Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 143
Vicious Shivers is 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!
WELCOME TO ISSUE 143…
Your old pal Cullen… is weary.
Over the past few days, my friend and frequent co-creator JimmyZ Johnston has been visiting, and we’ve been working hard on a number of projects. As you may know, JimmyZ has had a rough few months. He recently closed his terrific comic book shop/restaurant, The Little Shop of Comics/Audrey’s Eatery. I’m sad to see another wonderful store close its doors. While it was open, though, especially while JimmyZ was fighting to keep it alive, Jimmy’s time was not his own by any means. Now, he wants to dive back into creative work in a big way, and we were doing some brainstorming and planning… as well as just catching up… while we could.
The whiteboard above was how I welcomed him to the studio.
So far this weekend, we discussed…
WARLOCK 5: The Comic
WARLOCK 5: The Board Game (more on that in a bit)
PROJECT: SWORD
PROJECT: LAST
PROJECT: RUSH
PROJECT: GALLERY
Some CROOKED HILLS editing help I’ll need.
A new game idea that came up while we were talking!
Some of those projects are being mentioned here for the first time, and you’ll be hearing more about them soon! And we have a bunch more to talk about today before he heads back home… with a ton of work to do.
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I’m weary (as mentioned above) because we were up late last night playtesting the WARLOCK 5 board game JimmyZ has been developing for a couple of years. While we discovered a couple of tweaks that need to be made, I think the game is ready to move forward with the publisher. It’s a wild game. Completely unique. Unlike anything else I’ve ever played.
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When it comes to writing, I accomplished nowhere near what I needed to this week. There were just too many phone calls and Zoom meetings. They were GOOD phone calls and Zoom meetings, but they really ate into my writing time, and I’ll be paying for them this week! I did manage to get some more chapters of the HARROW COUNTY short story and the novel I’m writing written.
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I signed on with a new management company to help me with some of my film and TV endeavors. I’m thrilled to be working with them. Their goals and mine—their focus and mine—are in perfect alignment. I’ll be sharing more about this partnership as it develops!
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I’ve been working on possibly switching my online store from Big Cartel to Shopify. Shopify simply offers so many more options for me. Of course, when your time is short and you’re not the most savvy when it comes to setting up online stores, it can be a bit of a pain. It’ll be happening soon, though.
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I know that you are only reading this newsletter to find out how I’ve been doing in horror trivia. Well, this week, we had two different matches!
The first, which was a general horror trivia night, was a blast! Our team ended up splitting into two groups in order to put our skills to the test. Team names were SHADOW OF THE BOOGENS and THE FULL BOOGENS. The Full Boogens (my team) took first place. Our friends-turned-mortal-enemies The Shadow of the Boogens took second. There was even a question about THE EMPTY MAN! Thank goodness I got it right!
The theme of the other trivia night was “Ghouls and Demons”… and we took second. Usually, I complain about the kind of questions that are asked. This time around, though, I can’t complain. The questions were solid. On theme. We just fell a little short.
Next week—the final horror trivia of the season—the theme will be Horror TV. We’re changing our team name. No longer will we be The Last Trivia Table on the Left. We will now be SHAKMA 2000 in honor of the great movies SHAKMA and DRACULA 2000! I think this is the change we need to fuel our victory!
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Lots of work to do this week.
I mean… LOTS.
Writing. Trivia prep. Getting ready for our annual haunted garage. More meetings.
Cindy has been out of town the last few days, and I’m really missing her! She comes back home tomorrow, though, and we’re planning to record a new episode of The Bunngalow! So stay tuned for that!
Thanks for sticking with me, folks! Your support means the world to me.
HARROW COUNTY: THE BOARD GAME…
As you read this newsletter, there are only 4 days remaining to back the HARROW COUNTY board game! You most certainly do not want to miss this game. It’s gorgeous, it captures the feel of the comics, and it is a ton of fun! The next time you read this newsletter, you’ll be reading about the success of the campaign. It you haven’t joined in, the FOMO will be crushing!
INTERVIEWS…
And… speaking of the HARROW COUNTY board game… here is the recorded livestream that Tyler Crook and I did about the game. Want to hear my impression of the Abandoned? Here’s the chance!
