Steve Niles (born June 21, 1965) is an American comic book author and novelist.
He is credited among other contemporary writers as bringing horror comics back to prominence, authoring such works as 30 Days of Night, its sequel, Dark Days (IDW Publishing), and Criminal Macabre (Dark Horse Comics) with frequent artist collaborator Ben Templesmith.
Steve Niles was born in Jackson, New Jersey on June 21, 1965. He was raised in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, developing various creative interests in music, writing, and making amateur films. He worked in several comic book stores and played in the punk bands Gray Matter and Three, both of which released records on Dischord Records label in the 1980s and 1990s. He often credited late night television horror host, Count Gore De Vol, who was the local horror host on Channel 20, as an early influence. In 2004 Count Gore wrote the introduction to the graphic novel Aleister Arcane, which is about a horror host. Other influences included Richard Matheson's book I Am Legend, and the works of George Romero, John Carpenter and Bernie Wrightson, the latter two of which he would later work with. He had no formal education in writing following high school, explaining that he learned to write through copious reading.
Niles' start in the comics industry began with the formation of his self publishing company, Arcane Comix. Niles published, edited, and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics, working on I Am Legend in 1991. He then wrote several titles for Fantaco in the early 1990s, including Bad Moon, Fly in My Eye, and a set of lithographs for Clive Barker's Book of Blood. He worked for a year on Disney's Toy Story Web Adventures, and later worked for Todd McFarlane Productions where he wrote several issues of Spawn, Spawn: The Dark Ages. He also collaborated on Hellspawn with illustrator Ashley Wood after Brian Michael Bendis's departure, and did journalism work for Kiss Magazine, interviewing members of the band Kiss.
Niles attempted to shop around his screenplay for 30 Days of Night, but was met with rejection in Hollywood. When IDW Publishing formed, Niles sent his "reject list" to Ted Adams, who selected 30 Days of Night as a concept he was interested in. Niles and illustrator Ben Templesmith produced the first issue for free. The book did not sell well, according to Niles, but it was then that film producers took notice of it, and optioned it to be adapted into a film in 2000 or 2001.In 2004 or 2005, Niles formed a joint venture production company, Creep International, with 90s rocker and film director Rob Zombie. This project has produced two works to date: The Nail (with Nat Jones) through Dark Horse Comics, and Bigfoot (with Richard Corben) through IDW Publishing. Upon placing that venture on hiatus, he then assisted actor Thomas Jane's production company, with the intention of bringing his Criminal Macabre character Cal MacDonald to the big screen. MGM optioned the property, but it lapsed, and is currently held by Universal Pictures. Niles and Jane also co-wrote the six-issue comic book series Bad Planet for Image Comics with artists Lewis Larosa and Tim Bradstreet.
In 2006, Niles collaborated with artist Scott Hampton on a Batman miniseries, Gotham County Line, published by DC Comics. That same year, he wrote another miniseries that reinvents Steve Ditko's vintage character The Creeper with DC artist Justiniano. He is also created a new DC character with artist Scott Hampton, named Simon Dark. Dark is a vigilante hero with elements of the Frankenstein mythos who starred in eighteen issues of his own ongoing series.
In October 2007, Steve recorded an introduction to the Washington, D.C.'s International Horror Film Festival, The Spooky Movie Film Festival, in honor of opening night host, Count Gore De Vol, who was being honored for his 35 years in Washington, D.C. Posters for 30 Days of Night were given out, including one signed by Niles.
In 2007 Niles wrote a story for the DC Infinite Halloween Special called "Strange Cargo". Narrated by Poison Ivy, the story tells of Superman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen uncovering zombies in a cargo tank owned by Lex Luthor. Superman kills most of them, but takes the rest and puts them on the moon.
In 2008 Niles wrote a twelve part Batman miniseries entitled Batman: Gotham After Midnight with art by Kelley Jones. He has also written a graphic novel for Zune called The Lost Ones with various artists and City of Dust for Radical Comics. Niles is part of the Convention Monsterplaza, which is from April 9 to 11, 2010 in Marriott Burbank Convention Center. Niles wrote the script for the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment produced horror first-person shooter F.E.A.R. 3.
30 Days of Night has been developed into a major motion picture, with Sam Raimi as producer. Niles and Ben Ketai scripted a sequel, Dark Days, to be directed by Ketai. Niles reported that the film would begin shooting on October 20, 2009, although casting was still in progress.
Other comics he has written that have been optioned for film include Criminal Macabre, In the Blood, Aleister Arcane and Wake the Dead. Variety have reported that Wake the Dead will be the next to enter production with Jay Russell in the directors chair. Freaks of the Heartland is a remake of the Iceland film Mırin and is being adapted by Peter Sattler and Geoff Davey, with David Gordon Green penciled in to direct it. The project is currently on hold, after differences with Overture film.
