In the 1960s, Stan edited the award-winning small press magazines Stardock and Gothique, the latter celebrating its 20th anniversary in 1985 with a special issue produced in conjunction with the British Fantasy Society. In 1966 he was a co-founder of the Gothique Film Society, now the oldest specialised film club in the UK, and twice winner of the Federation of Film Societies' Excellence Award.

Stan has worked for a number of specialist and general bookshops, including Dark They Were and Golden Eyed (at that time Europe's largest science fiction and comics store) and Forbidden Planet (first Manager of its London shop).

He has acted as reader and advisor to Sphere, Penguin, Random House, Carnell Literary Agency and Little, Brown's science fiction imprint Orbit; as Research Assistant for Dennis Wheatley on Sphere's Dennis Wheatley's Library of the Occult (a series that ran to 45 volumes); and as a Contributing Editor of Fortean Times.

A full-time freelance writer since 1981, Stan's work has appeared in a wide range of publications including The Guardian, The Independent, Daily Mirror, Time Out, Films & Filming, Sight & Sound, Film Monthly, Movie, Video World, Video Re-View, Rolling Stone, Rock Power, She, Take a Break, Weekend, Woman's Weekly, SFX,Alien Monthly, Interzone, Million, Aboriginal SF, Starlog, Starburst, Locus, Skeleton Crew, The Dark Side (review column), Infinity (review column), Supernatural, Fear, The Scream Factory, Fantazia/Academy, Gamesman, Blitz, 2000AD, Comic Media, Batman Monthly, Comics Scene, Fantasy Advertiser, Speakeasy/Blast!, Comic World, Focus, Prediction, Writers' Monthly, Writing!, Vector, Matrix and Focus.

From its launch on 8th August 1997 until 30th March 1998, Stan acted as Moderator (ie 'editor') of The CompuServe Science Fiction Community, a regularly updated, interactive sf/fantasy/horror magazine carrying news, comment, features, reviews, interviews and events listings. He currently acts as Assistant Editor of The Science Fiction Club, a rolling news, reviews and features zone from Internet service provider LineOne edited by his wife, Anne Gay.

Books (to 2000)

Gladiators Game Book No 1 Based on LWT show. (Boxtree; November 1992.)

Tom And Jerry: The Movie Novelisation. (Boxtree; July 1993.)

Wordsmiths of Wonder - Fifty Interviews With Writers of the Fantastic (Little, Brown/Orbit; October 1993.)

Ken and Me Biography of Coronation Street's William Roache. As 'William Roache with Stan Nicholls'. (Simon & Schuster; hb October 1993; pb September 1994. A hardback large print edition was published by Chivers Press in October 1994.)

Cool Zool Novel based on PC game. (Boxtree; February 1995.)

Strange Invaders (Scholastic/Point SF; July 1995. Second printing, October 1995.)

Spider-Man: The Hobgoblin Novelisation of Marvel Comics animated TV series. (Boxtree/Sapling; February 1996.)

The Book of Shadows The Nightshade Chronicles, Volume One.(Scholastic/Point Fantasy; June 1996. Second printing, October 1996. A Spanish edition will be published by Ediciones Gaviota in 1998.)

Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Biography Credited to 'Simon Archer and Stan Nicholls'. Completion/revision of book begun by the late Simon Archer. (Random House/Legend; October 1996. Trade paperback edition; Little, Brown/Legend, January 1998.)

Fade to Black (Scholastic/Point Crime; March 1997. Published as Arret sur Image by Hachette Livre, Paris, November 1997. A German edition is due in September 1998 from Cora Verlag; an Italian edition is scheduled from Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, and a Spanish edition from Ediciones Gaviota, both in 1998. Chivers Press/Galaxy published a large print hardback edition in April 1998.)

Dark Skies: The Awakening Novelisation of the American TV series.(Bantam Books; October 1997.)

Shadow of the Sorcerer The Nightshade Chronicles, Volume Two.(Scholastic/Point Fantasy; November 1997. A Spanish edition will be published by Ediciones Gaviota in 1998.)

A Gathering of Shadows The Nightshade Chronicles, Volume Three.(Scholastic/Point Fantasy; February 1998.)

A Bodyguard of Lightning Orcs: First Blood, Volume One. (Orion Books/Millennium; Spring 1999.)

The Legion of Thunder Orcs: First Blood, Volume Two. (Orion Books/Millennium; Autumn 1999.)

Warriors of the Tempest Orcs: First Blood, Volume Three. (Orion Books/Millennium; Spring 2000.)

As adapter:

Legend A graphic novel version of David Gemmell's heroic fantasy bestseller, illustrated by Fangorn. (Random House/Legend; hb & trade pb October 1993. A German edition, Die Legende, was published by Verlag Thomas Tilsner in March 1997.)

Wolf in Shadow Second graphic novel version of a David Gemmell title, again illustrated by Fangorn. (Random House/Legend; September 1994.)

Contributor to:

The St James Guide to Fantasy Writers, edited by David Pringle. (St. James Press; January 1996 in U.S.)

Das Science Fiction Jahr No 11, edited by Wolfgang Jeschke. (Heyne Verlag, Munich; March 1996.)

Recent Short Fiction

'Spoil' In the anthology Narrow Houses II: Touch Wood, edited by Peter Crowther. (Little, Brown; hb December 1993; Warner Books pb December 1994. An American edition was published by Warner in March 1996.)

'Softies' In the anthology 13 More Tales of Horror, edited by Anne Finnis. (Scholastic/Point Horror; March 1994. As 'Compagnons', this story appeared in the French-Canadian anthology Super Frissons 2: 13 Histories, published by Les Editions Heritage Inc, Quebec in January 1996. As 'Cuori di Pezza', it was included in the Italian anthology Le Impronte Del Diavolo, published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore in March 1996. The story will appear in a Spanish anthology from Ediciones Gaviota in 1998. Publication is due in an anthology from Talpress in Czechoslovakia in 1999. Appearances in American and Dutch anthologies are also scheduled.)

'Picking Up the Tab' In the anthology 13 Again, edited by Anne Finnis. (Scholastic/Point Horror; July 1995. An American edition of this anthology is scheduled; the story was included in an anthology published by Talpress in the Czech Republic in April 1997.)

'Dead on Arrival' In the anthology 13 Murder Mysteries, edited by Julia Moffatt. (Scholastic/Point Crime; June 1996. As 'Mort a l'arrivee', this story appeared in the French-Canadian anthology 13 Morts Suspectes, published by Les Editions Heritage in March 1997. The story will be published in a Spanish anthology from Ediciones Gaviota in 1998.)

'We are for the Dark' In the anthology Shakespearean Detectives, edited by Mike Ashley. (Robinson Publishing; August 1998. A simultaneous edition, entitled More Shakespearean Whodunnits, will be published by Past Times. An American edition is also due from Carroll & Graf in August.)

'Throwing a Wobbly' In the Internet science fiction site infinity plus, edited and maintained by Keith Brooke. (August 1998.)

Work in Progress

Stan is currently collaborating with Anne Gay on the Streamers hexalogy, a series of humorous science fiction novels for young adults. Working titles: A Fistful of Dormice, The Green Mouse Effect, Where is Your Husband Tethered?, Delicious Hot or Cold, I Left My Hat in San Francisco and Ten Days That Shook the Weird.

Elsewhere in infinity plus:

• fiction - Bodyguard of Lightning, an extract from the novel; Throwing a Wobbly.
• contact - e-mail Stan Nicholls.

support this site - buy books through these links:
A+ Books: an insider's view of sf, fantasy and horror
amazon.com (US) | Internet Bookshop (UK)