Sam Weller's Blog

Happy Halloween, everyone! I thought I would do something special to mark the occasion, so here’s an absolutely free downloadable short story. I wrote the first page of this in Ray Bradbury’s house, hoping to capture some of that elusive Bradburian magic. “The Shadows Behind the Trees” is a title I heard Ray Bradbury say in passing one day and I said, “That’s a great title for a short story.” He encouraged me to use it and so, I did!

I set out to write a melancholy ghost story about a little girl...

Like so many writers, I’ve made the jump over to Bluesky social where I have refocused my energy on posting daily artifacts and anecdotes on Ray Bradbury, as well as ge...

I have a brand new essay published by the Los Angeles Review of Books about the tumultuous relationship between Ray Bradbury and film director John Huston, Bradbury wro...

Thrilled and honored to have my short story, “Creepy Crawly” included in the forthcoming Whisper House Press anthology, The Costs of Living. The book won’t be out for a...

I worked hard for the two Bram Stoker Awards you see here and display them proudly in my home. They are beautiful little statues and surprisingly heavy when you pick th...

So excited to announce that I will be co-hosting the IT CAME FROM GENERATION X! podcast with the brilliant and hilarious Tom Dieboldt. Each week, we will cover rock n roll, movies, television, comic books, literature, and all-around sugary sweet pop culture. We will be joined by awesome guests and provide a respite from the absolute lunacy of our mad, mad, modern-day world. The first episode will be out soon!

The promo trailer for It Came from Generation X! Theme music by Chris Wimsett ©️ 2...

So thrilled to see that legendary editor Ellen Datlow gave my book Dark Black “Honorable Mention” in the esteemed Best Horror Volume 13 anthology! What an honor! Also great to see illustrator Dan Grzeca given a well-deserved shout-out as well. We poured o...

Super proud that my essay, “The Path to Biography” has been published by Author Magazine. This sheds new light on how I became the biographer of the late and legendary Ray Bradbury.

I had the distinct honor of serving as guest host for the smart and savvy Big Table podcast. I sat down with former California Poet Laureate and former National Endowment for the Arts Chair Dana Gioia to discuss Ray Bradbury’s remarkable legacy, his impact on literature and culture, and his assured place in the pantheon of great writers. Dana and I first met when I joined Ray at the White House in 2004 when Ray was given the Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush. We have remained friends a...

I recently wrote an essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books about the flu pandemic of 1918 and its tragic impact on Ray Bradbury’s family and, ultimately, the development of his imagination and the themes so central to his voluminous body of work. A few folks have since asked if I plan on doing more of these “deep dive”...