I also sat down with the folks from Part-Time Fanboy to discuss A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE as well as some of my other work! Give it a listen!
Part-Time Fanboy Podcast: Ep 424 Cullen Bunn Explores A Legacy of Violence! | parttimefanboy.com
It’s a two podcast week! Why, you ask? Because Cullen Bunn is on this week’s episode of Part-Time Fanboy, that’s why! Cullen has a new comic being published by Mad Cave Studios that’s a perfect read for Halloween!
NEW VARIANT COVERS NOW AVAILABLE…
If you’re into variant covers, man-oh-man, do I have some good ones for you. I’ve been commissioning exclusive variants that you can only get from me! They’re available at my online store. Check them out when you get the chance.
THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM - Creator Exclusive Variant (Danny Luckert Cover) | Cullen Bunn's Shock Shop — cullenbunn.bigcartel.com This is a LIMITED EDITION This is a LIMITED EDITION variant cover for THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM #1! This variant is only available directly...
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #1 - Creator Exclusive Cover (Danny Luckert Variant) | Cullen Bunn's Shock Shop — cullenbunn.bigcartel.com This is a LIMITED EDITION This is a LIMITED EDITION variant cover for DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #1! This variant is only available directly from...
A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS - Creator Exclusive Cover (Sami Kivela Variant) | Cullen Bunn's Shock Shop — cullenbunn.bigcartel.com This is a LIMITED EDITION This is a LIMITED EDITION variant cover for A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS! This variant is only available directly from Cullen...
October 2022 Variant Cover Bunndle | Cullen Bunn's Shock Shop — cullenbunn.bigcartel.com Our special for spooky season 2022 is pretty special indeed! Here we have a collection of 6 creator-exclusive variant covers, available exclusively...
WEEKLY OBSESSIONS…
I’m deep into THE SCARLET GOSPELS by Clive Barker, and I’m loving every page of it. There is so much great world building in that book, and you know I love world building!
With Halloween rapidly approaching, I’m entrenching with horror movies aplenty. There’s little rhyme or reason to my viewing choices. It’s whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. So far, I’ve watched the following (in this order):
Phantasm 2
Hellraiser
My Best Friend’s Exorcism
Crawl
Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
Poltergeist
The Cabin in the Woods
Halloween
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Werewolves Within
Hellraiser (2022)
Friday the 13th
Behind the Mask: the Rise of Leslie Vernon
Phantasm 3: Lord of the Dead
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Halloween Kills
Halloween Ends
Deadstream
Halloween 4
Halloween 5
Malignant
EVENTS…
Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change.1
FEBRUARY 4, 2023 - ArtCon, Neosho, MO
MARCH 17 - 19, 2023 - Planet Comicon, Kansas City MO
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.
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT - A horror/comedy series about a door-to-door sales team that moonlights as monster hunters.
A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS - A horror one-shot about loss and grief and guilt.
NIGHTWALKERS - A survival horror series that sets up a whole world of apocalyptic nightmares.
RED ZONE - An action/comedy thrill-ride. unlike anything else I’ve ever written.
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
PROJECT: BOT - A sequel to a story of robotic mischief.
PROJECT: MASK - A horror OGN where reality and surreality clash in a murderous way.
PROJECT: WATER HEATER - An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series.
PROJECT: DUNGEON - A new licensed horror comic series
PROJECT: GHOST - A horror maxi-series exploring a side of horror you might not expect
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: MATINEE - A horror limited series I’m working on with one of my best friends and long-standing collaborator
PROJECT: SWORD - A horror prose anthology I’m editing
PROJECT: V - A return to a fan-favorite character I haven't written in quite a while.
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness.
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness.
PROJECT: LAST - A horror prose anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: RUSH - A horror prose anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: GALLERY - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing.
WORK UPDATE…
So far this year, I wrote:
1469 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)
8 two-sentence horror stories (0 in 2021)
29 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)
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
TIKTOK - A fun spot for quick videos about writing, comics, and collecting
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.
THE BUNNGALOW - Cindy and I talk about life, hot button topics, pop culture, being married to a comic book writer and EVERYTHING in between.