He married Blanche Fidelia Lane on March 23, 1918, in Sacramento, California, and was the father of four children: Phillip Charles, Wasle Carmen, Arline Mary, and Gladys Lura.
After being stationed in the Dominican Republic and inspired by the native voodoo rituals he'd learned about from Haitian prisoners in a military jail, Burks began to write stories of the supernatural that he sold to the magazine Weird Tales in 1924.
He resumed active military duty as the U.S. joined World War II and eventually retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He stated of the collection Look Behind You (1954), "In terms of content and format this is one of the low points in American fan publishing."
[""Three Coffins""] has points of interest, and ["Bells of Oceana"] is worth reading for a certain baroque, exuberant overkill of horror.