Ray Garton Jr. was an author and novelist nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for “Live Girls,” who was also known for works such as “Seduction,” “Darklings,” his “A Nightmare on Elm Street” novelizations, and the controversial book, “In a Dark Place.”
- Died: April 21, 2024 (Who else died on April 21?)
- Details of death: Died of lung cancer in Redding, California at the age of 61.
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Ray Garton Jr.’s legacy
Ray Garton Jr. grew up in Anderson, California, where he was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and went to religious schools. However, he left soon after entering adulthood and turned his eyes in another direction: horror fiction. A fan of Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, H. P. Lovecraft, and others, his debut came in 1984 with “Seductions.” “Darklings” came the following year.
Garton wrote novelizations for “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child,” and in 1986 he released the vampire novel “Live Girls,” which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. He was also the author of “In A Dark Place,” a book sometimes mistaken as nonfiction, chronicling the supposed experiences of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Garton has said that “In a Dark Place” is a work of fiction, despite marketing suggesting otherwise.
All told, Garton wrote well over 50 books and acclaimed collections of short fiction. He earned the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award in 2006. He also wrote a series of young adult novels under the name Joseph Locke, including two “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” books and the “Blood and Lace” series, plus was the author of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” book, “Resurrecting Ravana.”
On his werewolf novel, Ravenous:
“The werewolf has always been my favorite of the classic monsters. But compared to vampires or other creatures, the werewolf has been virtually ignored in literature and certainly underrepresented in film. I had long wanted to do something with the werewolf mythology.”—Interview with Cemetery Dance Online, 2021
Tributes to Ray Garton Jr.
Full obituary: Locus Magazine
