Wraith
A filmmaker and novelist who writes, directs, and composes his own brutal, genre-blending stories.
Steven Craig Zahler (born January 23, 1973) is an American screenwriter, director, novelist and composer. After beginning his career working briefly as a cinematographer, Zahler focused on screenwriting until he made his directorial debut with Bone Tomahawk (2015). He followed this up with Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) and Dragged Across Concrete (2018), all of which he wrote and composed the music for. He has also authored several novels and graphic novels.
- Role
- Screenwriter, director, novelist, composer
- Affiliation
- Independent filmmaker, Realmbuilder, Charnel Valley
- Abilities
- Writing, directing, composing music, drumming, singing, lyric writing
- Status
- Active
- Key Conflict
- Bringing uncompromising, genre-blending stories to screen and page outside the H
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Zahler was born in Miami, Florida, to a Jewish family. He studied film at New York University. His debut noir western novel, A Congregation of Jackals, was nominated for The Spur Award by the Western Writers of America and The Peacemaker Award by the Western Fictioneers. Corpus Chrome, Inc., A Congregation of Jackals and Mean Business on North Ganson Street all received starred reviews for excellence in Booklist. As a drummer, lyricist and singer, Zahler, under the stage name Czar, collaborates with Jeff Herriott, as JH Halberd, to write and perform songs as the heavy metal band Realmbuilder, who have three albums on Swedish label I Hate Records. This is following Zahler's foray into black metal with the project Charnel Valley, for which he played drums, wrote lyrics and shared songwriting duties with Worm. The two Charnel Valley albums were released by Paragon Records. Zahler also wrote the script for a 2011 horror film Asylum Blackout (also released as The Incident), which was directed by Alexandre Courtès.
In Their Own Story
In 2015, Zahler made his directorial debut, writing and directing the horror western Bone Tomahawk, which stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Lili Simmons, David Arquette and Richard Jenkins. The film was released on October 23, 2015, in theaters and on video on demand. Bone Tomahawk was met with favorable reception, winning a few awards. At Rotten Tomatoes it has received positive reviews from 90% of critics. The New York Times called it a 'witty fusion of western, horror and comedy that gallops to its own beat', while the LA Times said 'There's a humming genre intelligence at work in the grim, witty horror-western Bone Tomahawk.' The Hollywood Reporter called it a 'handsome Western with horror overtones', and Variety described it as '...a most violent delight', while Leonard Maltin said '[T]his modest feature leaves The Hateful Eight in the dust. It's provocative, original, extremely violent and extremely good.' Twitch Film said '[Bone Tomahawk] succeeds in demonstrating the voice of its massively talented creator.' At the Sitges Film Festival Bone Tomahawk won the critic's award for 'Best Picture', and Zahler was given the award for 'Best Director'. The Independent Spirit Awards nominated Richard Jenkins for 'Best Supporting Actor' and S. Craig Zahler for 'Best Screenplay'. Kurt Russell won the 'Best Actor' award at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.
Reader's Guide
Zahler's second feature film as writer, director, and co-composer was Brawl in Cell Block 99, which stars Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Udo Kier, and Don Johnson. This movie received its world premiere at the 74th Venice Film Festival in 2017. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, 'Brawl in Cell Block 99 rides a committed Vince Vaughn performance into the brutally violent – and undeniably entertaining – depths of prison-set grindhouse genre fare.' The movie made year end best of lists for Newsweek, (Justin Chang) L.A. Times, Collider, JoBlo.com, (Mike D'Angelo) The A.V. Club, and others. The picture was a New York Times Critics Pick and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, where it was added to the permanent collection. Zahler's third feature film as writer, director, and co-composer was Dragged Across Concrete, which stars Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Thomas Kretschmann, Laurie Holden, Fred Melamed, Udo Kier, and Don Johnson. This movie received its world premiere at the 75th Venice Film Festival in 2018. In 2018, it was announced that Zahler would be joining the writing staff of the resurrected Fangoria magazine. As of 2019, he writes a column called 'Malignant Growths' about microbudget horror films.
Did You Know?
- Zahler's debut novel A Congregation of Jackals was nominated for both The Spur Award and The Peacemaker Award.
- He performs as a drummer, lyricist and singer under the stage name Czar in the heavy metal band Realmbuilder.
- He has stated he is an atheist despite being raised Jewish, and is not politically interested, believing in 'art over politics.'
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Wraith?
There is no character named Wraith in Mark Lawrence's The Broken Empire trilogy. This name does not appear in the official canon of the series.
What are Wraith's powers or role?
Since this character does not exist in the narrative, no abilities or roles are attributed to them. Fans may be confusing this with the protagonist, Jorg Ancrath.
How does Wraith's story end?
There is no story arc or conclusion for a character named Wraith within the books. The main saga focuses on the Black Prince's journey instead.
Why is Wraith important?
This name holds no narrative importance as it is not part of the established lore. Readers likely mistake it for Jorg Ancrath, the heir to the Empire.
Is Wraith alive?
As a non-existent character, their survival status is not applicable to the story. The central figure, Jorg Ancrath, survives the trilogy.
More in Characters & Key Figures
Elsewhere in the The Broken Empire universe
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