John has had many different occupations ranging from driving an armored truck and working as a professional photographer to being a psychiatric counselor at a couple of hospitals and a security officer for the U.S. Navy. He was an intelligence officer and squadron commander in the U.S. Air Force before he moved on to writing books  in 1990. Since then, he's written over three dozen articles, poems, and short stories for newspapers and magazines that range widely from a short story for the literary journal Nexus to an article about anti-American propaganda on postage stamps for Penthouse. His work has been published as far away as India and Singapore and has been translated into Japanese and Finnish. He's also the author/editor of the following books:
 

Adventure!

A Skeleton at the Helm

Into the Mummy's Tomb

Wyatt Earp Tells of the Gunfight Near the O.K. Corral

Wyatt Earp Speaks! (written by Wyatt Earp and others)

Weird History 101

Vampires, Wine and Roses

Captured by Pirates

The King of the Cats and Other Feline Fairy Tales

Mysterious Cat Stories (co-edited with Kim Smith)

The Dog Lover's Literary Companion

The Enchanted Cat

John's books have been selections of the Preferred Choice Book Club, the Quality Paperback Book Club and the Book of the Month Club. He is a member of the Authors Guild and the Horror Writers Association.

 
 

Adventure!

Exotic Tales of Exploration,
Danger and Discovery

Metro Books (Barnes & Noble), New York City, 2007, hardcover.

Adventure! collects a wide variety of adventurous tales--many of them true--which are reminiscent of, and often even directly inspired, many of the Indiana Jones films' thrilling scenes. All the selections here are set in exotic, faraway locations ranging from the jungles of the Amazon to the deserts of China and are often written in an intimate and thrilling first person style. The stories, written by real-life explorers as well as classic authors, are filled with ancient tombs, gigantic spiders, shrunken heads, witch doctors, desert caravans, deadly quicksand, vampire bats, and lots of very large snakes.

Includes works by Rudyard Kipling, Dr. David Livingstone, Sir Henry M. Stanley, H. Rider Haggard, John Lloyd Stephens, H. G. Wells, Theodore Roosevelt, and many others.

Distributed throughout the US.

A Skeleton at the Helm

Tales of Ghost Ships, Derelicts
and Hauntings at Sea

Metro Books (Barnes & Noble), New York City, 2007, hardcover.

With tales of strange shipwrecks on dark, stormy nights, ships that are haunted by terrible ghosts and bloody misdeeds from the past, and, of course, the doomed Flying Dutchman which is cursed to sail the seas forever, this collection of nautical nightmares is the perfect book for late night reading.

Includes works by Jack London, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allen Poe, Henry Fielding, John Greenleaf Whittier, W. Clark Russell, Ann Radcliffe, William Hope Hodgson, Lord Tennyson, William Butler Yeats, Washington Irving, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Moore, Bret Harte, Sir Walter Scott, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, F. Marion Crawford, Winston Churchill, and many others.

Distributed throughout the US.

"The Mummy." The first things that come to mind are the curse...reanimation...and revenge. But what further mysteries are to be unwrapped in the tombs of the Ancient Egyptians? And what horrors still lie buried in the imaginations of the immortal talents who have explored this realm of the fantastic? In this thrilling anthology, writers as diverse as Anne Rice (unveiling a chilling excerpt from her novel The Mummy or Ramses the Damned), Tennessee Williams (in his first published piece), Louisa May Alcott (at her most unexpectedly startling), and an actual Egyptian priest (penning his tale in 300 B.C.), venture Into the Mummy's Tomb for tales of the undead that have survived for eternity in nightmares of the living.

Includes works by Anne Rice, Elizabeth Peters, Bram Stoker, Tennessee Williams, Agatha Christie, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Ray Bradbury, and many others.

Distributed throughout the world (except the British Commonwealth).

Preliminary nomination for the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award: Superior Achievement in an Anthology.

A portion of the book's introduction by John Richard Stephens revealing the origin of the myth that the mummy's curse sank the Titanic appeared as the cover story of the August 2000 issue of Fortean Times.

Publisher's Weekly writes, "Ancient curses are unleashed, the spirits of disturbed dead bodies exact revenge, archaeologists get lost in underground mazes and ships bearing unearthed coffin lids sink in Into the Mummy's Tomb."

Necropsy: The Review of Horror Fiction says, "Into the Mummy's Tomb is a necessary addition to the collection of any serious fan of horror or mummies."
 

This booklet explains the causes of the shootout and what happened during the fight and the bloody vendetta that followed. Much of this story is in Wyatt’s own historic words. It also includes a detailed analysis of the gunfight with shot-by-shot diagrams and maps.

