Many years ago, before W.H. Chizmar prepared for his first major book release, he was a child wandering through bookstores with his father, Richard Chizmar, imagining what it might be like to see their own stories on the shelves.
“It’s a dream come true for both of us,” W.H. Chizmar said of sharing a writing life with his father. “It’s the kind of thing we used to talk about when I was a kid, and we were walking the shelves of Barnes & Noble, looking for the latest ‘Magic Treehouse’.”
For Richard Chizmar, storytelling began just as early. He wrote monster tales, war stories, and adventures at seven or eight years old, attempting to sell them to friends before finding his first loyal customer at home. “My mom used to buy them for a nickel or a dime apiece,” he said. “She was my first audience.”
Those childhood stories eventually led to a celebrated career as an author and the founder of Cemetery Dance Publications. Richard’s work has also included collaborations with Stephen King, an author Richard Chizmar admired long before they became creative partners. “I was the teenager who walked around Edgewood High School with a Stephen King paperback in his back pocket, sneaking it out and reading it during class when I should have been studying history or calculus or social studies,” he said.
Writing with King became a dream realized, but Richard Chizmar said sharing the craft with his son has meant even more. “People always ask me if writing with Stephen King is the pinnacle of my career,” he said. “But nope…writing with my son, watching him forge a solo career all on his own…it’s almost too big, too special to fully wrap my brain around.”
That solo career takes a major step forward in August with the release of W.H. Chizmar’s novel, “THEM”. Begun while he was in college in 2020, the book evolved through several complete rewrites as his style and skills developed.
“It could be disheartening, but I loved the story so much that I couldn’t stop,” he said.
A love letter to monster and apocalypse stories, “THEM”reflects influences ranging from “War of the Worlds” and “The Mist” to “Godzilla” and “The Road”. Still, the younger Chizmar’s work remains grounded in the county where he grew up. He cited Bynum Run Creek, Eden Mill, the Bush River, Mariner Point, the Bel Air Library, and fishing near Poole’s Island among the places that shaped his imagination.
Harford County also runs deeply through Richard Chizmar’s work who frequently transforms familiar places into fictional settings. His forthcoming novel, “Killing the Boogeyman”, unfolds entirely in Bel Air and Edgewood, and he recommends that aspiring writers use local spots to inspire writing. “Use those hometown locations to offer readers a glimpse of a world they may not be familiar with,” he said. “Use them to craft authentic stories that only someone who lives there can create.”
The two writers admire different strengths in one another. Richard Chizmar praises his son, saying, “He’s a courageous and confident writer, especially for someone his age. He just dives right in and figures it out as he goes along. He’s fearless.” Meanwhile, W.H. Chizmar admires the grace his father extends to even deeply flawed characters. “He manages to make real people, flaws borne to the world, still lovable,” W.H. Chizmar said. “There’s always grace.”
Writing with my son, watching him forge a solo career all on his own…it’s almost too big, too special to fully wrap my brain around.