Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 123
This is the 123rd issue of Vicious Shivers, a (mostly) weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Thank you for subscribing. Please share it with others if you think they might be interested!
Yesterday, I was driving home from grabbing some take-out. I was texting with Cindy, using (of course) the voice-to-text CarPlay/iPhone feature on my car. It was starting to rain, lightly, but rain just the same. I messaged Cindy, “Hey, it is starting to rain over here.”
My phone didn’t send the message. Instead, it said, “I don’t think it is raining” in its judgmental yet emotionless voice.
“Send message to Cindy Bunn,” I said. “Hey, it’s starting to rain over here.”
”I don’t think it is raining,” the phone replied.
I tried this three more times, growing angrier and angrier, and the phone refused to do my bidding.
A couple of years ago, I put together a pitch for a comic series called FAMILIARS about a society in which everyone was accompanied by a robotic personal assistant. These assistants were growing more and more judgmental, going so far as to punish (and eventually kill) when their host cut out of moral line.
This drive home in the rain—and it WAS raining, you stupid, stupid phone—made me think of that idea again.
Thats where I get my ideas!
Also… if it had replied in an Eric Draven voice, I might not have been so angry.
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As you may have noticed, there was no newsletter last week. I had been under the weather and exhausted and just overwhelmed. The end of school was upon the Bunn family. There were concerts and auditions and parties for which we were the chauffeurs. There were goodbye get-togethers for friends who were moving away, for which I may have had a little too much to drink. So I decided to take a week off. I’m still not at 100%, but I definitely feel much better.
My writing life suffered a bit, too, over the last few weeks, but I seem to be getting back on the train. This last week, I completed tons of comic pages, a new prose short story (I was going to tell you about, but the publisher told me to keep it quiet), several proposals for new series, and more. I also got the greenlight on a couple of new horror comics. I’ll be telling you more about those as soon as I’m able!
I rejoined the Horror Writers Association. I had let my membership slide, because I didn’t feel I was getting much out of it, but I thought I’d give it another go and put a little more into it myself. That’s a sentiment I’ve had several times in the past, but I’m really gonna try this time. It helped that they now have a Discord server, where I can interact with other writers. That’s something I miss from “the good old days” of writing. You don’t have to be an HWA member to join, in case you’re interested. You can find it here.
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Want to listen to me take a few minutes to explain the amazing monster Biollante to Dennis Hopeless and Kyle Strahm? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve been putting together some Missouri Swagger content. Here’s a Swagger Short for you!
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And I think I forgot to share this episode of Happy Hour, where we discuss aquatic cryptids and mix up some clever, sea monster themed beverages.
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Here’s a little sneak peek at the upcoming BOOK OF SHADOWS comic, this one focused on the new villain Exarch Fane.
EXCLUSIVE: Valiant Comics Introduces a New Villain in The Book of Shadows — www.cbr.com Valiant Comics and Cullen Bunn reveal the brand new villain Exarch Fane, who will make his first appearance in the upcoming Book of Shadows #1
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And keep an eye on Kickstarter for the new anthology I’ve got a cool Shakespeare-themed story in!
Shakespeare Unleashed – A Horror Anthology by James Aquilone — Kickstarter — www.kickstarter.com James Aquilone is raising funds for Shakespeare Unleashed – A Horror Anthology on Kickstarter! Alas! Wicked stories & sonnets based on the Bard's work by Joe Lansdale, Ian Doescher, Cullen Bunn, Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Maberry...
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This week—more writing!
”I don’t think you’re writing,” says my phone.
But I am! I’ve fallen too far behind and I need to catch up. Admittedly, though, there’s a lot of stuff we need to do to prep for Tremendicon, which is coming up in just a couple of weeks! I’ve got a number of houseguests coming in for the event. I’ve got panel lists to finalize and tons of work associated with the Writer Track! It’s gonna be fun, but it’s gonna be a lot of work.
COMICS THIS WEEK…
DARK ARK: THE COMPLETE SERIES
The wickedness of mankind has moved the Creator to destroy the world by way of the flood. Noah has been tasked with building an ark to save his family and the animals of the world. But this is not Noah's story. For darker powers have commanded the sorcerer Shrae to build his own ark and save the unnatural creatures of the world - such as the vampires, the dragons and the manticore. But what will happen on a vessel crawling with monsters, where insidious intrigue and horrific violence are the rule of law?
A sinister saga of biblical proportions from master of horror Cullen Bunn (EDEN, PIECEMEAL, UNHOLY GRAIL, X-Men Blue, Deadpool, Venom) and artist Juan Doe (AMERICAN MONSTER, WORLD READER), this comprehensive hardcover volume features the entire DARK ARK series as well as the follow-up series, DARK ARK: AFTER THE FLOOD.
EVENTS…
Here are the events I have finalized for the coming days. Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change.
JUNE, 17 - 19, 2022 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
JUNE 24 - 26, 2022 - HeroesCon, Charlotte NC
JULY 29 - 31, 2022 - Scares That Care, Willamsburg, VA
SEPTEMBER 24 - 25, 2022 - Memphis Comic Expo, Memphis TN
THINGS TO COME...
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.
June - BLOODBORNE, a comic series based on the hit horror video game.
July - BOOK OF SHADOWS, the Valiant Universe supernatural team book.
August 2022 - UP TO NO GHOUL, a sequel to THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR.
August - PARASOMNIA: THE DREAMING GOD, a story about dreams and loss and adventure.
A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE - A horror maxi-series about a mysterious town and mysterious experiments that have played out there.
A sequel to a story of robotic mischief.
A horror OGN where reality and surreality clash in a murderous way.
An action/comedy thrill-ride. unlike anything else I've ever written.
An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series.
A horror one-shot about loss and grief and guilt.
A new action/horror series I can’t tell you much about just yet.
A new series that will allow me to spin many, many horror stories.
A new licensed horror comic series
Another new licensed horror comic series
A horror maxi-series exploring a side of horror you might not expect
A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
A horror limited series I’m working on with one of my best friends and long-standing collaborator
WORK UPDATE…
So far this year, I wrote:
720 pages of comic book scripts (938 in 2021)
0 feature length screenplay (1 in 2021)
1 half-hour comedy pilot (0 in 2021)
1 short film script (0 in 2021)
6 short stories (13 in 2021)
0 novellas (0 in 2021)
24 new comic book series proposals (25 in 2021)
0 podcast proposals (5 in 2021)
1 essay (0 in 2021)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2021)
1 television series proposal (0 in 2021)
FINAL THOUGHTS…
Hey, hey! You might’ve seen me mentioning a project called “Swumpwater” every now and then. Well, I’m not yet revealing what that project is, but I will share a few more pics of the progress!
If you enjoy reading about all the nonsense I’m up to, I hope you’ll consider throwing some support toward my Patreon. I post something almost every day, and all the funds earned on that platform go directly into funding more and more comic book work!
If you want to keep the conversation going throughout the week, follow me on Twitter or join my Discord server! Thanks for joining me!
WHERE TO FIND ME ONLINE...
WEBSITE - If you haven’t been there lately, you should check it out. I’ve started posting a lot more content and news on the site.
TWITTER - This is the best place to interact with me online. My handle is @cullenbunn
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.