Bio

…the author

It’s been an exciting few years for Craig W. Chenery. In early 2012, he released his first book Blood Splatter: A Guide to Cinematic Zombie
Violence, Gore and Special Effectsto rave critical and fan reviews.  Fangoria Magazine (issue 312), a childhood favorite of Craig’s, praised the book as “a must have” and calling it “a great work; the kind of book that will appeal to serious scholars and casual fans alike”.Reviews from genre staples such as Rue Morgue Magazine, Gore Noir Magazine, Ultra Violent Magazine and Dread Central and industry professionals such as Greg Nicotero and Edgar Wright heaped praise on Blood Splatter lifting it into the top ten zombie books on Amazon. 

Written over a period of 18 months, Blood Splatter includes interviews with genre legends such as Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, John Russo, JohnVulich and Lloyd Kaufman.  The icing on the cake was a weekend spent at Toby Sells’ FX workshop in Atlanta where Craig was made up as a screen quality zombie by The Walking Dead and Zombieland FX artist Toby Sells. 

Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of book signings and guest appearances at various events in Arizona and California. 

Craig has also authored numerous short stories and comics in the horror and Steampunk genres.   He has also written articles for Z Magazine and is actively involved in a very high profile project that will announced in the coming months.

Craig doesn’t stop at the zombie genre.  He is also a children’s author and he has co-authored the Butch G. Cat journal series.  In September 2012, Craig, along with the other members of the Cat Box Productions team went to the Orange County Children’s Book Festival to officially launch the Butch G. Cat journals. The event was a huge success with Craig signing loads of autographs and Butch G. Cat himself, making his first public appearance in the US. Regretfully, this project collapsed in late 2014 much to Craig’s disappointment, despite significant time and money invested. Some things just aren’t meant to be.

Not one to wallow in defeat, in October, 2014 Craig released The Comicon and Convention Survival Guide, an in depth look at navigating the comicon and convention circuit. Crammed full of hints and tips from smart shopping to costuming tips to staying safe from harrassment. Within the first month of release it was the top selling comicon book on Amazon.

Craig is currently working on his next project, a dark comedy series called “The Oceanview Trilogy”. The first book in the series “God Just Wanted To Play Golf” was released in 2018. He is 55,000 words into the second book “Lucifer Just Wanted To Pet Kittens” due sometime in 2021. Unless 2021 is the same as 2020, then he will go George R.R. Martin and spend ten years on it.

…the screenwriter and songwriter

Craig doesn’t just write novels.   In 2011, Craig, and his writing partner at the time, finished the screenplay to Butch G. Cat movie that regretfully stalled in pre-production due to situations outside of his control.  
During the writing process, they decided to turn the movie into a full-blown musical along the lines of the original Muppet movies and took a stab at writing songs to accompany the script.  Eighteen months later, they delivered a diverse six track E.P to the producers of the movie in addition to the screenplay.

This wasn’t Craig’s first foray into screenwriting.  Craig previously co-wrote the James Bond parody screenplay “Butterfinger” which was put on moratorium while the Butch G. Cat movie was in production. This project while represented by an agent, regretfully did not pass pre-production.

In June 2018, Craig teamed up with long-time friend, filmmaker Kevin R. Phipps to write an apocalyptic samurai movie. The film is currently in pre-production and is scheduled to start shooting in 2021. In May, 2019, production started on Craig’s next movie “Dr. Saville’s Horror Show” directed by Kevin R. Phipps. Craig is the screenwriter and producer for the movie.

Craig and Kevin are currently writing numerous other scripts.

…the presenter

In 2012, Craig started taking his love of zombie movies, humor, horror and special effects on the road and has been presenting on the zombie genre at numerous comicon’s and conventions, including the very well attended Phoenix Comicon in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2015, Craig branched out to a different audience when he presented on creating with bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression.  

Craig has appeared and presented at numerous events in the Arizona and California including Rapture Horror Expo, FearCon and the Orange County Children’s Book Festival among others.

Craig is available to present on Star Wars, bipolar disorder, zombie cinema and zombie history at any convention in the US or abroad. Please contact him for further details.

…the improvisor

In 2007, Craig found a new passion when he started taking longform improv classes. In 2008 he formed “The Gentleman’s Club” comedy improv troupe with fellow improvisors and close friends Shane Shannon and Alex Tsuji.  

“The Gentleman’s Club” enjoyed a very successful run which clminated in an appearance at the Phoenix Improv Festival in 2010 and a sold out run of shows at the Mardi Gras Club in Scottsdale.  The group’s format was a thirty minute sitcom pilot that would never again.

“The Gentleman’s Club” were nominated for Arizona’s best comedy troupe for two years running in 2010 and 2011 by The Arizona Republic.  

The group semi-retired in 2012 when Alex moved out of state. However, their jackets have not been hung up just yet and more shows are possible in the future.

Craig was also a regular performer with The Phoenix Neutrino Project. The Phoenix Neutrino Project was an improv troupe who filmed, edited and scored a live movie in front a live audience.  While Craig appeared on film in numerous shows, his favorite role was adding the soundtrack. This involved adding suitable music over the top of scenes as both he and the audience see them for the first time. It was high pressure but Craig enjoyed adding music on the fly.