Author Rick Hautala died 21 March 2013 of a heart attack. Born 3 February 1949 in Rockport, Massachusetts, he received both the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award and the World Horror Grandmaster Award in 2012.

He was the author of more than 30 novels, beginning with [[[Moon Death]]] in 1980. His most recent, [[[The Wildman]]], was published in 2008. He also wrote many short stories, starting with “Every Mothers’ Son”, which was published in Maine Impressions, in March 1987. Most recently was his collection [[[Occasional Demons]]], which appeared in 2010 (his book bibliography is available on this page, with his shorter fiction detailed here). He also wrote four novels under the pseudonym A.J. Matthews. Additionally, he wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.

Hautala was a graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature). He lived in southern Maine with his wife, Holly Newstein, who writes “Hi all and thank you. Just to let you know there will be no funeral, as that was not Rick’s thing. I am hoping to put together a celebration of his life in a month or two. We are just devastated here, and I really appreciate your kind words. Will keep you posted…”

Hautala is also survived by three grown sons.