Adam-Troy Castro

Adam-Troy Castro writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and middle-grade fiction, often pairing strange premises with emotionally complicated characters. His bibliography includes the Andrea Cort science-fiction novels, short stories recognized by Hugo, Nebula, and Stoker nominations, and books for younger readers. Gustav Gloom and the People Taker launched his Gustav Gloom sequence through Grosset & Dunlap in 2012. Illustrated by Kristen Margiotta, the novel introduces Fernie What after her family moves beside a shadow-filled mansion whose resident boy cannot leave. Their pursuit of Fernie’s stolen shadow opens rooms filled with impossible collections and establishes the unsettling logic developed across later installments. Castro’s move into middle-grade fantasy did not abandon the speculative concerns of his other work; it translated them into brisk adventure, visual atmosphere, and questions about fear, belonging, and identity. Subsequent Gustav Gloom books extended the house, its inhabitants, and the Dark Country, turning the first volume’s mysteries into a sustained six-book series.