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Richard Chizmar

(Richard Thomas Chizmar)

(b.1965)

Richard Chizmar is the author of Gwendy's Button Box (with Stephen King) and A Long December, which was nominated for numerous awards. His fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and multiple editions of The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA's Board of Trustee's award. Chizmar’s work has been translated into many languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor. Please visit the author’s website at RichardChizmar.com.

Genres: Horror

New and upcoming books

September 2025

October Dreams II
(October Dreams, book 2)

Series

Shivers
   1. Shivers (2002)
   2. Shivers II (2003)
   3. Shivers III (2004)
   4. Shivers IV (2006)
   5. Shivers V (2008)
   6. Shivers VI (2010)
   7. Shivers VII (2013)
   8. Shivers VIII (2019)

Gwendy's Button Box Trilogy
   1. Gwendy's Button Box (2017) (with Stephen King)
   2. Gwendy's Magic Feather (2019)
   3. Gwendy's Final Task (2022) (with Stephen King)

Boogeyman
1. Chasing the Boogeyman (2021)
2. Becoming the Boogeyman (2023)

Novels

   Darkness Whispers (2017) (with Brian James Freeman)
   The Girl on the Porch (2019)
   Memorials (2024)

Collections

   Midnight Promises (1996)
   Monsters and Other Stories (1998)
   4 Fear of... (2006) (with others)
   Unearthed (2016) (with Ray Garton and Brian Keene)
   A Long December (2016)
   The Long Way Home (2018)
   When the Clock Strikes 13 (2019) (with others)

Novellas and Short Stories

   Dirty Coppers (2012) (with Ed Gorman)
   Devil's Night (2012)
   Brothers (2015) (with Ed Gorman)
   Widow's Point (2018) (with Billy Chizmar)
   The Washingtonians (2018) (with Bentley Little and Johnathan Schaech)
   The Man Behind the Mask (2024)

Anthologies edited

   Cold Blood (1991)
   Thrillers (1993)
   The Earth Strikes Back (1994)
   Screamplays (1997) (with Martin H Greenberg)
   Subterranean Gallery (1999) (with William Schafer)
   Trick or Treat (2001)
   Shocklines (2008) (with Matt Schwartz)
   In Laymon's Terms (2010) (with Steve Gerlach and Kelly Laymon)
   Cemetery Dance (2010)
   Turn Down The Lights (2013)
   Better Weird (2015) (with Brian James Freeman and Paul F Olson)
   Seasons of Terror (2022)

Anthology series

Best of Cemetery Dance
1. The Best of Cemetery Dance (1998)
2. The Best of Cemetery Dance, Volume 2 (2020)

October Dreams (with Robert Morrish)
1. October Dreams (2000)
2. October Dreams II (2025)

Dark Screams (with Brian James Freeman)
   1. Dark Screams: Volume One (2014)
   2. Dark Screams: Volume Two (2015)
   3. Dark Screams: Volume Three (2015)
   4. Dark Screams: Volume Four (2015)
   5. Dark Screams: Volume Five (2015)
   6. Dark Screams: Volume Six (2017)
   7. Dark Screams: Volume Seven (2017)
   8. Dark Screams: Volume Eight (2017)
   9. Dark Screams: Volume Nine (2018)
   10. Dark Screams: Volume Ten (2018)

Series contributed to

Night Visions
10. Night Visions 10 (2001)

Omnibus editions show

Books containing stories by Richard Chizmar

White Noise Press - The Chapbooks (2025)
edited by
Keith Minnion

The End of the World as We Know It (2025)
edited by
Christopher Golden and Brian Keene

Enter Boogeyman (2024)
edited by
Alessandro Manzetti

More books

Award nominations

	2023 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel (nominee) : Gwendy's Final Task
	2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection (nominee) : A Long December
	1997 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection (nominee) : Midnight Promises

Richard Chizmar recommends

Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World (2025)
Cullen Bunn
"Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World drew me in with its well-drawn characters and familiar small-town setting...and then it pounced on me in the dark and ambushed my sleep for several nights. Cullen Bunn has a knack for finding the soft spot of terror and driving the knife in deep. I finished reading this unforgettable chiller with blurry eyes and a pounding heart."

