About the author. . .

PHOTO © A. CAPOZZI 2009

Simon Strantzas is the author of the critically-acclaimed COLD TO THE TOUCH (Tartarus Press, 2009), a collection of thirteen tales of the strange and supernatural. His first collection, BENEATH THE SURFACE (Humdrumming, 2008) was called "possibly the most important debut short story collection in the genre [in years]. . ." by multiple award-winning editor Stephen Jones. Strantzas's stories have appeared or are due soon in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR, CEMETERY DANCE, POSTSCRIPTS, and elsewhere. In 2009, his work was nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction. Current projects include a third collection of short fiction, a novella, and a short novel. He also hopes to one day catch up on a voluminous amount of reading.

He has lived in Toronto, Canada, for his entire life and has no plans on leaving for sunnier climes.

His contact information can be found here.

"[Simon Strantzas has] inherited the mantle of Robert Aickman in terms of subtle and enigmatic disquiet."

— Ramsey Campbell

"...an expert in urban ennui."

— Ellen Datlow

"Strantzas deftly establishes ordinary and seemingly innocuous situations that spin out of the characters’ control and always end with an uneasy sense of menace, even when their resolution is ambiguous or cryptic."

— Publishers Weekly

"A damned fine writer and head and shoulders one of the best in the genre. He eschews lazy writing: he works hard at what he does, and it shows."

— T.M. Wright

"A rare talent in the field of contemporary horror; a writer who is able to convey his shadow-laden worldview through literate and well-tempered prose. His contributions to the legacy of weird fiction are sure to be lasting ones."

— Richard Gavin

"His is a stark new voice in the black chambers of the weird underground that ought to make followers of Ligotti, Aickman, and Lovecraft bolt up and take notice. It's clear that Strantzas is a student of the rich atmosphere and the bizarre subtleties of the dark scribes mentioned."

— Grim Blogger, The Grim Review

"Simon's prose has an elegant tranquility to it that belies the shadowy themes of loss and identity that permeate his work. I'd compare him to Robert Aickman, but that really isn't fair, as Strantzas is his own man."

— Michael Kelly

"[A]n excellent writer who likes to deal with the weirdest and more mysterious aspects of human condition, who likes to disturb and upset and manages to do that very effectively by emphasising the dark shades lurking behind the light of everyday reality."

— Mario Guslandi, The Short Review

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