Nicholas Grabowsky
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Grabowsky is a horror/fantasy author and screenwriter.
Nicholas Grabowsky was born Nicholas John Grabowsky in Norwalk, California
on May 7, 1966, to parents Arthur J. Grabowsky and Doris Ruth Moreno. From 1966 to 1995, he resided with his family in Southern California, where Anaheim, California
is heralded as his hometown although he also resided periodically in surrounding towns such as Garden Grove, California
. He began writing fiction as early as the third grade at the Thomas Alva Edison Elementary School in Anaheim, where his teacher assigned students to pen their own tall tales after viewing Disney
film shorts such as Paul Bunyan
and Pecos Bill
. As early as the sixth grade, while attending Dr. Jonas E. Salk Elementary School, he had written dozens of short scripts and novellas and had drawn a series of comics entitled Gooneyville, which he regularly photocopied and distributed to classmates, as well as audiotaped variety segments entitled The Swiss Robber Show, where he'd utilize scripted recorded voices from locals combined with sound effects and celebrity voices and music from radio and television which he sold for a dollar apiece to faculty, students and neighbors.
His creative writing continued through junior high and high school, where he consistently sought the attentions of Hollywood with screenwriting and acting pursuits and involved his writing in various periodicals such as Jack N' Jill Magazine, until a strict conservative Christian
Penticostal upbringing and involvement with a number of related denominations and Christian cults found his interests redirected in his late teens towards evangelism, related contemporary Christian music, and songwriting. By the time he was eighteen years of age, he was preaching and often singing largely original songs and playing piano to congregations of over a thousand people with a mannerism and style similar to Keith Green
, infused with further influences notably from Steve Taylor
and Randy Stonehill
.
In 1993, Nicholas' parents purchased a house in Sacramento, California, for retirement, and moved to their new home with Nicholas' autistic sister Carol Jean Grabowsky. In June 1995, Carol went missing from her adult education services school, and Nicholas devoted his time to search for her, along with local news media, a host of volunteer searchers, and the assistance of such celebrity personalities as Charlotte Blasier, wife of O. J. Simpson
defense attorney Bob Blasier. Carol's body was found by two boys in a drainage ditch near Discovery Park, Sacramento, in October 1995, which remains to this day a closed case with the details leading to her death entirely unsolved.
Of note is the fact that Nicholas is the grandson of Alfred Moreno, a 1940's general manager of Los Angeles' Biltmore Hotel
, whose brother, Antonio Moreno
, was the great Hollywood silent film actor/director who starred in hundreds of films throughout the early twentieth century and, most notably, in Universal's Creature From the Black Lagoon
.
and Night of the Creeps
, and pursuing a modeling career, his pursuits found him an acting coach in the form of Walter Koenig
, Star Trek's
Chekov, who introduced Nicholas to a New York publisher of mass market paperback novels. His first novel, Pray Serpent's Prey, originally a Christian allegory of vampires invading a small Montana town involving a preacher who learns that the power of God alone could save the central characters, and which Grabowsky began penning in high school, was accepted and published by Critic's Choice Paperbacks/Lorevan Publishing (the same publisher as Koenig) under the pseudonym of Nicholas Randers. Grabowsky penned subsequent published works under the Randers name including The Rag Man' and Tale of the Makeshift Faire before 1990, and romance novels and self-help books under the pen name of Marsena Shane which include Sweet Dreams Lady Moon, The Easy Way to Great Legs, Your Heart Belongs to You and June Park up until 1991, when he broke away from his pseudonyms entirely. He also wrote a commissioned sequel to Wes Craven
's Shocker
, which was never produced. In 1988, he wrote the novelization of Halloween IV
which was published under his real name, which went on to be a bestseller.
Grabowsky is "A well-established author of horror/fantasy fiction". In 2001, he completed his signature novel The Everborn, which won the award for Science Fiction Novel of the Year (2004) from the American Author's Association. In 2002, he established the small press of Diverse Media, which published a critically acclaimed special limited edition of his Halloween 4
novel. Following this he released works such as Diverse Tales, The Wicked Haze, the children's book Flatty Kat: Tales of an Urban Feline with Phyllis Haupert, and Nick Reads & Reviews, and Grabowsky subsequently cemented himself as a prominent name in horror/fantasy literature with those and a list of other novels and short stories, poetry and scripts. In 2008, he established the small traditional publishing house of Black Bed Sheet Books, which publishes fiction from many authors largely in the horror/fantasy category, and Black Bed Sheet Productions, which produces independent genre feature film. In 2008, he co-wrote the screenplay for Into the Basement with Norm Applegate, based on Applegate's book, for Triad Pictures, scheduled for release in 2009.
