At the age of 9, Snyder attended a summer camp where one of the counselors read Stephen King's Eyes of the Dragon to him over the summer, an experience that Snyder says "really jump-started my love of story-telling." He was also influenced by the writing of Denis Johnson, Raymond Carver, Rick Bass, Joy Williams, and George Saunders.

Snyder graduated from Brown University in 1998 with a degree in creative writing, and then worked at Walt Disney World for about a year. Snyder's Disney World stint strongly influenced his writing; he later recalled, "it did a world of good for my writing[...]All the things I ended up writing about, those things that are deeply frightening to me...fear of commitment and growing up, fear of losing loved ones, the wonder and terror of falling in love...all of it was constantly being played out all around me in this weird, cartoonish, magnified way at Disney, if that makes sense."

Snyder received his MFA from Columbia University in 2002. His first collection of stories, Voodoo Heart, was published by the Dial Press in June 2006 to highly positive reviews. The collection received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and was a Kirkus Reviews "Hot Debut" of the year. The New York Times published a positive review by author Andrew Sean Greer in the Sunday Book Review. 'Voodoo Heart: Stories,' by Scott Snyder - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

Stephen King picked two of the included stories..."Wreck" and "Dumpster Tuesday"...for the 2007 The Best American Short Stories anthology shortlist. Voodoo Heart was shortlisted for the 2006 Story Prize.

He is currently at work on a novel tentatively titled the Goodbye Suit.

Snyder teaches writing at Columbia University, NYU, Sarah Lawrence College and SUNY Southampton. He lives in Stony Brook, NY with his wife, Dr. Jeanie Ripton, and their son, Jack.

In 2009, Snyder began writing for Marvel Comics. His first foray into the genre was a one-shot focusing on the first Human Torch, part of Marvel's 70th Anniversary celebrations. He is currently working on the 4-issue Iron Man: Noir for release in April 2010.

Vertigo Comics began publishing American Vampire, Snyder's first creator-owned, ongoing series, in the March of 2010. The first five issues feature an original storyline by Stephen King.

It has been announced he is the new writer of Detective Comics and a DC Exclusive talent.

Snyder is a dedicated fan of Elvis Presley.