Issue 249: Run Like Hell. This is the Night of the Hunter.

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That’s a wrap on 2024!

Welcome to the final issue of Nightmare Fuel for 2024! This issue is music-heavy, I realized. Part of that is because Cindy and I have been talking about music a lot. She is putting together a 2024-in-review playlist, and that kind of thing always sparks discussion. For me the last year has been one of ups and downs, just as it has been for everyone else. I hope that, for you, there were many more ups than downs.

Going into 2024, I listed several projects that I would change my career and life in significant ways. I talked about these projects frequently in the newsletter. There were five of them to start with, but I added some to the list over the course of the year. Most of those projects did not have the massive impact I was hoping for… at least not yet. I wouldn’t call any of them failures. Several of them are still ongoing. Several of them are going to take more time to be fully realized. Therefore, I’m going to be a little mysterious about some of them.

They are…

BONES OF OUR STARS, BLOOD OF OUR WORLD… This is my horror novel, which I managed to finish and submit to my editor. I’m awaiting his notes, which should arrive in the next couple of weeks. So… This one is still ongoing!

OUTLAND ENTERTAINMENT… My partnership with Outland has become more official. My role with the company is changing, but I’m thrilled with where this is going! This one—ongoing!

BEYOND MORTAL… I wanted this to be a little bigger. We released some free BEYOND MORTAL comics. We released our trade paperback. I’m not sure it achieved the results I wanted. JUMPSCARE is on the way, and I’m excited for that one. I’ll mark it as complete… for now.

MARKETING PLAN… I entered the year with a pretty aggressive marketing plan in mind, but I kind of dropped the ball on it. I’m looking at revisiting and refocusing the marketing plan for 2025, so this one is kind of in a restart state.

(TOP SECRET)… I cannot say much about this one. It’s something I’ve been working pretty hard on. I thought it might come to fruition in 2024, but it isn’t moving quite as fast as I thought. It’s still ongoing, and I’m hopeful for big news in 2025.

(TOP SECRET)… Another big partnership. This went forward, though we’re not talking about it just yet. It’s ongoing, of course, but I’d also mark it as a success! More on this when I’m allowed to talk about it.

So… a mixed bag… and a lot of ongoing initiatives for the next year. All in all, a success. Maybe not as big of a success as I wanted, but a new year awaits!

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Every year, I put together a simple reminder for myself. This is how my career started:

And here’s where my library of current work stands as of right now:

Not too shabby, if you ask me.

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So… what are some things to look forward to in 2025?

Obviously, there are a lot of new comics on the way. JUMPSCARE, ARCANA ROYALE, THE SIXTH GUN REBORN, DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE… ONE LAST TIME, a reprint of THE TOOTH! And those are just the books that have been announced! There are a couple of other projects that are still under wraps. As 2025 rolls along, especially toward the end of the year, you’ll likely notice a distinct contraction in terms of the number of comic projects I have coming out. This is good thing. This is planned. For the first time in a long time, I’ll be in a position where I don’t need to chase work as aggressively to keep the lights on. In terms of comics, I’ll be focusing on a handful of creator-owned books that I’m very excited about. More about this will be revealed along the way, but it’s very exciting.

In terms of prose, BONES OF OUR STARS, BLOOD OF OUR WORLD will be coming out toward the end of the year, I believe, and I’ll be experiencing nervous puking until it hits the shelves. As my partnership with Outland Entertainment continues, you’ll see the release of GOBLINVILLE as a novella series. THE COMPLETE CULLEN BUNN Volume 1 will be unleashed unto the world, collecting pretty much every short story I’ve ever written. And the next anthology I edited—I’LL KILL YOU LAST—will come out. I’ll be working on a few new short stories, of course, which will appear here and there. I’ll also be writing a couple of new novellas and starting a new novel.

On the gaming front, I’ll have a couple of interesting projects being released. Nothing I can talk about just yet, but I’ll still have a toe dipped into the RPG space.

Beyond comics, prose, and games? We shall see. Those wheels move slowly, of course, but I’ve written a feature film which (fingers crossed) will go into production this year. In addition, six of my projects are in various stages of development for adaptation to film or television.

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Here we have a few more questions for the end-of-year Q&A! I received a few questions about projects I was looking forward to in 2025, and I addressed some of that above. I also got a few questions about favorite books and music for the year. I stripped those out because I address such things in the WEEKLY OBSESSIONS section, below!

What was your favorite meal of 2024

I have a complicated relationship with food. I’ve really figured that out this year. I had a lot of great and memorable meals. Cindy and I had a lovely, lovely, lovely steak dinner at The Majestic in Kansas City. My pal Josh and I had some of the best chili I’ve ever tasted at the Peanut (also in KC). Cindy and I stopped at a tin shed bar and grill in Michigan. It looked like a place where we might get our throats cut, but they served a startlingly good chili cheeseburger. And, while in North Carolina, an old friend from my youth took me out to Smithfield Chicken and BBQ for a great early dinner.

If you could give one piece of advice to those wanting to get their own work published in 2025 what would it be?

