Issue 251: Six Reasons I’m So Messed Up
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Welcome to the official newsletter of…
There’s lots of cool stuff to share this time around, but—in honor of me finding an old picture—let’s start off with nightmares in Nightmare Fuel!
Over on Patreon, along with all the other stuff I’m posting, I’m experimenting with a new feature called THE HORROR SIX where I will share thoughts on all things horrifying, six bite-sized chunks at a time. I’ll share some of those thoughts here, but to get them early (and to get all of them), Patreon is the way to go.
First up—let’s talk formative nightmares.
I’ve always had pretty intense nightmares… and sleep paralysis… and hypnogogic hallucinations. Remind me to tell you about Maddie Someday in the future. There were a few nightmares I had at a young age that really stuck with me. Thought I might share them with you. Maybe you can figure out why I’m so messed up and I can save some cash on therapy bills.
I’m guessing how old I was when I had these dreams, but I’m pretty close, I imagine.
WEREWOLVES IN THE HOUSE (5 years old)
This is one of the first nightmares I remember having. In the dream I was in the yard outside my childhood home in Newton Grove, NC. It was just getting dark. I was looking toward the windows into the den and kitchen. I could see the shadows of my family—my mom, dad, and older siblings—as they walked around inside the house. The screams started around the same time they started moving wildly, lashing about. Soon, the screams became howls. And the shadowy figures of my family members became hulking, monstrous, shaggy shapes.
THE SPLOTCH (5 years old)
This one was in the same house in Newton Grove. It was something of a weird, repetitive dream. Over and over, I ran in a circle around the house. On one side of the house (the opposite side, by the way, from the windows into the werewolf dream), there was a large, shadowy spot on the ground. Every time I reached the spot, I would leap over it. I remember feeling joy. I ran around the house once, twice, three times, four. I might have ran around it a dozen times. Then, as I leaped the shadowy spot for the hundredth time, the spot rose up behind me, became this slimy looking monster, and gobbled me up in one bite.
WHISPERS IN THE CORNFIELD (5 years old)
There was a cornfield next to the Newton Grove house. I played in it all the time, hiding in the tall stalks. In this dream, I was standing on the edge of the cornfield. Whispering voices called to me from within. They scared me, but I still pushed through the stalks. And then… I just didn’t come back out.
SHADOWS AT THE WINDOW (7 years old)
I was in bed, looking toward my bedroom window. The curtains were drawn, but I could see through them a bit. Shadowy figures kept racing by the window, too fast for me to make out a distinct shape. They ran past, faster and faster, like they were fleeing from something. I think that’s what bothered me most. I got the sense they were afraid. I covered my head with my blanket, but I could hear the wind whooshing as they darted past. Soon enough, the sound stopped. I uncovered my head and looked toward the window. Dozens of vaguely human, shadowy shapes stood there, looking into the room from behind the thin veil of the curtain.
THE TOY WITH RED EYES (9 or 10 years old)
This dream took place in the living room of the house I lived in from 2nd grade all through high school. In the dream, I was playing with one of my favorite toys—Repto from the Micronauts line. He was a green lizard monster with bat wings. From the nearby kitchen, my mom was calling me. As I was fidgeting with the toy, its eyes turned red. It squirmed in my hand and bit my finger. It flew off into the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, my mom emerged from the kitchen, her eyes glowing red.
HANDS (12 or 13 years old)
I’m pretty sure this one hit me because I was positioned funny and my hand fell asleep. I woke up, feeling a weight on my chest. Reaching over with my right hand, I picked the object on my chest up—and found it was my severed left hand. It was cold and meaty and lifeless in my grasp. With a gasp, I threw it across the room… and then my right hand fell off and thumped to my chest.
Over the last week, my friends at Outland Entertainment revealed a few really cool secret projects that are coming up over the next several months. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on these projects. Bigger announcements are on the horizon. But here we have a few exciting hints.
