Brian McAuley Books In Order

Publication Order of BrianMcAuley Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Killer VHS Books

Brian McAuley is a WGA screenwriter who has also become an author best known for the novel Curse of the Reaper, a horror fiction work that he published under Talos Press in 2022. McAuley is also the writer of Dismissed, the award-winning independent thriller which she associate-produced for BoulderLight Pictures. He has also written five other best-selling films which were released on the Lifetime Network. Brian McAuley is also the co-producer and co-writer of The Banishing a short horror film that was incorporated into Patient Seven the feature-length film by Terror Films. He also sold Affliction an hour-long science fiction series to Universal Cable Productions and the Syfy Network. Brian has also contributed an episode to Fuller House the thirty-minute comedy series for Warner Brothers and Netflix.

McAuley always had a love for storytelling in all mediums and genres he could find it in. He loved how stories would transport him to a different place and time where he experienced things beyond himself. Through reading, he realized that he wanted to create and tell stories in addition to just experiencing them. Brian comes from an extensive background in theatre since he was first an actor, and he believes this helped him with his storytelling and as an author. He found that having been an actor it was easy to slip into different characters’ shoes to get a unique voice and had a good grasp of what she wanted people to sound and feel. He also loved how he could come up with a story from scratch and control how people experienced it. Once he realized that he was good at writing stories that connected with people, he knew he could support himself with storytelling. All he needed to do was find a story that companies and producers were looking for and he would be golden.

Like many novelists, Brian McAuley started building his writing skills when he was still very young. As an undergraduate student, Brian studied a combination of creative writing and screenwriting courses so that he could learn how to use storytelling tools and learn how to tell stories in different media. From Columbia University, McAuley graduated with a Master’s in Fine Arts with a specialization in screenwriting. Earlier, he went to the Gallatin School of New York University where he got a bachelor’s degree in Individualized Study. After graduating with his MFA from Columbia he got into screenwriting and wrote a bunch of TV scripts and feature films. It was one of these that would ultimately become the inspiration for Curse of the Reaper his debut novel. Brian McAuley has also worked at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Loyola Marymount University, and Columbia University where he taught MFA and undergraduate students fiction writing, TV writing, and screenwriting. From time to time, Brian collaborates with Storytellers, a youth-centered organization, and the UCLA Center for Scholars. The former is an organization that bridges the gap between media creation and social science research. Working with the organizations, he was the co-author of Race and Class in Teen TV Report.

Brian McAuley’s magnum opus which is The Simon and Schuster published Curse of the Reaper was named one of the Best Horror Books of the Year by Esquire. The work has since been optioned and is due to be developed into a movie by an Emmy award-winning producer/writer. Candy Cain Kills his novella which was published in 2023 became critically acclaimed by the likes of Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and Library Journal. Brian’s nonfiction and short fiction have also been featured in a variety of online and print outlets such as Nightmare Magazine and Dark Matter Magazine.

Brian McAuley published Curse of the Reaper his debut novel in 2022. The work is best described as The Shining meets Scream as it is a thrilling horror narrative that tells the story of an aging actor who has to deal with a slasher movie villain in real life. Decades after he played the title character in Night of the Reaper the horror franchise from the 1980s, Howard Browning spends much of his time signing autographs at conventions. When the studio says it will be giving the series a reboot, he is disappointed to learn that former sitcom child star Trevor Mane who is coming out of rehab will be playing his old role. Trevor has vowed to revamp his image and stay sober while Howard can’t bear the thought of letting go of his iconic character. This sets the stage for an iconic clash over the soul of a beloved series. Fighting to reclaim his legacy, Howard is consumed by his sinister alter ego which pushes him to the brink of violence. Could the devilish Reaper have taken a life of its own or is the actor succumbing to madness? Combining heart, dark humor, and wicked suspense, it is an intense thriller sandwiched between the supernatural and the psychological.

Brian McAuley’s second single-standing novel is Breathe In, Bleed Out. The work is best described as a blood-soaked thriller horror very similar to Midsummer Night’s Scream. The lead in the novel is Hannah, who has been trying to get away from her demons ever since a wilderness trip with her fiance went tragically wrong. No one knows how things got so wrong that Ben died and she would prefer that it stayed that way. Nonetheless, she is still haunted by the man’s ghost every waking moment. As such, when she is invited to an exclusive retreat in Joshua Tree alongside her friends, she agrees to go hoping to get a fresh start. Initially, she is skeptical about the powers of Guru Pax, the strange man who believes in the supernatural world. But it is not long before Hannah is warming up to it through all the hot springs, sound baths, and yoga at the tech-free haven. However, her journey of self-discovery soon turns into a struggle for self-preservation as some strange man has been killing the attendees at the retreat in some horrific ways. With her sanity fraying and the body count rising, she will need to deal with her past demons and unearth the true nature of a man darker than anyone she had ever encountered.