Paul was born and raised in New Jersey where he misspent his youth playing with matches, poring over Uncle Scrooge and E.C. comics, reading Lovecraft, Matheson, Bradbury, and Heinlein, listening to Chuck Berry and Alan Freed on the radio, and watching Soupy Sales and Shock Theatre with Zacherley.
He is the author of more than fifty books: science fiction (HEALER, WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS, AN ENEMY OF THE STATE, DYDEETOWN WORLD, THE TERY, SIMS), horror thrillers (THE KEEP, THE TOMB, THE TOUCH, REBORN, REPRISAL, NIGHTWORLD, BLACK WIND, SIBS, MIDNIGHT MASS), contemporary thrillers (THE SELECT, IMPLANT, DEEP AS THE MARROW), novels that defy categorization (THE FIFTH HARMONIC, VIRGIN) and a number of collaborations. In 1998 he resurrected his popular antihero, Repairman Jack, and has chronicled his adventures in twenty-three novels, following him to the near destruction of human civilization in NIGHTWORLD.
He has peeked into Jack’s teenage life in the young adult novels, JACK: SECRET HISTORIES, JACK: SECRET CIRCLES and JACK: SECRET VENGEANCE. THE EARLY YEARS TRILOGY recounts a young Jack’s efforts to establish himself in NYC.
Most of Paul’s short stories are collected in SOFT & OTHERS (1989), THE BARRENS & OTHERS (1998), and AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS, Plus, a collection of Repairman Jack short fiction in QUICK FIXES. He has edited two anthologies: FREAK SHOW (1992) and DIAGNOSIS: TERMINAL (1996). He has written for stage, screen, and interactive media as well. As with most of his fiction, his latest novels, PANACEA and THE GOD GENE, and THE VOID PROTOCOL, take place in his Secret History timeline, as does the historical horror novella, Wardenclyffe.
THE KEEP, THE TOMB, HARBINGERS, and BY THE SWORD, and NIGHTWORLD all appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers List. WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS won the first Prometheus Award in 1979; SIMS won another, THE TOMB received the Porgie Award from The West Coast Review of Books. His novelette “Aftershock” won the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for short fiction. DYDEETOWN WORLD was on the young adult recommended reading lists of the American Library Association and the New York Public Library, among others. He was awarded the prestigious Inkpot Award from the San Diego ComiCon and the Pioneer Award from the RT Booklovers Convention. He is listed in the 50th anniversary edition of Who’s Who in America.
His novel THE KEEP was made into a visually striking but otherwise incomprehensible movie (screenplay and direction by Michael Mann) by Paramount in 1983. THE TOMB has been in development hell with Beacon Films for a good two decades now. His original teleplay “Glim-Glim” aired on Monsters in 1989. An adaptation of his short story “Menage a Trois” was part of the pilot for The Hunger series that debuted on Showtime in July 1997. “Pelts” was adapted by Dario Argento for Masters of Horror.