more thoughtful and thought-provoking collection of dark fantasies."

Hodge writes of fame gone bad in his novel Mad Dogs. When a cop mistakenly identifies unknown actor Jamey Sheppard as the criminal Duncan MacGregor, whom Jamey played on America's Most Wanted, the cop accidentally dies while trying to arrest the actor. As a result, Jamey finds himself pursued by both the law and Duncan as he tries to clear his name. A Publishers Weekly contributor appreciated the author's "acidic commentary on ‘reality crime,’" while Booklist critic David Pitt called Mad Dogs a "big, fast-paced thriller."

In his novel World of Hurt, Hodge takes a closer, somewhat skewed look at heaven in a story about a Gnostic avatar who gathers the souls of people who have had near-death experiences. "Hodge manages to combine fragility and sheer terror, to erect tender emotions and then rend them from the flesh of his characters," wrote a contributor to the Agony Column Book Reviews and Commentary Web site.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2002, Ray Olson, review of Lies & Ugliness, p. 1938; November 15, 2006, David Pitt, review of Mad Dog, p. 34.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1999, review of Wild Horses, p. 167.

Kliatt, November, 1993, Melinda D. Waugh, review of The Darker Saints, pp. 7-8.

Library Journal, February 15, 1999, Nancy McNicol, review of Wild Horses, p. 183.

Locus, February, 1991, Faren Miller, review of Nightlife, pp. 15, 60; September, 1993, Edward Bryant, review of The Darker Saints, pp. 19, 21; June, 1999, Edward Bryant, review of Wild Horses, pp. 27-28, 61.

Publishers Weekly, February 1, 1991, Penny Kaganoff, review of Nightlife, p. 78; February 8, 1999, review of Wild Horses, p. 196; August 5, 2002, review of Lies & Ugliness, p. 57; June 19, 2006, review of World of Hurt, p. 45; October 2, 2006, review of Mad Dogs, p. 41.

Science Fiction Chronicle, June, 1991, D. D'Ammassa, review of Nightlife, p. 34; October, 1992, D. D'Ammassa, review of Deathgrip, p. 33; October, 1993, D. D'Ammassa, review of The Darker Saints, p. 39.