Michael Samerdyke

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Michael Samerdyke has won the Lonesome Pine Short Story Contest for "Snowman," which can be found in The Dragon Lover, and the Appalachian Heritage Writers Symposium contest for "The Frankenstein Doll," which can be found in Toys and 'Toons. Mike currently lives in southwest Virginia, where he writes fiction and non-fiction. His non-fiction deals with pop culture and includes books like "Horror Cavalcade," two volumes on the best horror movies and radio and TV episodes of the 20th Century, and "Cartoon Carnival," which looks at the best cartoons from Warners, MGM, the Walter Lantz, and DePatie-Freleng Studios. He has also written about old-time radio with X Minus One and Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills. His fiction tends to the darker side, with three trilogies of horror stories, the Kino trilogy (The Dream Cabinet of Dr. Kino, Featured Creatures, and Curse of Dr. Kino), the Tales of Kurgania trilogy (Land Beneath the Shadows, Lost Shadows, and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors), and the Dark Universities trilogy (Midnight Matinees, The Doom Zone, and Stay Tuned for Terror.) He has also written fantasy (The Dragon Lover and Toys and 'Toons), science fiction (Invasion of the President Snatchers) and books that blur the distinction between the two (The Adventures of Captain Starburst).