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robert mccammon is arguably the most accomplished writer of historical fiction and modern horror. he is the author of fourteen horror and fantasy novels and short stories – and almost all of them were published in the period between 1978 and 1998.
early life
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robert mccammon was born on july 17, 1952 in birmingham, jefferson county, the son of jack and barbara bundy mccammon. most of his early years were spent in birmingham’s east lake community. he began in the art of writing when he was only ten years old. His childhood stories centered around aliens, cowboys, and fantastical monsters. he was not athletic and had very few friends, so he decided to write stories in which he presented himself as popular and great at sports.
Upon graduating from Banks High School, McCammon intended to be a journalist. He enrolled at the University of Alabama to study journalism. he graduated in 1974.
Shortly after graduating, the course of his life veered from the field of journalism. he spent his first few years after college as a publicist. he once worked in the back room of a department store.
writing career
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as noted above, after graduation, mccammon wrote copy for birmingham newspapers and businesses. he began to write short stories. he was unable to print the stories. This failure prompted him to write his first novel, Baal. baal is inspired by revelation. it speaks of a conflict between unlimited evil and limited good. In the 1988 edition of Baal’s afterword, McCammon claims that the book, Baal, is about power, and that it was written when he had none. he also reveals that since editors always advise budding writers to write about what they know, he chose to write about what he didn’t know; Therefore, he placed Baal in far away places that he did not know to give his stories a global flavor.
the book baal begins in new york city. a character named mary kate raines is raped by an entity that leaves burns wherever it touches her. She conceives and gives birth to a baby boy named Jeffrey Harper. Jeffrey Harpers destroys Raines’s life. mary kaite kills her husband and the bou, jeffrey, is sent to an orphanage where he grows unusually fast. he develops unusual powers and calls himself baal.
He has a lot of followers at the orphanage. He flees with his followers to Kuwait where he meets a theology professor named Professor James Virga. this boston resident theology professor is here in kuwait to learn the whereabouts and fate of his younger colleague, donald naughton, who had come to kuwait to study the sect of baal.
The theology professor realizes something rather strange and unsettling: that although Baal is human in shape and form, he has very evil intentions and is hell-bent on dominating and destroying the world. virga does not have the means to stop baal. he is helpless and powerless. Fortunately, another laconic stranger named Michael steps into the picture. the laconic stranger has his own unusual powers.
Michael, along with Virga, follow Baal through the Greenland wastelands. a fierce fight ensues. Baal and Michael disappear. Virga is left alone, but is about to be rescued. but who is rescuing him? are they genuine or are they disciples of baal?
The book, Baal, was published by Avon Books.
McCammon continued to write horror fiction, publishing two novels in the 1980s: The Night Boat and Bethany’s Sin. Following the successful publication of the two novels, McCammn decided to pursue horror writing full time. it is believed that his fondness for horror stories was instigated by his desire to escape his own unusual reality.
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also, during this time, mccammon came up with another splendid idea: to form the horror writers association (hwa). This is an organization of published writers who offer support and mentorship to aspiring writers. the association also connects with other writers in the horror genre, thus creating a community of horror writers. He collaborated with other writers such as Dean Koontz to establish the group as a nonprofit organization in 1987. Dean Koontz was elected as the group’s first president. As of 2016, the Horror Writers Association has 426 members, and each year it awards deserving horror writers with a Bram Stoker Award.
parties
mccammon continued to grow as a writer, especially in the horror genre, after immersing himself in writing horror fiction full time. He was later honored with the coveted Alabama Author Award from the Alabama Library Associations in 1985 for his novel, Usher’s Demise. his nest novel was the swan song. This is a post-apocalyptic story inspired by Stephen King’s novel, The Stand. Both Swan Song and the King’s novel, Misery, tied for the 1988 Bram Stoker Prize in the genre of horror and dark fiction. In 1987, Swan Song became a New York Times bestseller.
his story, the deep end, his novels, the life of me and the child, also earned him the bram stoker award. The Kid’s Life is essentially a return to McCammon’s southern roots. It is set in the fictional small town of Zephyr, Alabama. chronicles the fictional and horrific events of a southern boy’s childhood in the 1960s. mccammon wrote more fiction set in the south. in 1992 he wrote Gone South. Gone South is set in Louisiana and follows the dark exploits of Arden Halliday, who is a veteran of Vietnam.
break from typing
After writing in the South, McCammon took a long break from writing to focus his energies on being a good father to his daughter, Skye, and his wife, Sally. when he resumed writing, he had a predilection for historical fiction. his debut novel upon resuming is The Night Bird Speaks. The novel is set in the Carolina Colony in 1699. The novel is about a woman named Rachel who is accused of witchcraft in a new and struggling town called Fount Royal. The magistrate’s assistant, a certain Mateo, doubts the charges of witchcraft. the magistrate’s assistant defies the magistrates’ wishes and does an investigation on his behalf. he learns disconcerting truths. McCammon spent more than a year doing research for the book.
Her next novel, Queen of Bedlam, is a continuation of her previous novel, The Night Bird Speaks. McCammon was honored in 2009 with the Phoenix Award. It is undeniable that he was a great writer.
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