John Skipp
Encyclopedia
John Skipp is a splatterpunk
Splatterpunk
Splatterpunk—a term coined in 1986 by David J. Schow at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island—refers to a movement within horror fiction distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence and "hyperintensive horror with no limits." It is regarded as a revolt...

 horror and fantasy author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and anthology editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...

, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector
Craig Spector
Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...

 on the 1989 anthology Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead (anthology)
Book of the Dead is an anthology of horror stories first published in 1989, edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector. All the stories in the anthology are united by the same premise seen in the apocalyptic films of George A. Romero, depicting a worldwide outbreak of zombies and various reactions to it...

, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal
Marc Levinthal
Marc Levinthal is a Los Angeles guitarist, composer and writer.His most recent music involves an array of electronic devices used to loop, drone, stretch and otherwise manipulate the output of his guitar and various other sound sources...

 and Cody Goodfellow. He worked as editor-in-chief of both Fungasm Press and Ravenous Shadows.

Biography

Skipp's first published short story was in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1982, called "The Long Ride." He co-authored with Craig Spector
Craig Spector
Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...

 his first novel, The Light at the End
The Light at the End
The Light at the End is a 1986 vampire novel by John Skipp & Craig Spector which became a New York Times bestseller and is often credited as the book that started the splatterpunk movement.-Story:...

, which was purchased by Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

 in 1984 and published in 1986. It sold over a million copies worldwide. He co-wrote five more original horror novels with Spector over the next six years as well as a novelization of the 1985 cult film Fright Night
Fright Night
# "Fright Night" – 3:45# "You Can't Hide from the Beast Inside" – 4:14# "Good Man in a Bad Time" – 3:41# "Rock Myself to Sleep" – 2:57# "Let's Talk" – 2:52# "Armies of the Night" – 4:34...

(based on Tom Holland
Tom Holland
Tom Holland may refer to:*Tom Holland , American film director*Tom Holland , British author*Tom Holland , British actor*Tom Holland , English footballer...

's script) which managed to be published before their previously sold novel The Light at the End.

Skipp and Spector published their modern post-Romero zombie anthology, Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead (anthology)
Book of the Dead is an anthology of horror stories first published in 1989, edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector. All the stories in the anthology are united by the same premise seen in the apocalyptic films of George A. Romero, depicting a worldwide outbreak of zombies and various reactions to it...

, in 1989 through Bantam. The anthology featured Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

 (the first printing of his short story "Home Delivery"), Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense...

, Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...

, Richard Laymon
Richard Laymon
Richard Carl Laymon was an American author of suspense and horror fiction, particularly within the splatterpunk subgenre. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived as a child in California...

, David J. Schow
David J. Schow
David J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays. His credits include films such as The Crow and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Most of Schow's work falls into the sub-genre splatterpunk, a term he is sometimes credited with coining...

, Robert R. McCammon
Robert R. McCammon
Robert Rick McCammon is an American novelist from Birmingham, Alabama. His parents are Jack, a musician, and Barbara Bundy McCammon. After his parents' divorce, McCammon lived with his grandparents in Birmingham. He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1974. McCammon...

, and many other top names in the horror genre.

In 1992, Skipp and Spector moved to Hollywood where they wrote the screenplay for the 1993 A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child is a 1989 American slasher film and the fifth film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. It was directed by Stephen Hopkins. The film's general tone is much more gothic and dark than the films before, and used a blue filter lighting technique in most of...

. They separated as writing partners following that, and he stopped publishing for about nine years while working on other pursuits and attending guerilla film school.

As lead singer and songwriter, he performed and recorded with original Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

 guitar virtuoso Chris Poland
Chris Poland
Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known for being a former member of heavy metal band Megadeth.-Early career:...

 in a band called Mumbo's Brain. They recorded an unreleased album called The Book of Mumbo. Tracks from the unreleased album appear on Chris Poland’s CD Rare Trax.

Under the pseudonym Maxwell Hart, Skipp wrote the screenplay and songs for Misty Beethoven: the Musical (a musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 remake of the adult film The Opening of Misty Beethoven
The Opening of Misty Beethoven
The Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American hardcore pornography film released in 1976. Produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris , New York City , and Rome , with a musical score, it owes much to its fastidious director Radley Metzger .-Premise:In a...

), which won two AVN Awards
AVN Awards
The AVN Awards are movie awards sponsored and presented by the American adult video industry trade magazine AVN to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of the creation and marketing of American pornographic movies. They are called the "Oscars of porn"...

 for "Best Sex Comedy" and "Most Outrageous Sex Scene" (which involved a singing penis).

During this time, he edited what was originally called The Very Last Book of the Dead, which was eventually released as Mondo Zombie in 2006 from Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...

. He spent four years unsuccessfully attempting to produce his first original feature film, Peekaboo and he wrote the screenplays for the 2011 collection Sick Chick Flicks, including Rose (a film he is currently working on).

He wrote the screenplay for The Long Last Call (that he would eventually novelize in the mid-2000s), and one novel: The Emerald Burrito of Oz (co-written with Marc Levinthal
Marc Levinthal
Marc Levinthal is a Los Angeles guitarist, composer and writer.His most recent music involves an array of electronic devices used to loop, drone, stretch and otherwise manipulate the output of his guitar and various other sound sources...

