Alan Ryan

Alan Peter Ryan (May 17, 1943 – June 3, 2011) was an American author and editor, known for his work in the horror genre in the 1980s.

Life Ryan was born on May 17, 1943, in Bronx, New York. He had Irish ancestry through his grandmother, and Irish motifs were sometimes featured in his fiction, such as in the short story "The Bones Wizard" (1984). An American author of Irish ancestry visiting Ireland for the first time is the main character in Cast a Cold Eye.

Working as a book reviewer for The New York Times, Ryan was first spurred into the horror genre when his successful short story "Sheets", based on his own job at Macy's as a sheets salesman, was reprinted in 1980's Year's Best Horror anthology. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer that year. Encouraged by Charles L. Grant as well as his friends Thomas Monteleone and Jill Bauman, Ryan wound up selling his first paperback original, Panther!, on proposal for $6000. It was first published in Whispers magazine. "Babies from Heaven" "Bundoran, Co. Donegal" "Pieta" "Sand" "Following the Way" "The Lovely and Talented Maxine Kane" "Sheets" "The Rose of Knock" "Hear the Whistle Blowing" "Waiting for the Papers" "Memory and Desire" The Back of Beyond: New Stories (as Alan Peter Ryan, 2012). Includes: "Sexual Exploration is a Crime" "The Winter's tale" "Starvation Alley" "The Mountain Man"