[4][5] Brooks is dyslexic,[6] and recalled that during the time in which he was growing up: ...they didn't even call it a disability back then; it was just "laziness," "goofing off," "you're not trying hard enough."

He also attended graduate school, studying film at American University in Washington, D.C.[6] From 2001 to 2003, Brooks was a member of the writing team at Saturday Night Live.

In the October 2006 issue of Fangoria, Brooks stated that he would not be writing the screenplay for the motion picture, as he felt he was not an accomplished enough screenwriter to "do it right".

[9] Brooks wrote the introduction for the hardcover collected edition of Dynamite Entertainment's zombie miniseries Raise the Dead, released in 2007.

[12] In 2014, Broadway Books published The Harlem Hellfighters, a graphic novel which portrays a fictionalized account of the African American 369th Infantry Regiment's experiences in World War I, written by Brooks and illustrated by Caanan White.

[13] Sony Pictures has purchased the rights to create a film of the novel, with Caleeb Pinkett and James Lassiter producing on behalf of Overbrook Entertainment.

[17] In August 2019, Brooks announced a new book, entitled Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre, about the cryptid Bigfoot.