Jeffrey Thomas (writer)
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Thomas is a prolific writer of science fiction and horror, best known for his stories set in the nightmarish future city called Punktown, such as the novel Deadstock (Solaris Books
) and the collection Punktown (Ministry of Whimsy Press), from which a story was reprinted in St. Martin's The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror #14. His fiction has also been reprinted in Daw's The Year's Best Horror Stories XXII, The Year's Best Fantastic Fiction and Quick Chills II: The Best Horror Fiction from the Specialty Press. He has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award
(Best First Novel) for Monstrocity, and a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Deadstock.
Other books by Thomas include the novels Letters from Hades (Bedlam Press) and Monstrocity (Prime Books
), and the novella Godhead Dying Downwards (Earthling Publications
). The German edition of Punktown has cover art by H. R. Giger
.
Jeffrey Thomas lives in Massachusetts. His brother Scott is also an accomplished short story writer, collected in such books as Cobwebs and Whispers (Delirium Books
) and Westermead (Raw Dog Screaming Press).
, infamous for its level of crime. Originally given the name Paxton, it is described as, “a vast city established by Earth on the planet Oasis but since colonized by numerous other races as well. Even the Chooms, who had lived here before the first Earth people, had come to refer to the city by its nickname of Punktown.” Besides the indigenous Choom, human in appearance aside from wide mouths cut back to their ears, the stories often include or focus on a variety of alien races, clones, mutants, and sentient machines. The stories tend to feature common citizens as their protagonists, rather than the larger-than-life heroes of cliche science fiction, with few characters recurring – one exception being mutant
private eye
Jeremy Stake, protagonist of the novels Deadstock and Blue War. Beyond their grounding in science fiction, Punktown stories also notably combine elements of horror, fantasy and occasionally detective noir.
In interviews Thomas has related how he first devised the city in 1980, with a handful of short stories appearing in small press publications before the collection Punktown (Ministry of Whimsy Press) was released in 2000. The Punktown stories are sometimes cited as early examples of the New Weird subgenre; Paul Di Filippo in Asimov’s describing the initial collection as “a harbinger of the New Weird… Not that the concept of Punktown really needs any shoring-up by cliques or claques.”
Besides numerous appearances of the short fiction in magazines and anthologies, there have also been foreign language editions of several of the Punktown books released in Germany, Russia, Poland and Greece, and three collections of audio adaptations created by the German company Lausch.
Solaris Books
Solaris Books is an imprint which focuses on publishing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy novels and anthologies. The range includes titles by both established and new authors...
) and the collection Punktown (Ministry of Whimsy Press), from which a story was reprinted in St. Martin's The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror #14. His fiction has also been reprinted in Daw's The Year's Best Horror Stories XXII, The Year's Best Fantastic Fiction and Quick Chills II: The Best Horror Fiction from the Specialty Press. He has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
(Best First Novel) for Monstrocity, and a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Deadstock.
Other books by Thomas include the novels Letters from Hades (Bedlam Press) and Monstrocity (Prime Books
Prime Books
Edited by two-time Hugo-nominee and 2006 World Fantasy-winner Sean Wallace, Prime Books is an award-winning independent publishing house, specializing in a mix of literary/commercial anthologies, collections, novels, and two magazines: Fantasy Magazine and Lightspeed Magazine. Some of its...
), and the novella Godhead Dying Downwards (Earthling Publications
Earthling Publications
Earthling Publications is an American small press run by Paul Miller and specialising in fine limited edition books in the horror and dark fantasy genres.In 2003, Earthling won the Horror Writers Association Specialty Press Award....
). The German edition of Punktown has cover art by H. R. Giger
H. R. Giger
Hans Rudolf "Ruedi" Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer. He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for his design work on the film Alien.-Early life:...
.
Jeffrey Thomas lives in Massachusetts. His brother Scott is also an accomplished short story writer, collected in such books as Cobwebs and Whispers (Delirium Books
Delirium Books
Delirium Books, launched in the Summer of 1999 by Shane Ryan Staley, is currently recognized as one of the premiere horror publishers in the collector's market, producing low print run limited editions intended for both collectors and readers alike...
) and Westermead (Raw Dog Screaming Press).
Punktown
Punktown is a far-future megalopolisMegalopolis
Megalopolis may refer to:* Megalopolis , an extensive metropolitan area or a long chain of continuous metropolitan areas.** See also, Megacity, Agglomeration, or Ecumenopolis....
, infamous for its level of crime. Originally given the name Paxton, it is described as, “a vast city established by Earth on the planet Oasis but since colonized by numerous other races as well. Even the Chooms, who had lived here before the first Earth people, had come to refer to the city by its nickname of Punktown.” Besides the indigenous Choom, human in appearance aside from wide mouths cut back to their ears, the stories often include or focus on a variety of alien races, clones, mutants, and sentient machines. The stories tend to feature common citizens as their protagonists, rather than the larger-than-life heroes of cliche science fiction, with few characters recurring – one exception being mutant
Mutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
private eye
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
Jeremy Stake, protagonist of the novels Deadstock and Blue War. Beyond their grounding in science fiction, Punktown stories also notably combine elements of horror, fantasy and occasionally detective noir.
