Logline:

Across Hispano-America and the wider Hispanophone world, well-known and classic fairy tales are reborn as brutal political nightmares turn to reality, where children, lovers, mothers, and outcasts confront monsters born not from fantasy, but from dictatorships, disappearances, disasters, war, collective memory and even from self.

José R. Rivera Jr

Bio:

José R. Rivera Jr. was born in Laredo, Texas, and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, with minors in French and Spanish, from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in 2016. Driven by a lifelong passion for storytelling, he later completed a Master of Arts in Spanish with a concentration in Creative Writing from UTRGV in 2025.

Writing has been a central part of his life since childhood, serving as both a creative and therapeutic outlet as well as a means of exploring ideas through imagination. Encouraged by his grandmother and an English teacher, and inspired by the horror films his cousins introduced him to as early as the age of eight, he developed a lasting appreciation for storytelling that evolved into a lifelong fascination with horror literature and cinema. His academic work has focused extensively on horror and its unlimited subgenres, narrative structure, and the techniques of adaptation and reinterpretation. In particular, he is drawn to reimagining: the process of distilling an existing story to its essential themes and reconstructing it into an entirely original narrative while preserving its underlying spirit.

José published his first work, Beautiful Creatures Tarot, under the pen name Jay R. Rivera. The book has since been translated into French and Russian and continues to reach readers around the world, particularly within French-speaking communities. His work has received awards and nominations from the Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR), the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), the About.com Readers' Choice Awards, and other organizations.

His current projects explore horror through original anthologies, folklore, and psychological storytelling, blending traditional myths with contemporary themes. By examining fear through both literary and cinematic perspectives, José seeks to create stories that are emotionally resonant, culturally grounded, and unsettling in lasting ways.

An avid reader of anthologies, short fiction, and horror novels and citing Edgar Allan Poe as his literary idols, José hopes to continue writing across the many subgenres of horror while eventually establishing an independent publishing house dedicated to original speculative fiction.

Contact: josrolriv01@gmail.com