Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 124
This is the 124th 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!
As I write this, I imagine that I am the least crabby I will be all day. I have a medical procedure tomorrow. Nothing too serious. But I can’t eat solid food for the next 36 hours. I don’t know if you realize this, but I like solid food! The amount of solid food I ate yesterday was breathtaking! It’s particularly rough on me right now because I’m a stress eater, and I’m as stressed as I’ve been in a long time.
Some big decisions are on the line for the Bunn family, some tough days ahead, deadlines looming, and I’m crazy busy with non-writing tasks. To make it worse (and probably because of all that is going on) I’m not sleeping through the night. I can go to sleep just fine, but if I wake up for more than a second or two, and I invariably do, I’m up for hours.
Like right now.
So, today is for being crabby and writing comics and doing work around the house.
Tomorrow is for medical procedures.
Tuesday, my pal Anton Kromoff and his wife Arielle get into town, so that’s gonna be fun.
Wednesday, Heath Amodio and his pal Randy arrive.
At some point, JimmyZ shows up.
They’re all crashing at my pad.
And they’re getting here because of Tremendicon, which starts on Friday! Tremendicon, as you know if you’ve been following the newsletter, is a first-year show in Springfield MO. It is focused on inspiring and educating both aspiring and established creators. The tracks they have planned are amazing, and if you live anywhere within driving distance of the convention, you owe it to yourself to be there. Other guests include Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni, John Horner Jacobs, the Outland Entertainment crew, and many, many others.
It’s gonna be crazy.
It’s gonna be stressful.
But it’s gonna be a good time.
I’ll post plenty of pictures next week!
SWUMPWATER PREMIERES THIS WEEK…
I’m excited about this one!
As I’ve been hinting for weeks, I have a short horror film coming out soon. Swumpwater was written by Heath Amodio and myself. Our production company Hustle and Heart partnered with Pop Films to produce the movie. It will premiere (live if you’re at Tremendicon, immediately after on YouTube) on Friday night!
Here’s the official announcement:
Pop Films and Hustle and Heart Films announced today the upcoming release of SWUMPWATER, a short supernatural horror film. Written by Cullen Bunn and Heath Amodio, Swumpwater is the tale of three down-on-their-luck friends who, after a night of drinking, decide to chance fate in pursuit of a rural legend. In the dark of night, deep in the woods, they face mysterious forces that could either grant them good fortune or kill them in a horrible fashion.
Swumpwater will premiere on 6/17/2022 at Tremendicon (https://www.tremendicon.com/) in Springfield, Missouri. Immediately following the premiere, the short film will be released on Pop Films’ YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF4Y2-uWQ3zISm8ogheKK2g).
Cullen Bunn and Heath Amodio have collaborated on comic book projects such as The Heathens (AfterShock Comics). Together, they founded Hustle and Heart Films with a mission of working with creators to bring their visions to life through the comic book, television, and feature film mediums.
“I’ve always been impressed by the work that Pop Films does on their short films,” said Amodio. “Cullen and I really wanted to write something for them, and we couldn’t be more excited about how it turned out.”
Pop Films LLC is a full-service Video Production Company dedicated to creating unforgettable films for a wide range of clients and different industries. They have produced a number of other short horror films, including Annex, Dead County, and Sucker.
“Shooting Indie Horror in Pennsylvania for several years, we've produced 13 short films and have a feature under our belt,” said Everett Lauster of Pop Films, “but we have been looking to work with creatives in our genre.We were introduced to Cullen and that night were ecstatic going through multiple log lines trying to find the right project based on location and budget. Swumpwater stood out to us, the story felt nostalgic, like the kind of horror we grew up watching.”
Swumpwater stars Guy Lemonnier, Everett Lauster, John Dalessio, and Kayla Orben. It is produced by Cullen Bunn, Heath Amodio, Christian Fescine, and Everett Lauster. This is the first project developed by Hustle and Heart and Pop Films, but there is potential for more.
