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27+ Works 1,443 Members 18 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Douglas E. Winter has been hailed as "the conscience of horror and dark fantasy." His books include the critically acclaimed novel Run; the anthologies Prime Evil and Revelations; and the authorized biography Stephen King: The Heart of Darkness. An attorney with the internationally based law firm show more Bryan Cave LLP, Mr. Winter is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. He lives near Washington, D.C. show less

Works by Douglas E. Winter

Associated Works

The Worm Ouroboros (1922) — Foreword, some editions — 2,293 copies
The Living Dead (2008) — Contributor — 916 copies
Darker Than You Think (1940) — Introduction, some editions — 620 copies
The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror (2015) — Contributor, some editions — 569 copies
Dark Visions (1988) — Introduction — 527 copies
Book of the Dead (1989) — Contributor — 383 copies
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween (2000) — Contributor — 259 copies
Dark Love (1995) — Contributor — 251 copies
Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King (1982) — Contributor — 165 copies
Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror (1976) — Contributor — 165 copies
Dark Masques (2001) — Contributor — 136 copies
Book of the Dead 2: Still Dead (1954) — Contributor — 133 copies
Zimiamvia: A Trilogy (1935) — Foreword, some editions — 119 copies
Silver Scream (1969) — Contributor — 110 copies
Darker Masques (2002) — Contributor — 84 copies
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 07 (1996) — Contributor — 67 copies
Greystone Bay (1985) — Contributor — 64 copies
The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen (2014) — Contributor — 62 copies
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 09 (1998) — Contributor — 54 copies
Best New Horror 4 (1993) — Contributor — 54 copies
Dancing With the Dark (1999) — Contributor — 49 copies
Midnight (1985) — Contributor — 46 copies
Narrow Houses: Tales of Superstition, Suspense, and Fear (1992) — Introduction — 45 copies
The Best New Horror: Volume Six (1995) — Contributor — 43 copies
Forbidden Acts (1995) — Contributor — 43 copies
Mondo Zombie (2006) — Contributor — 39 copies
Best Of Masques (1988) — Contributor — 30 copies
Masques III: All-New Works of Horror and the Supernatural (1989) — Contributor — 24 copies
Shadows 10 (1987) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Giant Book of Terror (1994) — Contributor — 20 copies
By Horror Haunted (1992) — Contributor — 19 copies

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Reviews

I was a little disappointed with this book though I was forewarned by a snippet from an anthology of essays on pulp fiction I read some years back which I cannot recall the name of at the moment. This book follows a format of synopsis of parts of the discussed work with plot points paired with biographical anecdotes from Stephen King|3389|Stephen King's life along with some uncritical commentary and the direct interpretation of symbols in the said work. Between the biography and analyzed bits of King's work you would think some great insights could be found but no. To me, and I am not the biggest fan of Stephen King's work by the way, this book simply does not provide any unique insights or cast a new light on Stephen King's oeuvre up to its writing (1984) and does little than the previously mentioned to explore King's work. To be frank, it seems the author is manually stimulating Stephen King and providing copious amounts of lube to boot at the turn of every page. I really cannot recommend this book. However, I do recommend Danse Macabre and On Writing A Memoir of the Craft. Although both are written by King himself, they do a much better job of digging deeper.… (more)
 
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Ranjr | 3 other reviews | Jul 13, 2023 |
Pretty good old school horror anthology. The only stories I didn’t like much were the [a:David Morell|3871294|David Morell|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] story Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity and the King offering. The Morrell is highly derivative and then totally ruined by a hackneyed explanation at the end, eliminating whatever eeriness there was. The [a:Clive Barker|10366|Clive Barker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430330407p2/10366.jpg] story showed, once again, that he used to be able to write something really interesting and actually horrifying. The [a:Peter Straub|6941|Peter Straub|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200468903p2/6941.jpg] story had nary a supernatural scent but was horrifying nonetheless. A hint of Bradbury there too. Tessier, Grant, Ligotti, all solid. The weakest story is Night Flier by [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]. Docked another point by me for being self-referential.

Why did anthologist always slaver over the King story and put it first? Oh wait, I know, money.
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Gumbywan | 6 other reviews | Jun 24, 2022 |
Contains:
The night flier / Stephen King --
Having a woman at lunch / Paul Hazel --
The blood kiss / Dennis Etchison --
Coming to grief / Clive Barker --
Food / Thomas Tessier --
The great god Pan / M. John Harrison --
Orange is for anguish, blue for insanity / David Morrell --
The juniper tree / Peter Straub --
Spinning tales with the dead / Charles L. Grant --
Alice's last adventure / Thomas Ligotti --
Next time you'll know me / Ramsey Campbell --
The pool / Whitley Streiber --
By reason of darkness / Jack Cady.
… (more)
 
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Lemeritus | 6 other reviews | Nov 15, 2021 |
This is a very pro-biased look at Clive Barker and his work, but that's okay with me. While not a fan of everything Barker has put out, I absolutely recognize him as one of the singular talents of the writing profession.

The book goes above and beyond most biographies and their "he was born, then this happened, then this, then this, then this..." style and Winter delves into the deeper meanings and connections along the way.

I think the only thing I could have done without were the multi-page summaries of every single story Clive wrote from his plays, through the Books of Blood, and right up to Galilee. For anyone who's actually read the stories (and really, are you going to dig into a thick bio of the author without having read any of his stuff?) it was a touch frustrating, but the analysis that followed each was always interesting.

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Barker many years ago at a convention, and got to both chat with him while he was painting, as well as a couple of days later when he autographed a few of his books for me. In both cases, I was struck by a man who could have easily walled himself away from his fans, but instead was incredibly gracious, welcoming, patient, and, even more shocking, actually interested in what each fan had to say. Virtually every other author I've dealt with for autographs asks my name, then puts their head down and throws a comment in and hands it back with a thanks. Clive, when I handed him the books, considered the covers, then asked, "which one do you like the best?" and when I answered, smiled and asked, "why?" which then sparked a five minute conversation on the novel.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's often disappointing to meet those you have a picture of in your head, because they often can't measure up in person. Clive, on the other hand, exceeded every expectation I had of him—exactly as he does in his best fiction—and this biography does a good job of showing that aspect of the man.

Highly recommended.
… (more)
1 vote
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TobinElliott | Sep 3, 2021 |

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