Richard Thomas is an American author. His focus is on neo-noir and speculative fiction, typically including elements of violence, mental instability, breaks in reality, unreliable narrators, and tragedies. His work is rich in setting and sensory details—often called maximalism. His writing has also been called transgressive and grotesque. He was Editor-in-Chief at both Dark House Press and Gamut Magazine.
Biography
Thomas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Webster Groves. He earned a Bachelor of Science at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois, and in 2012 an MFA at Murray State University. He currently lives in Chicago. Thomas was Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press , an imprint of Curbside Splendor Publishing that launched in 2014 with The New Black. He was also the Editor of Gamut Magazine, a new online publication focusing on neo-noir, speculative fiction with a literary bent, , raising over $55,000. It was launched on January 1, 2017. In addition to his fiction he writes a Storyville column at LitReactor.com. He has taught creative writing at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival , Story Studio Chicago , LitReactor.com , and his own classes .
Bram Stoker Award, 2014: nominated for Best Anthology—Burnt Tongues, Medallion Press and Qualia Nous, Written Backwards ; nominated for Best Short Story Collection: After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones, Dark House Press ; nominated for Non-Fiction: Horror 101: The Way Forward, Crystal Lake Publishing.| 2016: nominated for Best Anthology—Chiral Mad 3 edited by Michael Bailey AND Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories edited by Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward | 2017Winner for Best Anthology—Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders, edited by Doug Murano | 2015: nominated for Best Anthology—Exigencies, edited by Richard Thomas; nominated for Best Short Fiction: "Wilderness" by Letitia Trent, in Exigencies
This is Horror Award. 2014: Winner for Best Anthology: Burnt Tongues, Medallion Press ; Winner for Best Short Story Collection: After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones, Dark House Press.| 2015: Nominee for Best Short Story Collection: Vile Men, by Rebecca Jones-Howe, Dark House Press ; Nominee for Best Anthology: Exigences, Dark House Press ; Nominee for Best Press, Dark House Press.| 2016: Nominee for Best Novel: Paper Tigers, by Damien Angelica Walters, Medallion Press.| 2017: Nominee for Best Magazine: Gamut.|
Disintegration, 2015: Best Fiction Books of 2015 ; Top Ten Books of 2015 ; Favorite Reads of 2015. Best Fiction Reads of 2015.
Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eight, June, 2016: "Wilderness" by Letitia Trent, in Exigencies.
"Repent," Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Crystal Lake Publishing and "The Offering on the Hill," Chiral Mad 3, Written Backwards, 2016
“The Offering on the Hill,” Chiral Mad 3, March 2016
“Repent,” Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, June 2016
Gamut magazine had eighteen stories and poems listed as Honorable Mentions for Best Horror of the Year) .
"Golden Sun," Chiral Mad 4 included in The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Eleven. Co-written with Kristi DeMeester, Damien Angelica Walters, and Michael Wehunt
