Rain Graves is a two-time Bram Stoker Award (2013, 2002) winning poet and writer currently living in San Francisco. She has been published in the professional horror, sci-fi, fantasy fiction and poetry genres since 1997, in various magazines, books, and webzines. She is an ordained Priestess of Isis in the Temple of Isis and Fellowship of Isis, as well as a retired dance instructor, and former musician. Her latest books include BARFODDER: Poetry Written in Dark Bars & Questionable Cafes (2009), and THE HAUNTED MANSION PROJECT: Year One (2012) and Year Two (2013), THE FOUR ELEMENTS (2013) from Bad Moon Books, THE HAUNTED MANSION PROJECT: Year Two (2013) as well as fiction in the popular Zombies vs. Robots comic book series of anthologies - WOMEN ON WAR - from IDW Publishing (2012), TALES FROM THE HOUSE BAND vol.1 & vol.2, and HIGH STAKES: A Vampire Anthology (2013). For more information on appearances, visit http://www.raingraves.com

REVIEWS AND BLURBS

"Bukowski meets Lovecraft in this collection of more than 100 short poems from Stoker-winner Graves (Blood of a Black Bird). She explores a diversity of themes, including love, the search for self and the ubiquity of death in all its forms, from a scorned woman contemplating murder to a flying dinosaur devouring all in its path. Graves' cynical wit and macabre imagination are showcased in "Ladies of the Night," where female barflies are likened to melancholy vampires; the brilliantly allegorical "Unwanted Yellow Flowers," where lawn mowers have "metallic teeth" and dandelions "lay in wait/for the kiss of death"; and "Slick Eddie Dog One-Fifty-One," where a killer describes his victims as matchbooks full of dormant fire. Though there's no real narrative thread of progression to the hodgepodge of dark imagery, horror aficionados will enjoy the wry, nihilistic verse." -- Publishers Weekly, January 19, 2009

"Rain Graves writes really nasty poetry. She is a mistress of creating images that stick, the kind that you cannot get out of your mind--not even using steel wool and a small, extremely sharp knife." -- Neil Gaiman, New York Times Bestselling Author, CORALINE, AMERICAN GODS

"Rain Graves' poetry is, by turns, surreal and very real, grand and romantic as the tango and nasty--even downright gross--as bugs crawling through your bed at night, burrowing through your sleeping bones. She can be funny and spooky and angry and tender and sometimes truly haunting, essaying life's tragedies and joys and triumphs with equal vigor. She's erotic and she's wicked." -- Jack Ketchum, Author, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, RED

BLURBS FOR THE GOSSAMER EYE

"Rain Graves' work is a delight to read. It easily runs the distance from softly dark to pleasingly perverse. I highly recommend The Gossamer Eye-and everything else she does." --Charlee Jacob, Author of Haunter, This Symbiotic Fascination

"Lush and bloody, Gothic in every sense, the poetry of Rain Graves has a murderously seductive voice." --Poppy Z. Brite, Author of LOST SOULS, DRAWING BLOOD, EXQUISITE CORPSE, LIQOUR

"Rain Graves writes with power, darkness and grace. A strong, new voice in the field of horror fiction and poetry." --Richard Laymon, Author of ISLAND, ALL HALLOW'S EVE, BITE, TO WAKE THE DEAD, ENDLESS NIGHT and more...

"The beauty of Rain Graves' poetry is a guilty pleasure; both passionate and horrific in the same breath." -Barry Hoffman, Author (Leisure books) and Publisher, Gauntlet Press.

"I've seen Rain Graves' short fiction before, but I never knew she was such an accomplished poet. The title poem alone is magnificent. Graves writes about death, matriarchs, and love." --Patrick Swenson, Publisher, Talebones, Summer 2003

"The Gossamer Eye is a unique venture invigorated by three talented writers who have plenty to say and their own individual way of saying it. It's an odd duck of a book, which is part and parcel of its charm. Lovers of dark verse should hope for its commercial success-and should support it by buying a copy. Publisher Stephen Pagel of Meisha Merlin deserves credit for taking a risk on so unusual a book. I can only pray he will be rewarded for his courage by vigorous sales. The folks who buy a copy will have already received their reward." --Garrett Peck, Dark Fluidity

"[The Gossamer Eye] is a collection of mostly poetry, about equally divided among the three authors, with a few short stories sprinkled in. Most of the poems have a fantastic connection, primarily horror. I know many people have difficulty reading poetry, but that shouldn't be the case with these, which in virtually every case contain a discernible narrative. So try this for a collection of creepy, disturbing images wrapped in clever prose." -The [formerly Sci-fi] Chronicle

I was born back in the early days when black and white photographs were normal instead of artsy. As a child I thought I'd grow up to be an artist, and I was convinced I'd spend my life doing line drawings of long, leggy models like the ones in the daily newspapers. Life, however, did not cooperate: a foul-up in grammar school resulted in a transfer to a local high school instead of the technical, arts-heavy one I'd planned to attend.

Following that was a move that really made things start winding around. By the time I returned to Chicago for the second time in 1981, I'd worked as a waitress, a nurse's aide, a bookkeeper and gift shop cashier, an accounting clerk, and a secretary in everything from office furniture stores to a hotel to a journalism society. In 1981 I came back to my old job in a Chicago law firm and settled down in the Windy City for awhile. In 1982 I tried to write because my mother said "You could do this." The seed was planted, and I sold my first story in 1984. Since then I've sold well over a hundred stories and a non-fiction reference dictionary for writers.

My first novel, AfterAge, was published in 1993 and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. In 1995 my second solo novel, deadrush, was published, and it also was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, this time in the category of Superior Achievement in a novel. Final Impact, the third solo novel, was published in 1997, and won both the Chicago Women In Publishing's Award for Excellence in Adult Fiction and the "Unreal Worlds" Award for Best Horror Paperback of 1997 from the Rocky Mountain News. Since then I've published several more solo novels, Red Shadows (a follow-up to Final Impact), DeadTimes, and That's Not My Name, my first suspense novel. That's Not My Name, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Paleo, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 2 all won at the Illinois State level of the IWPA 2001 Mate E. Palmer Communications contest (two first place and one second place, respectively), plus I somehow swept all three awards of the Short Story category with "Ascension," "Divine Justice," and "Santa Alma." I've also written a number of media tie-in novels, including several Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, Hellboy, Elektra, Ultraviolet, a novel in the Supernatural universe, and AVP: Rift Wars (written with my husband, Weston Ochse).

I settled in my beloved Arizona in 2002. I love heat, Godiva chocolates (feel free to send me some!), and rescued Great Danes. I also love to paint. Look me up on Facebook!