Horowitz was born to a Jewish family, and graduated from Hunter College High School in 1990. He attended University of Wisconsin–Madison and graduated with a B.A. in 1994, majoring in communication arts and political science. There he met his Future collaborator, Edward Kitsis. Horowitz was Writer and reporter for the Daily Cardinal student newspaper, writing as many as five articles in the same issue. He often caught editors off-guard with humorous leads or picking odd quotes. He worked on articles about spearfishing and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.