Issue 196: Happy Halloween… Now Go Back Crooked Hills!
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!
This, as the kids say, is it.
As this hits you inbox, we are just 3 days away from the completion of the CROOKED HILLS Kickstarter campaign. Right now, we’re still a little over $2,000 away from our funding goal.
Maybe it’s my imagination, but this campaign has been funding much more slowly than I expected. Maybe it’s because it’s a prose project. Maybe it’s the all-age angle. The book, though, is a helluva lot of fun, and I feel like readers are going to get a real kick out of it… and the sequels that we have planned.
I know we can make it over the finish line!
I just need your help to do so!
We have some cool backer levels still available, including autographed editions, autographed post cards, “Buy Your Library a Copy” offerings, and even (a few) one-of-a-kind handwritten short stories.
If you haven’t thrown some support toward the campaign, now is the time to do so. If you are a backer, please share the campaign with your friends. Help me spread the word so I can get this book out into the world!
Halloween trivia season has come to an end. My trivia team, SHAKMA 2000, participated in 4 trivia contests this year. Themes were General Horror/Halloween, Demons, Ghouls, and Slashers. Thanks in part to the magic of our Shakma 2000 jerseys, we won every round! A couple of them were, I admit, real nail-biters. I think we almost always thought we were going to lose, only to come through in the final rounds to claim the titles.
It was, as expected, a helluva lot of fun, and I’m super depressed that it’s over for another year.
Speaking of winning at Halloween…
Cindy and I got dressed up on Saturday and went out to hot a couple of Halloween parties. Cindy went as a heavy metal rocker, and I decided to be Beetlejuice.
Before we hit the parties, we stopped by a few favorite watering holes, and we were thrilled to discover that bartenders who wait on us time and time again had no idea who we were!
Then it was off to a super cool party at Cryptic Tattoo, which is in an amazing space that’s something like part tattoo shop, part social media studio, part art studio. There, Cindy saw, apparently for the first time, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, or at least parts of it.
We closed out the night at The Foxhole, where the band Transylvania put on one helluva great horror themed rock show. During a break in the concert, they held a costume contest, and I took second place. My pal Timmy Flipflops, dressed as an awesome look STREET FIGHTER Vega, took first. Timmy is also a member of Shakma 2000, so we’re claiming those victories in the name of the team!
I will, however, never again wear a costume that requires such makeup. It’s just not in my blood anymore. I mean, the makeup may be in my blood, because it seems to be everywhere else! I scrub and scrub, but I can’t get rid of it!
Out, out, damn spot!
Today and tomorrow, I’m doing a lot of housework (we have a guest coming later in the week), finishing decoration of the garage haunted house (even though I worry it will be too cold for trick-or-treaters), and cooking up a batch of chili.
I guess I need to squeeze in a little work during all that time, too!
Last Week, I knocked out a few scripts, outlined a feature film (Cullen Bunn’s Top Secret Project), and started outlining a new novel. I did a couple of interviews about upcoming projects. I also started posting frequent short video updates on Patreon to keep my supporters up-to-date with what I’ve been working on.
All in all, a productive week, though I would have liked it to be just a little MORE productive… but that’s always the case!
We recorded a new episode of Happy Hour for Comicon.com, this time making spooky-themed cocktails along with Michael Myers himself—Tyler Mane! Renae Geerlings, Brendan Allen, Anton Kromoff, Tyler Mane and I discussed the Halloween movie franchise and enjoyed a few cocktails. Check it out if you need some drink ideas for tomorrow night!
Whatever you plan to do this week, I hope Halloween is fun, magical, spooky, and safe for you!
Have an amazing time!
GHOSTLORE #6
With Lucas on his own and encountering more stories from the dead, he manages to find others who also share his gift of unearthly sight.
Our second arc moves right along! And this one is a lot of fun. Last issue, we saw Harmony coming into her own in a big way. This time around, the focus is on Lucas, and we’re going to see him embracing his gifts in a unique way.
I have been watching more horror flicks, but I haven’t been able to post about them! I’ve been a little busier than I expected to be, but I will do my best to post more of my thoughts on my website this week.
So far, I’ve watched (and in some cases documented)…
Puppet Master 4
Fear Street 1994
Fear Street 1978
Fear Street 1666
Dark Harvest
Freaky
Totally Killer
The Final Girls
Creepshow, Season 4
Talk to Me
Halloween
Halloween 2
Beetlejuice
Halloween Ends
Five Nights at Freddy’s.
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.
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.
GALLERY OF WHISPERS - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing.
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness
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
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
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
PROJECT: DEAD - a short comic story
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.
Hey, got a spare chilli recipe I can bum off you?