Gemma Files

Gemma Files is a Canadian author of horror fiction known for the Hexslinger series. She won the Shirley Jackson Award for Novel for Experimental Film (2015), a horror novel about a film critic who becomes obsessed with discovering the true identity of the creator of a series of mysterious silent films. Files was born in London, England and raised in Toronto, Canada. She worked as a film critic and journalist before turning to fiction. Her Hexslinger series, beginning with A Book of Tongues, blends weird western and dark fantasy. Experimental Film was praised for its intricate structure, film-world expertise, and its exploration of obsession and the uncanny. Files is a prolific short fiction author and has won the International Horror Guild Award. She continues to live and write in Toronto.