Mort Castle remembers being frightened when his third-grade teacher played Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” on a phonograph.
“I was one of the weird kids who liked being scared. I dug nightmares,” said Castle of Crete.
The Horror Writers Association will present him with a Lifetime Achievement Award on June 1 during the Bram Stoker Awards ceremony at StokerCon 2024 in San Diego.
The award honors individuals whose work has influenced the horror genre substantially.
“I am very happy. I am very proud. I am very humbled,” said Castle, who added that the more than 60 past recipients include Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King and George A. Romero.
“What this organization is doing is saying, ‘You have created something that has an effect.’”
Castle’s many honors include Bram Stoker Awards for superior achievement from the Horror Writers Association for the graphic novel “Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury” in 2015, the anthology “Shadow Show” in 2012 and the fiction collection “New Moon on the Water” in 2012.
His fellow Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Steve Rasnic Tem.
“Elvira has always had me laughing since she first came on. She is brilliant and a beauty,” said Castle, who recalled being excited when monster movies with the funny host were televised.
“Steve Rasnic Tem I’ve known for years. I told him and his late wife, Melanie (Tem) — they wrote a story called ‘The Man on the Ceiling’ — ‘This is one of the few stories I’ve read that I wish I could erase your name and put my name on it. He is a wonderful writer.
“I am honored to be on a stage with these people. I’m looking forward to holding that award in my hands and saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’”
Castle, whose works include the Batman novella “Gotham City Spring: a suite,” has taught students from grade school to graduate school including at Crete-Monee and Homewood-Flossmoor high schools and Columbia College Chicago.
He also has done workshops at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, Bloom Trail High School in Steger and Thornwood High School in South Holland, where he met a 14-year-old Mark Valadez with whom Castle is now developing an adaptation of his 1984 book “The Strangers.”
“It’s the first real collaboration I’ve done with anybody except for Sam,” said Castle, citing his and Sam Weller’s editing of 2012’s “Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury” featuring tales by writers including Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Alice Hoffman and Audrey Niffenegger.
TV series credits for Valadez — principal writer, creative executive producer and co-showrunner for “The Strangers” streaming series — include writer on “Perception,” “Gang Related” and “Ice;” executive story editor on “The Oath” and executive story editor, co-producer and writer for “Queen of the South.”
Cemetery Dance Publications acquired Castle’s “The Strangers” and its sequel, “Again, The Strangers,” for an October release to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original novel’s publication.
“Thank you to guys like Ray Bradbury who showed me: ‘Don’t worry about if it’s art. Don’t worry about if it’s entertainment. Worry about if it talks to people and if it has something worth saying,’” said Castle, a published writer since 1967.
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.