WRATHBORN is an apocalyptic science fiction/fantasy world that I created. It’s got some THUNDARR in its DNA, yes… some HEAVY METAL… and I think it is a lot of fun. It will see the light as a comic, in prose, and in gaming. I wrote the first bunch of comic pages for the project (which is being drawn by Ger Curti) but another writer (the talented Scott Colby) is taking over the comic. I’ll still be involved with prose and helping out with gaming content!
The above image is Chris Yarbrough’s cover for the first volume of GOBLINVILLE, a dark fantasy novella series. The first volume was serialized on Patreon, but this will be the expanded and corrected version. A second one is finished up. A third is in the works.
Outland will be publishing THE COLLECTED FICTION OF CULLEN BUNN, a multi-volume set of every short story I’ve ever written in chronological order. This will include some rare pieces and some never-before-published pieces.
I’LL KILL YOU LAST is an anthology I edited that will be coming out this year. For various reasons, it was delayed a bit, but we’re finally going to see this mash-up of action movies and horror!
DISINCARNATE: HUNTING PARTY is a webcomic that I wrote and Jeremy Mohler illustrated. It will be serialized soon on Instagram, but you can follow it now so you don’t miss out.
HUNTING PARTY is a tie-in to…
… DISINCARNATE, the movie, which is in early stages of production. DISINCARNATE is a science fiction horror feature film that I wrote last year. More (much more!) on this later!
Whew!
Now you see why I never had a chance to breathe last year!
FANGORIA has published an article of new horror comics to watch in 2025… and there’s JUMPSCARE peeking out from the corner! You can check out the list HERE.
This announcement launched last week. It’s a book I wasn’t expecting. A happy surprise for July 2025!
That’s right! My VENOM run will finally be collected (along with all the other Agent Venom stories) in a 1400+-page omnibus—the AGENT VENOMNIBUS!
As for kitten updates, Betty Boop Santanico Pandemonium Food Gremlin Wicked Nightmare has pretty much integrated into our family. She’s as sweet as she can be… when she is asleep. As soon as she wakes up, she realizes she has no other kittens to mercilessly attack and torture. At that point, she goes into attack mode. Then, just when you have had enough, just when you’re ready to throw her out into the cold, she goes to sleep again and your heart melts.
Not my heart.
But the hearts of lesser beings.
When we have the first snowy days of the season (and we had several this week) Cindy and I usually grab some cozy blankets, settle down on the couch, and watch Stephen King’s STORM OF THE CENTURY. Not this time, though. I was simply too busy… with writing… with snow shoveling… with organizing messy, messy filing cabinets.
I did watch a few more episodes of SQUID GAMES 2 with the family, and I continue to enjoy the Hell out of it.
I’ve also been THINKING about watching the anime series GASARAKI again. I think about it a lot. But I finally pulled the 8-volume DVD set out of the storage room. Tonight… I dive back in.
I’ve kind of been holding off on reading a new novel. WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix comes out this week, and I need to be ready. Grady wrote a couple of my favorite recent horror novels—in particular HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE and my precious, precious WE SOLD OUR SOULS.
Honestly, though, I’m a little nervous about reading this one.
I’ll be starting final edits on MY novel BONES OF OUR STARS, BLOOD OF OUR WORLD, and I worry Grady’s book is gonna make me feel like an untalented hack while I make corrections.
Here’s a quick rundown of convention appearances, signings, and other events. Keep in mind, all appearances are subject to changes and cancellations.
February 20 - 22 - ComicsPro Comic Book Industry Meeting, Los Angeles CA
March 6 - 9 - Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle WA
March 21 - 23 - Planet Comicon, Kansas City MO
THE SHOCK SHOP - My online store, where you can find exclusive covers you can only get directly from me!
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.
MY AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE - Listen. You should always shop at your local comic and bookstore first, but if they don’t carry the books you want, you might be able to get them here. And, if nothing else, leave some reviews of the books you love!
Thanks for another great newsletter! That nightmare list gave me flashbacks to when I had night terrors as a kid (sleepaway camp was not fun). I’m excited for all you’ve got in store!!