SEAN ABLEY (aka Gay of the Dead) is a journalist, screenwriter, dramaturg, novelist, and award-winning playwright. He has been a contributor to Fangoria magazine since 2009, beginning with his “Gay of the Dead” column for Fangoria.com, the first blog dedicated solely to LGBTQ filmmakers working in horror. These profiles were published as Out in the Dark: Interviews with Gay Horror Filmmakers, Actors, and Authors (Lethe Press), and this work continues on his Gay of the Dead Patreon. He created the “Queer Horror” panel for San Diego Comic Con in 2015, and is a frequent moderator, panelist, and podcast guest for all things horror-related, including as a juror and Q&A moderator for the Glendale International Film Festival, 29 Queer Film Festival, Queer Screams (Portland), and Macabro (Mexico City). He is the creator and co-editor of Queer Horror: A Film Guide (McFarland Books), a 500-page encyclopedia of horror films with LGBTQ content. His byline has appeared in print magazines Fangoria, The Advocate, Instinct, Attitude, Unzipped, This is Cinématographe, Stapled Spine, and Men’s Health; and online at Fangoria.com, CertifiedForgotten.com, WickedHorror.com, Blastr.com, ShockTilYouDrop.com. He has contributed booklet essays to the 4K UHD/Blu-ray box set releases of Salem’s Lot, Misery, and The Monster Squad (Arrow Video), Re-Animator (Second Sight), and 54 (OCD); and commentary to Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (Vinegar Syndrome). His podcasts include “Queer Horror: A Film Guide – The Podcast” and “Physical Media Booklet Essay – The Podcast.” He is a contributor to the Fangoria Compendium, the history of the magazine in a collector’s coffee table book. Most recently he created, edited, and designed the zine Physical Media Booklet Essay.
Sean has over thirty plays published by Playscripts, Brooklyn Publishers, Heuer Publishing, Next Stage Press, Stage Partners, Plays to Order, Eldridge Plays and Musicals, and Applause Books with titles like End of the World (With Prom to Follow), The Adventures of Rose Red (Snow White’s Less-Famous Sister), Horror High: The Musical and Two-Faced: A Tragedy…Sort Of. His play Unabridged was included in the Best American Short Plays 2018-19 from Applause Books. His plays have been developed and performed at the Kennedy Center, Antaeus Theater Company, The Colony Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Celebration Theatre, Provincetown Theater, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, Write/Act Repertory, Factory Theater, Merry-Go-Round Youth Theatre, SkyPilot Theatre Company, Broom Street Theater, Virginia City Players, and academically at the Playwrights Lab at Hollins University and California State University-Stanislaus. His plays for young audiences have been performed internationally in over 400 professional and educational productions. His play Popcorn Girl was the 2nd place winner of the National Partners of the American Theatre Award as part of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival 2017, and his play Absence Makes the Heart… was a national finalist for the John Cauble Short Play Award at KCACTF the same year. His short play Zombie? was a regional finalist for the Gary Garrison National Ten-Minute Play Award as part of KCACTF 2018.
In 2018 Sean founded Desert Playwrights’ Retreat, an all-expenses-paid, fully funded writing retreat for LGBTQ playwrights held in Palm Springs.
Before moving to Los Angeles, he was the co-founder and co-Artistic Director (1992-1997) of Chicago’s prolific Factory Theater (still going strong as of this writing), where his plays Bitches, Attack of the Killer B’s, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: The Musical and Nuclear Family all enjoyed long runs. His recent Los Angeles theatrical endeavors include readings of Tea Party and Ghost Bicycle as part of Antaeus Theatre Company’s Lab Results, and the world premieres of Dr. Frankincense and the Christmas Monster (Write/Act Repertory), L.A. Tool & Die: Live! (Celebration Theatre), Larva! (SkyPilot Theatre Company), the L.A. premieres of Bitches! (Magnum Players), Attack of the Killer B’s (Factory Theater West, Backstage West Garland Award winner-Best Adaptation), and Absence Makes the Heart… (SkyPilot Theatre Company.)
His television writing includes multiple episodes of So Weird (Disney Channel), Sabrina, the Animated Series (Disney/UPN), Digimon and Mega Babies (both Fox Family), as well as several pilots including Bench Pressly, The World’s Strongest Private Dick with Ahmet Zappa. He spent a solid decade writing and producing almost every iteration of reality TV including game shows, model competitions, home renovations, talk shows, and stunt competitions for networks and production companies including Disney Channel, Fox, MTV, VH-1, Paramount, Game Show Network, Sony Television, TV Land, Spike TV, Dick Clark Productions, and G4. His produced screenplays include the B-movies Socket, Rope Burn, Witchcraft 14: Angel of Death, Witchcraft 15: Blood Rose, Witchcraft 16: Hollywood Coven and Camp Blood 9: Bride of Blood.
Sean has an MFA in Playwriting from The Playwrights Lab at Hollins University, and is a member of the Colony Theater’s Writer’s Lab, the Writers Guild of America, Playwrights Union (Los Angeles), and the Dramatists Guild.