From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of
Kevin McFadden (born November 12, 1954), an American writer. He
is a bestselling
author of young adult
and children's fiction who
specializes in the thriller genre.
McFadden was born in New
York but grew up in California where he still lives in today. A
college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and
programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially
unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught
the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller
that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985),
a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent
events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend
and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become
bestsellers.
His other well-known works include The Last
Vampire (a series of six books), the Final Friends
Trilogy, Remember Me (a trilogy), The Lost
Mind, Witch, Whisper of Death,
Alosha, The Shaktra, The Yanti, Bury
Me Deep, The Tachyon Web, and Fall into
Darkness. The last three titles have also been released on
audio. In 1996, Fall into Darkness was made into a television
movie directed by Mark Sobel. It starred Tatyana Ali as Sharon and Jonathan
Brandis as Chad.
McFadden is also the author of the popular children's series
Spooksville and several adult novels: Sati, The
Season of Passage, The Listeners, The Cold
One, The Blind Mirror and Falling.
McFadden is a highly private person; what is known about him is
gathered from his books and very few interviews. However, it is
known he is currently writing the next book in the Alosha series,
Nemi.
Although his books are best known for being thrillers, they are
often more focused on aspects of science fiction, spirituality, and
whodunit. References to Egyptian, Greek and Hindu mythology are
also common in his stories.
Notes
-
- In Master of Murder, the protagonist — who is a writer
— inserts references to his sister Ann into his work. Many of the
references in Master of Murder are believed to be directly
linked to Pike. In a foreword in Tales of Terror Pike says
that many fans have thought that Marvin and he are the same person,
which he denies--claiming there are only some minor
similarities.
- Chained Together (Chain Letter and Chain Letter 2: The
Ancient Evil) is dedicated to Ann.
- The Season of Passage is also dedicated to Ann.
- The protagonist of Remember Me is named Shari Ann
Cooper.
- In Last Act, Rindy Carpenter's middle name is
Ann.
- Fall into Darkness has an Ann Rice. [For the
television movie, she was renamed Ann Price.]
- Much of the plot of the Final Friends trilogy focuses
around the circumstances surrounding the death of Alice McCoy in
the first book, The Party. At the end of the last book
(The Graduation) we learn that her middle name, and the
forename of lead protagonist Michael Olsen's newborn sister, is Ann
(also the first time a main character's name was Ann and not a
middle name).
- In the Spooksville series, there is a woman called Ann
Templeton who is suspected of being a witch. She appears many times
along the different books of the collection.
- In the "Whisper of Death" the main character's name is
Roxanne.
- In the fifth book of The Last Vampire series, he
dedicates it to his 'sister, Ann, who is a vampire'
- In 1996, fans created an Internet site based on his novel 'The
Midnight Club'--where they could discuss the author, his books, and
share their own stories. This site no longer exists.
Bibliography
Young
adult
- Slumber Party (1985)
- Weekend (1986)
- Chain Letter (1986)
- The Tachyon Web (1986)
- Last Act (1988)
- Spellbound (1988)
- Final Friends 1: The Party (1988)
- Final Friends 2: The Dance (1988)
- Gimme a Kiss (1988)
- Remember Me (1989)
- Final Friends 3: The Graduation (1989)
- Scavenger Hunt (1989)
- Fall into Darkness (1990)
- See You Later (1990)
- Witch (1990)
- Whisper of Death (1991)
- Die Softly (1991)
- Bury Me Deep (1991)
- The Ancient Evil: Chain Letter 2 (1992)
- Master of Murder (1992)
- Monster (1992)
- Road to Nowhere (1993)
- The Eternal Enemy (1993)
- The Immortal (1993)
- The Wicked Heart (1993)
- Remember Me 2: The Return (1994)
- The Last Vampire (1994)
- The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood (1994)
- The Midnight Club (1994)
- Remember Me 3: The Last Story (1995)
- The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice (1995)
- The Lost Mind (1995)
- The Visitor (1995)
- The Last Vampire 4: Phantom (1996)
- The Last Vampire 5: Evil Thirst (1996)
- The Last Vampire 6: Creatures of Forever (1996)
- The Starlight Crystal (1996)
- The Star Group (1997)
- Execution of Innocence (1997)
- Hollow Skull (1998)
- Magic Fire (1999)
- The Grave (1999)
- The Secret of Ka (2010)
- Witch World (TBA)
Short
stories
- Thirteen: 13 Tales of Horror by 13 Masters of Horror -
edited by T. Pines; an anthology of Point authors; contains the
Pike story Collect Call and later in the anthology, its
sequel, Collect Call 2: The Black Walker. (1991)
- Tales of Terror #1 - Includes a sequel to Master
of Murder. (1997)
- Tales of Terror #2 - Includes a second follow-up to
Master of Murder. (1998)
- 666: The Number of the Beast - an anthology released
by Point in 2007; contains Pike's short story Saving Face.
(2007)
Adult
- Sati
(1990)
- The Season of Passage (1992)
- The Listeners (1995)
- The Cold One (1995; the sequel Seedling was
never written.)
- The Blind Mirror (2003)
- Falling (March 2007)
- The Sixth Door (TBA)
Other
- Cheerleaders #2: Getting Even (1985)
- Spooksville - series of 24 children's
books (1995 - 1999)
- Alosha series (more books are to come in this series)
- Alosha (2004)
- The
Shaktra (2005)
- The Yanti (2006)
- Nemi (yet to be released)
Related
links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Pike, Christopher (pseudonym) |
| ALTERNATIVE
NAMES |
McFadden, Kevin |
| SHORT
DESCRIPTION |
American writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
November, 1955 |
| PLACE OF
BIRTH |
New York, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF
DEATH |
|