Colavito attended
Auburn High School, in
Auburn, New York, and graduated summa cum laude from
Ithaca College in
Ithaca, New York, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology and journalism in 2003. Colavito's work has largely focused on debunking "
alternative archaeology".
, by Stephen Winick and Firas Al-Atraqchi in
The Huffington Post opinion pieces, and other publications, as well as on the
History Channel. In 2005, Colavito authored
The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture, published by
Prometheus Books. In the book, Colavito explores the influences of
H. P. Lovecraft's
Cthulhu Mythos on the popular works of
Erich von Däniken (author of
Chariots of the Gods?) and
Graham Hancock, as well as its overall influence on "extraterrestrial pop culture". In 2008 Colavito's
The Science of Horror, the Horror of Science was published. The book examined the history and science of the
horror genre with a particular focus on providing a broad overview and introduction to the subject. A reviewer in the
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts concluded "Academia aside, this is among the finest introductions to the horror genre I have read," and commends his
epistemological approach to analyzing the genre. In 2021, Colavito published articles regarding
UFOs in
Slate and
The New Republic. He was also interviewed for an article in
Slate about the links between ancient aliens conspiracies and contemporary right-wing conspiracies like
QAnon. ==Bibliography==