About“Charles Austin Muir’s stories always find another, deeper level of madness that sets them apart from other tales. In short, they are about something, something deep, dark, and disturbingly human.” -- Eric Miller, Bram Stoker Award-nominated editor, Big Time Books "This is a Horror Book is a life-mosaic in words, touching on common experience and the unreal, all written with the voice of a sly trickster by a fine horror author who’s come into his own.” --C. Courtney Joyner, author of Nemo Rising and the Shotgun series and screenwriter of Prison and Class of 1999 "Charles Austin Muir’s writing has not only a distinctive voice, but an unrelenting gaze as well. His descriptions, always done with a light touch, allow readers an atmospheric view of the environs of his dark and disturbing tales while his characters deftly provide the drama." -- Alan M. Clark, author and illustrator of THE DOOR THAT FACED WEST and the JACK THE RIPPER VICTIMS SERIES "Charles Austin Muir writes stories with so much heart and pure, unfiltered emotion, they just suck you in and coat you in truth." -- Sam Richard, Editor of Weirdpunk Books Charles Austin Muir goes by Charles Austin Muir to avoid confusion with another Charles Muir who teaches Tantric sex. Charles Austin Muir likes the idea of teaching Tantric sex, but spends most of his time writing, reading and trying to stay in shape so if he had Tantric sex, he might look good doing it. Okay, for real now. I was born in a small town on the Oregon coast and grew up in Portland. I wanted to be a comic book artist-slash-fantasy-slash-science fiction novelist. I also tried to write and illustrate my own English dictionary, design a roller coaster ride in my attic and make films. I couldn't figure out how to do any of those things. In my teens, I gave up being creative and moped and lifted weights. In my college years, I tried to be a Renaissance Man. Someone out there has my attempts to write like Artonin Artaud and Jean-Paul Sartre. After that, I became a banker. Then I became a sort of journalist. I produced lots of content from obituaries to traffic fatalities to calendar events to humor columns. Then I got laid off. Throughout all this I got an English degree, dabbled in competitive powerlifting and drank too much beer. I also published some short stories. It was the grown-up version of my creative writing in fifth grade, getting the feel for different styles and genres. But horror--and more recently, absurd, bizarre fiction--will always be my favorite genre(s). Thanks for reading. We should have a beer together. -- CAM |