Dark Hearts: The World's Most Famous Horror Writers

by Jim Gigliotti, Danielle Vega (Foreword), Karl James Mountford (Illustrator)

Sometimes the truth can be much scarier than fiction. And this collection is no exception. Uncover what fascinated and frightened some of our favorite horror writers of all time.

Who are the people who make our hearts race and our minds spin? Why are they so good at making us fear what goes bump in the night? What are the stories behind the writers who give us goosebumps? Dark Hearts is a collection of fourteen short biographies of the world's best-known horror writers, including Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, Neil Gaiman, R. L. Stine, Stephen King, Bram Stoker, and others. Their stories are gathered in this beautiful, gift-able book that is perfect for any horror fan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Horror, Books About Books, Middle Grade

144 pages, Hardcover

Published December 28, 2021

About the author

Jim Gigliotti is a freelance writer who lives in Southern California with his wife and two children. A former editor at the National Football League, he has written more than two dozen books, mostly for young readers.

Reviews

[Kirsten Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun library find! i quickly read through this after seeing shirley jackson was included + fresh off of reading one of her (amazing) books. overall, it's a great little biographical survey of famous horror authors for middle grade readers, the illustrations were fantastic, and i learned at least one new thing about each of the writers even though they were all familiar to me already. a comment, though -- everyone included is either american or british, so i don't think "the world's most famous horror writers" is quite the correct title for the book.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, R.L. Stine, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, and more as these are some of the iconic legends of literary Horror.
Find out their inspirations and abridged stories of life and careers and what scares a horror writer.

Many of the authors and facts I already knew, but it was still a pleasant read. Good for aspiring writers too!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: Fun, interesting topic; well-written; good illustrations
Cons: All-white (as far as I could tell), heavily male subjects; no conclusion wrapping everything up
Content: no concerns other than age-appropriate horror story summaries

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like the biographies in this book started weak, but picked up and got more interesting. I have already read a lot about most of the authors in here, so I was worried that there wouldn’t be anything new. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed most of it. I’m not sure I knew when I picked it up, but the book is aimed at young readers. It was a very fast read and I liked learning the history of so many authors.

My favorite bonus fact was learning that Robert Bloch (author of Psycho) had corresponded with HP Lovecraft as a fan. Lovecraft encouraged him to write stories and Bloch ended up having a short story published in his teens. Almost a horror dynasty, there.

[Karen Casale · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction to 14 writers of horror. Perfect for any reader to learn about what inspired favorite horror writers and how they published. Lists early works. Lovely illustrations. An informative, short read for any horror fan.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful biographical information on famous horror writers for YA readers. I loved it.

[pinkbibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the short biography written for all authors included in this books. Great read if you are in tye mood for a little non fiction adventure.

[Jeremiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for its audience, but not very detailed

[Casie Blevins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's book but interesting and with good art.

[Catia Araujo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book with worderfull illustrations.

[shweddyered · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[C.C. Bruno · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good little book that gives slight biographies on some of my favorite authors. A fun one for a quick Halloween read.

[Jenilee Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cool learning about the lives of some excellent horror authors, but there were spelling and grammar mistakes in strange spots and nothing was really new.

[Wendopolis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimmed this. Seems more geared to middle grade rather than adults. It disappointed me. I would have expected this book to have authors like Manley Wade Wellman, Basil Copper and what is the deal with leaving out Ramsey Campbell? And Joe Hill? Give me a break. I guess I should be glad Bentley Little wasn’t included. At least Robert Bloch is in there.

[Korie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A semi-quick read full of a few pages for each of the authors. It was a fun read. It gave some backstory about the authors and their inspiration. Also, some interesting life history. It is a YA book, so nothing lewd (darn).

[Tiffani Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting when I read the synopsis of this book but now that I know who the author is, it makes total sense.

This book is 14 mini-biographies on some of the best horror authors, past and present. It is written very much in the “who was” book style which makes sense because this author does a lot of those books. For what it was, it was great. You get to learn a little bit about your favourite horror author, and about some you many not have known about.

I really think that this book should be geared more towards middle grade readers as it is the perfect length for them. They may not know who all the authors are but budding horror readers will be thrilled to learn about all the books out there that await them by these authors.

[China · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating biography of the world’s famous writers who write in the horror genre