Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author Kevin Christopher McFadden (born November 12, 1954). He is a bestselling author of young adult

Young adult literature

Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

 and children's

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 fiction, but whose expertise is in the thriller genre. The pseudonym Christopher Pike is allegedly a reference to the captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...

 in the Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...

pilot. (He is not, however, related to Star Trek actress Gates McFadden

Gates McFadden

Cheryl Gates McFadden usually credited as Gates McFadden, is an American actress and choreographer. She is best known for portraying the character of Dr...

.)

History

Kevin McFadden was born in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in 1954, but grew up in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 where he currently resides in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

. As a college dropout, Pike turned to house painting and programmed computers prior to becoming a bestselling author. Pike was unsuccessful as a budding science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and adult mystery

Mystery fiction

Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...

 author, until his work was discovered by an editor who suggested he try writing a teen thriller. This suggestion resulted in Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend.

Well-known works include The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire series consists of books written by Christopher Pike and chronicles the life of the 5,000 year old "last vampire", Sita. A seventh book, The Eternal Dawn was released in late 2010.-The Last Vampire :...

series, the Final Friends and Remember Me trilogies, Witch, Whisper of Death, the Alosha series and Fall into Darkness. According to Amazon.com, Pike currently has four titles available on Audiobook cassette/CD: Fall Into Darkness, Witch, Bury Me Deep and Falling.

On November 25, 1996, Fall Into Darkness

Fall Into Darkness

Fall Into Darkness is a 1996 television movie based on the young-adult novel by Christopher Pike, who also executive-produced. The film stars Tatyana M. Ali, Jonathan Brandis, Charlotte Ross and Sean Murray. It originally aired on NBC on November 25, 1996....

was released as a television movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 directed by Mark Sobel, starring Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

 and Jonathan Brandis

Jonathan Brandis

Jonathan Gregory Brandis was an American actor, director, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut, the only child of Mary, a teacher and personal manager, and Gregory Brandis, a food distributor and firefighter. He began his career as a child model and...

. This movie was produced by Christopher Pike Productions. The movie is no longer in print, however, some DVDs can still be found online.

Also in 1996, fans created a website based on Pike's novel The Midnight Club to discuss the author and share their stories. This site no longer exists.

McFadden is also the author of the popular children's series Spooksville

Spooksville

Spooksville is a series of 24 children's horror fiction books by American writer Christopher Pike. The series is set in a remote town in the USA and revolves around the lives of five of its young inhabitants...

and the adult novels: Sati, The Season of Passage, The Listeners, The Cold One, The Blind Mirror and Falling.

McFadden is an extremely private person; the little known about him is collected from his books and very rare interviews. In the "About the Author" section of several of his books, McFadden lists his interests as astronomy, meditation, reading, running, surfing and making sure his books are prominently displayed in his local bookshop. He acknowledges Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...

, Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

, Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...

, Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

, Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...

 and Stephen King

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

 as his influences.

Although his books are known as thrillers, they are often more focused on aspects of science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, spirituality

Spirituality

Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

, and whodunit

Whodunit

A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...

. References to Egyptian, Greek

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 and Hindu

Hindu deities

Within Hinduism a large number of personal gods are worshipped as murtis. These beings are either aspects of the supreme Brahman, Avatars of the supreme being, or significantly powerful entities known as devas. The exact nature of belief in regards to each deity varies between differing Hindu...

 mythology are also common.

According to the Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...

 author page, The Last Vampire (Thirst) series and the Alosha series are slated to be released as feature films. As of September 2010, FilmNation has acquired the screen rights to The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire series consists of books written by Christopher Pike and chronicles the life of the 5,000 year old "last vampire", Sita. A seventh book, The Eternal Dawn was released in late 2010.-The Last Vampire :...

series.

Because Pike didn't have time to write the sequel to The Cold One, tentatively titled Seedling, and the fact that the next book in the Alosha series, Nemi, has yet to be written, fans have begun an online petition for the completion of Nemi at ipetition.com.

