Douglas E. Winter (born October 30, 1950, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American writer, critic, and lawyer.
Winter grew up in Granite City, Illinois. He studied at the University of Illinois, earning a B.S. (Bronze Tablet) and M.S. in Communications in 1971 and 1972. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1975 and served as law clerk to Judge William H. Webster, later Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He entered private practice as a lawyer at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.
Winter edited horror anthologies Prime Evil (1988) and Revelations (1997; UK: Millennium) as well as the Hugo Award-nominated and World Fantasy Award-winning interviews collection Faces of Fear (1985, revised 1990). He has also written the authorized critical biographies of Stephen King and Clive Barker. His novel Run (2000) was selected as the Best Suspense Novel of the Year by the Book of the Month Club and was nominated for the World Mystery Award. His experimental novella Splatter: A Cautionary Tale (1987) was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. His short stories "Black Sun" (illustrated by Stephen R. Bissette) and "Loop" won the International Horror Award.
Winter has appeared in several documentary films and has provided commentary for blu-ray and DVD releases of a variety of motion pictures, including Candyman, The Dead Zone, Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot, and Uncommon Valor. He was book review columnist for Fantasy Review, Weird Tales, Cemetery Dance, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.
Douglas E. Winter was also nominated for the 1983 World Fantasy Special AwardâÂÂProfessional award for writing & reviewing, won the 1986 World Fantasy Special AwardâÂÂNon-professional award for reviewing & won the 2003 HWA Silver Hammer Award (Horror Writers Association).