In interviews Thomas has related how he first devised the city in 1980, with a handful of short stories appearing in small press publications before the collection Punktown (Ministry of Whimsy Press) was released in 2000. The Punktown stories are sometimes cited as early examples of the New Weird subgenre; Paul Di Filippo in Asimov’s describing the initial collection as “a harbinger of the New Weird… Not that the concept of Punktown really needs any shoring-up by cliques or claques.”
Besides numerous appearances of the short fiction in magazines and anthologies, there have also been foreign language editions of several of the Punktown books released in Germany, Russia, Poland and Greece, and three collections of audio adaptations created by the German company Lausch.
- Punktown (collection) (June 2000, Ministry of Whimsy Press)
- expanded edition published July 2003
- Monstrocity (novel) (May 2003, Prime Books, 236 pages)
- Everybody Scream! (novel) (August 2004, Raw Dog Screaming Press, 291 pages)
- Punktown: Third Eye (anthology) (2004, Prime Books, 162 pages)
- Punktown: Shades of Grey (with Scott ThomasScott ThomasScott Thomas may refer to:*Scott Thomas , American district attorney*Scott Thomas , ice hockey player in the NHL*Scott Thomas , English football player...
) (anthology) (2005, Bedlam Press/Necro Publications, 238 pages) - Deadstock (novel) (February 2007, Solaris Books, 416 pages)
- Blue War (novel) (February 2008, Solaris Books, 416 pages)
- Health Agent (novel) (2008, Raw Dog Screaming Press)
- Voices from Punktown (collection) (2008, Dark Regions Press, 208 pages)
- Monstrocity (novel) (2011, Anarchy Books, ebook edition)
Hades
- Letters From Hades (novel) (March 2003, Bedlam Press, 240 pages)
- Ugly Heaven, Beautiful Hell (novella) (split release with Carlton Mellick III) (Dec. 2007, Corrosion Press, 276 pages)
- Voices from Hades (collection) (2008, Dark Regions Press, 169 pages)
- The Fall of Hades (novel) (2010, Dark Regions Press)
- Beautiful Hell (novella) (2011, Dark Regions Press)
Old Ones Trilogy
- The Bones of the Old Ones and Other Lovecraftian Tales (1995, chapbook, Necropolitan Press, 70 pages)
- second printing in 1999 with four extra pages
- Avatars of the Old Ones: Mythos Tales (1999, chapbook, Imelod Publications, 48 pages)
Collections
- Terror Incognita (March 2000, Delirium Books, 158 pages)
- 2003 trade paperback reprint doesn't have story notes
- AAAIIIEEE!!! (January 2002, iUniverse, 212 pages)
- Nether: Improper Bedtime Stores (with Scott Thomas) (June 2004, Delirium Books)
- Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood (June 2004, Delirium Books)
- containing just Jeffrey Thomas' contributions to Nether
- Unholy Dimensions (2005, Mythos Books, 288 pages)
- Thirteen Specimens (Feb. 2006, Delirium Books, 291 pages)
- Doomsdays (Oct. 2007, Dark Regions Press, 264 pages)
- Nocturnal Emissions (Jul. 2010, Dark Regions Press, 198 pages)
Novels
- The Arms of the Sun (March 2004, Delirium Books, 67 pages)
- Boneland (July 2004, Bloodletting Press, 167 pages)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Dealers (July 2006, Black Flame, 416 pages)
- Thought Forms (2009, Dark Regions Press)
- Beyond the Door (April 2011, Delirium Books, 120 pages)
- The Sea of Flesh and Ash (with Scott ThomasScott ThomasScott Thomas may refer to:*Scott Thomas , American district attorney*Scott Thomas , ice hockey player in the NHL*Scott Thomas , English football player...
) (May 2011, Terradan Works) - Blood Society (2011, Necro Publications)
Chapbooks
- Black Walls, Red Glass (Sept. 1997, Marietta Publishing, 66 pages)
- These Are The Exhibits (2003, Camelot Books & Gifts, 8 pages)
- Godhead Dying Downwards (May 2003, Earthling Publications, 40 pages)
- Unknown Pleasures: Dark Erotica (with Mark Howard Jones) (July 2003, Raw Dog Screaming Press, 48 pages)
- A Puppet Show For No One (March 2004, Delirium Books)
Anthologies edited
- 19961996 in literatureThe year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."* In the United Kingdom, the first...
A Vampire Bestiary - 19991999 in literatureThe year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...
Terata: Anomalies of Literature