Nicholas Grabowsky's work can now be seen in comic form. In 2010 "Shot In the Dark Comics," an independent comic book company acquired the rights from Mr. Grabowsky and has released a set of comics taken from his popular book "Red Wet Dirt." http://shotinthedarkcomics.com/1.html
Looks like "A Rat To Me," has already been released in August 2010. The follow-up Graphic Novel "The Father Keeper," will be released in 2011.
"Grabowsky succeeds in making the whole world creepy...." -Heidi Martinuzzi, E! Entertainment Television
"Grabowsky's writing is at times touching and emotional, however, his real talent is his ability to infuse his writing with a sense of dread and loathing that I have not experienced since H.P. Lovecraft..." -Tahoe Daily Tribune
"Grabowsky has imagination to spare.....!" -Sacramento Bee
"Impressive storytelling....." -Wes Craven
Biography
Personal LifeNicholas Grabowsky was born Nicholas John Grabowsky in Norwalk, California
Norwalk, California
Norwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 census, up from 103,298 at the 2000 census, making it the 58th most populous city in California and the 255th nationally....
on May 7, 1966, to parents Arthur J. Grabowsky and Doris Ruth Moreno. From 1966 to 1995, he resided with his family in Southern California, where Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
is heralded as his hometown although he also resided periodically in surrounding towns such as Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove is a city located in northern Orange County, California. The population was 170,883 at the 2010 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city running east-west. The city is known outside the Southern California area for being the home of Robert H...
. He began writing fiction as early as the third grade at the Thomas Alva Edison Elementary School in Anaheim, where his teacher assigned students to pen their own tall tales after viewing Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
film shorts such as Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a lumberjack figure in North American folklore and tradition. One of the most famous and popular North American folklore heroes, he is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill, and is often accompanied in stories by his animal companion, Babe the Blue...
and Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. Their stories were probably invented into short stories and book by Edward O'Reilly in the...
. As early as the sixth grade, while attending Dr. Jonas E. Salk Elementary School, he had written dozens of short scripts and novellas and had drawn a series of comics entitled Gooneyville, which he regularly photocopied and distributed to classmates, as well as audiotaped variety segments entitled The Swiss Robber Show, where he'd utilize scripted recorded voices from locals combined with sound effects and celebrity voices and music from radio and television which he sold for a dollar apiece to faculty, students and neighbors.
His creative writing continued through junior high and high school, where he consistently sought the attentions of Hollywood with screenwriting and acting pursuits and involved his writing in various periodicals such as Jack N' Jill Magazine, until a strict conservative Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Penticostal upbringing and involvement with a number of related denominations and Christian cults found his interests redirected in his late teens towards evangelism, related contemporary Christian music, and songwriting. By the time he was eighteen years of age, he was preaching and often singing largely original songs and playing piano to congregations of over a thousand people with a mannerism and style similar to Keith Green
Keith Green
Keith Gordon Green was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same...
, infused with further influences notably from Steve Taylor
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor , is an American Christian singer, songwriter, record producer and film director.-Early life:Taylor, the eldest of three children, was born in Brawley, California. Taylor's father, Roland Taylor, was a Baptist minister. When Taylor was six years old, the family relocated to...
and Randy Stonehill
Randy Stonehill
Randall Evan "Randy" Stonehill is an American singer-songwriter from Stockton, California, best known as one of the so-called "fathers of contemporary Christian music". His music is primarily folk rock in the style of James Taylor, but he has assayed other styles, with various albums focused on...
.
In 1993, Nicholas' parents purchased a house in Sacramento, California, for retirement, and moved to their new home with Nicholas' autistic sister Carol Jean Grabowsky. In June 1995, Carol went missing from her adult education services school, and Nicholas devoted his time to search for her, along with local news media, a host of volunteer searchers, and the assistance of such celebrity personalities as Charlotte Blasier, wife of O. J. Simpson
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
defense attorney Bob Blasier. Carol's body was found by two boys in a drainage ditch near Discovery Park, Sacramento, in October 1995, which remains to this day a closed case with the details leading to her death entirely unsolved.
