Issue 167: “I look, for the first time, upon the world, and already I grow weary of this place I must conquer.”
Vicious Shivers is the official newsletter for fans of my work. Thank you for subscribing. Please share it with others if you think they might be interested!
How about a kitten update?
The kittens are all doing very well. The runt of the litter had us a little worried. She was having a hard time right after she was born. Small and weak. The mother wasn’t cleaning or feeding her. And she was ice cold to touch. Fading kitten syndrome. We got her warm, though, and bottle fed her once, and she bounced right back. She’s right in the thick of things with her brothers and sisters now.
The kittens just started opening their eyes over the weekend.
We’ve given some of them nicknames, but we’re not naming them. We’ll leave that for their forever homes. The nicknames are Grey-baby, Runty, Popeye, Hiss, and Other Kitty.
Here’s a pic of Popeye.
“I look, for the first time, upon the world, and already I grow weary of this place I must conquer.”
The kittens are still camped out in my office. For the most part, they stay in a corner, next to a magazine rack filled with Famous Monsters Magazines. Their mom, MewMew, is starting to warm up to humans, though she still doesn’t trust us. Let’s be honest, who can blame her?
The Kickstarter for SWORDS IN THE SHADOWS and RAZE, the first publications under my Outer Shadows imprint, ends in JUST THREE DAYS. As I write this, we are… around $2,000 from meeting our funding goal. Now is the time, folks! I hope you’ll help make this book a reality. The success of this project will open the door for the next batch of Outer Shadows projects, such as the CROOKED HILLS redux and I’LL KILL YOU LAST, the 80s action movie/horror anthology! And you’ll be getting in at the ground floor with your Outer Shadows collection!
If you’ve already backed us, thank you!
And, please, tell your friends.
If you haven’t checked out the campaign yet, here it is!
Speaking of Kickstarters, the campaign for REANIMATOR: THE ETERNAL LIE wrapped up this week. The campaign was a success, though perhaps it did not bring in quite as much as we wanted. Still, I’ll take the “W” and move on to whatever’s next! Thanks to everyone who supported the book!
I managed to get a couple of scripts written this week. I also managed to (somehow) write an issue that was twice the length I was supposed to write. I don’t know how this happened. The editor couldn’t have been more clear with how many pages I had for the project. I guess I just got the wrong page count in my head and hit the ground running. I think I see where I can fix the script, which is good, but it’s gonna take a bit of work.
I got the green light on two new comic book series this week. One a licensed project, the other a creator-owned book. I’m super excited about both of them! I was also asked to write a short horror comic based on a horror movie franchise, so I’m adding it to the list!
Next week, Cindy is going on a trip, and I’ve decided I’m going to spend the time while she is away drinking coffee, eating salads, and diving head-first into another Scriptpocalypse! I’m setting up a temporary office upstairs (so I can work near the dogs and keep them company at least some of the time). I have set big writing goals for myself this week. Wish me luck!
The amazing Cat Farris just posted this image of Grey and Lavinia (stars of THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR and UP TO NO GHOUL) on her Twitter feed. It’s so awesome. These characters mean a lot to me, and I miss them. I just love the way Cat brings them to joyous life!
FINAL ORDER CUTOFF ALERT!
Two books are coming up on their Final Order Cutoffs!
GHOSTLORE #1 from Boom.
LAMENTATION #1 from Oni.
You only have ‘til tomorrow to let your favorite comic book retailer know that you want these books. The comic business can be tough. Retailers are faced with a daunting amount of books with which to stock their shelves. Pre-ordering the books helps them order with a little more confidence! It’s a vital part of the process!
Here’s another two-sentence horror story for you! Hope you dig it!
When I was little, my mom sang me lullabies to help me sleep. These days, the hideous, wriggling creature lurking under my bed does the same, and it sings with my mother’s voice.
Two new books this week! As you can see below (in the Things to Come section) I’m trying to get my release schedule organized a little bit. My plan is to help publishers (as much as possible) avoid book releases on the same day. This can’t always happen. Look. I write a lot of books. I have little control of publisher release schedules, and there’s such a thing as “keeping my family fed” that takes priority right now. But I’m trying.
RETROVERSE #5
Armed with strange alien weapons, Kacy faces the hideous Patchwork Man in a final conflict, the result of which holds unbelievable consequences for all of reality.
RED ZONE #2
Randall Crane, an unassuming American professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at NYU, is called in by the US government for a secret international mission back to Russia, where his long-buried secrets come to light. When his support team of commandos is ambushed and killed, it's up to Randall to fight his way out of Russia using his "particular set of skills."