) released by Babbage Press in 2000, later re-released in 2010 by the bizarro fiction
Bizarro fiction
Bizarro fiction is a contemporary literary genre, which often utilizes elements of absurdism, satire, and the grotesque, along with pop-surrealism and genre fiction staples, in order to create subversive works that are as weird and entertaining as possible. The term was adopted in 2005 by the...

 company Eraserhead Press.

Under the publishing house Friendly Firewalk Press, Skipp self-published Conscience (a novella) and Stupography (a non-fiction cultural critique). Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...

 released Mondo Zombie in May 2006 and it won the Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...

 for Best Anthology
Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology
The Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology is an award presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing for anthology.-Winners and nominees:Nominees are listed below the winner for each year....

 (tying with Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense...

’s Retro-Pulp Tales
Retro-Pulp Tales
Retro-Pulp Tales is a limited edition anthology published by Subterranean Press in 2006, edited by Joe R. Lansdale. It tied in winning the 2006 Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology ....

).

He returned to mass market horror with the novel The Long Last Call and teamed up with Cody Goodfellow for a group of novels (Jake's Wake, The Day Before, Spore) as well as many short stories and scripts. In December 2008, Skipp released the e-novel and audiobook download, Opposite Sex, under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 "Gina McQueen," through publisher Ravenous Romance.

His editing career began with some mammoth anthologies for Black Dog and Leventhal (Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead, Werewolves and Shape Shifters: Encounters with the Beasts Within, and Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed). He edited #4 of The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction which lead to becoming an acquiring editor at Eraserhead Press, and forming his own imprint, Fungasm Press. The first two books from Fungasm Press come out October 2011 (Haunt by Laura Lee Bahr and I Am Genghis Cum by Violet LeVoit).

In 2011, e-publisher Literary Partners Group (owners of Ravenous Romance) announced that Skipp would be the editor-in-chief of their new horror/thriller e-publishing imprint named Ravenous Shadows. He is in charge of scheduling four genre titles a month which will begin starting at the end of 2011. The innovation of Ravenous Shadows will be shorter books that can be read in the time it takes to watch a feature film.

Skipp is directing a short film titled Stay at Home Dad (written by Cody Goodfellow) which he is co-directing with Andrew Kasch (Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is a 2010 American four-hour direct-to-DVD documentary film that chronicles the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and the rise of New Line Cinema. Written by Thommy Hutson, produced by Daniel Farrands and Thommy Hutson, and co-directed by Daniel...

). He is also working on the film version of his script Rose as a 3-D puppet musical.

Novels

  • Fright Night
    Fright Night
    # "Fright Night" – 3:45# "You Can't Hide from the Beast Inside" – 4:14# "Good Man in a Bad Time" – 3:41# "Rock Myself to Sleep" – 2:57# "Let's Talk" – 2:52# "Armies of the Night" – 4:34...

    (1985, Tor Books
    Tor Books
    Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...

    ). (with Craig Spector
    Craig Spector
    Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...

    , based upon the screenplay by Tom Holland
    Tom Holland (author)
    -Biography:Holland was born near Oxford and brought up in the village of Broadchalke near Salisbury, England. His younger brother is the historian and novelist James Holland...

    )
  • The Light at the End
    The Light at the End
    The Light at the End is a 1986 vampire novel by John Skipp & Craig Spector which became a New York Times bestseller and is often credited as the book that started the splatterpunk movement.-Story:...

    (1986, Bantam Books
    Bantam Books
    Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

    ) (with Craig Spector
    Craig Spector
    Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...

    )
  • The Cleanup (1987, Bantam Books) (with Craig Spector)
  • The Scream (1988, Bantam Books) (with Craig Spector)
  • Dead Lines (1989, Bantam Books) (with Craig Spector)
  • The Bridge (1991, Bantam Books) (with Craig Spector)
  • Animals (1992, Bantam Books) (with Craig Spector)
  • The Emerald Burrito of Oz (2000, Babbage Press / re-released 2009, Eraserhead Press) (with Marc Levinthal
    Marc Levinthal
    Marc Levinthal is a Los Angeles guitarist, composer and writer.His most recent music involves an array of electronic devices used to loop, drone, stretch and otherwise manipulate the output of his guitar and various other sound sources...

    )
  • Conscience, a novella
    Novella
    A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

     (2004, Friendly Firewalk Press)
  • The Long Last Call (2006, Cemetery Dance Publications
    Cemetery Dance Publications
    Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...

    ; Limited edition hardcover / Leisure Books
    Leisure Books
    Leisure Books is an imprint of Dorchester Publishing specializing in Horror and Thriller mass market paperbacks. As of 2000, Leisure Books was the only U.S. publisher with a line of horror books...

    , 2007; paperback)
  • Opposite Sex (writing as Gina McQueen) (Ravenous Romance, e-book
    E-book
    An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...

     and audiobook only, 2008) (Ravenous Romance, paperback, 2009)
  • Jake's Wake (2008, Dorchester Publishing
    Dorchester Publishing
    Dorchester Publishing is a publisher of mass market paperback books. Although mostly known for romance, Dorchester also publishes horror, thriller and Western titles.-Publication lines:...

