Tim Waggoner


Tim Waggoner is an American author of novels and short stories in the fantasy, horror, and thriller genres.

Education

Waggoner graduated from Wright State University in 1989 with a Master of Arts in English with a Creative Writing Concentration. He holds BS ed. and MA degrees from Wright State University.

Career

Waggoner has written and published novels for both adult and young readers, including Temple of the Dragonslayer and Return of the Sorceress, Dark Ages: Gangrel and Exalted: A Shadow Over Heaven's Eye, Nekropolis, and Defender: Hyperswarm.
He is also the author of the short story collection All Too Surreal. He has published numerous short stories in the fantasy and horror genres, and his articles on writing have appeared in Writer's Digest, Writers' Journal, New Writer's Magazine, Ohio Writer, Speculations, and Teaching English in the Two-Year College.
He has also written the Nekropolis series of urban fantasies and the Ghost Trackers series written in collaboration with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the Ghost Hunters television show. His books for writers include The Art of Writing Genre Fiction, written in collaboration with Michael Knost, and Writing in the Dark, a guide to writing horror and dark fantasy fiction.
A number of his stories have received honorable mentions in various editions of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. He won first place in the 1998 Authorlink! New Author Awards Competition and was a finalist for the Darrell Award for Best MidSouth Short Story in 1999.
His novella The Men Upstairs was nominated for the 2011 Shirley Jackson Award, and his short story "How to be a Horror Writer" was nominated for the 2018 Shirley Jackson Award. His novella The Winter Box won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction.
His how-to-write-horror book Writing in the Dark won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction, and his article "Speaking of Horror" won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Non-Fiction. His adaptation of Terrifier 2 won the 2025 Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel.

Teaching

He serves as a professor of English and teaches composition and creative writing at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Waggoner also taught creative writing for many years at Seton Hill University, Pennsylvania, in an innovative low-residency Master of Fine Arts degree program in Writing Popular Fiction.

Personal life

Waggoner grew up in the Dayton, Ohio, area.
In addition to writing fiction, Waggoner has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and copy editor. He has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Standalone novels

  • Dying for It
  • The Harmony Society
  • Necropolis
  • Like Death
  • Pandora Drive
  • Darkness Wakes
  • Cross County
  • Last of the Lycans
  • Beneath the Bones
  • The Way of All Flesh
  • Eat the Night
  • Teeth of the Sea
  • The Mouth of the Dark
  • Blood Island
  • They Kill
  • The Forever House
  • Your Turn to Suffer
  • We Will Rise A Hunter Called Night
  • ''Lord of the Feast''

Series

Ghost Trackers

  • Ghost Trackers with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson
  • Ghost Town with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson

Godfire

  • Orchard of Dreams
  • ''Heart's Wound''

Nekropolis

  • Nekropolis
  • Dead Streets
  • Dark War
  • ''The Nekropolis Archives''

Shadow Watch

  • Night Terrors
  • ''Dream Stalkers''

Custodians of the Cosmos

  • The Atrocity Engine
  • The Book of Madness
  • ''The Desolation War''

Collections

  • All Too Surreal
  • Broken Shadows
  • Bone Whispers
  • Cemetery Dance Select: Tim Waggoner
  • Dark And Distant Voices
  • Love, Death, and Madness
  • A Little Aqua Book of Marine Tales
  • ''Old Monsters Never Die: A Story Collection''

Media tie-ins

The Blade of the Flame

From the Eberron Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game campaign setting
  • Thieves of Blood
  • Forge of the Mind Slayers
  • ''Sea of Death''

Dragonlance: the New Adventures

Set in the Dragonlance shared universe.

Supernatural

After the Supernatural television series.
  • Supernatural: Carved in Flesh
  • Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken
  • Supernatural: Mythmaker
  • The Men of Letters Bestiary: Winchester Family Edition
  • ''Supernatural: Children of Anubis''

Film novelizations

X series

Novelizations of the X film seriesX: The Official Novelization Pearl: The Official Novelization
  • ''MaXXXine: The Official Novelization''

Books on Writing

  • The Art of Writing Genre Fiction , with Michael Knost
  • Writing in the Dark
  • Writing in the Dark: The Workbook
  • Let Me Tell You a Story
  • ''Just Add Writer''