Issue 172: You Are Never Heard From Again.
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Last night, my son had a party to celebrate his 15th birthday. Our house was beset by—I dunno—a thousand teenagers, all of which were demanding snacks and soda. It looked to me like he had a great time, and I can tell that his friends really love him.
Fifteen, though! It’s hard for me to believe!
Time, you cruel, cruel monster! Slow your roll!
While the party was going on, one of the other parents told me that there was a Writer’s Group in our town. This group is active, covering multiple genres, focused on encouraging and educating each other. Here, I’ve been saying I’d love to create a group like that, and there’s already one that’s been around a while.
I’m going to check it out the next time they have a meeting.
Today is, of course, Mother’s Day, so I want to take a moment to wish the very best to all the moms out there… especially the lovely Cindy Bunn, who deserves all the amazing things. We’re keeping it low key for her today. She’s requested some pool time and breakfast for dinner. So shall it be!
Scriptpocalypse continues!
I’m two weeks into the self-imposed event. Last week, however, wasn’t quite as productive as I wanted it to be, so I am extending Scriptpocalypse into the coming week. And it’s basically final-form Mecha-King-Scriptpocalypse.
I’ve been posting very detailed updates on every stage of Scriptpocalypse on my Patreon. The summarized version is that I have written 145 pages of comic scripts thus far. I’ve also written a couple of chapters of novels, some articles, some scraps of short stories, and a ton of emails to editors and publishers.
I think a safe goal for the end of next week will be 220 pages of script total.
Wish me luck.
I was thinking about those great old CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE books and my favorite ending from one of them (a space-themed edition where you have the choice to try and land on top of a Black Hole). It read:
That’s sometimes how it feels when I trudge down to my office for Scriptpocalypse.
I saw this pop up on Amazon, so I think I can safely write about it.
REGRESSION, the horror epic I created with Danny Luckert and Marie Enger is getting the full-collection hardcover treatment from Image. This is a book I dearly love and I’ve always felt it didn’t get enough eyes on it. This is a great opportunity to read the whole thing. It’s a story of past lives, shared histories (and futures), and demonic possession.
The book is going to come out in October, so prepare for me to talk about it a lot in the near future.
Plagued by ghastly waking nightmares, Adrian reluctantly agrees to past life regression hypnotherapy. As his consciousness is cast back through time, Adrian witnesses a scene of horrific debauchery and diabolism. Waking, he is more unsettled than before, and with good reason-something has followed him back. Adrian finds himself in the center of an occult conspiracy. Plagued by an insidious cult, haunted by visions of violence and murder, Adrian struggles to keep his sanity when everyone around him seems to have lived many lives, all of which are connected to his own in bizarre ways.
CULLEN BUNN (Harrow County, The Sixth Gun, The Empty Man), DANNY LUCKERT (Red Mother, Shock Shop), and MARIE ENGER (Pistolwhip, 2 Sisters), present a tale of supernatural terror and intrigue unlike any horror comic you’ve ever experienced.
This deluxe hardcover collection includes the entire series and never-before-seen bonus materials including original proposal materials, script pages, character pinups and design materials, cover gallery, and more!
Even wonder what horror movie franchises I’d like to expand upon in comic book form? I’ve started counting down my Top Ten over on my website!
Horror Movie Comic Dream Projects (Part 1)
I received word that GHOSTLORE #1, which came out last Wednesday, is getting a second printing with a cover by Leomacs. Now, the book is sold out at the distributor level, but your local comic shop may still have copies of the first printing! If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, you need to fix that fast! The book is getting rave reviews, and it only gets more wild from here!
I did a short interview on the book for Comicon.com, during which I think you can hear kittens mewling in the background!
Kittens!
At this point, I *think* all of the kittens have been placed in loving homes. We still have them right now, but folks have requested them and will be picking them up soon. We’ll miss these little nightmares, but we’re happy they’ve found forever homes.
Are we keeping any kittens for ourselves?
Listen, you don’t bring kittens into a house with Cindy Bunn and not keep some!
As you know, I maintain a Patreon page where I post writing advice, essays, work updates, serialized novels, short stories and comics. Support levels range from access to content to big ol’ boxes of comics to regular Zoom meetings. Patrons often get PDFs of comics that have yet to be published (two in the last couple of weeks). I use the funds generated from Patreon to fund new creator-owned comics (and sometimes to keep the lights on).
Recent posts include:
Horror Movie Dream Projects - The complete Top Ten list of horror movies I’d like to bring to comic form.
NIGHTMARE FUEL, Part 1 - The first chapter of the new horror novel I’m serializing.
Work Update: Scriptpocalypse 1 - 11 - I’ll just link to one of them, but I’ve been posting very detailed daily breakdowns of what I’ve accomplished during Scriptpocalypse.
At long last, the scientists had accomplished their goal of splicing human cells with regenerative lizard DNA.
Celebrating, they smiled sharp-toothed smiles as they considered how this would improve the longevity of their food supply.
RED ZONE #3
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."
BOOK OF SHADOWS TPB
Shadowman. Eternal Warrior. Punk Mambo. Doctor Mirage. The supernatural protectors of the Valiant Universe unite for the very first time to stand against a terrifying ancient threat: Exarch Fane. No one is safe as the fearsome foe has his cold hands on the Book of Shadows.
Valiant is proud to present BOOK OF SHADOWS, a supernatural event with master of horror Cullen Bunn (Venom) and bone-chilling artist Vicente Cifuentes (Justice League Dark) that's the perfect opportunity to join the Valiant Universe.
If Exarch Fane doesn't destroy the world first!
Free time this week has been dedicated to watching my son’s various concerts and performances. It felt like he had one just about every night. I did manage to watch a couple of episodes of the most recent season of EVIL (which I had fallen dreadfully behind on) and I still love everything about that weird show. I also managed to get one night to get together with friends and plan our trip to Texas for TEXAS FRIGHTMARE WEEKEND, which is coming up fast!
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.
MAY 2023
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
DISPLACEMENT - a horror novella, previously listed as PROJECT: PHOBIA
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.
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
723 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)
10 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 added a couple of store appearances/signings to the list this week! One in Jonesboro, AR, one in Columbia, MO! More to come soon!
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
AUGUST 19, 2023 - Signing at Distant Planet Comics, Columbia MO
SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 - Signing at B&B Collections, Jonesboro AR
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 172: You Are Never Heard From Again.
Ghostlore was fantastic! I gave incredibly high praises for it on Twitter. Can't wait for more. Also, i love you're idea behind doing something with Evil Dead, House os great, but to have more Evil Dead is a must.