I'll Quit When I'm Dead (2025)
Luke Smitherd
"Luke Smitherd's I'LL QUIT WHEN I'M DEAD is a shadowy mirror maze of terror and suspense. Just when you think you know where it's going, you're blindsided by another shocking twist. I devoured it in two breathless sittings."

The October Film Haunt (2025)
Michael Wehunt
"Haunting, clever, and flat-out scary. I plan to read it again to figure out how Wehunt pulled it off."

The Unseen (2025)
Ania Ahlborn
"Haunting and unsettling, choked with tension, The Unseen takes you down a long, dark hallway of familial terror. Ania Ahlborn is horror's next superstar."

Of Flesh and Blood (2025)
Hunter Burke and N L Lavin
"Of Flesh and Blood transported me to the humid swamps of Louisiana and made me double-check my doors and windows. Genuinely scary and stuffed with surprises, I only hope that the inevitable film is half as good as the novel."

Polybius (2025)
Collin Armstrong
"POLYBIUS is a boiling hot witch's brew of 1980s nostalgia, small town horror, and video game lunacy. It's scary and smart and a whole lot of fun. Jam packed with memorable characters and moments of jaw dropping suspense, it's hard to believe it's a debut novel. Trust me, if you're a fan of Stephen King and STRANGER THINGS, then this is the book for you."

The Queen (2024)
Nick Cutter
"Nick Cutter is a spinner of nightmares and The Queen is his darkest magic trick yet. A nerve-shattering story of friendship and secrets, terror and revulsion, it's that rare gem of a horror novel that will touch your heart and then rip it right out of your chest, bloody and still beating. Don't miss this stunner!"

When the Night Falls (2024)
Glenn Rolfe
"Rolfe's writing is a wonderful throwback to the fun and bloody days of paperback horror glory."

Lost Man's Lane (2024)
Scott Carson
"Scott Carson has done it again. LOST MAN'S LANE is a richly imagined, terrifying trip down memory lane. High school keggers and small town legends, first loves and heartbreaks, serpents and secrets - it's all here in one action-packed story. Poignant, nostalgic, and profoundly unsettling, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Carson is a spellbinding storyteller and LOST MAN'S LANE is his best yet."

Maeve Fly (2023)
CJ Leede
"Maeve Fly is a revelation. It hurt to turn these pages, but I couldn't stop. Maeve is every beautiful nightmare you've ever dared to dream. An unforgettable read."

Dead Eleven (2023)
Jimmy Juliano
"Dead Eleven is a strikingly original treasure chest of horror, suspense and nostalgia. I've never read anything like it. Jimmy Juliano is a first-rate storyteller. I was spellbound from the opening page."

Ghost Eaters (2022)
Clay McLeod Chapman
"Clay McLeod Chapman is a weaver of nightmares and Ghost Eaters is his darkest creation yet. A non-stop thrill ride, all you can do is strap in and prepare to be haunted. Chapman is the 21st century's Richard Matheson. He's that good."

Kill All Your Darlings (2021)
David Bell
"Compulsively readable and jam-packed with more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS is first-rate literary entertainment. Suspenseful and surprising, I didn’t want it to end."

Come With Me (2021)
Ronald Malfi
"Shines as both a nightmare journey of shadows and secrets, and a poignant testimony to love and loss. I read it in a single day because I had no other choice: it’s that damn good."

The Children of Red Peak (2020)
Craig DiLouie
"Gripping, thought-provoking, and suspenseful, Craig DiLouie's latest is a master study of darkness and light and the meaning of life."

The Loop (2020)
Jeremy Robert Johnson
"The Loop is a wild and wonderfully scary novel—a genuine thrill ride stuffed with conspiracy theories, science gone wrong, and brutal terror."

The Extinction Agenda (2019)
(Extinction Agenda, book 1)
Michael Laurence
"Federal investigators, SWAT teams, mysterious entities, and catastrophic biological agents on the loose--The Extinction Agenda has it all! A roller coaster of nail-biting suspense, breathless action and dark intrigue, Michael Laurence has crafted a gem of a thrill ride!"

Sacculina (2017)
Philip Fracassi
"SACCULINA is a smart, terrifying, and poignant tale of creeping menace... this Fracassi guy is damn good."

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