Cynthia Pelayo is a Puerto Rican-born American author, poet, and journalist whose work spans horror, crime fiction, and poetry. In 2022 she received the Bram Stoker Award for Crime Scene, and sources identify her as the first Puerto Rican and first Latina recipient of a Bram Stoker Award.[1][2][3] Coverage of her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Library Journal. Pelayo has also contributed to Marvel Comics.[4][5][6][7]
Pelayo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Columbia College Chicago, a Master of Science in Marketing from Roosevelt University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).[8][9][10] While at SAIC, she developed work that later informed her short story collection Lotería.[11]
Early in her career, Pelayo worked as a journalist for Chicago community outlets, including Time Out Chicago.[12]
Her publications include the poetry collections Poems of My Night (2016), Into the Forest and All the Way Through (2020), and Crime Scene (2022); the short story collection Lotería (2023); and the novels Children of Chicago (2021), The Shoemaker’s Magician (2023), Forgotten Sisters (2024), and Vanishing Daughters (2025).[13][14][15][16]
In 2025, Pelayo co-wrote the Marvel Comics one-shot White Tiger: Reborn, part of the Marvel Voices: Comunidades line, with a story illustrated by Moisés Hidalgo.[7][17]
In 2025, Newcity included Pelayo on its Chicago Lit 50 list.[18] She is co-publisher of Burial Day Books, a press focused on horror writing.[19]
Essays and nonfiction
2021: “I Need to Believe” (Southwest Review 105.3) — nominated for the Bram Stoker Awards.[20]
2021: “Fairy Tales Are Dark for a Reason — They’re Trying to Warn Us About Danger” (CrimeReads).[21]
2024: “How to Write Horror - With Cynthia Pelayo” (LitReactor).[22]
2025: “Five SFF Books Set in Chicago” (Tor.com/Reactor).[23]
2025: “Incorporating Nonfiction and True Crime Into a Genre Novel” (Writer’s Digest).[24]
2025: “Ghosts are not the Monsters: Murders, Apparitions, and Violence Against Women” (PEN America/PEN Ten).[25]
Reception
Children of Chicago (2021) was discussed by the Los Angeles Review of Books as blending crime fiction and dark fairy tales,[26] and was included in The New York Times coverage of new horror novels in 2021.[27]Newcity Lit reviewed the novel in 2021.[28]
The Shoemaker’s Magician (2023) received a starred review from Library Journal[29] and was included in The New York Times round-up of new horror titles in 2023.[30]
Forgotten Sisters (2024) was covered by the Chicago Review of Books[15] and reviewed by Library Journal.[31]
Vanishing Daughters (2025) was reviewed by Paste Magazine, Library Journal, and the Chicago Tribune.[32][33][34]
Crime Scene (2022) was reviewed by Monster Librarian.[35]
Media coverage
Pelayo’s work and projects have been covered by the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, and WTTW.[36][37][38][39][40]
In 2010, following the lapse of the Poe Toaster tradition in Baltimore, Pelayo was photographed at Edgar Allan Poe’s gravesite, an image and event noted by The Guardian, ESPN, and other outlets.[41][42][43][44]
Awards and recognition
Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection (Crime Scene, 2022). Sources identify Pelayo as the first Puerto Rican and first Latina to receive a Bram Stoker Award.[1][2][3]
Finalist, Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection (Into the Forest and All the Way Through, 2020).[45]
Finalist, Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel (Children of Chicago, 2021).[46]
Winner, International Latino Book Award, Best Mystery (Children of Chicago, 2021).[47]
Honorable Mention, International Latino Book Awards (Forgotten Sisters, 2025, Best Mystery – English).[48]
Nominated, Elgin Award (Full-Length) for Poems of My Night (2017); Into the Forest and All the Way Through (2021); and Crime Scene (2023).[49][50][51]
Finalist, CHIRBy Awards (Chicago Review of Books Awards, Fiction) for Vanishing Daughters (2025).[52]
Finalist, Locus Award, Best Horror Novel (Forgotten Sisters, 2025).[53][54]
Bibliography
Novels
Children of Chicago. Polis Books, 2021. ISBN 9781951709085
The Shoemaker’s Magician. Agora/Polis Books, 2023. ISBN 9781957957039
Forgotten Sisters. Thomas & Mercer, 2024. ISBN 9781662513923
Vanishing Daughters. Thomas & Mercer, 2025. ISBN 9781662513930
Poetry / Verse Narratives
Poems of My Night. Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2016. ISBN 9781935738886
Into the Forest and All the Way Through. Burial Day Books, 2020. ISBN 9780578703439
Crime Scene. Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2022. ISBN 9781954899103
Short Story Collections
Lotería. Agora/Union Square & Co., 2023. ISBN 9781454961499
Comics
White Tiger: Reborn (with Daniel José Older). Marvel Comics, 2025. Part of Marvel Voices: Comunidades.[7][17]
Personal life
Pelayo was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago at age 2.[11] She lives in Chicago with her husband, Gerardo Pelayo, and their two children.[55]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
