Forrest J. Ackerman was born in Los Angeles, California on November 24, 1916. During World War II, he served in the army. Afterwards, he started a literary agency that eventually represented over 200 writers including Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, and L. Ron Hubbard. He is credited with creating the term sci-fi in 1954. He wrote and edited Famous Monsters of Filmland from 1958 to 1983. During his lifetime, he wrote over 50 short stories and created the comic character Vampirella. He was inducted into the Horror Hall of Fame in 1990 and received a lifetime achievement award at the 2002 World Fantasy Convention. He died due to heart failure on December 4, 2008 at the age of 92.