Brad C. Hodson

Brad C. Hodson (born December 1st, 1978) is an American author, screenwriter, and playwright. He's best known for his novels Darling and Life on the 64 Bus, as well co-writing the screenplay for cult horror comedy George: A Zombie Intervention. He also created and wrote for the award-winning sketch comedy group Happy Nowhere. A lifelong martial artist, his writings on the topics of fighting and strength conditioning have been published in national periodicals like Black Belt Magazine and Inside Kung-Fu.
==Early Life==
Hodson was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 1st, 1978. His mother died as a result of complications with his birth and his father spent much of Hodson's youth in prison. Raised by his mother's parents, Hodson credits his interest in storytelling, and particularly his interest in ghost stories, to the Appalachian folktales his grandmother would tell him while growing up. 
As a teenager, Hodson started boxing, wrestling, and training Jeet Kune Do. This would form a foundation for his writings on physical culture, as well as encourage him to later train powerlifting with Scott Mendelson, MMA at Chute Boxe, and amateur strongman.
==Career==
===Beginnings===
In 2000, Hodson joined one of the nation's longest running improv groups, Einstein Simplified. He also performed stand-up comedy, opening for comedians like AJ Jamal and Drew Carey. The following year, he met actress Shannon Neil at the Memphis Comedy Festival. They married in 2002 and formed the award-winning sketch comedy group Happy Nowhere. The group received national attention after their Apple parody video went viral. During this time, Hodson was also the "morning idiot" performing comedy bits and pranks on the public for Birmingham, Alabama morning radio show Tuttle and Kline in the Morning. 
He began publishing articles on fighting and strength conditioning in national magazines in 2003.
===Los Angeles===
Hodson and his wife relocated to Los Angeles in 2007 to pursue careers in film. Hodson soon met acclaimed writer Lisa Morton, who became a mentor to him. He joined the non-profit Horror Writers Association and volunteered with Morton for the organization. He still works with the organization to this day.
He soon started selling short fiction to national magazines and anthologies and "was surprised and excited to find [his] name in books alongside authors like George RR Martin, Chuck Palahniuk, Neil Gaiman, and Charlaine Harris." 
In 2009, Hodson co-wrote the screenplay for the cult horror comedy George: A Zombie Intervention with director JT Seaton. That same year, he was also the recipient of the Roselle Lewis Award for Excellence in Fiction for his literary short story "Things Unsaid," as well as the Kornbluh Award for his non-fiction piece "Slaying Dragons: The Positive Effects of Violent Media on Children." 
His first novel, the Southern gothic horror novel Darling, was published in 2012. In Fangoria magazine, bestselling author John Skipp called Hodson a "rare talent in the making" and said that the book "invokes the kind of classic old-school terror most modern horror barely strives for, much less reaches."
In 2013, his stageplay A Year Without a Summer debuted. A dramatic and sexually charged retelling of when Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Clare Claremont, and John William Polidori were trapped in Byron's villa on Lake Geneva together in the summer of 1816, A Year Without a Summer led to Hodson doing uncredited script doctoring work on feature films.
In 2016, Hodson co-created and co-edited the experimental anthology Madhouse alongside Bram Stoker Award Winner Benjamin Kane Ethridge. A collection of short stories by authors including John Skipp, Lisa Morton, Scott Nicholson, Mercedes Yardley, and others, the short stories can be read as stand alone works. However, thanks to interweaving chapter fiction written by Hodson and Ethridge, if the book is read cover to cover it reads like a novel.
Where Carrion Gods Dance, his first short story collection, was published in 2019. His second collection, Every Broken Thing, will be published in 2023. Unlike Where Carrion Gods Dance, which was predominantly stories in the horror genre, Every Broken Thing will be a collection of "literary and transgressive fiction, with a lot of dark, twisted comedy."
In 2020, he adapted Don Roff's dark comedic thriller Clare at 16 as a comic book series for Webtoon. The release date was delayed and it's not yet available.
In 2022, he began teaching a course on screenwriting called "No One Wants to Read Your Script." Billed as a "funny and no-holds barred look" at why most screenplays fail at grabbing the attention of Producers and Actors, he frequently teaches the course online and at workshops around the country.
Crisis, a feature film he co-wrote with John Petrizzi, and directed by Adam O'Brien, will be filming in Montreal in 2023. The film stars Jaqueline Byers and Richard Brake. This will be followed up with Stare, a thriller written by Hodson and Petrizzi and also directed by O'Brien.
The feature film adaptation of his novel Darling is scheduled to film in 2023. Directed by Banner Gwin, the film stars Michael Rooker. The screenplay was written by Hodson, who is also producing alongside Luca Borghese and John Hilcoat.
