Reggie Oliver: The Face of a Weird Writer

With the tremendous avalanche of new works by Reggie Oliver this year, and more coming, many readers who are now part of his widening fan base may wonder more about the man. Luckily, Oliver's biography is relatively forthcoming through venues like his Wikipedia article and certain introductions to his story collections. His attendance at horror and other genre conventions, readings, and general activity in the small weird community means that his photo is also easily available. This is a contrast with the field's other excellent minds like Thomas Ligotti and T.E.D. Kline, who have chosen to maintain very private lives over the years.

The images here are several of the best Oliver portraits taken to date. In both the top photo and these two directly above (both by Peter Coleborn), we see a middle aged gentleman who exudes a talented, erudite, and elegant aura. Is it the strange stories he's written that possess him with this, or is it Oliver's essence displayed in these pictures that is transferred into his tales? Perhaps both.

Knowing about his literary career, it would be almost impossible to see Reggie Oliver's countenance as anything less than a real world symbol of the philosophy and fear laced supernatural dramas that have made his name notable in weird fiction. Personally, I could care less what a purveyor of supernatural literature looks like--as long as their words are powerful. But Oliver's aesthetic takes on a delightful meta-fictional reality, breaching his books' covers and enchanting his stand up horror readings. It's my opinion that this accomplished weirdmonger looks the part; a fitting likeness to the actors, stagehands, and scholars who populate his fictitious worlds. Although an author's physique is very unimportant in the long run, having a writer whose personal style matches that of this worlds is an amusing bonus feature.

-Grim Blogger