Mort Castle

Mort Castle (born 1946) is an American author and editor best known for his horror fiction and his long-running contributions to the *Graphic Classics* comic series. A prolific writer with over 500 short stories and 17 books to his credit, his novels include *Cursed Be the Child* and *The Strangers*. Castle’s first novel was published in 1967, and his work has appeared in venues ranging from literary magazines to more unconventional markets.

Castle’s path into comics came through editing and scripting. He has been a regular contributor to Eureka Productions’ *Graphic Classics* since 2006, adapting works by Jack London, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, O. Henry, and others. In 2014, he scripted the Red Giant Entertainment comic *Darchon* for their *Giant-Size Thrills* horror title. His most credited comic work includes *Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury*, *Horror: The Illustrated Book of Fears*, *Monolith*, *Leatherface*, and *Vampire Girls: California 1969!*.

Beyond comics, Castle has been a high school English teacher, a stage hypnotist, a standup comic, and a musician. He taught writing at Columbia College Chicago and served as a writer-in-residence for two high schools. He edited the influential guide *Writing Horror*, which includes interviews with Stephen King and other top horror authors. Castle has been nominated eleven times for the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction and has won three times. He is Executive Editor of Thorby Comics and fiction editor for *Doorways Magazine*.