Tunku Halim was born in Malaysia in 1964. He is dubbed Asia’s Stephen King. By delving into Malay myth, legends and folklore, his writing is regarded as ‘World Gothic’.
His novel, Dark Demon Rising, was nominated for the 1999 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award whilst his second novel, Vermillion Eye, is used as a study text in The National University of Singapore’s Language and Literature course. His short story has also won first prize in a 1998 Fellowship of Australian Writers competition. In Malaysia, he has had three consecutive wins in the Star-Popular Readers’ Choice Awards between 2015 and 2017.
His children’s fiction include The Midnight Children trilogy (2021), comprising A Vanishing, Cemetery House and The Midnight World, whilst his children’s non-fiction include A Children’s History of Malaysia (2019) and History of Malaysia: A Children’s Encyclopedia (2013).
His other books comprise the short-story collections The Rape of Martha Teoh & Other Chilling Stories (1997), BloodHaze: 15 Chilling Tales (1999) and The Woman Who Grew Horns and Other Works (2001); and the novels Juriah’s Song (2008), Last Breath (2014) and A Malaysian Restaurant in London (2015). His non-fiction books, amongst others, include a biography of his late father A Prince Called ‘Charlie’ (2018).
