Bentley Little

Infobox Writer


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name = Bentley Little
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birthdate = 1960
birthplace = Arizona
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occupation = Novelist
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genre = Horror
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influences = Stephen King, Dean Koontz
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Bentley Little (born 1960 in Arizona) is an American author of numerous horror novels. He was discovered by Dean Koontz.

Personal History

Little was born one month after his mother attended the world premiere of "Psycho". He published his first novel, "The Revelation", with St. Martin's Press in 1990. After reading it, Stephen King became a vocal fan of Little's work, and Little won the Bram Stoker Award for "Best First Novel" in 1990. He moved to New American Library for his next two novels, but was dropped from the company after he refused to write a police procedural as his next novel. He eventually returned to New American Library, with whom he continues to publish his novels.

Little has stated on several occasions that he considers himself a horror novelist, and that he writes in the horror genre, not the "suspense" or "dark fantasy" genres. He is an unabashed supporter of horror fiction and has been described as a disciple of Stephen King.

Little has stated in the past that he does not like computers, and refuses to operate an official web site.

Recurring Themes

Recurring themes in Bentley Little's works include a distrust of conformity ("The Association", "The Ignored"), distaste for large corporations ("The Store", "The Policy"), and taboo subjects such as incest and unusual sexuality ("The Town", "University", "Dominion", "The Store", "The Mailman"). These elements, particularly the latter, strongly recall the work of J.G. Ballard. Little's novels tend to contain overtly supernatural forces rather than relying on pseudo-scientific explanations like many other horror stories. Nearly all of his novels have extremely simple titles.

There is a recurring character in several of his novels named Phillip Emmons, after a pseudonym Little used for an early novel. A somewhat bumbling FBI agent, Greg Rossiter, also makes an appearance in several books in supporting roles.

Awards

*1990 Bram Stoker Award winner: Best First Novel ("The Revelation")
*1993 Bram Stoker Award nominee: Best Novel ("The Summoning")
*2002 Bram Stoker Award nominee: Best Fiction Collection ("The Collection")

Adaptations

There have been few adaptations of Bentley Little's work. However, Little's short story "The Washingtonians" was adapted by the horror anthology "Masters of Horror" under the direction of Peter Medak.

In 2007, the Hollywood Reporter reported that a film adaptation of "The Store", which concerns a small Arizona town being slowly consumed by an evil corporate retail chain, is under works by Strike Entertainment. The script is to be adapted by Jenna McGrath, with production duties handled by Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, and executive production by Vince Gerardis, Eli Kirschner and Tom Bliss. [cite web|title=McGrath pen registers with 'Store'|author=Carolyn Giardina|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i697aabd8c4794420c8648174d1232133|date=2007-07-30|accessdate=2007-12-23]

Bibliography

*1990: "The Revelation"
*1991: "The Mailman"
*1992: "Death Instinct" ("Evil Deeds" in UK) (written as Phillip Emmons)
*1993: "The Summoning"
*1995: "University" ("Night School" in UK)
*1996: "Dominion" ("Dark Dominion" in UK)
*1996: "The Store"
*1997: "Murmurous Haunts: The Selected Works of Bentley Little"
*1997: "The House" ("Houses" in UK)
*1997: "The Ignored"
*2000: "The Town" ("Guests" in UK)
*2000: "The Walking"
*2001: "The Association"
*2002: "The Collection"
*2002: "The Return"
*2003: "The Policy"
*2004: "The Resort"
*2005: "Dispatch"
*2006: "The Burning"
*2007: "The Vanishing"
*2008: "The Academy"

References