About
BIO: Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of nine books: four novels—Incarnate (Podium), Disintegration and Breaker (Penguin Random House Alibi), and Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications); four short story collections—Spontaneous Human Combustion (Turner Publishing—Bram Stoker finalist), Tribulations (Cemetery Dance), Staring Into the Abyss (Kraken Press), and Herniated Roots (Snubnose Press); as well as one novella of The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books). His over 175 stories in print include The Best Horror of the Year (Volume Eleven), Cemetery Dance (twice), Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders (Bram Stoker Award winner), The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors (Shirley Jackson Award winner), Lightspeed, PANK, storySouth, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Shallow Creek, The Seven Deadliest, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Qualia Nous (#1&2), Chiral Mad (#2-4), PRISMS, Pantheon, and Shivers VI. He has won contests at ChiZine and One Buck Horror, has received five Pushcart Prize nominations, and has been long-listed for Best Horror of the Year seven times. He has also edited five anthologies: The Best of Gamut (House of Gamut), The New Black and Exigencies (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker (twice), Shirley Jackson, Thriller, and Audie awards. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Gamut and previously held the same title at Dark House Press. His agent is Paula Munier at Talcott Notch. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com.
Featured Work
Incarnate

“A must-read for fans of strange, surreal horror.” ―The New York Times
In a frozen tundra, one man fights for redemption as monstrous creatures ravage a community already struggling to survive.
Sebastian Pana is a “sin-eater,” a shaman-like figure who can absolve the dead of their transgressions before they move on to the afterlife. But when Sebastian’s small arctic town is invaded by hideous, otherworldly beasts, he must wage battle with them the only way he knows how: by unleashing the power of sin itself.
From an author who has been compared to Lovecraft, Bradbury, and Gaiman, Incarnate is a masterpiece of contemporary arctic horror―both an epic confrontation between the forces of good and evil and a profoundly redemptive tale about our eternal quest for forgiveness.
Other Works
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Gamut Magazine
2024
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Spontaneous Human Combustion
2022
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Gamut Magazine
2018
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Tribulations
2016
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The Soul Standard
2016
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Breaker
2016
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Disintegration
2015
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The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers
2015
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Exigencies
2015
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Burnt Tongues
2014
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The New Black
2014
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Staring Into the Abyss
2013
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Herniated Roots
2012
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Transubstantiate
2010
Awards and Recognition
- 2017, Thriller Award Finalist, Breaker
- 2015, Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, Exigencies (editing)
- 2014, Bram Stoker Award Finalist, Burnt Tongues (editing)
- 2023, Bram Stoker Award Finalist, Spontaneous Human Combustion