Richard Thomas

Background

Thomas was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Webster Groves.

Education

He earned a Bachelor of Science at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois, and in 2012 an Master of Fine Arts at Murray State University.

Career

His focus is on neo-noir fiction, typically including elements of violence, mental instability, breaks in reality, and tragedies. His work is rich in setting and sensory details, and often has a sexual element to lieutenant lieutenant has also been called transgressive and grotesque.

He is also Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press.

He currently lives in Chicago. Thomas is Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press, an imprint of Curbside Splendor Publishing that launched in 2014 with The New Black.

In addition to his fiction he writes a Storyville column at LitReactor.com, book reviews for The Nervous Breakdown, and articles for BuzzFeed and Flavorwire. He has taught creative writing at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, Story Studio Chicago, and LitReactor.com.

Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications, 2010) Herniated Roots: Stories (Snubnose Press) September 2012 Staring Into the Abyss: Stories (Kraken Press) April 2013 Disintegration (Random House Alibi) May 2015 Breaker (Random House Alibi) January 2016 The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books) with Caleb J. Ross, Nik Korpon, and Axel Taiari, June 2016 Tribulations: Stories (2016, to be announced).

Achievements

• Winner, "Enter the World of Filaria" contest, 2009, at ChiZine for "Maker of Flight." Winner of the 2011 Cafe Doom / One Buck Horror short story contest for "Wicker Park Pause." “Terrapin Station,” Pear Noir #5, January 2011 (Pushcart nomination) “Fireflies,” Polluto #8, May 2012 (Honorable mention, Best Horror of the Year) “The Jenny Story,” Qualia Nous, Written Backwards, October 2014 (Bram Stoker-nominated anthology) Bram Stoker Award, 2014: nominated for Best Anthology—Burnt Tongues, Medallion Press (Company-Editor) and Qualia Nous, Written Backwards ("Jenny Store"). Nominated for Best Short Story Collection: After the People Lights Have Gone Office by Stephen Graham Jones, Dark House Press (Publisher). Nominated for Non-Fiction: Horror 101: The Way Forward, Crystal Lake Publishing ("The Journey: Rudy Jenkins Buries His Fears"). Shirley Jackson Award, 2014: nominated for Best Short Story Collection: After the People Lights Have Gone Office by Stephen Graham Jones, Dark House Press (Publisher) This is Horror, 2014: Winner for Best Anthology—Burnt Tongues, Medallion Press (Company-Editor). Winner for Best Short Story Collection: After the People Lights Have Gone Office by Stephen Graham Jones, Dark House Press (Publisher). Disintegration (Random House Alibi), 2015: Best Fiction Books of 2015 (Entropy Magazine). Top Ten Books of 2015 (Cultured Vultures). Favorite Reads of 2015 (Shotgun Logic). Best Fiction Reads of 2015 (Quiet Fury Books).