About the Author

KC Grifant is an award-winning writer based in Southern California who writes and edits internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories.

Her debut supernatural western novel, Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger (Brigids Gate Press, Feb 2023), described as a blend of Bonnie & Clyde meet The Witcher and Supernatural, has received positive reviews internationally. Readers and reviewers call the book “a fun, fast-paced, monster-filled joy ride,” “genre-blending,” “a story that is fascinating and irresistible,” and a “massive crowd-pleaser.” See what other readers are saying here: https://scifiwri.com/publications/melinda-west-monster-gunslinger/.

She is also author of Shrouded Horror: Tales of the Uncanny (Dragon’s Roost Press, 2024), and Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen (Brigids Gate Press, 2025), and the editor of Women of the Weird West (Brigids Gate Press, 2026) and co-editor of Dread Coast: SoCal Horror Tales (No Bad Books Press, 2025).

She is a published short story writer, with dozens of tales appearing in podcasts, anthologies and magazines, including: PseudoPod, Andromedia Spaceways Magazine, Unnerving Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Dark Matter Magazine, Sley House Presents, the British SF Association’s Fission Magazine, Tales to Terrify, the Lovecraft eZine; Musings of the Muse; Dancing in the Shadows—A Tribute to Anne Rice; the Stoker-nominated Chromophobia; the Stoker-nominated Fright Mare: Women Write Horror, and many others.

She teaches genre and short story workshops and has been a moderator, panelist or speaker at dozens of conferences and events. In 2016, she co-founded the Horror Writers Association San Diego Chapter, an organization that helps to promote the horror genre (read more here) and she co-chaired its flagship event, StokerCon, in 2024. She is also a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association and served as an SFWA mentor. Aside from constructing imaginary worlds, she works as an award-winning science writer and editor and likes to haunt coffee shops, comic book stores, labyrinths and carnivals.

Accolades

  • Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger (novel) named an Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite in the category of Action/Adventure (2025)
  • Shrouded Horror: Tales of the Uncanny (collection) won first place for in the BookFest’s Horror/Monsters category (2024)
  • Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger (novel) ranked #1 in Amazon New Releases for Western Horrors, and ranked in the top 100 bestsellers in dark fantasy releases and new horror releases (2023)
  • “A Woman’s Weapon” (poem) made the recommendations list for The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow (2022)
  • “The Color of Friendship” (short story) was part of the Stoker-nominated anthology Chromophobia: A Strangehouse Anthology by Women in Horror (2022)
  • “The U Train” (short story) won the Sley House podcast competition and was produced into a radio drama (2022)
  • “What the Storm Brings” (short story) was part of the Stoker-nominated anthology Fright Mare: Women Write Horror (2016)

Read a profile of KC Grifant in the Union Tribune here.

Say hi on social (Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky, TikTok), visit her page on Amazon, or sign up for newsletter updates below.

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