Jeff Gelb has been an avid (some would say “rabid”) comic book and pop culture collector and fan since the late ‘50s. In 1964 he started publishing fanzines with MEN OF MYSTERY, and was a frequent fanzine contributor throughout the ‘60s.
Gelb started a career in radio as an air personality at WNCR and WMMS in Cleveland in 1971. In 1973, he moved to San Diego where he was on the air at KPRI and KGB-AM. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978, where he joined Radio & Records as an editor. While there, he hosted and wrote several nationally syndicated radio programs, including Screen Scene for the Source Radio Network, and the Rock Album Countdown for Westwood One. He is currently a marketing rep for Mediabase airplay monitoring service, and lives in Los Angeles.
In 1988, Gelb saw his first work of fiction published, with SPECTERS, a horror novel. Since then he has edited or co-edited 23 anthologies of horror and suspense fiction, including the award-winning HOT BLOOD series of 13 books. His two SHOCK ROCK books included new work from Stephen King and a Foreword by Alice Cooper, and were optioned for TV. He then co-edited three FLESH & BLOOD mystery anthologies with “Road to Perdition” author Max Allan Collins. His rarest and most personal anthology was FEAR ITSELF for Warner Books. Most recently, he has partnered with Del Howison to co-edit the ongoing DARK DELICACIES anthologies of new original horror fiction. Three books in that series have been published to date. He has worked with such authors as Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Clive Barker, Lawrence Block, Chuck Palahniuk, Joyce Carol Oates, Forrest J. Ackerman, Grant Morrison, and literally hundreds of other fine writers. He has written dozens of articles and interviews for magazines like Fangoria, Mediascene, Comic Buyers Guide, Comic Book Marketplace, and more.
He fulfilled a lifelong dream to write a comic book when friend Dave Stevens asked him to write the stories for a Dark Horse BETTIE PAGE one-shot comic book.
When Gelb is not working (which is seldom!), he is usually reading comic books, horror novels, or mystery/noir/thrillers, or watching his extensive collection of genre movies on DVD.