Of note is the fact that Nicholas is the grandson of Alfred Moreno, a 1940's general manager of Los Angeles' Biltmore Hotel
Biltmore Hotel
Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman.The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The name has...
, whose brother, Antonio Moreno
Antonio Moreno
Antonio "Tony" Moreno was a notable Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.- Biography :...
, was the great Hollywood silent film actor/director who starred in hundreds of films throughout the early twentieth century and, most notably, in Universal's Creature From the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes...
.
Writing career
After acquiring jobs as an extra in Hollywood for such films as Masters of the UniverseMasters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel....
and Night of the Creeps
Night of the Creeps
Night of the Creeps is a 1986 zombie horror film written and directed by Fred Dekker, starring Tom Atkins, Jason Lively, Steve Marshall and Jill Whitlow. The film is notable as an earnest attempt at a B movie and a homage to the genre...
, and pursuing a modeling career, his pursuits found him an acting coach in the form of Walter Koenig
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in Babylon 5. He wrote the script for the 2008 science fiction legal thriller InAlienable.-Early life:...
, Star Trek's
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...
Chekov, who introduced Nicholas to a New York publisher of mass market paperback novels. His first novel, Pray Serpent's Prey, originally a Christian allegory of vampires invading a small Montana town involving a preacher who learns that the power of God alone could save the central characters, and which Grabowsky began penning in high school, was accepted and published by Critic's Choice Paperbacks/Lorevan Publishing (the same publisher as Koenig) under the pseudonym of Nicholas Randers. Grabowsky penned subsequent published works under the Randers name including The Rag Man' and Tale of the Makeshift Faire before 1990, and romance novels and self-help books under the pen name of Marsena Shane which include Sweet Dreams Lady Moon, The Easy Way to Great Legs, Your Heart Belongs to You and June Park up until 1991, when he broke away from his pseudonyms entirely. He also wrote a commissioned sequel to Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
's Shocker
Shocker (film)
Shocker is a 1989 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. The relatively low-budget film has since become a cult classic...
, which was never produced. In 1988, he wrote the novelization of Halloween IV
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd , the daughter of Laurie...
which was published under his real name, which went on to be a bestseller.
Grabowsky is "A well-established author of horror/fantasy fiction". In 2001, he completed his signature novel The Everborn, which won the award for Science Fiction Novel of the Year (2004) from the American Author's Association. In 2002, he established the small press of Diverse Media, which published a critically acclaimed special limited edition of his Halloween 4
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd , the daughter of Laurie...
novel. Following this he released works such as Diverse Tales, The Wicked Haze, the children's book Flatty Kat: Tales of an Urban Feline with Phyllis Haupert, and Nick Reads & Reviews, and Grabowsky subsequently cemented himself as a prominent name in horror/fantasy literature with those and a list of other novels and short stories, poetry and scripts. In 2008, he established the small traditional publishing house of Black Bed Sheet Books, which publishes fiction from many authors largely in the horror/fantasy category, and Black Bed Sheet Productions, which produces independent genre feature film. In 2008, he co-wrote the screenplay for Into the Basement with Norm Applegate, based on Applegate's book, for Triad Pictures, scheduled for release in 2009.
Nicholas Grabowsky's work can now be seen in comic form. In 2010 "Shot In the Dark Comics," an independent comic book company acquired the rights from Mr. Grabowsky and has released a set of comics taken from his popular book "Red Wet Dirt." http://shotinthedarkcomics.com/1.html
Looks like "A Rat To Me," has already been released in August 2010. The follow-up Graphic Novel "The Father Keeper," will be released in 2011.
Quotes about Grabowsky
"My Dear Nicholas: You seem to me---in a way that's entirely admirable----a man out of time. You're writing horror epics when the audience has become increasingly numbed by cinematic hokum and stale ideas. I salute you: your ambition, your dedication, your achievements, your blissfully complex imagination...." -Clive BarkerClive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
"Grabowsky succeeds in making the whole world creepy...." -Heidi Martinuzzi, E! Entertainment Television
"Grabowsky's writing is at times touching and emotional, however, his real talent is his ability to infuse his writing with a sense of dread and loathing that I have not experienced since H.P. Lovecraft..." -Tahoe Daily Tribune
"Grabowsky has imagination to spare.....!" -Sacramento Bee
"Impressive storytelling....." -Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
External links
- Author's site: Downwarden.com http://www.downwarden.com
- Black Bed Sheet Books http://www.downwarden.com/blackbedsheet