An early fascination with genre is attributed to his father's dramatic re-telling of the plots of X-rated horror movies fresh in his mind from the evening before.
[6] Laws would later perform a similar 'playground storyteller'[7] service for school friends, recounting and sometimes embellishing the narratives of Hammer Horror films seen in local cinemas in youthful defiance of age restrictions[8] Stephen Laws left Manor Park Technical School at 16 to work in the Architects Department of Northumberland County Council, studying for professional qualifications in the evenings.
Early influences included Nigel Kneale's TV dramas and shows such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Doctor Who, with creative inspiration drawn from the writing of Richard Matheson.
This conscious effort to create a modern ghost story was widely seen as a successful move to breathe new life into a well-established genre.
[12] Described as "a steady, reliable writer whose best work is highly original and carries a powerful emotional impact",[13] Laws serves as an occasional onstage interviewer of guests and personalities at film festivals, and contributes introductions and critical matter to DVD and Blu-ray releases of classic genre material.