Chasing the Boogeyman, Widows Point, Memorials… all these books were written by Richard Chizmar, Harford county’s very own author. Richard Chizmar grew up in Harford County, Maryland and attended Edgewood High School. He is the publisher and editor of Cemetery Dance magazine, and the owner of Cemetery Dance Publications. He also edits anthologies, produces films, writes screenplays, and teaches writing conventions. He is the co-author, with Stephen King, of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box. Richard Chizmar has written 6 novels, 4 of which being named bestsellers. We had the privilege of getting in contact with and asking him some questions.
Richard Chizmar grew up in a family of readers; reading gave him a spark of curiosity for writing, he was writing short stories at seven years old, but it was really his 10th grade English teacher Mr. Gallager who first told Richard he should be a writer. He told us “At the time (early 80s), there were no special clubs or programs that catered to writing. But my English teacher, Mr. Gallagher, really encouraged my reading and writing interests, going so far as lending me books from his personal library. I’ve never forgotten his influence and we are still in touch today.”
Richard Chizmar told us about his new book being published in October of 2025, WIDOW’S POINT: THE COMPLETE HAUNTING, He says this is his favorite because he wrote it with his oldest son Billy.
If you are interested in writing or becoming an author, we asked Richard what his advice would be to young writers, he told us “Read as much as you can. Write as much as you can. Don’t think too far ahead. Just do it for the fun and the learning. It’s a long and bumpy process. Be open to help and criticism, but also be stubborn and believe in your own vision. Most importantly, don’t try to be perfect. Get to THE END. That’s the hard part. Then, go back and rewrite and reshape and polish. That’s where the magic happens.”
“I am the one who is cursed and blessed to remember everything… It helps to put it down on paper. I became a writer to help people make sense of the world.” Richard Chizmar has an acute sense of life’s darker moments and a keen sense that life’s best moments were always fleeting. and uses this to write fantastic horror books that give people nightmares, if they are able to sleep at all. Richard had his fair share of dark moments, at 29 years old he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which after two operations, he was told wouldn’t come back, however it came back and hit much harder, spreading throughout his entire body, giving him a 50% chance of survival. After he had made a full recovery, he was told he would never be able to have kids the natural way, but he later had two sons. Throughout this experience Richard Chizmar was always very hopeful, telling his doctors “If anyone can beat this, it will be me.” His hopeful and optimistic nature is shown even through his dark writing, all his stories contain a ray of hope, no matter how hopeless it seems. Richard Chizmar and his writing helps to remind us that even in the darkest and most painful moments we should always be hopeful that something good will come to us.
