Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 91
This is the 91st 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!
I MIGHT BE HAUNTED
There are seven pennies—all face up—placed at the top of my doorframe. I put them there some time ago, after a series of nasty night terrors. My pal Anton suggested it as a means of warding off foul spirits. I’m only mildly superstitious, but I was willing to give it a try. After all, the power of positive thinking can dissuade a malevolent ghost as well as a salt circle, right? And, guess what. It worked. The night terrors stopped.
For a bit.
A week or so ago, I woke up to find a shadowy figure standing next to the bed. He spoke, rather calmly as I recall, and his voice was youthful and pleasant.
“I don’t have a reason to be here.”
That’s what the figure said.
I jumped up in bed, and the figure vanished.
A dream? Probably. But I’ve been hearing weird creaking outside the bedroom for the past couple of nights.
Probably my imagination. Once you see one ghost, you start seeing them everywhere.
Last night, though, one of the pennies fell from the doorframe. It just… dropped. Tumbled to the floor and bounced across the hardwood just outside the bedroom. I might not have realized it straight away, but it made the dogs bark.
I put the penny back upon the door. As I write this, I’m watching the coins. If one of them happens to slowly slide from its position and fall to the floor again… well… I don’t know what I’d do.
While I wait, though, I might as well get my newsletter going again, right?
My muse is a ghost.
WELCOME BACK!
It’s been a few weeks since my last newsletter. I was on a real roll there for a while, but things just… derailed for me. There were many reasons for this.
First, In an effort to simplify the process and save a little money, I got the bright idea to try a new newsletter format/delivery system. That involved more petrifying stress than I expected. Hopefully, though, you like the new set up. Hopefully, you don’t notice any problems with distribution this time around. If it’s a problem for too many readers, I’ll try something different.
Second, there’s just been so much stress and anxiety at home in the last few weeks that I just haven’t felt like working on the newsletter. I didn’t feel like there was anything going on that was worth sharing. Everything is fine. We’re all right at the Bunn household. Just… a lot of stress.
Third… and this is a byproduct of the previous point… I just haven’t felt like writing at all. I’ve gotten a bit of work done, but it has taken a monumental amount of effort of late. So… when I actually put my fingers on the keyboard, I’ve focused on writing scripts and such instead of newsletters. I’m trying to break through the wall, but it’s more resistant than I expected.
Despite these obstacles… and thanks to my ghostly visitor… we’re back. This newsletter has always been a mutating monster, and that’s not changing anytime soon. Format, content, delivery system—these are the bloody pieces through which I’ll construct this beast.
THE HARROW COUNTY BOARD GAME!
There will be much more to be said about this in the days to come, but the cat’s out of the bag, so I’ll at least mention it now. Off The Page Games is developing a board game based on HARROW COUNTY. According to this tweet, they’ll be playing demos at Gen Con this year!
Tyler and I have played the game. It’s a lot of fun and has some really cool and surprising game mechanics that you’re gonna love!
QUICK UPDATES
At the request of one of my editors, I submitted a couple of high level ideas for my next project. I wouldn’t call these proposals just yet. They’re too short. But the editor liked them both and I’m currently building them out into full-blown proposals and outlines. They’re both horror ideas (of course), both with regional flavor, but they are very different types of stories.
Another editor asked me to develop some ideas for short horror stories. They also asked me to re-send an Idea we discussed a few years ago.
I was contacted in regards to a really cool licensed comic, and I developed a detailed outline for a five issue series. I can’t tell you what it is just yet, but it’s cool as Hell and a lot of fun.
Over the last several weeks, I’ve been pitching a new shared horror universe project to a number of Hollywood executives. It’s something new, though you might have seen some hints about it if you follow me on Patreon.
Artist Arjuna Susini has been showing off some very cool, very creepy pieces of art of late. I won’t say much about what it’s for, but it’s going to be very, very cool and very, very creepy. See for yourself…
RECENT INTERVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Here’s a piece on THE LAST BOOK YOU’LL EVER READ that I did a couple of weeks back. Check it out for some secrets about that book!
Crack Open “The Last Book You’ll Ever Read” with Cullen Bunn – Multiversity Comics — www.multiversitycomics.com Curl up - - if you dare - - with The Last Book You'll Ever Read and this interview with writer Cullen Bunn about his new Vault Comics title.
I’m honored that SHADOWMAN has been selected as one of CBR’s best superhero comics of 2021. Here’s the list. There are some really cool books to be found herein.
10 Best New Superhero Comics of 2021 (So Far) | CBR — www.cbr.com Some great new superhero comics have been released in 2021.
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.
AUGUST, 2021 - GODZILLA: WORLD OF MONSTERS, collecting several Godzilla books, including my own GODZILLA: CATACLYSM.
NOVEMBER 3, 2021 - HEATHENS, a story of history's worst anti-heroes chasing history's worst "monsters"
DRAGONRING - a new endeavor involving an indie comic that I’ve loved since I was a kid. A new shared universe that I have a stake in.
A 20-page horror one-shot inspired by one of Grimm’s fairy tales will appear in GRIMM TALES FROM THE CAVE.
A horror maxi-series about a mysterious town and mysterious experiments that have played out there.
A return to a world of magicians and family intrigue.
An insane story set in one of the most recognizable comic universes around.
A horror OGN where reality and surreality clash in a murderous way.
UPCOMING EVENTS
OCTOBER 2, 2021
I’ll be signing at Chop’s Comics in Kansas City! More details to come!
OCTOBER 9, 2021
I’ll be at the Library Center in Springfield, MO, doing an event connected with horror and THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR! More details to come!
WORK UPDATE
This year, I wrote--
611 pages of comic book scripts (1468 in 2020)
1 feature length screenplay (0 in 2020)
9 short stories (15 in 2020)
0 novellas (2 in 2020)
19 new comic book series proposals (13 in 2020)
5 podcast proposals (0 in 2020)
0 forewords for upcoming graphic novels (2 in 2020)
0 television series proposals (5 in 2020)
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.