John Patrick Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American science fiction and horror writer of novels, short stories, and television & film scripts. is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... “Horror story” redirects here. ... This article is about the literary concept. ... This article is in need of attention. ... This article is about motion pictures. ...

Biography

John Shirley was born in Houston, Texas and grew up largely in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon. He was lead singer of the post-punk funk-rock band Obsession, on Celluloid Records, while living in New York City and Paris, France, in the 1980s, and was later in the band the Panther Moderns. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area. John Shirley has three sons, twins Byron and Perry, now 24 and Julian, a Bay Area-based underground rapper, 20 years-old. “Houston” redirects here. ... Nickname: Location of Portland in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Country State County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter[1]  - Commissioners Sam Adams Randy Leonard Dan Saltzman Erik Sten  - Auditor Gary Blackmer Area  - City 376. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ...

Career

The influential and eclectic John Shirley is known for his cyberpunk science fiction, as well as his suspense (as in his novels Spider Moon and The Brigade), horror novels and stories, and horror film work. His best known script work is the film The Crow, for which he was the initial writer, before David Schow reworked the script. He also wrote scripts for Deep Space Nine and Poltergeist: The Legacy. Some cite his intense, expressionistic early horror novels, such as Dracula In Love and Cellars as an influence on the splatterpunk movement in horror, and the subsequent "bizarro" movement. Berlins Sony Center reflects the global reach of a Japanese corporation. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... “Horror story” redirects here. ... The Crow is a 1994 American film adaptation of the comic book of the same name by James OBarr (who himself makes a cameo in the film). ... David J. Schow (born 1955) is an American fiction writer. ... In the Star Trek fictional universe, Deep Space Nine (or DS9) is a space station. ... Poltergeist: The Legacy is a 1996 Canadian/American horror television series. ... Splatterpunk is a neologism coined to describe a subgenre of horror fiction distinguished by its graphic depiction of violence. ...

According to literary critic Paul T. Riddell ("John Shirley and the Death and Rebirth of Cyberpunk", Tangent Magazine), "Just as the Sex Pistols weren't the first 'punk' band but acted as the catalyst for the whole movement, John Shirley catalyzed the whole cyberpunk movement. A Portland native who fronted a punk band while writing science fiction as a day job, Shirley managed to inspire most of the other talents with his vicious, balls-forward writing style. ..Unfortunately, most of the science fiction community wasn't ready for Shirley's wolverinelike attitudes, preferring Gibson's cyber fantasies to Shirley's punk riffs. His ambitious Eclipse series saw print in the late eighties but never really caught on. City Come A-Walkin' and The Exploded Heart, the first two releases from Brown's Eyeball Books, are a revised reprint of one of Shirley's earlier books and a collection of his early short stories respectively, they reveal the genesis of the prototypical cyberpunk tale. City in particular does this: the first glimmerings of the cyberpunk stereotype of the mirrorshades-wearing street survivor appear with City, a living personification of a city's consciousness. City, the book, starts with Stuart Cole, the owner of the popular nightclub Club Anesthesia, and his importance to City as a knight protecting San Francisco from its enemies. While ending a bit hurriedly, it emphasizes the punk aspects of the genre, as well as nailing home the thought that being a knight isn't always glorious…"

Shirley's most significant cyberpunk novels are City Come A-Walkin and the Eclipse (A Song Called Youth) Trilogy. Avant-slipstream critic Larry McCaffrey called him "the post-modern Poe."^{[citation needed]} Bruce Sterling has cited Shirley's early story collection Heatseeker as being a seminal cyberpunk work in itself. Indeed, several stories in Heatseeker were particularly seminal, including Sleepwalkers, which, in just one example, probably provided the inspiration for William Gibson's "meat puppets" in Neuromancer. Gibson acknowledged Shirley's influence and borrowing ideas from Shirley in his introduction to Shirley's City Come A-Walkin. Shirley's recent story collection, made up of increasingly bizarre stories, the whimsically titled Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories has developed a cult status. Berlins Sony Center reflects the global reach of a Japanese corporation. ... The Eclipse Trilogy (also referred to as A Song Called Youth trilogy) is a series of three science fiction cyber-punk novels by John Shirley, (Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona). ... A heavy metal song of rebellion in John Shirleys Eclipse Trilogy. ... Larry McCaffery is a literary critic, editor, and professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University. ... For other persons named William Gibson, see William Gibson (disambiguation). ...

