Hutson, Shaun 1958–

views updated

Hutson, Shaun 1958–

(Samuel P. Bishop, Nick Blake, Mike Dickinson, Clive Harold, Wolf Kruger, Tom Lambert, Robert Neville, Stefan Rostov, Frank Taylor)

PERSONAL: Born 1958, in Hertfordshire, England; married Belinda Hutson; children: one daughter. Hobbies and other interests: Cinema, rock music, soccer.

ADDRESSES: Home—Buckinghamshire, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Warner Books, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Worked variously as a doorman in a cinema, a shop assistant, and as a barman; full-time writer, 1983–. Former host, Monsters of Rock, Sky TV.

WRITINGS:

HORROR AND GOTHIC NOVELS

The Skull, Hamlyn (London, England), 1982, Leisure (New York, NY), 1989.

Slugs, Star (London, England), 1982, Leisure (New York, NY), 1987.

Spawn, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1983, Leisure (New York, NY), 1988.

Erebus, Star (London, England), 1984, Leisure (New York, NY), 1988.

Shadows, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1985, Leisure (New York, NY), 1990.

Breeding Ground ("Slugs" series), W. H. Allen (London, England), 1985, Leisure (New York, NY), 1990.

Relics, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1986.

(Under name Robert Neville) Deathday, Star (London, England), 1987, Leisure (New York, NY), 1989.

Victims, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1987.

Assassin, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1988.

Nemesis, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1989.

Renegades ("Sean Doyle" series), Macdonald (London, England), 1991.

Captives, Macdonald (London, England), 1991.

Heathen, Little, Brown (London, England), 1992.

Deadhead, Little, Brown (London, England), 1993.

White Ghost ("Sean Doyle" series), Little, Brown (London, England), 1994.

Lucy's Child, Little, Brown (London, England), 1995.

Stolen Angels, Little, Brown (London, England), 1996.

Knife Edge, Little, Brown (London, England), 1997.

Purity, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 1998.

Warhol's Prophecy, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1999.

Exit Wounds, Prometheus Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Compulsion, Macmillan (New York, NY), 2001.

Hybrid, Macmillan (New York, NY), 2002.

Hell to Pay, Macmillan (New York, NY), 2003.

Necessary Evil, Macmillan (New York, NY), 2004.

GENRE NOVELS

(Under name Clive Harold) the Uninvited, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1979.

(Under name Wolf Kruger) Sledgehammer, Hale (London, England), 1982.

(Under name Wolf Kruger) Convoy of Steel, Hale (London, England), 1982.

(Under name Wolf Kruger) Kessler's Raid, Hale (London, England), 1982.

(Under name Wolf Kruger) Blood and Honour, Hale (London, England), 1982.

(Under name Stefan Rostov) Sabres in the Snow, Hale (London, England), 1983.

(Under name Wolf Kruger) Men of Blood, Hale (London, England), 1984.

(As Nick Blake) Chainsaw Massacre, Star (London, England), 1984.

The Terminator (novelization of screenplay), W. H. Allen (London, England), 1984.

(As Frank Taylor) The Uninvited II: The Visitation, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1984.

No Survivors, Hale (London, England), 1985.

(As Frank Taylor) The Uninvited III: The Abduction, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1985.

(As Samuel P. Bishop) Track, Covered Wagon (New York, NY), 1986.

(As Samuel P. Bishop) Partners in Death, Covered Wagon (New York, NY), 1986.

Taken by Force, Hale (London, England), 1987.

(As Samuel P. Bishop) Apache Gold, Covered Wagon (New York, NY), 1988.

Swords of Vengeance, W. H. Allen (London, England), 1988.

OTHER

My Dad Doesn't Even Notice (for children), Deutsch (London, England), 1982.

My Brother's Silly (for children), Deutsch (London, England), 1983.

The Rambling Rat (for children), Deutsch (London, England), 1985.

Smudge (for children), Deutsch (London, England), 1987.

Also author of Slugs: The Movie, a screenplay based on his novel, 1987. Regular contributor to magazines, including Raw and Kerrang.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Twisted, for Warner Books.

SIDELIGHTS: British horror and suspense writer Shaun Hutson has published more than fifty books, using his own name as well as a variety of pseudonyms. Hutson's early work is most often classified in the horror genre, his plots relying on supernatural forces and grotesque imagery to capture the attention of his readers. As his career has progressed, Huston's writing has likewise evolved, and his more recent fiction incorporates mystery and suspense techniques, melding them with the horror genre he previously mastered. In addition to novels, Hutson has written for radio, television, and magazines, as well as for the Internet. His early horror novel Slugs, was made into a 1988 movie, for which Hutson wrote the screenplay; a prolific writer, he reportedly penned the novelization of the popular film The Terminator in ten days.

Warhol's Prophecy tells the story of a young girl who wanders away from her mother and is eventually found by a man who subsequently develops a relationship with the child's mother. At the same time, the woman's husband is already embroiled in his own extramarital affair. David Mathew, in an online review for Infinity Plus, wrote that the novel "can be speed-read by a reviewer in an hour, or thereabouts, or it can be enjoyed for its sex and violence and unpretentiousness—its single-sentence paragraphs—by the author's more regular followers."

Hybrid follows a best-selling author who is struggling to write while facing an endless stream of petty difficulties. Suddenly, new pages of a novel begin to appear on his computer each morning, despite the fact that he shuts down the machine each night. In a review for the Counterculture Web site, Sion Smith called Hybrid "disjoined," adding that "while the premise of the story is great in theory, in practice it's a bit tainted." In contrast, Hutson's novel Victims, which focuses on the idea that some people attract the attention of murderers due to their behavioral quirks, was praised by a St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, and Gothic Writers essayist as a "tour de force" and one of the "strongest performances" from an author "with his finger on the pulse of modern horror fiction publishing."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, and Gothic Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998.

ONLINE

Counterculture, http://www.counterculture.co.uk/ (April 20, 2005), Sion Smith, review of Hybrid.

Infinityplus, http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/ (April 20, 2005), David Mathew, review of Warhol's Prophecy.

More From encyclopedia.com