Gary Brandner obit

Rest in Peace Author Gary Brandner

 

He was not on the list.

Sad news has hit the literary world today as Gary Brandner, author of The Howling, has passed away. Details are a bit on the scant side at the moment, but you can read on for what we do know.

The news came from a message from Brandner’s wife over on his Facebook page.

“From his wife, Martine, to all fans of Gary Brandner, I must tell you he died Sunday morning of cancer of the esophagus. All those marvelous e-mails and quips will no longer be forthcoming. A bright light has certainly gone out.”

Gary wrote several print sequels to The Howling, and that book spawned one of the greatest modern werewolf movies of our time, which was then turned into a lengthy film franchise. His contributions to the genre will always be appreciated, and he will be greatly missed. We here at Dread Central would like to take this time to offer our sincerest of condolences to Gary’s friends, family, and constituents.

Godspeed, good sir.

Born in the Midwest and much traveled during his formative years, Brandner published more than 30 novels, more than 100 short stories, and also wrote a few screenplays. He attended college at the University of Washington where he was a member of fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa. After graduating in 1955, he worked as an amateur boxer, bartender, surveyor, loan company investigator, advertising copywriter, and technical writer before turning to fiction writing. Brandner lived with his wife, Martine Wood Brandner, and several cats in Reno, Nevada.

best known for his werewolf themed trilogy of novels, The Howling. The first book of the series was adapted loosely as a motion picture in 1981. Brandner's second and third Howling novels, published in 1979 and 1985 respectively, have no association with the film series, though he was involved with writing the screenplay for the second Howling film, Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf. The fourth film of the Howling series, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, is actually the closest adaptation of Brandner's original novel, though this too varies to some degree.

Brandner's novel Walkers was adapted and filmed for television as From The Dead Of Night. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1988 horror film Cameron's Closet.