William Gibson, the author of Neuromancer collaborated with Shirley on short stories -- as did fellow cyberpunks Bruce Sterling and Rudy Rucker. Shirley's lyricism, wealth of ideas and imagination, crossover pioneering, and street-level honesty have been praised by other writers including Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Roger Zelazny, Marc Laidlaw, and A. A. Attanasio. His more surreal work, as in A Splendid Chaos showed how it was possible to describe the indescribable with a paradoxical believability and impeccable internal logic no matter how bizarre the subject matter. Unlike many "street" flavored writers, Shirley's personal experiences as a recovering drug addict and punk rocker brought real verisimilitude to his darker, urban-tinctured writing. For the 1988 video game, see Neuromancer (video game). ... Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which defined the cyberpunk genre. ... Rudy Rucker, Fall 2004, photo by Georgia Rucker. ... For the South African football (soccer) coach, see Clive Barker (soccer). ... Peter Straub at the University of South Florida on February 15, 2007 Peter Francis Straub, born March 2, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a writer of fiction and poetry, best known as a prolific horror author. ... Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. ... Marc Laidlaw (born 1960) is an American writer of science fiction and horror and also a computer game designer with Valve Software. ... A. A. Attanasio, born in 1951, is an author of fantasy and science fiction. ...

In recent years Shirley was for a time lured by high advances into writing "tie in novels" and novelizations, but is rumored to be returning to form with an apocalyptic, politically charged novel, The Other End which, according to the author's website, takes the apocalypse away from the Christian Right and gives Judgment Day to Liberals to do with as they please. This reflects his tendency to create fantasy entertainment which is also political satire, or spiritual allegory. Eg, Demons, in which it is discovered that industry has deliberately caused deaths by cancer as part of a vast secret program of human sacrifice. 2007 saw the release of a new story collection, Living Shadows, from Prime Books. In 2007 he signed with Simon and Schuster to write a novel of dark fantasy set in a slightly futuristic New York, entitled Bleak History.

Shirley's work ranges in tone from the surreal to the grittily naturalistic to the nightmarish. He is also a songwriter and singer, having fronted numerous punk bands, including the New York band Obsession, who were recorded by Celluloid Records. He has written lyrics for Blue Öyster Cult, such as several songs on the album Heaven Forbid. A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state. ... Celluloid Records, a French/American label, operated from 1976 to the late 1990s, and produced a series of eclectic and ground-breaking releases, particularly in the early to late eighties, largely under the auspices of de facto in-house producer Bill Laswell. ... Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed in New York in 1967 and still active in 2007. ... Heaven Forbid is a Blue Öyster Cult album released in 1998. ...

Awards

• Shirley's short story collection "Black Butterflies" won:
  • The Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers of America
  • International Horror Guild Award
  • Selected as one of the best books of 1998 by Publishers Weekly

The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for superior achievement in horror writing. ... Publishers Weekly is a weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. ...

