Very sad news as renowned award-winning author Harlan Ellison has reportedly passed away at the age of 84, according to multiple posts on Twitter. A cause of death has not yet been released as this is still developing.

Ellison was one of the most respected and venerated authors in the speculative fiction world. He was the recipient of eight Hugo Awards, four Nebula Awards of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, five Bram Stoker Awards of the Horror Writers Association, two Edgar Awards of the Mystery Writers of America, two World Fantasy Award from annual conventions, and two Georges Méliès fantasy film awards.

Horror fans may know him best for his short story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, which tells the tale of a sadistic AI computer that keeps the last five remaining humans on Earth, four men and one woman), alive for its own sadistic glee. It was turned into a video game in 1995, which Ellison helped write the expanded storyline for. Furthermore, he was the voice of the evil computer “AM” in the game.

In his 1981 non-fiction book Danse Macabre, horror author Stephen King considered Ellison’s short story collection Strange Wine to be one of the best horror fiction books published between 1950 and 1980.

We send our deepest condolences to the Ellison family in this sad time. We also wish to thank him for the incredible influence he’s had over his career and beyond.