Dennis Etchison

Noted horror author and editor Dennis William Etchison was born on March 30, 1943 in Stockton, California. Etchison graduated from Lynwood High in Lynwood, California in 1961 and went on to attend both Los Angeles State College and the University of California in Los Angeles. Dennis worked a variety of part-time jobs that include several years as a gas station attendant in Malibu, California while writing his early short stories on the side in the 1960's and became a full-time writer in 1976. Etchison's original novels include "Darkside" (1986), "Shadowman" (1993), "California Gothic" (1995), and "Double Edge" (1996). His short stories were collected in the anthology compilations "The Dark Country" (1982), "Red Dreams" (1984), "The Blood Kiss" (1988), "The Death Artist" (1999), "Talking in the Dark" (2001), "Fine Cuts" (2006), "Got to Kill Them All & Other Stories" (2009), and "A Long Time Til Morning" (2014). Moreover, Dennis also served as an editor for the anthologies "Cutting Edge" (1986), three volumes of the "Masters of Darkness" series (1986, 1988, and 1991), "Lord John Ten: A Celebration" (1988), the World Fantasy Award winners "MetaHorror" (1992) and "The Museum of Horrors" (2001), and "Gathering the Bones" (2006). His short stories "The Olympic Runner" (1986) and "The Dog Park" (1993) both won British Fantasy Awards while "The Dark Country" (1981) won both the British Fantasy and World Fantasy Awards. In addition, Etchison was the recipient of a Bram Stoker Award for lifetime achievement in 2017. He also taught creative writing as well as wrote for television. Etchison died at age 76 on May 28, 2019. He was survived by his wife, Kristina.