    ) (with Cody Goodfellow)
  • The Day Before (2009, Bad Moon Books
    Bad Moon Books
    Bad Moon Books is a publishing company owned by Roy K. Robbins in Garden Grove, California. In the middle of 1986, they began as a bookseller only, but in 2007 they began publishing. Their works include many Black Quill Award and Bram Stoker Award winners and nominees...

    ) (with Cody Goodfellow)
  • Spore (2010, Dorchester Publishing) (with Cody Goodfellow)

Anthologies

As editor:
  • Book of the Dead
    Book of the Dead (anthology)
    Book of the Dead is an anthology of horror stories first published in 1989, edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector. All the stories in the anthology are united by the same premise seen in the apocalyptic films of George A. Romero, depicting a worldwide outbreak of zombies and various reactions to it...

    (with Craig Spector
    Craig Spector
    Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...

    ) (1989, Bantam Books
    Bantam Books
    Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

    )
  • Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2 (with Craig Spector
    Craig Spector
    Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...

    ) (1992, Bantam Falcon Books)
  • Mondo Zombie (2006, Cemetery Dance Publications
    Cemetery Dance Publications
    Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...

    ) - includes John Skipp's short story "God Save The Queen" which was co-written with Marc Levinthal
    Marc Levinthal
    Marc Levinthal is a Los Angeles guitarist, composer and writer.His most recent music involves an array of electronic devices used to loop, drone, stretch and otherwise manipulate the output of his guitar and various other sound sources...

  • Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead (2009, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers)
  • Werewolves and Shape Shifters: Encounters with the Beasts Within (2010, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers)
  • Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed (2011, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers)
  • The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction #4 - guest editor

Published screenplays

  • Sick Chick Flicks (to be published 2011) - contains three scripts: Afterparty, The Legend of Honey Love, and Rose

Films

  • Death Collector (1988) - actor, "Splatterpunk #1"
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
    A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
    A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child is a 1989 American slasher film and the fifth film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. It was directed by Stephen Hopkins. The film's general tone is much more gothic and dark than the films before, and used a blue filter lighting technique in most of...

    (1989) - story
  • Class of 1999
    Class of 1999
    Class of 1999 is a 1990 science fiction film directed by Mark L. Lester. It is the director's follow-up to his 1982 film Class of 1984.-Synopsis:...

    (1990) - co-writer (uncredited)
  • Nightbreed
    Nightbreed
    Nightbreed is a 1990 American fantasy horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his 1988 novella Cabal. The film features Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg. The story centers in a community of mutant outcasts that hides from humanity, known as the...

    (1990) - actor, "Hotel Room Corpse" (uncredited)
  • "Sorry" and "You Lie" - two promo music videos directed by Skipp for the band Mumbo's Brain (he's also the lead singer and songwriter)
  • The Storytellers (1999) - wrote and performed the end credits song "Let Them All Know" (performed with a mariachi
    Mariachi
    Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...

     band)
  • Misty Beethoven: the Musical (2004) - wrote sceenplay and songs, writing as Maxwell Hart
  • "The Disappearing Heart" (2005) - music video for the band ALSO which was conceptualized and directed by John Skipp
  • Animals (2008) - based on his 1992 novel
  • Stay at Home Dad - Skipp and Andrew Kasch are co-directing, written by Cody Goodfellow, in production
  • Rose (in development)
  • Jake's Wake (in development)

Music

  • Member of the 70's - 80's band Arcade from York, Pennsylvania
  • When The Bridge was published in 1991, Skipp and Craig Spector released a soundtrack, with all music written and performed by them and Brian Emrich
    Brian Emrich
    Brian Emrich is a sound designer, composer, and musician. His sound design credits include the films π, Requiem for a Dream, One Hour Photo and Phone Booth. He records music under the moniker Psilonaut, and has collaborated with Foetus and Congo Norvell.-External links:* at Internet Movie Database...

    , to go along with the book called "Music From The Bridge: Soundtrack for the Movie in Your Mind"
  • Lead Singer and songwriter for the band Mumbo's Brain with guitar virtuoso Chris Poland
    Chris Poland
    Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known for being a former member of heavy metal band Megadeth.-Early career:...

     of Megadeth
    Megadeth
    Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

     (some tracks from their unreleased album, The Book of Mumbo, were released on Chris Poland's Rare Trax CD)
  • Wrote and performed the song "Let Them All Know" which was featured in the end credits of The Storytellers (a 1999 film starring Brad Dourif
    Brad Dourif
    Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...

     and Tippi Hedren
    Tippi Hedren
    Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren is an American actress and former fashion model with a career spanning six decades. She is primarily known for her roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films, The Birds and Marnie, and her extensive efforts in animal rescue at Shambala Preserve, an wildlife habitat which she...

    )
  • Under the pseudonym Maxwell Hart, he wrote the songs for the soundtrack of Misty Beethoven: The Musical (available on CD and MP3)

Interviews


External links

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