KC Grifant is an award-winning writer based in Southern California who creates internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories.
She is a published short story writer, with dozens of tales appearing in podcasts, anthologies and magazines, including: PseudoPod, Andromeda 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 is co-creator of Monster Gunslingers: The Game.
KC serves as an instructor for the University of California San Diego and an associate editor for Stars & Sabers Press. Her classes on creative writing have been presented through Clarion West, Reach Your Apex and elsewhere. She 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 communicator and editor and likes to haunt coffee shops, comic book stores, labyrinths and carnivals.
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/.
Books
· The award-winning Monster Gunslinger series, Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger and Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen (Brigids Gate Press)
· The award-winning collection Shrouded Horror: Tales of the Uncanny (Dragon’s Roost Press, 2024)
· The collection Fantastica Horrifica (Stars and Sabers Press, 2027)
· The anthology Women of the Weird West (Brigids Gate Press, 2026)
· The anthology Dread Coast: SoCal Horror Tales, co-edited with Dennis K. Crosby (No Bad Books Press, 2025)
· The anthology Of Terrors and Tombstones, co-edited Jendia Gammon (Stars and Sabers Press, 2027).
Accolades
- “The Pit” (short story) made the honorable mention recommendations list for The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow (2025)
- Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen (novel) named second place in the BookFest’s Horror/Monsters category (2025)
- 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 honorable mention 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
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