Trent Zelazny (November 28, 1976 – November 28, 2024) was an American author of crime, horror, and fantastical fiction.
Background
Zelazny was the son of science fiction writer Roger Zelazny. He had a son from a previous marriage, Corwin Random Zelazny (born 1996), who is named after characters from his father's classic The Chronicles of Amber series. He was an on-and-off martial artist since the age of 5, having studied multiple styles including Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Aikido, Iron Shirt, Iron Palm, Judo, and investigated Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do.[1]
Zelazny moved to Florida, then took some time away from writing, having developed severe alcoholism, as well as having lost his fiancée to suicide.[2][3] He then attempted suicide himself, but survived, about which he repeatedly said he was grateful. In a later interview, he reported "a lot of hard work and the support of family and friends ... and rehab" helped him through this difficult time.[4]
He suffered a cerebellar stroke in September, 2024, following which he suffered from reduced mobility. Trent's sister, Shannon Zelazny, reported on Facebook that he made "remarkable progress learning how to walk again," but "was then hit with acute liver failure, which resulted in his hospitalization and death." He died of acute liver failure on November 28, 2024, his 48th birthday.[5][4]
Writing career
Zelazny wrote across genres, his works encompassing crime, horror, science fiction and fantasy, with his horror novels received the most recognition.[4]
Zelazny started his writing career in 1999 with two short stories, "Hope Is an Inanimate Desire" and "Harold Asher and His Vomiting Dogs," followed by additional stories through the early 2000s.[4] In 2001 he began to publish more frequently. His story "Lovely Day for Beating an Old Guy," published in the Brian Knight-edited anthology Random Acts of Weirdness (2002), was the first piece to attract attention. His 2009 short story "The House of Happy Mayhem" received honorable mention for Ellen Datlow’s “Best Horror of the Year” award.[4]
Zelazny sold a novel (Destination Unknown) in 2008, though it did not see release until 2011; his first published book was the short story collection The Day the Leash Gave Way and Other Stories (Fantastic Books: Wilder Publications, 2009). The book was reissued by On July 28, 2014, Black Curtain Press in 2014 with two additional stories and an introduction by the author.
Following a hiatus, he returned to writing in 2011 with the novella Fractal Despondency (Black Curtain Press), followed the same year by Shadowboxer, To Sleep Gently, and A Crack in Melancholy Time (Crossroad Press) and his earlier novel Destination Unknown (iBooks).[4]To Sleep Gently received the 2012 Nightmare Award.[4]
Zelazny's first play, Not Any Little Girl, premiered in Santa Fe, New Mexico in late April 2012.[4] It later became an Australian bestseller. Other plays followed, also performed in Santa Fe.[4] A film buff, he contributed to the Jean Cocteau Cinema, an independent movie theater in Santa Fe owned by A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin, for which he wrote "Previews."[4] He and Martin co-produced for the theater Godson, a musical play written by Zelazny’s late father.
2012 also saw the release of the short story "Black Whispers" in the Richard Salter-edited shared world anthology World's Collider (Nightscape Press), the novella Butterfly Potion (Nightscape Press), and the novel Too Late to Call Texas (Black Curtain Press), which was praised by fellow writer Neil Gaiman. Gaiman called Zelazny a "powerful and good writer," and "[s]omeone who’s been through hell and come out, I hope, the other side."[4] The novel was reissued September 24, 2013, with a new cover and an introduction by Billie Sue Mosiman.
Among Zelazny's later writings were the novelette People Person (Black Curtain Press, 2013), considered by many to be his best work to date, and the novel Voiceless (Evil Jester Press, 2014).
Editing
In 2012 Zelazny published his first collection as editor, the anthology Mirages: Tales from Authors of the Macabre (Black Curtain Press, 2012), which contains work by Tom Piccirilli, E.A. Black, Joseph S. Pulver, Kealan Patrick Burke, Jeffrey Thomas, Edward Morris, Gerald Hausman, Joe R. Lansdale, Billie Sue Mosiman and others.
In 2013 his second anthology, Dames, Booze, Guns & Gumshoes, was released, a collection of classic crime tales featuring David Goodis, Robert Leslie Bellem, Norman A. Daniels, and many others.
He also co-edited Shadows and Reflections: A tribute to Roger Zelazny with long-time friend Warren Lapine.
"Slink" in Evil Jester Digest, Volume 2 edited by Peter Giglio, 2012
"Windows in the Wreckage" in Evil Jester Digest, Volume 2 edited by Peter Giglio, 2012
"Yesterday Man" (with Edward Morris) in Conjurings #1, June 2013
"The Rag-End of Dreams" in Nightscapes: Vol. 1 edited by Mark C. Scioneaux, Robert S. Wilson and Jennifer Wilson, 2013
"City Song" (with Edward Morris) in Dark Visions: A Collection of Modern Horror – Volume Two edited by Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson, 2013
"Quarter, Quarter, How I Wonder" in Lucky 13: Thirteen Tales of Crime & Mayhem edited by Edward J. McFadden III, 2014
"Parts Unknown" in The Big Click, Issue 19, edited by Jason Ridler, 2015
"The Dead Letter Office" (with Brian Knight) in Borderlands Vol. 6 edited by Thomas F. Monteleone and Olivia Monteleone, 2016 (Bram Stoker Award winner, best anthology)
"Young Hearts" in Guns, edited by Gerald Hausman, 2016
Anthologies (editor)
Mirages: Tales from Authors of the Macabre (2012)
Dames, Booze, Guns & Gumshoes (2013)
Shadows & Reflections: A Roger Zelazny Tribute Anthology (with Warren Lapine) (2017)
Essays
"Isle of Regret" in Amberzine edited by Erick Wujcik (2005)
"How to Write a Short Story for Publication in the New Yorker, by Everette Sage Brown" in The Santa Fe Literary Review edited by Erin Pulsipher and Tom Stevens (2006)
"Afterword" (The Dead Man's Brother) (2009)
"Introduction" in Lovecraft eZine, Issue No. 18, Oct. 2012, edited by Mike Davis (2012)
"Introduction" in Dames, Booze, Guns & Gumshoes (2013)
"Introduction" in Lovecraft eZine, Issue No. 27, Oct. 2013, edited by Mike Davis (2013)
"Horseman, Pass By" (Introduction) in Fantasy For Good – A Charitable Anthology, to benefit the Colon Cancer Alliance (2014)
"Introduction" in Sha'Daa Inked, edited by Edward F. McKeown (2016)
Plays
Not Any Little Girl (A One-Act Play) (2012)
The Digital Eidolon That Fits in Your Pocket (A Very Short One-Act Play) (2012)
Plays (as producer)
"Godson" written by Roger Zelazny, produced by Trent Zelazny, Laurel Zelazny, and George RR Martin, directed by Lenore Gallegos.
