Rick Hautala (1949-2013)

Writer Rick Hautala, 64, died March 21, 2013 of a heart attack. Hautala wrote more than 30 novels (most horror) and scores of short stories, and is best known for the internationally-bestselling novel Night Stone (1986). Always a prolific writer, his novels The Demon’s Wife, Mockingbird Bay, and Star Road (with Matthew Costello) are all forthcoming. He also published several books under the name A.J. Matthews, co-wrote five novels in the Body of Evidence series with Christopher Golden,  and authored screenplays.

He published several standalone novellas, and some of his short work has been collected in Bedbugs (1999), Four Octobers (2006), Untcigahunk (2007), and Occasional Demons (2010), and the forthcoming Glimpses: The Best Short Stories of Rick Hautala. Hautala was active in the Horror Writers Association, where he served terms as vice president and trustee.

Richard Henry Hautala was born February 3, 1949 in Rockport MA, and graduated from the University of Maine in 1974 with a Masters in English, focusing on Renaissance and Medieval literature. He lived in southern Maine, and is survived by his wife, writer Holly Newstein, and their three adult sons.

See the May issue of Locus for a complete obituary.