David J. Schow

David J. Schow
Schow during the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike
Schow during the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike
BornDavid James Schow
(1955-07-13) July 13, 1955 (age 69)
Marburg, West Germany
Pen nameStephen Grave, Oliver Lowenbruck, Chan McConnell
Occupation
NationalityAmerican
Period1977–present
GenreHorror fiction, splatterpunk

David J. Schow (born July 13, 1955) is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays.[1][2] His credits include films such as Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, The Crow and The Hills Run Red. Most of Schow's work falls into the subgenre splatterpunk, a term he is sometimes credited with coining.[3] In the 1990s, Schow wrote Raving & Drooling, a regular column for Fangoria magazine. All 41 installments were collected in the book Wild Hairs (2000), winning the International Horror Guild Award for best non-fiction in 2001.

In 1987, Schow's novella Pamela's Get was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction. His short story Red Light won the 1987 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction.[4] And in 2015, The Outer Limits at 50 won the Rondo Award for Book of the Year in a tie with The Creature Chronicles by Tom Weaver, of which Schow was a contributor.[5]

As an editor, Schow's work includes three volumes of writings by Robert Bloch and a book of short stories by John Farris.

Schow has also been a past contributor to liner notes for cult film distributors Grindhouse Releasing/Box Office Spectaculars, notably on the North American DVD release of Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci's horror film, Cat in the Brain.[6][7][8] He has also written text supplements for the DVDs of Reservoir Dogs and From Hell, and has done DVD commentaries for The Dirty Dozen, The Green Mile, Incubus, Thriller and Creature from the Black Lagoon.[9] The 2018 Kino Lorber Blu-ray and DVD editions of both seasons of The Outer Limits feature commentary by Schow on several episodes as well as booklet essays written by him.[10]

  1. ^ "Schow, David J." by Gary Westfahl in David Pringle, St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers. London : St. James Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-55862-206-7 (pp. 516–517. ).
  2. ^ "David J. Schow" by S. T. Joshi, in Joshi, The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004).
  3. ^ Bloch, R. 1998, "Look Out, He's Got a Knife!" in Crypt Orchids, David J. Schow, Subterranean Press, Burton, MI
  4. ^ World Fantasy Convention. "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Colton, David. "The 13th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  6. ^ Icons of Fright News and Updates: Lucio Fulci's Cat in the Brain Coming to DVD March 31st
  7. ^ DVD Trash: DVD Release: Cat in the Brain
  8. ^ Fear.net "Final Cat in the Brain DVD Specs", Dec. 29, 2008, by Gabrielle DiPietro
  9. ^ Anonymous. "David J. Schow, Biography". IMDb. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  10. ^ Anonymous. "The Outer Limits (1963-64) Season 1 (32 Episodes) (DVD)". Retrieved February 1, 2018.