Issue 174: Please Don’t Touch the Nachos
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Did ya’ll know I like horror?
Shocking, I know, but true.
I must love horror, because this morning I woke up with a ghoulie in bed next to me. Sometime un the night, he must’ve been inadvertently summoned here in the Texican hotel. He crawled out of the toilet, slithered into the hotel room, and wriggled under the covers with me. When I awoke, I did not scream. Instead, I said, “Good morning, little buddy.”
As you know, this weekend, I piled in a car with my pals Josh, Scott, and Tim and headed to Texas to attend Texas Frightmare Weekend. It’s a convention I’ve wanted to attend for a long time. It’s the first convention in an even longer time that I’ve attended purely for fun. I didn’t set up a table or try to promote my work. (I admit, I ended up doing a little business, but that wasn’t the goal.)
As I write this, I’m in my hotel room, along with my ghoulie friend, at the Texican Court. In just a few hours, we’ll be heading back home. It’s been a great weekend, and aside from the strange and excruciating pain I’ve been experiencing in my ear since last night, an amazing time.
I arrived in Texas intent on having a complete road trip/convention experience. I wanted to remind myself what I love about horror. I wanted to remember the joy of going to a convention just for fun. For the most part, I think I accomplished my goal.
I’m afraid you’re not getting as many pictures as I had planned. First of all, I forgot to take them. Second of all, the photos I did take are either not transferring from my phone or are not uploading to my newsletter. I’ll most likely have to post them when I get back home.
On Friday, before the convention started, we headed to the Cidercade. A retro arcade… and cider brewery. I played Satan’s Hollow. I played Gyrus. I played Godzilla pinball. I drank many different delicious ciders. “But… but… but… Cullen,” you might ask, “how did you ever leave?” It was not easy, my friends.
After Cidercade, we hit the convention. Almost immediately, I found a Mondo poster for THE THING that I have been wanting for years… and it was priced shockingly low. I grabbed it up and made my way to get signatures from the cast of the movie.
That night… and really every night… we camped out on the patio in front of our room. The Texican (which is, all around, an amazing hotel) has a great courtyard area where many of the convention attendees hang out and have a great time.
I’m reminded at this convention… just how great… how welcoming… horror fans are in general. These folks want to hang out with each other. They want to share their love of the genre. They want to have a great time. There were very few strangers at this convention, and I loved it.
On Friday, I went all-in on the convention experience.
Did you know I’ve never stood in a line at a convention? Never had the desire. But I did it this time! In fact, we got in line yesterday morning at 7 am, stood there till the doors opened at 11, then stood in several more lines the rest of the day. And I actually enjoyed myself. I mean, I don’t know that I’d do it again. But maybe.
We were in line to get tickets to meet horror director John Carpenter. And then, of course, we were in line to get other signatures… and in line to actually meet with Mr. Carpenter. It was frantic and chaotic and exhausting. But worth it! Mr. Carpenter is such a huge inspiration for me, and I was able to shake his hand and tell him just that.
Afterwards, we ate honey roasts shrimp corndogs (which are amazing) and headed to the hotel for cigars and drinks. Scott and I invented a new drink, just for Josh. It’s called the Texican Squawker. While the exact recipe is a trade secret, I can tell you that it includes Luxardo cherries, a plastic fork, a hunk of beef jerky, and a LOT of bourbon.
I’ll make you one if I see you at a convention.
Aside from the aforementioned excruciating pain, it was a pretty great evening.
Today, we’re hitting the convention once more, but only for a little bit, then we’re on our way home. And who knows what adventures we might stumble upon?
Also… sad, contemplative Jason is my guiding light.
And, lest I forget, the team that puts Texas Frightmare together deserves a shout-out. There was chaos, yes, but I interacted with a ton of people who worked at the convention, and every damn one of them was a pure delight. Even when they were working in stressful situations, they were upbeat, positive, and fun.
Post-Texas Frightmare, I have a couple of goals for myself.
Get healthy. I’ve been doing better, yes, but I haven’t been taking my health as seriously in the last few weeks as I could be. I need to eat a little better, exercise more, all that nonsense.
Get back on top. Now, you might say that I’ve never really been on top. And you might be right. But there was a time when I felt like, professionally, at the top of my game. I haven’t felt that way in a long time. I’m gonna change that. Not just professionally. I want to feel like I’m doing my best in all aspects of my life.
Have some damn fun. One of my big goals for this weekend was to remind myself that I don’t just write spooky nonsense as some sort of dodge from having a real job. I write this stuff because I love it. I love the community. When it’s not fun, I don’t want to do it. Is every day going to be a picnic in the park? Hell, no. Not supposed to be. But I don’t want to forget the more fun aspects of my life, not ever again.
What a great weekend. What a great convention. What a great group of people to spend some time with.
But, please, don’t ever forget the golden rule.
Did I get any work done while I was at the convention? You’re damn right, I did! I mean, sort of.
No writing, really, but some other work for SURE!
I received the green light on a new project set in the BEYOND MORTAL universe! I’m very excited about that. Followers on my Patreon have seen hints about this project a couple of months back.
I joined World at War Comics to talk about RED ZONE from AWA… and a ton of other books. It was a great, light-hearted conversation, and you should give it a watch!
Do you love STAR TREK? Do you, like me, think PICARD is the most STAR TREK? Did you know Todd Stashwick (the scene-stealing Captain Shaw in the third season of PICARD) is a D&D player from way back? And, along with Trader Brandon created a D&D-themed cocktail book? MYSTIC LIBATIONS is a great book, and the Comicon Happy Hour folks joined Todd and Brandon to sample of a few of their recipes.
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT # 6
There's an old hot rod that tears down deserted stretches of highway in the dead of night. The car's called Fireball Sally, and it's wreathed in otherworldly flames. Some folks say the driver is the Devil himself. He's not racing for pink slips. He's racing for souls. Fred's willing to take the challenge. The only problem, his gas tank's bone dry.
If my purchases at Texas Frightmare Weekend are any indication, here are my obsessions right now:
Full Moon and Empire Pictures movies
Specifically, the movie THE DUNGEONMASTER
GHOULIES
THE THING
Honey-battered shrimp corndogs
Angry pigs in a blanket
Godzilla pinball
Black Knight pinball
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
MAGIC: THE GATHERING - Notorious
SEPTEMBER 2023
OCTOBER 2023
REGRESSION: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
NOVEMBER 2023
LAMENTATION TPB
PROJECT: MATINEE #1
DECEMBER 2023
PROJECT: MATINEE #2
JANUARY 2024
BEYOND MORTAL Trade Paperback
THE UNKNOWN FUTURE…
PROJECT: JUMP, a new comic book series in the Beyond Mortal Universe.
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
PROJECT: DUNGEON - A new licensed horror comic series
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: ARCANA - a dark fantasy series
PROJECT: MONSTER - a new horror/action/comedy series
PROJECT: HOAX - a horror limited series
865 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 essays (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.
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.
What an awesome weekend! Glad you got a chance to recharge the motivational batteries and have some fun. I'm looking forward to the SWORDS IN THE SHADOWS anthology!