Biografia
Bob Madison is a former communications executive who transitioned into writing. His work spans magazine articles, blog posts, television documentaries, nonfiction books, cookbooks, an upcoming novel, and even trading cards.
Born and raised in Middle Village, New York, Bob grew up immersed in Victorian novels, inter-War thrillers, Golden Age Detective Fiction, 1930s pulp magazines, and vintage travel and exploration literature. Alongside reading, he was a devoted fan of Classic Hollywood films and Old Time Radio.
In the 1990s, Bob committed himself to writing, working across both fiction and nonfiction. He began contributing to magazines, with his work featured in diverse publications such as Cartoonist PROfiles, Retro Vision, Wonder, Wavelengths, Cult Movies, Scarlet Street, FilmFax, and Video Watchdog. In 1998, he also authored several cards for a trading card series honoring actor Boris Karloff.
Throughout his career, Bob has interviewed numerous notable figures including authors Susan Straight, Kaira Rouda, Armistead Maupin, Christopher Bram, Lawrence Block, and William Todd; actors Vincent Price, Alan Young, and Clayton Moore; film composer James Bernard; radio producers Himan Brown and Carleton E. Morse; and comic industry icons David Gilbert and Lee Falk.
During this time, Bob appeared in several documentaries and made national television and radio appearances. He featured in documentaries produced for Universal Studios' DVD releases of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. He has appeared twice on Good Morning America discussing Dracula and science fiction films, as well as on The Joe Franklin Show, The Joey Reynolds Show, and Front Row.
Bob also delivered numerous successful lectures, including engagements at the New York Public Library and twice at the New York Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and taught media literacy courses at Fordham University.
His first book, Catfish: An All-American Restaurant and Recipe Guide, was published by The Catfish Institute in 1997. His essays have appeared in anthologies such as Bela Lugosi (1995), Boris Karloff (1996), and Lee Falk: Storyteller (2011).
In 1997, Bob edited and was the principal writer of Dracula: The First Hundred Years (Midnight Marquee). He entered hardcover publishing with American Horror Writers (Enslow, 2001), part of the Collective Biographies series. Alongside co-author Jim Nemeth, he received a Rondo Award nomination for their 2020 book It Came From ... The Stories and Novels Behind Classic Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction Films (Midnight Marquee; electronic edition by Bear Manor Media, 2022).
Bob's short story "Red Sunset" was included in Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes (2008). Locus magazine praised it as "a gem," noting the authentic Chandlerian voice, effective storytelling, and a convincingly portrayed aged Holmes who delivers the best Holmes deduction in the collection.
He wrote the narration for the Daytime Emmy-nominated 2021 documentary Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story, produced and directed by Mary O'Leary for MPI.
In 2022, Bob sold his debut novel, a comedy titled Cash and Carrey, to Vulpine Press.
Bob Madison has been married to Russell Frost since 1990, and they reside in Huntington Beach, California.
