who the hell is tobin elliott?

Find out more about me, see my full bibiography,
and check out the interviews I've done.

Who am i?

Tobin Elliott was born in Oshawa, Ontario, in 1962. In 1977, his parents retired and he spent the next four very formative years in the small town of Barry's Bay, Ontario (yes, the place that Carley Fortune sets some of her romance novels).

In fact, it was so formative, he based the town of New Hope (from his Aphotic series) on Barry's Bay, and drew on the surrounding towns for settings and even some history for the series.

He bounced around for quite a while, trying to figure out what he wanted to do. Out of high school, he attended DeVry Institute, finding out both that he had a good aptitude for computer programming, and also that it bored him to tears. He left after one term, then worked in fast food for a few years before attending Durham College for Graphic Design. Turns out he loved the creative aspect of it, but really didn't enjoy working in the industry. Six months after graduating and finding his first real job in Port Hope, he left it behind, never to return.

He did, however, learn the art and mechanics of photography, that jump-started a twenty-seven year stint as a night school teacher at Durham College (and eventually the Oshawa campus of Trent University), where he taught photography, then drawing, and finally for the final eighteen years, creative writing.

As 1996 turned to 1997, Tobin made a New Year's Resolution to start writing again. This may be the only resolution he's ever kept. Since then, though he's had his ups and downs with word wrangling, overall, he's made some decent progress.

His most recent release is a two-volume short story collection, spanning twenty-three stories and twenty-seven years, from 1997 to 2024, called Ugly Stories About Terrible People Doing Horrible Things, Volumes One and Two.

Prior to that, from late 2022 to mid-2023, Tobin released his six-book Aphotic Cycle horror series to critical acclaim. Fun fact: the first of the series was released on Oct 6, 2022, on his 60th birthday. Nine months later, the final book in the series was released on June 13, 2023, his daughter's 30th birthday.

Prior to these releases, Tobin has had several novellas and short stories published over the years, many of which are now out of print or ridiculously hard to find. You can find more info below.

Aside from writing, Tobin also managed to hold down full-time jobs in the soul-crushing world of corporate Canadian industries. He worked for four years with Columbia House Canada—yes, those "12 CDs for a penny!" people—before moving to a large Canadian Telecom company, starting as a phone rep, moving through Team Manager, Operations Manager, Project Manager, Privacy, and finally, Communications...which is likely where he learned to write about himself in the third person.

He retired in 2018, and now works part-time for that really big bookstore chain in Canada.

He's the husband to one, father to two, slave to one dog. Currently, he lives in Oshawa.

full bibliography

  • Vanishing Hope
    - novella, published 2011, Burning Effigy Press
    .

  • Soft Kiss, Hard Death: Sam Truman Mysteries, Vol 3
    - novella, published 2012, Abattoir Press
    .

  • Stealing Corey
    - short story, published in Whispered Words anthology, 2012, Piquant Press
    .

  • The Wrong
    - novella, published 2013, Burning Effigy Press
    .

  • Prison Break
    - short story, published in Expiration Date anthology, 2015, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy
    .

  • Fight or Flight
    - short story, published in Purgatorium: The Element of Horror anthology, 2016, ID Press
    .

  • Nightingale
    - short story, published in Allucinor: The Element of Romance anthology, 2017, ID Press
    .

  • The Riff
    - short story, published in Nefariam: The Element of Crime anthology, 2020, ID Press
    .

  • Horse Guts, Horse Guts
    - short story, published in Released anthology, 2021, No Bad Books Press
    .

  • Cyclopean Architecture
    - short story, published in Nafallen University 2022-2023 Course Catalog, 2022, Madness Heart Press
    .

  • Bad Blood: The First Book of the Aphotic
    - novella, published 2022, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Out for Blood: The Second Book of the Aphotic
    - novel, published 2022, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Blood Loss: The Third Book of the Aphotic
    - novel, published 2023, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Blood Pact: The Fourth Book of the Aphotic
    - novella, published 2023, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Blood Relations: The Fifth Book of the Aphotic
    - novel, published 2023, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Flesh and Blood: The Sixth and Final Book of the Aphotic
    - novel, published 2023, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Giving Up The Ghost
    - short story, published in Doors of Darkness anthology, 2023, Terrorcore Publishing
    .

  • Ugly Stories About Terrible People Doing Horrible Things, Vol One
    - short story collection, published 2024, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

  • Ugly Stories About Terrible People Doing Horrible Things, Vol Two
    - short story collection, published 2024, Luminous Aphotica Publishing
    .

Print and video interviews

I've been lucky enough to have found a few people who thought I might have something interesting to say. Not sure they were always right, but you can check out the various interviews here. Most recent will always be at the top.

Here's a game...how many spell my last name wrong?