Paul Jessup grew up in the small town of
Geneva, Ohio, and went to
Kent State University, where he won the Virginia Perryman award for excellence in short fiction in 2000. He and his friend
Tim Miller started
Six Gallery Press around this time, publishing weird experimental novels and poetry by various writers. In 2006 or so, he started
Grendelsong fantasy and horror magazine, publishing various genre writers, including
Jay Lake,
Ekaterina Sedia,
Richard Bowes,
Samantha Henderson,
Eugie Foster, and many others. Around this time he also started selling horror short stories to pro and semi-pro magazines, including
Pseudopod,
Postscripts,
Apex Magazine,
Clarkesworld, and many more. He also gained cult following for his weird and surreal books, collections and more. Around 2020, he began creating video games as a fun side project. His most popular game (to date) was
Bad Writer, which became a best seller on
itch.io and the
Nintendo Switch. In 2022, his short story "Skinless Man Counts to Five" made the
Stoker awards recommended reading list. In 2023, he signed a three-book deal with Underland Press for two horror novels and a short-story collection. ==Disability and multiple sclerosis==