J. D. Barker | |
|---|---|
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| Born | January 7, 1971 |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Suspense, Thriller, Horror |
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| www | |
Jonathan Dylan Barker (born 1971) is a New York Times and international bestselling American author of suspense thrillers, often incorporating elements of horror, crime, mystery, science fiction, and the supernatural. [1] His debut novel, Forsaken, [2] was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award in 2014. [3] [4]
Barker was born January 7, 1971, in Lombard, Illinois, and spent the first fourteen years of his life in Crystal Lake, Illinois. At fourteen, Barker's family relocated to Englewood, Florida. He attended Lemon Bay High School and graduated in 1989. [5] He enrolled at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, where he later obtained a degree in business. While in college, a writing assignment found its way into the hands of Paul Gallotta of Circus. Gallotta reached out to Barker and asked him to join the staff of 25th Parallel, where he worked alongside the man who would later become Marilyn Manson. [6] Assignments dropped him into the center of pop culture, and by 1991 Barker had branched out, interviewing celebrities for the likes of Seventeen, TeenBeat , and other national and local publications. In 1992, Barker syndicated a small newspaper column called "Revealed" which centered on the investigation of haunted places and supernatural occurrences. [7] He began work as a ghostwriter and book doctor, helping other authors for publication. [8] [9] Barker cites Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, and Neil Gaiman among his influences. [10]
Stephen King read portions of Forsaken prior to publication and granted Barker permission to utilize the character of Leland Gaunt of King's Needful Things in the novel. [11] Indie-published in late 2014, the book went on to hit some major milestones - #2 on Audible (Harper Lee with Go Set a Watchman held #1), #44 on Amazon U.S., #2 on Amazon Canada, and #22 on Amazon UK. [2] Forsaken was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award (Best Debut Novel) and won a handful of others, including a New Apple Medalist Award. [6] After reading Forsaken, Bram Stoker's family contacted Barker and asked him to co-author a prequel to Dracula utilizing Stoker's original notes and journals, much of which has never been made public. [12]
Barker's indie success drew the attention of traditional agents and publishers, and in early 2016 his debut thriller, The Fourth Monkey, sold in a series of pre-empts and auctions worldwide, with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt set to publish in the U.S. and HarperCollins in the UK. The book has also sold for both film and television. [13] In September 2017, Putnam purchased the publishing rights for Dracul in a five-house auction with additional publishers worldwide, and Paramount Pictures optioned the film rights, with Andy Muschietti set to direct. [14]
In addition to writing his own novels, Barker has collaborated with American author James Patterson. Their first novel together, titled The Coast-to-Coast Murders, debuted at number 2 on the New York Times list on October 11, 2020. Their second collaboration, The Noise, released in August 2021, became an instant New York Times bestseller, and has been optioned by Entertainment One. Their third release, Death of the Black Widow, released in April 2022, and also became an instant New York Times bestseller. The fourth was Confessions Of The Dead, published in 2024.
In July 2024 it was announced J.D. Barker would pen a novel to reboot the iconic Flatliners film franchise, tentatively titled: Flatliners: Resurrection. The original film, written by Peter Filardi, released in 1990 by Columbia Pictures, was directed by Joel Schumacher, and starred Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Billy Baldwin, and Oliver Platt. The novel is expected to honor the spirit of the original while pushing into new, uncharted territories. [15]
In January 2024, a number of book reviewers on TikTok and Instagram received an email from Best of BookTok—a PR firm focusing on social media influencers, which Barker co-founded—offering to pay reviewers to create racy content to promote his new book. [16] After book reviewers objected and posted publicly about the content of the email, Barker sent the first of two public apologies. [17] In an exclusive interview with LA Weekly , Barker later revealed the email was inadvertently sent to the wrong mailing list due to an error by a member of his staff. [16]
At the age of twenty-two, Barker was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition on the Autism Spectrum. He often refers to autism as his "superpower." He credits the condition with giving him the ability to string together complex plots with exceptional attention to detail, hallmarks of his writing. Beyond his literary achievements, Barker is also a vocal advocate for autism awareness and acceptance. He uses his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote a deeper understanding of autism. Barker strives to foster a more inclusive and compassionate society through interviews, public appearances, and books. He believes that by sharing his experiences, he can help others see the potential in individuals with autism and encourage them to pursue their passions. [18] He frequently speaks about his experiences and works to break down the stigma surrounding neurodiversity. [19] When speaking to parents, he tells them, "Through treatment and therapy, their child can thrive. Their child can discover their superpower, hone it, and even surpass it. I'm proof." [20]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | FORSAKEN - Superior Achievement in a First Novel [3] | Bram Stoker Awards | Nominated |
| 2014 | FORSAKEN - Best Debut Author | Goodreads | Nominated |
| 2014 | FORSAKEN - Best Horror of 2014 | Goodreads | Nominated |
| 2015 | FORSAKEN - Excellence in Independent Publishing | Apple E-Book Award | Won |
| 2018 | THE FOURTH MONKEY - Best Suspense/Thriller of 2017 | Audie Award | Won |
| 2018 | DRACUL - Best Horror of 2018 | Goodreads | Nominated |
| 2019 | THE FIFTH TO DIE - AudioFile 2019 | Earphones Award Winner | Won |
| 2019 | DRACUL - Superior Achievement in a Novel | Bram Stoker Awards | Nominated |
| 2020 | THE SIXTH WICKED CHILD - AudioFile 2020 | Earphones Award Winner | Won |
Abraham Stoker was an Irish author who is best known for writing the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.