Don’t wait around for an editor or publisher to give you permission to publish your work. You can publish online. On Patreon. On Substack. On your own website. You can self-publish and sell your books at conventions. Just… create. I wasted so much time trying to get people to accept my work. I could have just been creating and getting it out there.

How many more cats are you planning to adopt?

You’d have to ask Cindy that question… though I personally think we’re already over the limit.

What is your favorite GenZ slang term and why?

No cap, but I couldn’t tell you even one GenZ slang term, though I bet a bunch of them are bussin. I hope that doesn’t make anyone salty or make them doubt my rizz. I don’t want to flex by trying to use a bunch of these terms, even though I’m sure I would slay. I’m lowkey a king when it comes to adapting to different generational styles.

Say less!

Which of your characters are you most looking forward to spending time with in 2025?

It will be really nice to visit with the cast of THE SIXTH GUN again. I’m also ready to introduce the world the the strange characters you’ll meet in GOBLINVILLE. Alos, I’ve really, really loved the new novella I’m working on, NAT-20.

What's your walk-up/entrance song?

For years, I said it would be “God of Thunder” by KISS.

Then, I changed my tune and said it was Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog.”

Or maybe… in a complete reversal of themes… “Where Eagles Dare” from the Misfits.

I think, though, my theme for this year might be “Run Like Hell” from Gunship. At the very least, this is the song I’m keeping in mind throughout 2025. “Run like Hell. This is the night of the hunter.”

Which holiday has the best candy?

Is this a real question? C’mon! Halloween wins for sheer variety! Sure, sure. Christmas as a strut, but it can’t keep up. And Easter? Nooooooo. Not a huge fan of any traditional Easter candies.

When it comes to getting a strong intro to your work, what should a new reader pick up first?

A terrific question. Different folks are gonna like vastly different books, but whenever I’m asked about this, I always suggest THE SIXTH GUN and HARROW COUNTY to new readers.

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I did a quick interview on the “Who the F*ck is Frank” podcast. Brendan and I discussed DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE ONE LAST TIME.

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The kitten… who I have now re-named Food Gremlin… is doing great. She’s a bit of an escape artist, and she has been roaming the house with abandon. She has earned her name for her ability to find and steal any food that has not been locked down. She has a lot of spirit and attitude. She fears nothing. That’s the alley cat in her… because she is pure alley cat.

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And… before I forget… I want to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year! Thanks for spending time with me and thanks for supporting my work. Here’s to a helluva 2025!

This time around, it feels appropriate to focus less on the week and more on the past year. As always, I’ll miss a ton of stuff I really liked, but those are the breaks.

In terms of comics, my favorite comic of 2024 is, without a doubt, SHE’S RUNNING ON FUMES by my mortal enemy Dennis Hopeless. A crime story. A family story. And it’s told in such an honest way. It’s an amazing book that I legit think about at least a few times a week.

For novels, my favorite reads of the year were HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE and WE SOLD OUR SOULS by Grady Hendrix, but those are older titles. So… I’m going with HORROR MOVIE by Paul Tremblay, THE ANGEL OF INDIAN LAKE by Stephen Graham Jones, and WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus. My to-be-read pile is a filled-to-the brim library cart. I really, really need to get to work!

For television, I had a surprise at the end of the year. I watched THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA finally and absolutely loved it! It’s such a great story. True to the feel of RPGS. Funny. Action-packed. Some emotional beats that punch you in the gut.

Movie-wise, there were a lot of good ones this year. LONGLEGS is one of the dreariest, creepiest movies I’ve seen in a while. STRANGE DARLING was terrific. LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL was a lot of fun. But, really, it’s gonna be hard to top THE SUBSTANCE for pure body horror audacity.

In the world of gaming, most of the board games I played are a few years old at least. For RPGs, I really liked WHERE EVIL LIVES from MCDM. It’s a book of boss battles that is pretty great. I would have said their previous book, FLEE, MORTALS, but that apparently came out in late 2023.

In addition, my pal Anton released a ton of great gaming content for Outland Entertainment. I mean… he was a machine. His RPG material includes OUTER SEAS: VAL CARTER’S GUIDE TO MERFOLK, OUTER SEAS: THE CLAWING CHAOS, THE WITCHES OF ERUSES, VILDEN OF THE GRASSLANDS, AUTUMN TIDE: LEGACY AND LOSS, and AUTUMN TIDE: SOOT AND CINDER. All of these provide a wealth of gaming content and inspiration!

Perhaps my favorite musical discovery of 2024 was Rosegarden Funeral Party, an amazing goth rock band I simply adore. Their album FROM THE ASHES came out this year, but my favorite song of theirs (so far) is “Once in a While” from 2019.

But… I would be remiss if I didn’t mention again how much I love this song from A Sound of Thunder, based on my comic DEATH DUEL WITH THE CHAINSAW WITCHES.

The band Transylvania also did a song based on JUMPSCARE, but I don’t have a great recording of it. I might have to change that.

I’m definitely gonna try to do more musical collaborations in the near future.

I also recently discovered Los Tiki Phantoms… and I think they’re rad.

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