Selected Works

Novels

• Transmaniacon (1979)
• Dracula in Love (1979)
• City Come A-Walkin' (1980)
• Three-Ring Psychus (1980)
• The Brigade (1981)
• Cellars (1982)
• Several books in the Traveler series of post-apocalyptic men's adventure novels (as D. B. Drumm)^[1]
• A Song Called Youth Series (also known as Eclipse Trilogy):
  • Eclipse (1985)
  • Eclipse Penumbra (1988)
  • Eclipse Corona (1990)
• In Darkness Waiting (1988)
• Kamus of Kadizar: The Black Hole of Carcosa (1988)
• A Splendid Chaos (1988)
• Wetbones (1991)
• Silicon Embrace (1996)
• "Demons" (2000, novella)
• "...And the Angel with Television Eyes" (2001, novella)
• "The View From Hell" (2001, novella)
• "Her Hunger" (2001, novella)
• Spider Moon (2002)
• Demons, a new version with sequel novel Undercurrents (2002)
• Crawlers (2003)
• Constantine (2004, novelisation of the film featuring the DC/Vertigo comicbook character)
• Doom (2005, novelization of the film version of the Id Software computer game)
• John Constantine, Hellblazer: War Lord (2006, based on the comic book character, not the movie version)
• Predator: Forever Midnight (2006, Predator series tie-in)
• Batman: Dead White (2006, tie-in with Batman Begins)
• John Constantine, Hellblazer: Subterranean (2006)
• The Other End (2007)
• Alien: Steel Egg (2007, forthcoming)

The March, 1963 cover of For Men Only promises, among other things, a tale of Swastika Slave Girls in Argentinas No-Escape Brothel Camp! Mens adventure is a genre of pulp magazines that had its heyday in the 1950s and early 1960s. ... The Eclipse Trilogy (also referred to as A Song Called Youth trilogy) is a series of three science fiction cyber-punk novels by John Shirley, (Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona). ... Silicon Embrace is an English language science fiction novel by John Shirley. ... Constantine is a 2005 American film loosely based on the Hellblazer comic book, with some plot elements being taken from the Dangerous Habits arc (issues #41-46). ... id Software (IPA: officially, though originally ) is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. ... John Constantine (born May 10, 1953 in Liverpool, England) is the fictional protagonist of the comic series Hellblazer. ... The Predator novels are an extension of the Predator franchise published by Dark Horse Comics under their DH Press imprint. ... Batman: Dead White is a novel set in the universe of DC Comics superhero Batman and was penned by cyberpunk/science fiction author John Shirley. ... For the novel based on the film, see Batman Begins (novelization). ... John Constantine (born May 10, 1953 in Liverpool, England) is the fictional protagonist of the comic series Hellblazer. ...

Short story collections

• Heatseeker (1989)
• New Noir (1993)
• The Exploded Heart (1996)
• Black Butterflies (1998)
• Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories (1999)
• Darkness Divided (2001)
• Living Shadows (2007)

Nonfiction

• Gurdjieff - An Introduction to his Life and Ideas (2004) ISBN 1-58542-287-8

Music

Shirley wrote most of the lyrics for Blue Öyster Cult albums Heaven Forbid and Curse of the Hidden Mirror as well as the songs Demon's Kiss and The Horsemen Arrive from their soundtrack Bad Channels. Their 1972 song Transmaniacon MC was the inspiration for the book Transmaniacon. Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed in New York in 1967 and still active in 2007. ... Heaven Forbid is a Blue Öyster Cult album released in 1998. ... Curse of the Hidden Mirror is an album by rock band Blue Öyster Cult released in 2001. ... Bad Channels is a Blue Öyster Cult Soundtrack album released in 1992. ... Bad Channels is a Blue Öyster Cult Soundtrack album released in 1992. ... Bad Channels is a Blue Öyster Cult Soundtrack album released in 1992. ... Blue Öyster Cult is the self-titled debut by hard rock band, the Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1972 (see 1972 in music). ...

In 2000, Shirley recorded several tracks with Tony and Paul DeStefano of Too Hip For The Room, and also appears on their Blue Öyster Cult tribute album 'Don't Fear The Remake'. Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed in New York in 1967 and still active in 2007. ...

References

• John Shirley's official website

External links

• MP3s of his rock music
• AvPGalaxy Interview with John Shirley
• AvPGalaxy Interview #2 with John Shirley
• "Is the Internet Good for Writers?"

• John Shirley at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database is a database of bibliographic information on science fiction and related genres such as fantasy fiction and horror fiction. ...

See also

• List of horror fiction authors
• splatterpunk