“When Heath came to me with the idea of doing a short horror film,” said Bunn, “the wheels started turning and they haven’t stopped yet. Horror is, after all, where my heart is. We worked together to develop several ideas, and we sent a handful to Pop Films. There were a number of options, but Swumpwater rose to the top as everyone’s favorite for this first outing. I have a feeling we’ll be working together again.”
HARROW COUNTY - THE GAME…
A little more information about the upcoming Harrow County board game has been popping up. I’ve played the game, and it is a lot of fun. It’s remarkable to me how the game can change based on pre-game decisions, like the maps or factions chosen.
Here’s a bit of official description I found:
A witch named Hester was hung, burned and buried under a tree. Some time later the family of Hester come to Harrow County to destroy it, but standing in their way is 18-year old Emmy who mysteriously has powers of her own.
In this 1 vs. 1 asymmetric combat game, players can play as one of the Protectors, trying to rescue townsfolk, or as one of the family, trying to destroy Harrow County. You can play as a third faction - the surprise return of Emmy's twin sister, Kammi. Kammi wants to rule over Harrow County.
Players activate mason jars to move their haints (undead creatures) around the hex-based board, as they try to accomplish their missions. Combat is resolved using a never-before-seen cube tower that's built into the actual box.
Finally, a third player can enter the game: Hester, the dead witch buried under the tree. She controls the roots of the tree and using the cube tower, Hester can infect haints on her roots, which causes a snake to be placed into its ear. That player can still control this haint, but now so can Hester. If Hester comes back to life, then she needs to eat the other legend’s to gain all her power back to win.
Harrow County: The Game of Gothic Conflict from Off the Page Games is a thematic, tactical, game of territory control and enemy elimination to determine the fate of Harrow County.
INTERVIEWS…
A few different interviews have posted in the last week. Doing these interviews can be time-consuming, but I do enjoy sharing secrets about these projects. I’ll be doing more of these discussions in the future!
CULLEN BUNN ASSEMBLES A FIRST-EVER SUPERNATURAL HEROES TEAM FOR THE VALIANT UNIVERSE IN ‘BOOK OF SHADOWS’ — www.dynamicforces.com
Dynamic Forces speaks to Cullen Bunn about his upcoming Valiant series Book of Shadows.
Cullen Bunn Delves into the Surreal World of Parasomnia: The Dreaming God — www.cbr.com CBR speaks with Cullen Bunn about the process of crafting the new, cyberpunk installment of he and Andrea Mutti's Parasomnia: The Dreaming God.
Q&A: Cullen Bunn Discusses His Return to the World of PARASOMNIA in "THE DREAMING GOD" - Daily Dead — dailydead.com Cullen Bunn and Andrea Mutti return to the world of Parasomnia in Parasomnia: The Dreaming God! Coming to comic book shops on August 17th, thanks to Dark Horse Comics, Cullen Bunn is the latest guest of our Q&A series, teasing the adventures that await readers in the new 4-issue series, discussing his creative process, and […]
COMICS THIS WEEK…
A couple of new books coming your way this week, both from Dark Horse!
Hmm... Harrow County and Manor Black really should crossover, don't you think?
TALES FROM HARROW COUNTY: THE LOST ONES #2
Years after leaving Harrow County, Emmy finds herself living a peaceful life working in a small-time diner and trying to put the past behind her. But when she discovers the city itself houses magical beings similar to those in which she escaped she discovers it’s impossible to escape the past.
MANOR BLACK: FIRE IN THE BLOOD #3
Infighting plagues the family of blood while Ari and Reggie make their way through the crypts and origins of Manor Black as the hunt for a successor of the family narrows.
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.
Please note that, due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be attending HeroesCon this year. I hate that I can’t be there. We had a fun trip planned, but it’s just not in the cards this time around.
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:
800 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)
25 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…
In addition to writing lots of script pages, I’ve been putting together a number of new series pitches that I’m pretty excited about. In the last week, a couple of those have been greenlit, and I’ll be sharing details with you as soon as I can. The next several months… the next year… is going to be a fun one.
Fun.
That’s the word, right?
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.