A.R. Morlan (1958-2016)

Author A.R. Morlan, 58, was found dead at home in Ladysmith WI on January 6, 2016 in an apparent suicide.

Morlan began publishing with a quiz in Twilight Zone Magazine (1983). Her first story was “Four Days Before the Snow” (1985), beginning her Ewerton series of horror stories set in an imaginary small town in Wisconsin, which also includes novels The Amulet (1991) and Dark Journey (1991). Her short fiction regularly appeared in year’s best anthologies, and she published numerous collections, including Smothered Dolls (2006), Ewerton Death Trip (2011), and Homely in the Cradle and Other Stories (2015). She also wrote as Renee M. Charles and Ana Rose Morlan (and eventually changed her name to the latter).

Ana Rose Morlan (originally Arlette Renée) was born on January 3, 1958 in Chicago IL. She attended school and spent most of her life in Ladysmith WI.

Morlan was frank about her troubled life, writing in a 2014 interview at Nightmare magazine about childhood abuse and later difficulties. Her troubles continued until the end of her life; in 2015 Morlan was accused of fraudulently cashing her mother’s Social Security checks after her mother’s disappearance in 2011 (Morlan pled not guilty), and when authorities executed a search warrant at Morlan’s home last year, they discovered hundreds of dead cats, and 30 live ones. Morlan’s recent difficulties are documented extensively at Wisconsin newspaper Leader-Telegram.