Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 129
This is the 129th 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!
California’s treating me great, as you can see!
That’s a pic from the terrifically fun Slashback Video. It was the one place my friends back home demanded that I visit while in Burbank. It’s a great horror movie themed video store and exhibit.
I guess we spent most of yesterday doing spooky stuff. We visited the Mystic Museum, the 90s Slashers exhibit, Slashback, Halloween World, and the Icons of Darkness museum.
I say “we” because Cindy and Roman came to visit me over the last few days. It was terrific to see them because I’ve been missing them something fierce.
And, yesterday Cindy and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary!
For someone who is not a fan of horror movies and spooky stuff in general, she was a pretty good sport, don’t ya think?
So, yes, still in California, still working in the Writer’s Room, still taking as many meetings as I can squeeze into the week. It’s been fun. It’s been busy. It’s been, at times, stressful. I go home in about a week, but the work doesn’t end. I’ve still got a lot more to do with this project. I can’t wait for you to watch this show when it comes out!
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If you’ve been following the world of comics this week, you’ve probably been hearing a lot about Oni Press. A couple of newsletters back, I wrote about the departure of James Lucas Jones and Charlie Chu. I didn’t like that at all. I dislike the evens of this week just as much. Another round of layoffs has left a number of incredibly talented people without jobs. I feel terrible for those folks. I think now is a good time for other publishers to add dramatically to their bench strength. It has also left the future of the company… and of the comics they publish… in questionable waters. An exceptionally tone deaf “press release” from Oni certainly didn’t help matters. I have been asked by a few folks what will become of my Oni Press work, and all I can say is that I’ve been making calls, sending messages and e-mails, and I’ve got my team working on it. I’ll keep you informed on what happens and where this goes.
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An update on BEYOND MORTAL! At long last we have retrieved the stock of books to be delivered to the remaining backers! Those will start going out as early as tomorrow!
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”Hey, Cullen,” you say. “What’s happening with the HARROW COUNTY board game?”
Well, this tweet from Off the Page Games might answer that question!
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Artist Jordi Perez offered this awesome tease of out upcoming Outland Entertainment series SAMURAI.
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And here’s your reminder that SHOCK SHOP #1 is now available for pre-order from your local comic retailer. This book means a great deal to me. I’m really hoping it does well enough in the shops to warrant another arc! If a fun horror flip book anthology hosted by the owner of a haunted comic shop sounds like the book for you, please order a copy and tell all your friends!
Regular CVR JUL2200373
Variant CVR JUL2200372
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Have you watched my short horror film SWUMPWATER yet? We just passed 4,000 views, and we’d love to make it to 5,000 as quickly as possible! Here’s the movie:
NEW COMICS THIS WEEK…
Two new books on the shelves this week! I hope you’ll head to your favorite comic book retailer to pick them up!
MANOR BLACK: FIRE IN THE BLOOD #4
As Roman Black’s family unravels, Ari and Reggie go head to head over whose rein belongs at the helm of Manor Black in this final issue of the hit gothic horror series.
GODZILLA VS. THE MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #4
Godzilla and the Megazord team up to battle a host of giant monsters-some from the world of the Power Rangers, some from Godzilla's world! Meanwhile, the Green Ranger attempts a daring escape from the clutches of Rita! And the most terrifying challenge yet from Godzilla's greatest foe is about to erupt into a full-blown kaiju free-for-all!
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.
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.
September - SHOCK SHOP, A new series that will allow me to spin many, many horror stories.
A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE - A horror maxi-series about a mysterious town and mysterious experiments that have played out there.
THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM - A one shot following Sabrina's mischievous cat on a wild adventure.
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 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:
982 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…
A couple of days ago, I overhead this woman on a phone call. She was simply griping and complaining about EVERYTHING. The city. The town. Her travel. The hotel. The people who she’d encountered. She was doing this all very loudly at the table next to me. For whatever reason, it really grated on my nerves. I could barely get through it without saying something. It dawned on me how much I HATE listening to complaining. And that brought me to the decision to cut that nonsense out right now. I’m gonna do better about my own griping and grousing going forward. I’m gonna try to, at least.
I mean… except when it comes to others griping and complaining.
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.