==Personal Life==
In December 2022, Hodson was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. He's been open about his struggles with the illness and how he's realized he's been fighting it his entire life. In an interview, Hodson said: "I think I suspected something was wrong with me for a long time and just didn't want to accept it. Once I was diagnosed, I realized [my novel] Life on the 64 Bus was in many ways about me fighting this thing even when I hadn't known I had it." 
Following his diagnosis, and wanting to counter the stigma, misconceptions, and ignorance surrounding mental health, he created the upcoming podcast Bat$hit alongside actor and comedian Adam Slemon. Bat$shit promises to "take a frank and funny view at the realities of living with bipolar disorder as [Hodson and Slemon] learn to navigate the illness [themselves]."
==Awards==
* Best Writing, Sidewalk Scramble Film Competition
* Best Use of Inspiration Items, Sidewalk Scramble Film Competition
* F%$cking Funniest Award, Sidewalk Scramble Film Competition
* Roselle Lewis Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, 2009
* Kornbluh Award for Non-Fiction, 2009
* 2018 President's Richard Laymon Award from the Horror Writers Association
* Winner - Bronze Screenplay - Australasia Film Festival, 2021
* Winner - Best Script - Prague International Film Festival, 2021 
==Bibliography==
===Novels and Collections===
* Darling, Bad Moon Books, 2012
* Madhouse, Dark Regions Press, 2016
* Where Carrion Gods Dance, Washington Park Press, 2019
* Life on the 64 Bus, Journalstone, 2021
* Every Broken Thing, Washington Park Press, 2023
===Novella ===
* Gallow's Grove: A Persephone Gale Story (2017) Intersections
* And Yet She Makes His Skin Sing (2023) Every Broken Thing
===Non-Fiction===
* How to Pound a Groundfighter, (2003), Inside Kung-Fu Magazine
* Weightlfiting for the Ring, (2004), Black Belt Magazine
* You Should Be Deadlifting, (2004), Testosterone Magazine
* Snatches & Cleans: The Fighter's Best Strength Tools, (2004), Inside Kung-Fu Magazine
* Powerlifting for the Fighter, (2005), Inside Kung-Fu Magazine
* Slaying Dragons: the Positive Effects of Violent Media on Children, (2009), The Kornbluh Collection
* Strongman Conditioning for Weight Loss, (2009), Muscle & Fitness
* Strongman Conditioning for the Ring, (2009), Inside Kung-Fu Magazine
* Loaded Carries, Sled Drags, and Keg Slams, (2010), Inside Kung-Fu Magazine
===Short Fiction===
* 405 (2007) Chimerica 4
* Picked Last (2007) Midnight Lullabies
* The Perfect Jackson (2007) Not One of Us
* Where Carrion Gods Dance (2007) Bone Shards
* In The Halls of Elsinore (2008) The Harrow
* The Other Patrick (2008) Horror For Good
* Her Heart, An Ocean (2008) Paris Review
* At Winter's End (2008) Night Terrors II
* His Only Company, the Walls (2008) Voices
* Things Unsaid (2009) The Roselle Lewis Journal for Exceptional Fiction
* Il Donnaiolo (2010) Werewolves and Shapeshifters
* Breathe (2012) Slices of Flesh
* Biology (2012) I Will Rise
* Two For Transylvania (2012) Blood Lite 3
* In The Hall and On The Stairs (2013) Nightscapes
* The Thousandth Hell (2013) After Death
* The Philosopher's Grove (2014) Blood Rites
* The Scottish Play (2014) Hell Comes to Hollywood 2
* Rising Fawn (2015) 18 Wheels of Horror
* Be Ye Silent, Sons of Men (2015) Vikings
* Droc-Fhola (2016) SNAFU: Hunters
* Tabula Rasa (2017) Unspeakable Horrors 2
* The Wall of Sorrows (2017) Lore
* Almost (2018) Great Jones Street
* The Lord of Misrule (2019) Where Carrion Gods Dance
* Hester (2019) Where Carrion Gods Dance
* Chasing the Reaper (2019) Where Carrion Gods Dance
* Chiaroscuro (2019) Before You Blow Out the Candle
* And In This Place We Die (2020) Before You Blow Out the Candle Two
* A Sound of Wings (2021) Christmas Under the Covers
* The Children of Saffron Hill (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Of Small Pleasures (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Catalina (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Tuesday Nights at the Royal Karnataka Grand (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Pussy (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Johnny Be Goode (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Marnie (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Feathers (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Wilted (2023) Every Broken Thing
* One Last Love Poem (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Ragdoll (2023) Every Broken Thing
* Among the Damned (2023) Every Broken Thing
* To My Wife On Her Deathbed (2023) Every Broken Thing
==Filmography==
George's Intervention, 2009
Crisis, 2023
Stare, 2023
Darling, 2023
==See Also==
Category:1978 births
Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee
Category:American authors
Category:American screenwriters
Category:Playwrights