Brett McBean

I'm a horror writer from Australia. I've had two novels published so far: The Last Motel was released in 2005 from Biting Dog Press. It's a fast-paced horror/thriller, a tribute to the '70s/early '80s b-grade horror films such as 'Friday the 13th', 'Last House on the Left' and 'Motel Hell' and the novels of Richard Laymon.
My latest novel, The Mother, was released mass-market in Australia from Lothian Books late last year, and was nominated for Aurealis, Ditmar Award and Ned Kelly awards. This is a dark, disturbing character study about a woman hitchhiking along a major highway, searching for the man who killed her teenage daughter.
I've also had numerous short stories published in magazines and anthologies, plus the chapbooks A Question Of Belief and the out of print The Rising: Necrophobia (with Brian Keene, Mike Oliveri and John Urbancik).
The novelette The Familiar Stranger was published late 2006 by Necessary Evil Press.
I have a short story collection due out this year from Thunderstorm Books, called Tales of Sin and Madness.
I'm a massive film buff, music geek and book nerd. I have a degree in music and I used to play the drums in mostly rock/funk/blues bands. More details at: brettmcbean.com
Check out a sample of my writing with my new flash fiction piece Unborn Lives
The Last Motel:
“A thrilling read about fate, coincidence and murder. McBean pumps up the tension to unbearable levels, and then lets rip”
--Tim Lebbon author of “Fears Unnamed” and “Desolation”
“Brett McBean is as brash and brutal as a young Jack Ketchum. He visits the dark rooms inside us all. The Last Motel is the first stop on his way to the top.”
--Scott Nicholson author of “The Manor” and “The Farm”
“The Last Motel is fun; a thrilling, white-knuckled suspense read. McBean’s voice is one that should be heard – a hint of Laymon and Koontz, yet distinctly his own. Genuinely creepy stuff”
--Brian Keene author of “The Rising” and "Terminal"
“Brett McBean's The Last Motel is dark and gritty, relentlessly fierce but tempered with keen wit and characters so real you can hear them breathing. The book is a loving, bloody homage to an underappreciated genre and McBean's writing compels you to keep turning pages even as you cringe. A book as hard to put down as Misery -- I couldn't look away even when I wanted to. The Last Motel makes the Bates Motel seem like a trip to Disneyland."
--Tamara Thorne author of “Thunder Road”
“Brett McBean’s The Last Motel moved me to that level of horror rarely visited. He writes without a safety net and crosses all lines as he illuminates the true essence of fear. Mesmerizing and frightening.”
--John Paul Allen author of “Gifted Trust”
The Mother:
"The Mother is a brilliant new offering from McBean that sees him slide among contemporaries such as Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon.
McBean manages to capture something rare in the Mother – a book that is both moving and horrific, demonstrating that good horror can do more than just scare your pants off. The Mother does for hitchhiking what Psycho did for showers and I guarantee you’ll think more than twice before thumbing a ride again."
--Mark Smith-Briggs, Oz Horrorscope