In 1976 Sarrantonio began a professional editing career at a major New York publishing house. His first short fiction, “Ahead of the Joneses,” appeared in
Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine in 1978, followed by a story in
Heavy Metal magazine the following year. In 1980 he published 14 short stories. In 1982, after leaving publishing to become a full time writer, he began his first novel,
The Worms, followed by
Campbell Wood,
Totentanz and
The Boy with Penny Eyes. He quickly established himself in the horror field with such much-anthologized stories as “Pumpkin Head”, “The Man With Legs”, “Father Dear,” “Wish”, and “Richard’s Head,” (all of which appear in his first short story collection,
Toybox). “Richard’s Head” brought him his first Bram Stoker Award nomination.
Sarrantonio is currently in the midst of a horror saga revolving around Halloween, which takes place in the fictional upstate New York town of Orangefield (novels to date:
Halloweenland,
Hallows Eve and
Horrorween, the last of which incorporates three shorter Orangefield pieces: the short novel
Orangefield, and novelettes
Hornets and
The Pumpkin Boy). Other horror novels include
Moonbane,
October,
House Haunted and
Skeletons. He has also written Western (
West Texas and
Kitt Peak), mysteries (
Cold Night and
Summer Cool) and science fiction (the Edgar Rice Burroughs-inflected trilogy
Haydn of Mars,
Sebastian of Mars and
Queen of Mars, omnibused as
Masters of Mars by the Science Fiction Book Club, 2006).
Sarrantonio was book reviewer for
Night Cry magazine, the short-lived digest-sized offshoot of the
Twilight Zone Magazine, and has been a critic and columnist for other publications. Because he has worn so many hats (novelist, short story writer, critic, essayist, editor,anthologist) and worked in so many genres (he has even edited three collections of humor, including
The National Lampoon Treasury of Humor) his work, always interesting and often brilliant, has not, perhaps, gained the attention it deserves.
Select awards and honors
Winner:
- 2000: Bram Stoker Award—999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense
Nominated:
- 2002: Locus Award — Best Editor
- 2000: International Horror Guild Award - Toybox
- 2000: World Fantasy Award— 999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense
- 2000: British Fantasy Award - 999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense
- 1991: Bram Stoker Award - "Richard's Head"
- 1990: Shamus Award - Cold Night