Horror Pseudonyms

Like any genre, horror fiction has its share of pseudonymous authors. Some of these are well known, such as the use of the name Richard Bachman by Stephen King, but many are more obscure.

Here's an attempt to list as many pseudonyms as possible of writers working in the horror genre on one single page, for reference purposes. The books mentioned are unlikely to be complete bibliographies, though I've tried to be as complete as possible with pseudonymous works.

Please mail me with corrections or if you know further pseudonyms that I've missed.

Marc Alexander

Marc Alexander wrote a number of nasties for Hamlyn Horror under the pseudonym of Mark Ronson, including Bloodthirst (1979), Ghoul and Ogre (both 1980) and The Plague Pit (1981). He also wrote a calmer work, Whispering Corner (1989) and a novel called The Dark Domain, about which I know nothing.

C Dean Andersson

The pseudonym Asa Drake belongs mostly to C Dean Andersson, though two of the five books bearing the name were co-written by Nina Romberg. Together they wrote Crimson Kisses (1981) and The Lair of Ancient Dreams (1982), but three fantasy novels were solo efforts. C Dean Andersson also wrote novels under his real name, such as the Dallas trilogy of Torture Tomb (1987), Raw Pain Max (1988) and Fiend (1994). Other horror novels include I am Dracula (1993), I am Frankenstein and Buried Screams. All this is confirmed at C Dean Andersson's official website.

Michael Avallone

The veteran writer Michael Avallone used many pseudonyms and house names over a long career, including Sydney Stuart for a horror novel called The Night Walker.

W Howard Baker

W Howard Baker used a number of other names. As W A Ballinger he wrote Drums of the Dark Gods (1966), and using the house name Peter Saxon he wrote two entries in the Guardians series, The Killing Bone (1968) and Vampire's Moon (1972). He also wrote under his real name in other genres.

Dulan Barber

Dulan Barber was behind a series of horror novels in the eighties under the pseudonym of Owen Brookes. These include Inheritance and The Widow of Ratchets (both 1980), The Gatherer (1982), Deadly Communion (1984), Forget-Me-Knots (1986) and The Touch (date unknown).

Edwina Berkman

The string of novels throughout the 80s and 90s under the pseudonym of Dana Reed were the work of Edwina Berkman. These include Deathbringer (1984), The Gatekeeper (1987), The Summoning (1988), Hellborn (1990), Demon Within (1993), as well as Margo and Sister Satan for which I have no date.

Campbell Black

The versatile writer Campbell Black has used a couple of pseudonyms in his time. As Jeffrey Campbell he wrote The Homing (1980), and as Thomas Altman, he wrote a string of eighties horror novels including Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1980), The True Bride (1982), Black Christmas and Dark Places (both 1984) and The Intruder (1985). He also wrote under his own name.

John Brosnan

Australian John Brosnan has been responsible for some of the most interesting pseudonyms in horror. He was both Simon Ian Childer and Harry Adam Knight, sometimes in conjunction with LeRoy Kettle. The initials read SIC and HAK, which fit the material they were writing. He was also half of James Blackstone, with John Baxter.

Ramsey Campbell

Ramsey Campbell is one of the most highly regarded English authors working in the horror genre. In his early days, however, he wrote a trio of novelisations as Carl Dreadstone: The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula's Daughter and The Wolfman (all 1977). As Jay Ramsey, he also wrote Claw (1983) which was rereleased as Night of the Claw (1985). J is his first initial.

Eli Cantor

The novels The Rite (1979) and The Nest (1980) carried the name of Gregory A Douglas, a pseudonym for Eli Cantor.

Douglas Clegg

Douglas Clegg has written a number of well regarded horror novels under his own name, such as Ghost Dance (1990), but he also wrote Bad Karma as Andrew Harper.

Rex Dolphin

Rex Dolphin was another writer to use the Peter Saxon house name. He wrote one of the best Guardians novels, The Vampires of Finistère (1968).

Daniel Easterman

The highly regarded thriller writer Daniel Easterman wrote some intriguing horror novels as Jonathan Aycliffe, including The Vanishment (1994), The Matrix (1995) and Naomi's Room and Whispers in the Dark, for which I have no date.

Peter Berresford Ellis

The long string of horror novels under the name of Peter Tremayne were the work of noted historian Peter Berresford Ellis. These include a Dracula trilogy: Dracula Unborn (1977), The Revenge of Dracula (1978) and Dracula, My Love (1980); a Frankenstein novel, Hound of Frankenstein (1977); and an Allan Quatermain sequel called The Vengeance of She (1978). The rest mostly have their roots in mythology: The Ants and Curse of Loch Ness (both 1979), Zombie! (1981), The Morgow Rises! (1982), Snowbeast! (1983), Kiss of the Cobra (1984), Angelus! (1985), Nicor! and Trollnight (both 1987). Ellis also published fantasy under this pseudonym.

