Max Brooks is an American horror author and screenwriter who started his career as one of the members of Saturday Night Live's writing team.

Brooks' book, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, was released in 2006. Then, Paramount Pictures acquired the movie rights with Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, and released the film World War Z in 2013.

He is the author of The Zombie Survival Guide. It was later followed up in 2009 by a graphic novel, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. In 2007, he wrote the introduction for the hardcover collected edition of Dynamite Entertainment's zombie miniseries Raise the Dead.

In 2010, zombie anthology The New Dead, by Christopher Golden, was released, containing an additional World War Z story: Closure, LTD. In the same year, he wrote the IDW comic book mini-series G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds.

In 2011, he wrote the foreword for Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies, a 300-page fiction book written by Matt Mogk. In 2013, Avatar Press released The Extinction Parade, a comic book series based on a 2011 short story written by Brooks.

Aside from being writer, he appeared in several television series, such as Roseanne, To Be or Not to Be, Pacific Blue, and 7th Heaven.

He lent his voice to animated shows such as Batman Beyond, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Justice League, and All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series.

Maximillian Michael Brooks was born on May 22, 1972 in New York City, New York, USA. He is the son of actress Anne Bancroft and director-producer Mel Brooks. He is a graduate of Pitzer College. Brooks married Michelle Kholos and has one child.