Born in the industrial North-East (Jarrow, Tyne and Wear), he moved to the Fens (Wisbech, Cambridgeshire) with his family at the age of twelve, where he attended Wisbech Grammar School. The contrast of its flat, rural landscape had a profound effect on the young Geordie and inspired him to write many of his most popular stories (including: The House On The Brink, Ride The Wind and Fen Runners).

He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War (on minesweepers and destroyers) and afterwards worked as a journalist in the West Country and East Anglia. It was during his time working on The Eastern Evening News in Norwich that he wrote his first novel, The Giant Under the Snow.

Although Norwich and its cathedral may have been the inspiration for parts of this book, it was the Fens of John's youth that set the backdrop for most of his stories. As a reporter in Wisbech he cycled many miles covering events in the Fens, especially in the village of Upwell where his future wife Sylvia lived. Inspired by the landscape John has said: "I've often thought that the flat fenland is like an open book and it has always filled my mind with stories."Many of his books feature Wisbech locations: Peckover House, Wisbech Museum, Wisbech Castle grounds, High Street, Market Place and pubs, The Crescent and the Park. Other locations in the Fens include Pingle Bridge in Upwell and the Fen rivers (particularly the River Nene).

He continues to live and write in Norwich today, assisted by his wife Sylvia, who has been instrumental in the editing and collation of his work over the years. They have 2 children and 4 grandchildren.

Novels

• The Giant Under the Snow (1968)
• The House on the Brink (1970)
• The Ghost on the Hill (1976)
• The Waterfall Box (1978)
• The Edge of the World (1983)
• The Quelling Eye (1986)
• The Grasshopper (1987)
• Ride the Wind (1989)
• Secret Corridor (1990)
• Blood Brothers (1991)
• Gilray's Ghost (1995)
• The Flesh Eater (1998)
• The Midwinter Watch (1998)
• Skinners (1999)
• The Ghosts of Blacklode (2002)
• Fen Runners (2009)

Collections

• The Spitfire Grave: And Other Stories (1979)
• Catch Your Death: And Other Ghost Stories (1984)
• The Burning Baby and Other Ghosts (1992)
• Left in the Dark: The Supernatural Tales of John Gordon (2006)

Anthologies (selected)

• The Walker Book of Ghost Stories (1990)
• Best New Horror 4 (1993)
• The Young Oxford Book of Ghost Stories (1994)
• The Puffin Book of Horror Stories (1994)
• Dancing with the Dark (1997)
• The Mammoth Book of Dracula: Vampire Tales for the New Millennium (1997)

Autobiography

• Ordinary Seaman (Teenage Memoir)