I had a feeling it would happen soon. He was getting on in age and it was a only a matter of when. I heard that William F. Nolan died at 12:16 this morning and lost sleep over it. We were Facebook friends for over 10 years and I met him twice: once in 2004 at the LA Book Fair before I knew he was a big deal and again at World Horror 2012 when i was fully aware of his importance in the field.

It was a fond memory. I saw him at World Horror, introduced myself, and expressed my admiration for his work. Bill really warmed up when told him how much I loved Chuck Beaumont's work since he and Chuck were best friends for many years. It's a testament to Bill's goodness to see his loyalty to an old friend bubble to the surface so readily. You could tell he appreciated the people he loved. We ended our chat with Bill signing my copy of his short stories Nightworlds and he drew a cartoony monster on the page to accompany the signature. Speaking with him enhanced my confidence in speaking with professional horror writers. Being at the convention really helped me in seeing that I found my tribe: horror people.

Bill is largely famous for his dystopian Logan Trilogy but he wrote so much more. In my opinion, his strongest horror stories are collected in Things Beyond Midnight, Dark Universe, and Nightworlds. He did a little bit of everything, including writing novels, short stories, a book on the craft, screenplays, and teleplays.

He was a storyteller through and through. "The Underdweller" had a vibe like I am Legend but was much more unsettling. "The Party" was Bill's mundane vision of hell, a quiet and sinister tale worth re-reading. "Lonely Train A'Comin'" is the vivid and exciting account of a man confronting a demonic locomotive. "The Halloween Man" was full of menace and is required reading for October. "The Pool" is a classic monster story with the feel of the E.C. horror comics.

Meeting Bill and reading his work gave me a share of good memories. I'll miss him and his death truly marks the end of an era exemplified by his friends Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, and Charles Beaumont, and last but not least, Bill Nolan himself.

Written by Nicholas Montelongo

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