Veteran author Mort Castle of Crete, Illinois, has gained fans in the USA in his four decades of writing, but has become even more popular in Poland. In December of last year, Newsweek Polska awarded Castle's thriller-suspense novel "Obcy" (the Polish translation of The Strangers), the ninth slot on its list of "Ten Best Horror Thrillers of 2008," with other rankings held by Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and Stephen King's "Duma Key." Then in the third issue of the new year, Newsweek Polska's "Kultura" critic Robert Ziebinski reviewed Castle's short story collection "Ksiyc na wodzie" ("Moon on the Water), calling it "One of the best books published in Poland in 2008." He explained that though Castle is thought of as a horror author "Castle's stories are frightening trips inside the dark psyche of common people who are sick and tired of their lives. ('Ksiyc na wodzie') is a must read for both the fans of Stephen King and the fans of Raymond Carver." Both books are published by Poland's Replika Publishing and translated by Ewa Wojtczak.

In addition to these glowing reviews, Dziennik, one of the Poland's largest daily newspapers, wrote that "Ksiyc na wodzie" ("Moon on the Water) "tries to understand the roots of evil ... (lying) dormant in each one of us" and compares the book to the fiction of William Faulkner, while the online literary forum "Literary portal - Fabrica Librorum" says "Obcy" "takes you inside the mind of wickedness and leaves you with the hair on your neck bristling ... "

Mort Castle teaches at Columbia College Chicago in the fiction writing department and is writer-in-residence for Bloom Township High School District 206 in Chicago Heights. Along with Israeli author Etgar Keret, Castle will be a featured reader for the "F Magazine" presentation at the Chicago wide Story Week on March 20. His forthcoming works in English include "New Moon on the Water," from Full Moon Press, and "Cursed Be the Child," from Overlook Connection Press.