Mark Allen specializes in tough, uncompromising, hard-hitting fiction. He uses words like a scalpel, carving through the surface layers to rip open the dark, shadowy corners of the soul.

He won his first short story writing contest at the age of 16 with "Fatal Love," the true life tale of his uncle's sacrificial death in Vietnam, and shortly thereafter published several poems in various anthologies. His short stories have appeared in "Night Terrors" horror magazine and his romantic action novel "The Assassin's Prayer" was optioned by Showtime for a feature-length cable TV movie. His horror script "Gristle" was a semi-finalist in the prestigious 2010 Slamdance Horror Screenplay Competition where it was called "a perfect blend of high drama and blood-and-guts slasher horror."

Mark Allen currently lives in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York with a wife he loves, two daughters he adores, a pair of cats he hates with every fiber of his being, a dog who doesn't care that he exists, and enough firepower to ensure he is never bothered by door-to-door salesmen.