Adam Ellis
Adam Ellis (born October 1, 1986) is an American artist, and writer best known for his Twitter multimedia series titled "Dear David" from 2017 to 2018; in which he would post drawings, photos, and recordings of a supposed child ghost haunting his home. His Twitter stories would lead to the 2023 film with the same title.
Also recorded as adamtots · Adam Ellis (artist)
Adam Ellis
- Name
- Adam Ellis
- Born
- 1 October 1986
- Birthplace
- Montana, U.S.
- Education
- Art Institute of Boston (BA in Illustration)
- Occupation
- Artist, writer
- Nationality
- United States.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Adam Ellis (born October 1, 1986) is an American artist, and writer best known for his Twitter multimedia series titled "Dear David" from 2017 to 2018; in which he would post drawings, photos, and recordings of a supposed child ghost haunting his home. His Twitter stories would lead to the 2023 film with the same title.
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Adam Ellis was a cartoonist, of American nationality. The cartoonist worked for BuzzFeed and lived in Portland. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q64514935 · wikipedia · Adam Ellis (artist)
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Adam Ellis • Birth Name — Adam Ellis • Born — 1 October 1986 • Birthplace — Montana, U.S. • Education — Art Institute of Boston (BA in Illustration) • Occupation — Artist, writer • Years Active — 2013–present • Employer — Self Employed (2018-present) Buzzfeed (2013-2018)
Career
Career
Adam worked at Buzzfeed from September 2013 until 2018, where he created or co-wrote 290 articles. His viral ghost story, "My Apartment Is Being Haunted By The Ghost Of A Dead Child And I'm Not Sure What To Do", was turned into a full-length film by Lionsgate in 2023. The film, Dear David, was released to poor reviews. On a Twitter post in October 2024, Adam revealed that he received no compensation from the film release since he had been a Buzzfeed employee when he wrote the story, which was technically legal due to BuzzFeed's contracts. In January 2018 Adam became a self-employed comic artist and illustrator, using Instagram and Twitter (now X) for most of his works. Since becoming a self-employed artist he has published five books.
Lawsuits
Lawsuits
Since January 2023, Ellis has been involved in an ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit against Stability AI, over its text-to-image model, Stable Diffusion, being allegedly trained on his comics.
Published works
Adam mostly creates comics, publishing multiple books that he created and illustrated. • Title — Date of Publication — ISBN-13 — Notes • Sudoku Puzzle Book Vol 1: 200 Puzzles — October 25, 2012 • Sudoku Puzzle Book Vol 2: 200 Puzzles — January 18, 2013 • Sudoku Puzzle Book Vol 3: 200 Puzzles — January 24, 2013 • Books of Adam: The Blunder Years — July 9, 2013 — First published comics book • Sudoku Puzzle Book Vol 4: 200 Puzzles — June 27, 2014 • Tiny Hats on Cats: Because Every Cat Deserves to Feel Fancy — October 20, 2015 • Super Chill: A Year of Living Anxiously — October 23, 2018 • Fever Knights: Official Fake Strategy Guide — May 3, 2022 — Created to look like a real RPG video game strategy guide • Fever Knights Role-Playing Game: Powered by ZWEIHANDER RPG — November 7, 2023 — Role-Playing Game Co-authored with Daniel D. Fox, Anna Goldberg, Gabriel Hicks, Kate Bullock, and ARTeapot • Bad Dreams in the Night (Horror Stories by Adam Ellis) — April 15, 2024 • Let Me in Your Window (Horror Stories by Adam Ellis) — September 9, 2025
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q64514935: Adam Ellis
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Adam Ellis (artist)”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Unnerving Real Twitter Thread That 'Dear David' is Based on. Collider. 13 October 2023.
- 2.Verhoeven, Beatrice. 'Dear David': 'It' Producer, BuzzFeed to Develop Horror Film Based on Viral Ghost Story. TheWrap. 2018-06-06.
- 3.Knibbs, Kate. 'Dear David' is the Final Gasp of a Dying Internet. Wired.
- 4.Adam Ellis. www.buzzfeed.com. 2018-05-04.
- 5.Villarreal, Daniel. Gay writer of viral real-life ghost story says he was paid nothing for film of his work. LGBTQ Nation.
- 6.Gain, Vish. Big win for artists' AI copyright lawsuit in the US. Silicon Republic. 2024-08-14.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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