Dracula is a gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker, published on 26 May 1897. An epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking a business trip to stay at the castle of a Transylvanian nobleman, Count Dracula. Harker escapes the castle after discovering that Dracula is a vampire, and the Count moves to England and plagues the seaside town of Whitby. A small group, led by Abraham Van Helsing, investigate, hunt and kill Dracula.
Kim James Newman is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternative history. He has won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award and the BSFA award.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1992 American horror film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by James V. Hart, based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The film stars Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves, with Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Billy Campbell, Sadie Frost, and Tom Waits in supporting roles. Set in 19th-century England and Romania, it follows the eponymous vampire (Oldman), who falls in love with Mina Murray (Ryder), the fiancée of his solicitor Jonathan Harker (Reeves). When Dracula begins terrorizing Mina's friends, Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Hopkins), an expert in vampirism, is summoned to bring an end to his reign of terror. Its closing credits theme "Love Song for a Vampire", is written and performed by Annie Lennox.
Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist, and metaphysician. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypal parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. Some later works tell new stories about Van Helsing, while others, such as Dracula (2020) and I Woke Up a Vampire (2023) have characters that are his descendants.
Dracul may refer to:
Florence Balcombe was the wife and literary executor of Bram Stoker. She is remembered for her legal dispute with the makers of Nosferatu, an unauthorized film based on her husband's novel Dracula.
James V. Hart is an American screenwriter and author. He is known for his literary adaptations, such as Hook (1991), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994).
Count Dracula is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Vlad Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant.
The character of Count Dracula from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, has remained popular over the years, and many forms of media have adopted the character in various forms. In their book Dracula in Visual Media, authors John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan S. Picart declared that no other horror character or vampire has been emulated more times than Count Dracula. Most variations of Dracula across film, comics, television and documentaries predominantly explore the character of Dracula as he was first portrayed in film, with only a few adapting Stoker's original narrative more closely. These including borrowing the look of Count Dracula in both the Universal's series of Dracula and Hammer's series of Dracula, including the character's clothing, mannerisms, physical features, hair style and his motivations such as wanting to be in a home away from Europe.
The Book of Renfield: A Gospel of Dracula is a 2005 novel written by Tim Lucas. It is the first of the mashup horror-themed novels that rose to commercial prominence later in the decade. It is an unofficial prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Like the original novel, Renfield is an epistolary novel written in series of written documents. It focuses mainly on Renfield, mostly remembered for his minor role in Dracula as a lunatic that ate flies, rodents and other animals, and Dr. John Seward, the administrator of an insane asylum who is trying to understand Renfield's psychosis.
"Dracula's Guest" is a short story by Bram Stoker, first published in the short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914). It is believed to have been intended as the first chapter for Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, but was deleted prior to publication as the original publishers felt it was superfluous to the story.
Dracula: Resurrection is a 1999 graphic adventure video game developed by Index+. Set in 1904 Transylvania, the game serves as a follow-up to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Seven years after the death of Count Dracula, Jonathan Harker's wife Mina finds herself mysteriously drawn back to Transylvania. Jonathan subsequently travels to Borgo Pass in an effort to rescue her. The player assumes the role of Jonathan and uses a point-and-click interface to solve puzzles and navigate the game's world, often with the help of an object called the Dragon Ring.
Dracula the Un-dead is a 2009 sequel to Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel Dracula. The book was written by Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Previously, Holt had been a direct-to-DVD horror screenwriter, and Stoker a track and field coach.
Dacre Calder Stoker is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker and the international best-selling co-author of Dracula the Un-Dead (2009), and Dracul (2018). Dacre is also the co-editor of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years (2012). Dacre is a native of Montreal, Canada, he taught Physical Education and Sciences for twenty-two years, in both Canada and the U.S. He also participated in the sport of Modern Pentathlon as an athlete and a coach at the international and Olympic levels for Canada for 12 years.
Matteo Strukul is an Italian writer and journalist.
Dracula 5: The Blood Legacy is a 2013 point-and-click adventure video game developed by Koalabs Studio for Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android and OS X. It was published on all systems by Anuman under their Microïds brand. In 2014, the game was released on GOG.com and Steam, bundled with its prequel, Dracula 4: The Shadow of the Dragon.
Powers of Darkness is an anonymous 1899 Swedish version of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, serialised in the newspaper Dagen and credited only to Bram Stoker and the still-unidentified "A—e."
Powers of Darkness is a 1901 Icelandic book by Valdimar Ásmundsson that claims to be a translation of Dracula, by Bram Stoker. It was based upon an earlier adaptation of Dracula, the Swedish adaptation of the same name by "A—e", specifically the shortened version. Both versions differ significantly from Dracula as published in English and are believed to have used an early draft of Stoker's novel as partial basis for the translation.
Dracul is a 2018 prequel novel to Bram Stoker's classic 1897 work Dracula. The book was written by Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and American author J. D. Barker. It is Stoker's second novel, after his 2009 Dracula sequel, Dracula the Un-dead.
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