Filmmaker, screenwriter, writer, and “author of the macabre,” JZ Murdock creates horror, science fiction, and psychologically driven work across books, ebooks, audiobooks, and film. A former Sr. Technical Writer and IT Administrator for decades before retiring, he holds a degree in psychology from Western Washington University with a minor in fiction and team scriptwriting. Murdock’s books have received strong critical response, including the Lovecraftian work of eldritch horror and science fiction Death of Heaven; the Anthology of Evil short-story collections; and the nonfiction, research-driven memoir Suffering ‘Long Covid’. He has also published numerous short ebooks and audiobooks. His first film, The Rapping (2018), is a short tale of the macabre. His second film, the award-winning horror short Gumdrop, earned 16 festival awards. His historic WWI documentary-poem Pvt. Ravel’s Bolero has won over 60 international awards. Murdock’s true-crime drama screenplay The Teenage Bodyguard recounts the real story of a 17-year-old in 1974 who protected a murder witness from the Tacoma mafia for a week. The script has won eight awards and came close to production three times, though the right director has yet to be found. Praise includes comments from The Black List and the BlueCat Screenplay Competition—“This should be pursued into production” and “Why isn’t this on screen already?”—and from entertainment attorney Michael Donaldson: “What an interesting story. Very well researched. This kind of story is a perennial favorite. It is just the kind of story that is being gobbled up in the market right now… It is a good time for this story.” Murdock has further developed the project with Jen Grisanti and producer Robert Mitas, longtime collaborator of Michael Douglas. His screenplay Gray and Lover: The Hearth Tales Incident was a semifinalist at Circus Road Films and has received multiple other awards.  

I have always felt I was born a writer, though I did not fully accept it until college, when a professor laughed and said the fact was “all too obvious.”

During the 1990s, I worked as a contract Senior Technical Writer at US West Technologies on a high-level development team, later continuing my technical writing career at several companies before spending my final nineteen years in the IT department of a large health insurance provider.

In 2004, my short story “Poor Lord Ritchie’s Answer” (later included in Anthology of Evil, 2012) was selected by actor Rutger Hauer as a winner in his international short-story contest.

In Fall 2014, my screenplay Gray and Lover was a semifinalist in the Circus Road Films screenplay competition.

My true-crime screenplay The Teenage Bodyguard continues to perform strongly on the festival and contest circuit. It has won multiple awards and received praise from industry professionals, and I anticipate it will reach the screen—its reception suggests it is only a matter of time.

Since 2018, I have also been producing new audiobooks of my work. Collaborating with my colleague and voice actor Tom Remick, I handle production and engineering. Recent releases include In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear, a dystopian, Philip K. Dick–style tale reflecting our contemporary world. Mr. Pakool’s Spice is expected to be online shortly. My well-received psychology piece On Psychology has been updated and will be released soon, narrated by me.