Brian Keene was born in 1967. He grew up in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and many of his books take place in these locales. After graduating high school, he served as a radioman in the U.S. Navy on-board an LPD. After his obligated enlistment ended, Keene worked a variety of jobs before becoming a full-time writer. Among them were stints as a foundry worker, truck driver, data entry clerk, dockworker, telemarketer, customer service representative, repo man, bouncer, disc jockey, salesman, store manager, daycare instructor, custodian, and more. In interviews, he credits this diverse background as the key to the three-dimensional characters that populate his books.

Keene has won two Bram Stoker Awards. One in 2001 for non-fiction Jobs In Hell and one in 2003 for first novel The Rising. He is also the recipient of the 2004 Shocker Award for non-fiction Sympathy for the Devil as well as many small and regional awards. He has been featured in the New York Times, The Village Voice, Publishers Weekly, CNN.com, The Howard Stern Show, Rue Morgue magazine, Fangoria magazine, and participated in a documentary for the History Channel. David Letterman once based a skit on a party at Keene's home.

In addition to being a prolific writer, Keene is also a popular public speaker, and has been invited to speak at a number of libraries, high schools, bookstores, and conventions. He was also invited to speak at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in 2006 and 2007.

In 2004, The Rising was optioned for film and videogame adaptations. In 2005, City of the Dead was optioned for the same. In 2006, Terminal was optioned for film. Also in 2006, three stories from Keene's Fear of Gravity were adapted in the graphic novel Brian Keene's FEAR. The stories were "Castaways", "Red Wood", and the award-winning "The King, in: Yellow". In 2007, Ghoul was optioned for film. In 2008, the short story "The Ties That Bind" was optioned for film, and it has its world premiere on April 4th, 2009 at the Garden State Film Festival.

In 2004 and 2005, Keene spearheaded a successful Books For Troops program, in which various horror authors supplied free, signed books to American troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world. Keene was honored for this in 2005 by the 509th Logistics Fuels Flight Squadron based at Whiteman A.F.B. in Missouri.

In 2008, Marvel Comics announced that Keene would be writing for them. His first project for the company was the four-issue MAX series: Devil-Slayer.

Keene currently lives in Pennsylvania.

Novels

• The Rising (April 2003): Delirium Books.
• (January 2004) Leisure Books.
• Terminal (June 2004): Bloodletting Press.
• (June 2005): Bantam Spectra. Revised and expanded version of the Bloodletting Press edition.
• City of the Dead (January 2005): Delirium Books.
• (June 2005) Leisure Books.
• The Conqueror Worms (May 2006): Leisure Books.
• (September 2005) (first released in hardcover as Earthworm Gods): Delirium Books.
• Ghoul (February 2007) Leisure Books.
• (March 2007): Delirium Books.
• The Next Wave (with J.F. Gonzalez) (April 2007) Delirium Books.
• Dead Sea (August 2007) Leisure Books.
• (September 2007): Delirium Books.
• Shades, co-written with Geoff Cooper (November 2007): (Out of Print) Cemetery Dance Publications.
• Kill Whitey (April 2008): Cemetery Dance Publications.
• Dark Hollow (February 2008): Leisure Books.
• (July 2006): (first released in hardcover as The Rutting Season) Bloodletting Press.
• Ghost Walk (August 2008): Leisure Books.
• (September 2008): Delirium Books.
• Darkness On the Edge of Town (October 2008): Infernal House Press.
• (February 2010): Leisure Books. Revised and expanded version of previous edition.
• Castaways (February 2009): Leisure Books.
• (March 2009): Bloodletting Press.
• Urban Gothic (August 2009): Leisure Books.
• Clickers III: Dagon Rising (2010) Delirium Books.
• A Gathering of Crows (August 2010): Leisure Books.
• Entombed (tbd)
• Hole in the World (tbd)
• Vanishing Point (tbd)

Collections

• No Rest For The Wicked (2001): (Out of Print) Imaginary Worlds Publishing.
• No Rest For The Wicked Redux (October 2001): (Out of Print) Vox 13 Publishing.
• 4x4, co-written with Geoff Cooper, Michael Oliveri, and Michael T. Huyck Jr. (October 2001): (Out of Print) Delirium Books.
• No Rest At All (August 2003): (Out of Print) Delirium Books.
• Revised and expanded version of No Rest For The Wicked.
• Fear Of Gravity (March 2004): Delirium Books. (Out of Print)
• Necrophobia, co-written with Brett McBean, Michael Oliveri, and John Urbancik (May 2004): (Out of Print)
• The Best Of Hail Saten Vol. 1 (October 2004): (Out of Print) Delirium Books.
• The Best Of Hail Saten Vol. 2 (January 2006): (Out of Print) Delirium Books.
• Selected Scenes From The End Of The World (March 2006): Delirium Books.
• The Best Of Hail Saten Vol. 3 (July 2007): Delirium Books. (Out of Print)
• The Little Silver Book of Streetwise Stories (January 2008): Borderlands Press. (Out of Print)
• Selected Scenes From The End Of The World (July 2008): Delirium Books.
• Unhappy Endings (April 2009): Delirium Books.

Novellas & Novelettes

• Take The Long Way Home (2006): (Out of Print) Necessary Evil Press.
• The Resurrection and The Life (2007): (Out of Print) Biting Dog Press.
• Tequila's Sunrise (2007): Bloodletting Press.
• Redemption (with Shane Ryan Staley) (2008): HM Press.
• The Cage (2010): (Out of Print) Cemetery Dance.
• Scratch (2010): (Out of Print) Cemetery Dance.
• The Girl on the Glider (2011): (Out of Print) Cemetery Dance.

Comic Books & Graphic Novels

• Brian Keene's Fear (2007): Frequency Press. (written by Nate Southard but based on stories from Fear of Gravity)
• Death in Four Colors (February 2007): (Out of Print) Delirium Books. Published as a 500-copy limited hardcover.
• Devil Slayer (September 2008): Marvel Comics. Published in magazine format in 4 monthly issues starting in September.
• The Last Zombie

Audio books

• (2002) Talking Smack CD (Medium Rare Books) (Out of Print)

Anthologies edited

• Best Of Horrorfind (2001): (Horrorfind.com L.L.C.). (Out of Print) Published as a Trade Paperback.
• Best Of Horrorfind II (2002): (Horrorfind.com L.L.C.). (Out of Print) Published as a Trade Paperback.
• In Delirium (January 2006): (Delirium Books). Published as a 26-copy leather-bound and a hardcover 274-copy limited hardcover.
• New Dark Voices II (January 2009): (Delirium Books). Published as a hardcover 150-copy limited hardcover.