Christopher Evans

According to Trash Fiction, Christopher Evans was the man behind Plasmid, a novelisation of a film that never happened. The name on the cover was Jo Gannon, but the title page proclaims 'a novelisation by Robert Knight, based on the screenplay by Jo Gannon'. Whichever, it's Christopher Evans.

Dennis Etchison

Dennis Etchison has written plenty of varied work under his own name but wrote most of his novelisations as Jack Martin. These include Halloween II (1981), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) and Videodrome (1983).

Stephen D Frances

Stephen D Frances also wrote under the Peter Saxon house name, though he didn't write Guardians books. He was responsible for The Disorientated Man (which was filmed as Scream and Scream Again, the book's subsequent title for rerelease), and Black Honey and Corruption (both 1968). Corruption was also filmed.

David Garnett

David Garnett used the name David Ferring for his novelisation of The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984).

Stephen R George

The 80s and 90s saw many books carrying the name of Stephen R George. He was also responsible for Mirror, Mirror, as Valerie Stephens, and Seeing Eye (1995) and Nightlife (1996), both as Jack Ellis.

Scott Grønmark

Scott Grønmark wrote the horror novel Steel Gods (1990), as well as plenty more under the pseudonym Nick Sharman. These include The Cats (date unknown), Childmare, The Scourge and The Surrogate (all 1980), Judgement Day (1982), The Switch (1984) and You're Next (1986). I have also been told that he was responsible for Eat Them Alive, under the pseudonym of Pierce Nace but Grønmark himself denies this in an e-mail to Jim McLennan of Trash City.

Robert Holdstock

Robert Holdstock is a much lauded writer working mostly in the fantasy genre, but wrote a few horror novels too, as Robert Black: The Legend of the Werewolf (1976), Death Angel (1988) and The Satanists (date unknown). He was Robert Faulcon for the six books of the Nighthunter series: The Stalking, The Talisman and The Ghost Dance (all 1983), The Shrine (1984) and The Hexing (both 1984) and The Labyrinth (1987). In the fantasy genre, he was half of Richard Kirk (the other half was Angus Wells). They co-wrote the first book in the Raven series and then alternated authorship of the rest.

Shaun Hutson

The name of Shaun Hutson will be well known to horror fans. He has also worked under many pseudonyms, some of which he refuses to make public. Those that are known about include Nick Blake for Chainsaw Terror (1984), which was rereleased in a heavily censored form as Come the Night (1985); and Frank Taylor for The Visitation (1984) and The Abduction (1985), which were sequels to The Uninvited, a 'supposedly true story' by Clive Harold. All these are confirmed at Shaun Hutson's official website, along with many other non-horror books under other pseudonyms. Some bibliography sites, such as Fantastic Fiction list Hutson's novel Deathday as having been released first under the name of Robert Neville in 1986.

Christopher Hyde

Christopher Hyde made his name writing a long line of horror thrillers, but he also wrote a book called Locksley as Nicholas Chase.

Laurence James

The former NEL editor Laurence James wrote many books in many genres, sometimes under his own name but more often using pseudonyms. In the horror genre, he wrote The City (1986) and its sequel The Farm as Richard Haigh, and the eight novels with lurid covers in the Witches series as James Darke. These include The Prisoner, The Trial and The Torture (all 1983), The Escape (1984), The Meeting and The Killing (1985), and The Feud and The Plague (both 1986). Both of these series featured characters based on the novelist Guy N Smith.

Garry Kilworth

Garry Kilworth is one of the most versatile and respected writers working today. He has published books in many genres, including horror, where he also wrote The Street (date unknown) as Garry Douglas.

Stephen King

Richard Bachman is probably the most well known pseudonym in modern fiction. Stephen King wrote a number of his shorter works under this name, including Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981), The Running Man (1982) and Thinner (1984).

Dean R Koontz

Other well known pseudonyms today belong to Dean R Koontz, now working without his middle initial. They are well known because most, if not all, of his pseudonymous work has been rereleased under his real name. As K R Dwyer (note the reversal of initials), he wrote Chase (1972), Shattered (1973) and The Face of Fear (1978); as Owen West he wrote The Funhouse (1980) and The Mask (1981); and as Leigh Nichols he wrote The Key to Midnight (1979), The House of Thunder (1982), The Servants of Twilight (1984) and The Eyes of Darkness (date unknown).

R Karl Largent

R Karl Largent mostly worked under his own name, but also wrote The Nightmare Continues (1991) as Robin Karl.

André Launay

André Launay wrote a novel called The Latchkey Children. As Drew Lamark he also wrote The Snake Orchards (1982) and The Medusa Horror (1983).

Richard Laymon

Richard Laymon was one of the highest selling horror authors in England for many years, working mostly under his own name. However he also wrote Tread Softly (1987) and the wonderful Midnight's Lair under the pseudonym Richard Kelly. He also wrote 'young adult' horror under the name Carl Laymon, including Your Secret Admirer (1980) and Nightmare Lake (1983).

Gene Lazuta

Gene Lazuta, the author of Blood Flies (1990) also wrote a novel called The Shinglo (date unknown) using the pseudonym Alex Kane.

