Bentley Little

Bentley Little (born 1960 in Mesa, Arizona) is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.

Early life Little is an Arizona native who, according to his professional biography, was born one month after his mother saw the world premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho. He studied at California State University Fullerton, from which he earned a BA in Communications and an MA in Comparative Literature. His thesis for the latter was his first novel, The Revelation, which was later published and won a Bram Stoker Award.

Style and recognition Little's novels tend to have brief titles (many use the construction "The [noun]", like The Mailman and The House) and fall squarely into the horror genre. He dislikes his work being categorized as "suspense" or "supernatural thriller", preferring the more straightforward genre label. His work has been championed by Stephen King and Dean Koontz, leading to increased recognition.

Adaptations In 2007 Little's short story "The Washingtonians" was adapted for the TV show Masters of Horror, becoming the twelfth episode of its second season. Directed by Peter Medak, it significantly lightened the tone of the author's original work, aiming for camp over the short story's dark humour. It was negatively received by critics.

That same year The Hollywood Reporter announced that a film adaptation of the novel The Store was in development at Strike Entertainment, with a script by Jenna McGrath, production duties handled by Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, and executive production by Vince Gerardis, Eli Kirschner, and Tom Bliss. As of 2025 the project has not yet come to fruition.

On November 18, 2021, it was revealed that a TV series based on Little's novel The Consultant has been ordered by Amazon Prime Video.