I‘m still digging Picard in a big way. It’s just about the best Star Trek I’ve ever watched. At least, it’s close to the top.
I started playing D&D again this week. I’m running a classic style campaign using the old adventure modules The Village of Hommlet, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Scourge of the Slave Lords, Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Vault of the Drow, and Queen of the Demon-web Pits (along with quite a bit of my own material) as the baseline. My son joined my playing group this time around, and it’s really cool to have him in the game.
Here is a quick and dirty list of upcoming projects. In most cases, I’m only listing projects that are definitely on the schedule with a published. Oftentimes, I will not be able to share much information, but I can at least tease the future! Everything here is, of course, subject to change.
APRIL 2023
NIGHT WALKERS #4
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #5
THE CULT OF THAT WILKIN BOY #1
MAY 2023
LAMENTATION #1
GHOSTLORE #1
NIGHT WALKERS #5
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #6
JUNE 2023
LAMENTATION #2
GHOSTLORE #2
SWORDS IN THE SHADOWS
RAZE
REANIMATOR: THE ETERNAL LIE, Part 2
JULY 2023
LAMENTATION #3
GHOSTLORE #3
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #7
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT TPB
AUGUST 2023
DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE 1 - 5 (weekly)
GHOSTLORE #4
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #8
SEPTEMBER 2023
OCTOBER 2023
REGRESSION: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
NOVEMBER 2023
LAMENTATION TPB
PROJECT: MATINEE #1
DECEMBER 2023
PROJECT: MATINEE #2
THE UNKNOWN FUTURE…
PROJECT: HEX, a supernatural/horror thriller.
PROJECT: HORROR, a licensed horror comic.
PROJECT: PHOBIA, a dark horror prose novella.
I’LL KILL YOU LAST - An 80s action/horror fiction anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: GALLERY - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing.
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: SURGEON - a very dark horror tale
PROJECT: BOT - A sequel to a story of robotic mischief
PROJECT: WATER HEATER - An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series
PROJECT: RUSH - A horror prose anthology I’m editing
COPYCAT - A new limited series from Todd Garner, Heath Amodio, and myself.
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
BEYOND MORTAL - Finishing up the horror/superhero epic
PROJECT: DUNGEON - A new licensed horror comic series
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: CARD - A magical one-shot
PROJECT: ARCANA - a dark fantasy series
PROJECT: MONSTER - a new horror/action/comedy series
PROJECT: HOAX - a horror limited series
479 pages of comic book scripts (1710 in 2022)
0 feature length screenplay (0 in 2022)
0 half-hour comedy pilot (1 in 2022)
0 short film script (1 in 2022)
0 short stories (9 in 2022)
0 novellas (0 in 2022)
6 two-sentence horror stories (10 in 2022)
0 new comic book series proposals (29 in 2022)
0 podcast proposals (0 in 2022)
0 essay (0 in 2022)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2022)
0 television series proposal (0 in 2022)
Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change. I hope to be adding more conventions in the near future! Stay tuned!
APRIL 28 - 30 - Oz Con, West Plains MO
MAY 26 - 28 - Texas Frightmare Weekend, Irving TX (I’m not a guest at this one. This is the first convention in… decades… I’m attending purely for fun.)
JUNE 16 - 18, 2023 - Heroes Convention, Charlotte NC
JUNE 24, 2023 - Route 66 Toy and Comic Convention, Lebanon MO
JULY 7 - 9, 2023 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
AUGUST 5 - 6, 2023 - Fountain City Con, New Century KS
SEPTEMBER 16 - 17, 2023 - Extremicon, St. Roberts MO
SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 1 - Cowtown Comic Convention, Fort Worth TX
THE SHOCK SHOP - My online store, where you can find exclusive covers you can only get directly from me!
TWITTER - This is the best place to interact with me online. My handle is @cullenbunn
TIKTOK - A fun spot for quick videos about writing, comics, and collecting
PATREON - Here, I post a serialized novel, a serialized comic book, short stories, and other cool materials.
THE CULLEN BUNN DISCORD SERVER - A place for fans to hang out and talk about comics, books, movies, games, collecting, and whatever else strikes their fancy.
THE BUNNGALOW - Cindy and I talk about life, hot button topics, pop culture, being married to a comic book writer and EVERYTHING in between.
Issue 167: “I look, for the first time, upon the world, and already I grow weary of this place I must conquer.”
I got an email, and I'm pretty sure it said vicious shivers on it. I deleted the email thinking I could come back here and read it on the app when i got off work, but it wasnt here. Cullen was talking about supporting podcasts he likes. Did anybody else receive this, and if so, could you post the list here?