“Bullets were flying so fast that I could not keep track of them. Frank McLaury had given a yell when I shot him and made for the street with his hand over his stomach.”  —Wyatt Earp

Distributed throughout the world.

"Rich with detail," says The Tombstone Epitaph.

Written by Wyatt Earp and others.
(edited by John Richard Stephens)


Fall River Press (Barnes & Noble), New York City, 2009, hardcover.

Fern Canyon Press, Cambria Pines by the Sea, CA, 1998, hardcover and softcover.

Wyatt Earp's writings, court testimony, newspaper interviews and other hard-to-find items from contemporary sources are brought together for the first time ever in this collection. This book is heavily illustrated with photographs, drawings and maps. Wyatt Earp himself explains his side of the Gunfight near the O.K. Corral and his experiences as a frontier lawman in Tombstone and Dodge City.

This unique book also includes several interviews with Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson's tributes to Wyatt and Doc, a shot-by-shot reconstruction of the famous gunfight with diagrams, and much more. There is even a fold-out streetmap of Tombstone at the time of the gunfight.

Some of this material hasn't been published in over 100 years, and some has never been published before!

Distributed throughout the world.

The Tombstone Epitaph says, "The words of a western legend speak from beyond the grave through antique letters and articles."

Book and Magazine Collector says, ". . . Wyatt Earp Speaks contained yet more fascinating primary material, together with an expert commentary by John Richard Stephens."

Weird History 101

My Dinner with Attila the Hun, I Started World War I,
Watching Custer's Last Stand and Other Tales
of Intrigue, Mayhem and Outrageous Behavior

Barnes & Noble Publishing, New York City, 2006, hardcover.

Adams Media (F+W Publications), Boston, 1997, softcover.

 

If you've ever wondered what it was really like on the sinking Titanic, or how it felt to be shipped across the Atlantic on a slave ship, or how easy it was to sell CIA secrets to the KGB, then this is your chance to find out! This book contains dozens of new twists on dusty old histories. They don't teach you this stuff in college. Far from dull and boring, this is history as entertainment.

This is a collection of weird and unusual odds and ends of the past, with chapters like "Eyewitness to Custer's Last Stand," "Dinner with Attila the Hun," "Wyatt Earp Tells of the Shootout at O.K. Corral," "Unintelligible Quotations of U.S. Presidents," "The Sacking of the White House," "Take Some Lice and Call Me in the Morning," and "Unusual Uses for Mummies."

Distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Currently in its eighth Adams printing, while there were three Barnes & Noble printings.

Vampires, Wine and Roses

Metro Books (Barnes & Noble), New York City, 2008, hardcover.

Berkley Books (Penguin Group), New York City, 1997, softcover.

This is a collection of vampire stories entirely written by famous authors--from Shakespeare to Sting--most of whom are not usually associated with supernatural literature. Thirty-one famous authors to be exact. Through extensive research, John Richard Stephens has unearthed many of these misplaced classics and gathered them together into a single book. The result is Vampires, Wine & Roses. Even the most ardent vampire fan will be surprised to discover that many of these classic authors actually wrote about vampires.

Includes works by William Shakespeare, Anne Rice (a short story and a rare vampire poem), Sting, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Southey, Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Lord Byron, H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Sir Walter Scott, Ivan Turgenev, Robert Louis Stevenson, Baudelaire, Jules Verne, Voltaire, John Keats, Woody Allen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Guy de Maupassant, Alexandre Dumas, Conrad Aiken, Sir Thomas Malory, Thomas Hardy, Rod Serling, Goethe, Lenny Bruce, T. S. Eliot, Edith Wharton, H. P. Lovecraft, and Bram Stoker (a chapter that was cut from the vampire classic, Dracula).

Distributed throughout the world (except the British Commonwealth).

Nominated for the International Horror Guild Award, Best Anthology Award.

USA Today says, "Another timely literary offering is Vampires, Wine & Roses..., a collection of vampire stories by writers ranging from Sir Walter Scott to Woody Allen....Clearly, interest in Dracula and his ilk shows no signs of abating."

The Straits Times from Singapore says, "There is no denying the lineup here is eclectic....The result is an erudite, quirky collection of writing."

According to the Virginia Quarterly Review, it's "a wonderfully entertaining bat's-eye view of our culture's continuing fascination with graveyards and bedrooms and the creatures who inhabit them both."

Captured by Pirates

22 Firsthand Accounts of Murder and Mayhem
on the High Seas

Barnes & Noble Publishing, New York City, 2006, hardcover.

