Pen name A. J. Matthews Role Fiction writer Name Rick Hautala | Period 1980–2013 Occupation Writer, screenwriter Education University of Maine | |
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Born Richard Andrew Hautala
February 3, 1949
Rockport, Massachusetts, U.S. ( 1949-02-03 ) Genre horror fiction, speculative fiction Died March 21, 2013, Westbrook, Maine, United States Movies Peekers, The Weeping Woman Influenced by Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, William Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne Books Cold Whisper, The Wildman, The Mountain King, Star Road: A Novel, Bedbugs Similar People Kealan Patrick Burke, Stephen King, Christopher Golden, Ray Bradbury, F Paul Wilson | ||
Rick Hautala (February 3, 1949 – March 21, 2013) was an American speculative fiction and horror writer. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1974 where he received a Master of Art in English Literature. Rick arrived on the horror scene in 1980 with many of his early novels published by Zebra books. He has written and published over 90 novels and short stories since the early 1980s. Many of his books have been translated to other languages and sold internationally. Cold Whisper, published in October, 1991 by Zebra Books, Inc. was also published in Finnish as Haamu by Werner Söderström, Helsinki, Finland, in August, 1994. Recently he has published many of his works with specialty press and small press publishers like Cemetery Dance Publications and Dark Harvest. His novel The Wildman (2008), was chosen to be Full Moon Press' debut limited edition title.
Rick Hautala's third novel, 1986's Night Stone[1], was one of the first books to feature a holographic cover and it became an international best-seller, selling well over one million copies. "Knocking" was a part of the Bram Stoker Award winning anthology 999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense ("Best Anthology of 1999"). His short story collection, Bedbugs (1999) was selected by Barnes & Noble as one of the most distinguished horror publications of the year 2000.
Rick Hautala also wrote screenplays. His most recent 2008 adaptation of award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke's "Peekers" is currently on the film festival circuit. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2007 short film Dead@17 based on Josh Howard's graphic novel series of the same name, and The Ugly File, directed by Mark Steensland, based on the short story by Ed Gorman.
The Horror Writers Association gave him and Joe R. Lansdale the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement for 2011, which they received at the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet in Salt Lake City, Utah on 31 March 2012.
He died of a heart attack on the 21st of March 2013.
