Freaks of the Heartland

Steve Niles was born June 21, 1965. He is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society, and Batman: Gotham County Line. Niles was born in Jackson, New Jersey, and he was raised in the Washington, DC suburbs, developing various creative interests in music, writing, and making amateur films. He is credited among other contemporary writers for bringing horror comics back to prominence.

Greg Ruth is an author and illustrator of comic books and books for young readers. He is the author and artist of The Lost Boy, a New York Times bestselling graphic novel with Scholastic; and the illustrator of Our Enduring Spirit by President Barack Obama (HarperCollins, 2009), and Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars by Ethan Hawke (Hachette Books). Greg Ruth has also published with many other comic book publishers, including Dark Horse Comics and Fantagraphics Books. He lives in western Massachusetts.