Christopher Golden Writes Books for All Ages

Golden's first novel, OF SAINTS AND SHADOWS, was released in 1994. This dark horror story about a vampire named Peter Octavian contains what Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself would describe as "violence, strong language, adult content." This and the subsequent Octavian novels - referred to collectively as THE SHADOW SAGA - are engrossing, and rival the Anne Rice books in terms of originality and creativity.

Golden continued to write stories shelved in the fiction/literature department (or sci-fi/fantasy or horror, if the bookstore or library has genre breakouts) until he became involved in the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER line, which was in teen series. He was one of the first authors on board with the BtVS books. He authored or co-authored multiple original novels based on the television series as well as companion books such as the first volume of THE WATCHER'S GUIDE and THE MONSTER BOOK. Then Simon & Schuster started an adult line of BtVS novels, shelved in sci-fi/fantasy series instead of teen series. These books were longer and meatier than the teen BtVS line.

BODY BAGS, Golden's first novel in the BODY OF EVIDENCE forensic murder mystery series, came out in May 1999. (Note that this outdates CSI by nearly a year and a half.) BODY BAGS and the books that followed it were shelved in teen fiction and featured a college-aged protagonist, the intelligent and quick-thinking Jenna Blake. BoE offered ten books which I in turn offered to teens and adults alike. In fact, when a new book came out, some parents and teenagers who would teasingly fight over who got to read the book first!

A few summers ago, Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski released a quartet of juvenile fantasy novels entitled OUTCAST, starting with the book THE UN-MAGICIAN. Finally, finally, I could give Golden books to eight year olds. In fact, due to the timeless nature of this fantasy series, I put these books in the hands of kids, teens, and adults alike.