Fern Canyon Press, Cambria Pines by the Sea, CA, 1996, softcover.

 

The centuries-long legacy of pirates is not just about stolen treasure and high-seas adventure. Very often when pirates captured a ship, they also took prisoners, many of whom came to unfortunate ends. This is a collection of twenty-two astounding firsthand accounts written between 1500 and 1850 by people who found themselves the helpless prisoners on the open sea and somehow lived to tell the tale.

The desperate captives offer insights into the everyday lives of pirate captains Henry Morgan, Howell Davis, Edward Low, John Phillips, and their blood-thirsty crews. Some of the captives were even forced to become pirates themselves in order to live.

Taken from personal accounts, letters, official reports, ship's logs and the transcripts of pirate trial, the captives vividly describe maroonings, battles, knife fights, torture, and tons of treasure. Some of these accounts have not been in print for almost two centuries.

Distributed throughout the world.

Scotland's Nautical Magazine says, "Forget Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cutthroat Island, or any of Hollywood's sanitized versions of piracy if you want realism!...All the villainous, cutthroat characters portrayed in this book were for real....not recommended for children or the squeamish!"

The King of the Cats
and Other Feline Fairy Tales

Barnes & Noble Publishing, New York City, 2009, hardcover.

Soshisha, Tokyo, 1999, hardcover.

Faber & Faber, Boston and London, 1993, hardcover and softcover.

 

Three dozen cat fairy tales from over fifteen countries around the world; not a children's book.

A selection of the Book of the Month Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club.

Distributed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Britain.

Translated into Japanese and published by Soshisha, Tokyo, in May 1999.

The Quality Paperback Book Club says, "John Richard Stephens has unearthed a host of unusual tales, such as a 'Puss in Boots' from 16th-century Italy, several variations of the famous Dick Whittington story (including one from 1256)...Stephens includes an extensive section of forgotten cat stories as well...Enchanting and unique."

The Book of the Month Club says, "From as early as the 13th century come these wonderfully memorable tales of clever cats, bewitched cats, and lovelorn cats...The King of the Cats will be treasured by anyone who loves the true king of the beasts."

Mysterious Cat Stories

(co-edited with Kim Smith)


Book Studio Oy, Helsinki, Finland, 1995, softcover.

Galahad Books (Barnes & Noble), New York City, 1994, hardcover.

Carroll & Graf Publishers (Perseus Books Group), New York City, 1993, hardcover.

This spectacular anthology, featuring stories from the 13th century to the present day, brings together twenty-six dazzling and diabolical portraits of cats and their many lives. Here are cats who can transform themselves into human beings (and visa versa) and into deadly demons. Here are wise cats, wily cats, and cats so cunningly wicked they'll send chills down your spine.

The adventures her are not limited to the world as we know and perceive it. In fact and fiction, Mysterious Cat Stories offers inconvertible evidence of the special feline affinity to the supernatural. Elliot O'Donnell's eye-witness account takes you into haunted house where a cat proves to be a thoroughly reliable "barometer" of superphysical manifestations.

Distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada.

A discount hardcover edition was published by Galahad Books, New York City, 1994.

Translated into Finnish as Mystisia Kissatarinoita and published by Book Studio Oy, Helsinki, in 1995.

Publishers Weekly says, "This is a thoughtfully chosen and engaging collection."

The School Library Journal says, "A collection that offers something for almost every taste....All-around good reading."

The Dog Lover's Literary Companion

Great Writers and Artists Celebrate Man's Best Friend

Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1992, softcover.

Dogs in art, history, literature, and folklore; heavily illustrated; I did this book at the request of my publisher.

Distributed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Britain.

A British book titled Dog Quotations included quotations from such illustrious people as Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, Konrad Lorenz, Robert Service, Thomas Mann, Ambrose Bierce, Ogden Nash, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, Erma Bombeck, Doris Day, James Thurber, and Lord Byron, but John Richard Stephens was quoted more often than any of them. The book has four quotations of John taken from this dog book. John is also quoted in A Little Book of Puppies.

Good Dog! magazine says, "If you're looking for true 'doggy' literature, stick with The Dog Lover's Literary Companion."

 

The Enchanted Cat

Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1990, softcover.

Cats in art, history, literature, and folklore; heavily illustrated.

A selection of the Preferred Choice Bookclub.

Distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Booklist says, "Amid the plethora of art collections, this one is distinguished by its unifying focus and the diversity of its contents....A literary treat for even the more widely read ailurophile."

CatFancy magazine says, "Other anthologies of cat literature pale in comparison to this book's exceptional variety....You can pick up this book for just a few minutes or lose yourself in it for hours."