Norah Lofts

Norah Lofts, the highly respected writer of historical fiction, also wrote horror novels. Some were under her own name but The Devil's Own (1960), and The Little Wax Doll and The Witches (dates unknown) were under the name of Peter Curtis.

Christopher Lowder

I know the name Jack Hamilton Teed from the horror novel The Blood of Dracula for Mills & Boon, as well as other non-horror works such as the Gunships series. BookIT (link expired) listed Christopher Lowder as the name behind Teed on the Gunships books, so it's at least a good possibility that he also wrote the Dracula book too.

Graham Masterton

The prolific and successful novelist Graham Masterton wrote a whole slew of novels, mostly horror, under his own name. He also used Thomas Luke for The Hell Candidate and the novelisation of John Huston's Phobia (both 1980).

Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson is a well known name to both horror and fantasy readers, having written the classics I am Legend (1956) and The Shrinking Man, among others. He also used the name Logan Swanson for the novel Earthbound (1982).

Michael McDowell

Michael McDowell, writer of the Blackwater series, also wrote a couple of novels as Axel Young, namely Blood Rubies and Wicked Stepmother (both 1982).

Neil McMahon

Daniel Rhodes, who wrote Next, After Lucifer (1987) and its sequel Adversary (1989), as well as Kiss of Death (1990), was the pseudonym of Neil McMahon.

Wilfred McNeilly

Wilfred McNeilly was yet another writer to use the Peter Saxon house name, writing The Darkest Night and Dark Ways to Death (both 1966), Satan's Child and The Torturer (both 1967) and The Haunting of Alan Mais (1969). As Errol Lecale he also wrote the six books in The Specialist series: Tigerman of Terrahpur (1973), Castledoom, The Severed Hand and The Death Box (all 1974), and Zombie and Blood of My Blood (both 1975).

James Moffatt

James Moffatt is one of the most prolific novelists of all time, writing books in almost every conceivable genre. As a horror writer he wrote The Naked Light (1970) and the novelisation of the unmade film Queen Kong (1977), as well as a couple of flamboyant titles under the pseudonym Etienne Aubin. These were Dracula and the Virgins of the Undead and The Terror of the Seven Crypts (both 1974).

Kim Newman

Though already well regarded as a film critic and historian, Kim Newman subsequently became a bestselling horror novelist with books such as Anno Dracula (1992). He also wrote the wonderfully titled Orgy of the Blood Parasites (1994) and other non-horror fiction as Jack Yeovil.

Kathryn Ptacek

As Les Simons, the novelist Kathryn Ptacek was responsible for Gila!, a very different work to what she is generally known for.

Alan Radnor

Alan Radnor was prolific in a few genres, even writing Dick Barton stories, but was also responsible for the Hamlyn nasties under the name of Richard Lewis, as well as some more traditional horror novels, The Force (1979) and Possessed (1982), which was rereleased under the Richard Lewis pseudonym. The nasties include Rabid, a novelisation of the David Cronenberg film; Spiders (1978) and its sequel The Web (1981); and Devil's Coach Horse (1979), Parasite (1980) and Night Killers (1983).

Nicholas Randers

Nicholas Randers who wrote Prey Serpents Prey (1988), also wrote a novelisation of Halloween IV the same year.

Kit Reed

Kit Reed wrote Blood Fever (date unknown) using the name Shelley Hyde.

Ross Richards

Ross Richards was the name behind Peter Saxon for the Guardians novel Through the Dark Curtain (1967).

Guy N Smith

The massively prolific writer of 'nature's revenge' stories, Guy N Smith also wrote a horror thriller called The Hangman under the name Gavin Newman. Under this pseudonym he also wrote a historical mystery, An Unholy Way to Die. This is confirmed at Smithland, the official Guy N Smith site.

Katina Strauch

Katina Alexis, the name behind Witch (1990) and Souls (1992), is a pseudonym of Katina Strauch.

Somtow Sucharitkul

Possibly because his name is not easy for western readers to pronounce, the Thai writer Somtow Sucharitkul used the pseudonym S P Somtow for his horror novels. These include Vampire Junction (1984) and its sequel Valentine (1992), as well as Moondance (date unknown).

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas used the Peter Saxon house name for The Curse of Rathlaw (1968).

John Tigges

John Tigges, who wrote many horror novels throughout the 80s using his own name, was also responsible for a few more under the name William Essex. These include Slime (1988), From Below (1989) and The Pack (date unknown).

Phillipe van Rjndt

The thriller writer Phillipe van Rjndt also used the name Philip Michaels for two horror novels, Grail (1982) and Come Follow Me (1983).

Robert W Walker

Robert W Walker, who also used his real name, wrote the Abe Stroud series under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Caine. These include Curse of the Vampire (date unknown), Wake of the Werewolf (1991) and Legion of the Dead (1992).

T M Wright

The premier writer of modern ghost stories, T M Wright, also wrote The Devouring (1987) as F W Armstrong.