Young adult fiction

• Slumber Party (1985)
• Weekend (1986)
• The Tachyon Web (1986)
• Last Act (1988)
• Spellbound (1988)
• Gimme a Kiss (1988)
• Scavenger Hunt (1989)
• Fall into Darkness (1990)
• See You Later (1990)
• Witch (1990)
• Whisper of Death (1991)
• Die Softly (1991)
• Bury Me Deep (1991)
• Master of Murder (1992)
• Monster (1992)
• Road to Nowhere (1993)
• The Eternal Enemy (1993)
• The Immortal (1993)
• The Wicked Heart (1993)
• The Midnight Club (1994)
• The Lost Mind (1995)
• The Visitor (1995)
• The Starlight Crystal (1996)
• The Star Group (1997)
• Execution of Innocence (1997)
• Hollow Skull (1998)
• Magic Fire (1999)
• The Grave (1999)
• The Secret of Ka (2010)
• To Die For – Omnibus collects Slumber Party and Weekend (2010)
• Time of Death – Omnibus collects Bury Me Deep and Chain Letter (2011)
• Master of Murder – Omnibus collects Last Act and Master of Murder (2011)
• Witch World (TBA)

Series

Cheerleaders

• Cheerleaders #2: Getting Even (1985)

Christopher Pike only wrote one book in this forty-seven book series. Other writers of this series include Caroline B. Cooney

Caroline B. Cooney

Caroline B. Cooney is an American author of suspense, romance, horror and mystery books for young adults. She currently resides in Fort Mill, South Carolina....

 and Diane Hoh

Diane Hoh

Diane Hoh is an American author of young adult horror. She grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Austin, Texas.-Nightmare Hall:# The Silent Scream: Jess is disturbed by a girl, Giselle, in her room who hung herself....

.

Chain Letter

• Chain Letter (1986)
• Chain Letter 2: The Ancient Evil (1992)
• Chained Together – Omnibus collects Chain Letter 1 and 2. (1994)

Final Friends

• Final Friends 1: The Party (1988)
• Final Friends 2: The Dance (1988)
• Final Friends 3: The Graduation (1989)
• Final Friends Trilogy – Omnibus collects Final Friends 1, 2 and 3. (1999)
• Until the End – Omnibus collects Final Friends 1, 2 and 3. (2011)

Remember Me (book series)

Remember Me (book series)

Remember Me is a book series written by Christopher Pike. Who is one of the best-selling author's of young adult novels. The series is all about a girl who died, Shari Cooper, and how she moves on.- Remember Me :...

• Remember Me (1989)
• Remember Me 2: The Return (1994)
• Remember Me 3: The Last Story (1995)
• Remember Me – Omnibus collects Remember Me 1, 2 and 3. (2010)

The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire series consists of books written by Christopher Pike and chronicles the life of the 5,000 year old "last vampire", Sita. A seventh book, The Eternal Dawn was released in late 2010.-The Last Vampire :...

• The Last Vampire (1994)
• The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood (1994)
• The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice (1995)
• The Last Vampire 4: Phantom (1996)
• The Last Vampire 5: Evil Thirst (1996)
• The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever (1996)
• The Last Vampire 7: The Eternal Dawn (2010)
• The Last Vampire 8: The Shadow of Death (2011)

Thirst

• Thirst No. 1 – Omnibus collects The Last Vampire 1, 2 and 3. (2009)
• Thirst No. 2 – Omnibus collects The Last Vampire 4, 5 and 6. (2010)
• Thirst No. 3 – The Last Vampire 7: The Eternal Dawn (2010)
• Thirst No. 4 – The Last Vampire 8: The Shadow of Death (August 2011)

Spooksville

Spooksville

Spooksville is a series of 24 children's horror fiction books by American writer Christopher Pike. The series is set in a remote town in the USA and revolves around the lives of five of its young inhabitants...

• Spooksville – series of 24 children's books (1995–1999)

Alosha

• Alosha (2004)
• The Shaktra (2005)
• The Yanti (2006)
• Nemi (TBA)

Short stories

• Tales of Terror – Six original short stories, includes a Master of Murder sequel: The Fan from Hell. (1997)
• Tales of Terror #2 – Five original short stories, includes a Master of Murder sequel: The Burning Witch. (1998)

Anthologies

• Thirteen: 13 Tales of Horror by 13 Masters of Horror – ed. T. Pines; contains Pike's stories Collect Call and Collect Call 2: The Black Walker. (1991)
• 666: The Number of the Beast – contains Pike's story Saving Face. (2007)

Adult fiction

• Sati (1990)
• The Season of Passage (1992)
• The Listeners (1995)
• The Cold One (1995)
• Seedling (planned sequel to The Cold One never written)
• The Blind Mirror (2003)
• Falling (2007)
• The Sixth Door (TBA)

External links

• Who is Christopher Pike? — A biography on the author as written by Melissa Blease.
• Christopher Pike Fan Club Up to date news and information regarding Christopher Pike and his novels.