Biography

Brett McBean was born and raised in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.  A child of the ’80s, he grew up on a steady diet of He-Man cartoons, Steven Spielberg movies and audio tapes such as Summer Hits ’88.  And yet, somehow he managed to turn out normal (well, kinda…).  He started playing the drums at age ten and after high school, studied music at Box Hill College, one of Victoria’s most renowned music schools, where he earned an Advanced Diploma.  Shortly after completing the music degree, he turned his attention towards writing, and he now prefers to pound the keyboard rather than the drums.

An avid movie, book and music fan, he also enjoys the occasional (*cough*) bit of chocolate and cooks a mean spaghetti Bolognese.  He also has a keen interest in true crime, in particular the infamous Jack the Ripper murders of 1888, and most of his fiction deals with true-life horrors, often using real-life crimes as a basis for his stories.

His books have been published in Australia, the US, and Germany, and he’s been nominated for the Aurealis, Ditmar, and Ned Kelly awards.  He is a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association, where he has been a member of the judging panel for the Australian Shadows Award (2008), the AHWA Flash & Short Story competition (2010) and a mentor in their mentor program.  He still lives in the wilds of Melbourne with his wife and German shepherd.