Wood,+Bari

Biographical Information:
Dates: 1936- Dates in Ridgefield: 1981-  horror fiction magazine editor "Bari Wood thinks bad thoughts," //The Ridgefield Press// once reported. "She imagines horrific ways to kill people, like covering them in blood-sucking ticks or venomous bees so that they die agonizing deaths. In her mind she scratches out their eyeballs and pulls their arms out of sockets." And when she's done, she puts her thoughts on paper and turns them into successful novels. From //The Killing Gift//, her first book, published in 1976, through //The Basement//, Ms. Wood specializes in page-turning tales, not for the faint of heart. Two have been turned into movies: //Twins// became //Dead Ringers,//, starring Jeremy Irons, and //Doll's Eyes//, produced as //In Dreams//, with Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr. A native of Illinois, Ms. Wood grew up in and around Chicago and graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in English. She moved to New York in 1957, edited magazines in the medical field, and began writing novels. Although she knew it was tough to get fiction published, "I thought, well, somebody's writing these things and getting paid. It might as well be me." In New York, she also fell in love with her strongest supporter, Dr. G. Congdon Wood, a biologist for the American Cancer Society. In 1981 the two bought a Ridgefield farmhouse, where Ms. Wood continues to work on new ideas. Although her books have macabre plots, they also feature what the //Press// described as "strong yet sensitive, insightful men who value their relationships. They also have a great deal of respect for women." The novels have also given the author a chance to exact vicarious revenge. A yappy dog that once lived in her neighborhood was very distracting as she worked, and "I imagined what could be done to the dog to make it stop barking all day," she said with a laugh. Both the dog and its owner wound up as torture victims in //The Basement//. ** Titles (partial): ** //Light Source //, 1985 //The Tribe, //1987  //The Killing Gift //, 1988  //Amy Girl //, 1988  //Doll’s Eyes //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, 1994 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px; text-align: justify;">--Sources: Notable Ridgefielders–Jack Sanders; Amazon.com