Alma mater Butler University Name J. Williamson | Role Horror novel writer | |
 | ||
Born April 17, 1932
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States ( 1932-04-17 ) Occupation Novelist, short story writer, editor, journalist Genre Horror, fantasy, science fiction, gothic, dark fantasy Died December 8, 2005, Noblesville, Indiana, United States Education Shortridge High School, Butler University Awards Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement Nominations Locus Award for Best Anthology, World Fantasy Award for Best Novella, Locus Award for Best Non-Fiction Books Dark Masques, Darker Masques, How to Write Tales of Horror, Frights of Fancy, The Longest Night Similar People James Herbert, F Paul Wilson, Stephen King, Joe R Lansdale, George Alec Effinger | ||
80s Horror Paperback Review - The Longest Night
Gerald "Jerry" Neal Williamson (April 17, 1932 - December 8, 2005) was an American horror writer and editor known under the name J. N. Williamson. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana he graduated from Shortridge High School. He studied journalism at Butler University. He published his first novel in 1979 and went on to publish more than 40 novels and 150 short stories. In 2003 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers of America. He edited the critically acclaimed How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction (1987) which covered the themes of such writing and cited the writings of such writers as Robert Bloch, Lee Prosser, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, William F. Nolan, and Stephen King. Many important writers in the genre contributed to the book. Williamson edited the popular anthology series, Masques. Some of his novels include The Ritual (1979), Playmates (1982), Noonspell (1991), The Haunt (1999), among others.
Williamson recalled in a 2003 interview that his first work of fiction was a Sherlock Holmes pastiche called "The Terrible Death of Crosby, The Banker."