Biography
Joe R. Lansdale is a highly prolific writer of genre fiction, having published hundreds of novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories, chapbooks, comic books, graphic novels, and collections.
He is perhaps best known for his Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella, "Bubba Ho-Tep," which was adapted into a film. Directed by Don Coscarelli, the 2002 movie stars Bruce Campbell as an elderly Elvis Presley living in a Texas nursing home rather than deceased. Ossie Davis portrays JFK. Together, they confront an ancient Egyptian mummy that leaves crude messages on bathroom walls and drains the souls of elderly residents.
Another of Lansdale's short stories was adapted for television in 2006 by Don Coscarelli for the *Masters of Horror* series (2005), episode "Incident on and Off a Mountain Road" (#1.1), featuring Angus Scrimm, famous as the "Tall Man" from Coscarelli's *Phantasm* (1979).
In literature, Lansdale is widely recognized for his *Hap and Leonard* crime series. These novels, often dark yet occasionally humorous, follow Hap, a white working-class man, and Leonard, a gay black man, as they tackle racism, abuse, and violence. This tough, wisecracking duo from East Texas serves as unconventional investigators. The series, known for its originality and subtle noir tone, begins with *Savage Season* (1990) and includes *Mucho Mojo* (1994), originally a limited hardcover from Cemetery Dance Publications, *Two Bear Mambo* (1995), *Bad Chili* (1997), *Rumble Tumble* (1998), *Captains Outrageous* (2001), and *Devil Red* (2011).
Lansdale is also known for his *Drive-In* series: *The Drive-In: A B Movie with Blood and Popcorn* (1988), *The Drive-In 2: Not Just One of Them Sequels* (1989), and *The Drive-In: The Bus Tour* (2005). Additionally, he created the quirky *Ned the Seal* Trilogy, comprising *Zeppelins West* (2001), *Flaming London* (2006), *Flaming Zeppelins* (2010), and the unreleased *The Sky Done Ripped*.
His debut novel, *Act of Love* (1980), is associated with the 1980s splatterpunk movement alongside authors like Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon, Edward Lee, John Shirley, and David J. Schow. This violent crime novel is set in a large city and delves into serial killer and slasher themes. Since then, Lansdale has written around twenty standalone novels, including the zombie-horror-western *Dead in the West* (1986), the fantasy-western *The Magic Wagon* (1986), the gritty crime thriller *Cold in July* (1989), *The Boar* (1998), which has been compared to Mark Twain, the children’s book *Something Lumber This Way Comes* (1999), nodding to Ray Bradbury, as well as *The Big Blow*, *Blood Dance*, *The Bottoms* (2000), and the noir thriller *Sunset and Sawdust* (2004).
In addition to novels, Lansdale has authored hundreds of short stories collected in over 20 volumes, including *By Bizarre Hands* (1989), *Stories by Mama Lansdale's Youngest Boy* (1991), *Writer of the Purple Rage* (1994, Cemetery Dance), *High Cotton* (2000) and its companion *Bumper Crop* (2004), *Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories* (2004), *The King and Other Stories* (2005), and *Sanctified and Chicken-Fried* (2009). Other collections include *Fistful of Stories* (1996, Cemetery Dance), *For a Few Stories More* (2002), and *The Good, The Bad, and the Indifferent* (1997).
Much of Lansdale’s work has been adapted into comic books, and he has contributed to comics, novelizations, and cartoons such as *The New Batman Adventures* (TV series 1997–1999), *Superman* (TV series 1996–2000), *Conan the Barbarian*, *The Fantastic Four*, *Jonah Hex*, *DC Showcase: Jonah Hex* (video 2010), *The Spirit*, *Tales from the Crypt*, and an adaptation of Robert E. Howard's classic short story *Pigeons from Hell*. His *Dead in the West* and Bram Stoker Award-winning *By Bizarre Hands* have been adapted by Dark Horse Comics, while the *Drive-In* series was adapted by Avatar Press.
Beyond his writing, Lansdale has edited over a dozen anthologies, including *Razored Saddles* (1989), *Dark at Heart* (1991), *The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners* for Richard Chizmar at Cemetery Dance Publications (2004), *Lords of the Razor*, and *Retro-Pulp Tales* (2006). He has received numerous awards, including seven Bram Stoker Awards, among them for the powerful *Mad Dog Summer* (1999), nine additional Bram Stoker nominations, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, an Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, an American Mystery Award, a Horror Critics Award, and a Dashiell Hammett Award nomination for *The Bottoms* in 2000.
In 2011, another film collaboration with Don Coscarelli was released: *Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires*, featuring Ron Perlman as Elvis Presley.
In addition to his literary career, Joe Lansdale is a martial arts expert and instructor.
