Vicious Shivers, Issue 147
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Welcome to the Bunnderdome!
Last night, a bunch of friends descended upon my house to help me celebrate my birthday. Many drinks were consumed. Many tacos were constructed and then devoured. Laughs were had. And my withered old heart grew three sizes.
Little did my guests know that the main event would be… the Bunnderdome! This trivia contest was constructed to test everyone’s knowledge of me and some of the things I love.
Some questions included:
When Cullen was in 6th grade, what nickname did the 9th graders give him?
What was the first concert Cullen attended?
Finish this eloquent turn of phrase: “I would sooner sandpaper a ______!”
What was the first movie Cullen saw in the theater?
What animal attacked Cullen during one of his visits back to North Carolina?
Fun was had by all… I think.
Team Bunnson Burner took the 2022 championship, and I look forward to seeing them defend the title next year.
As I write this, I have some of the post party blues, coupled with the crushing knowledge that I must get up and clean the house here in a bit. Other than that, though, I’m gonna take it easy for the rest of the day.
I hope.
Being old means throwing a party takes a lot more out of you than it used to.
Also, Cindy and Roman decorated this awesome cake for me.
As you are probably aware, this week we launched the Kickstarter for DEMOCRITUS BRAND AND THE ENDLESS MACHINE Issues 1 through 4. We’re just a few days in and we’re a little over halfway to our goal! We’ve also been selected as a “Project We Love” by the folks at Kickstarter.
The success of a project like this influences the creator-owned projects I’m able to do in a big way. Many publishers do not pay up-front page rates on books. That’s fine. I have faith projects will make money. However, it also means the artists I work with either have to work for months for nothing… or I have to pay them myself. That’s not really possible without Kickstarters and my Patreon to help make it happen.
I plan on launching a few Kickstarters in the next 12 months, and I think you’re going to love them!
To support DEMOCRITUS BRAND AND THE ENDLESS MACHINE, visit the campaign HERE.
A good amount of work was done this week. An “okay” amount of pages written. A lot of phone calls and Zoom meetings. I’ve been keeping track of how I spend each day, and I’ll be posting a detailed report on my Patreon soon.
I received a couple of emails asking me about some new projects. I haven’t added them to the “Things to Come” section just yet. I still need to finalize the pitches for them. I think they’re “in the bag” so to speak, but no need to count those chickens just yet.
I spoke with an amazingly talented collaborator a couple of days ago about a project we were trying to get off the ground a while back. We’re tackling it again, and I’m very excited about it! It’s a crazy supernatural adventure that’s going to look so awesome! I wrote three pages yesterday right before my party. Those three pages will go into the pitch packet for the book.
I realized in that conversation that one of the biggest problems I have… the problem that derails projects and kills many books before they happen… is communication. I’m just bad at it. It’s not an intentional thing. It’s just that I get so overwhelmed and it… slips. No more, though! I’m going to fix this. My collaborators are gonna hate how much I communicate with them!
Going into this week, I have a ton to catch up on. My “pomodoro” timer clocks are going to be getting a lot of work in the next couple of days.
I’ve been using Twitter for a little over 15 years.
I think my first tweet was something like, “Baffled by banality.”
Now, it looks like King Banal himself has killed the platform with mismanagement, dumb ideas, and pure stupidity.
Maybe Twitter will survive. I hope it does.
However, I don’t know how active I’ll be there any more. I just don’t know how much energy I can put into the site after the jackassery of the last few weeks.
This newsletter is a great place to keep up with me, but if you’re looking for ALL the places to find me online, here is my Linktree!
A little later today, subscribers to this newsletter will be receiving the first installment of “The Doom That Came To Christmas”—a holiday horror yarn featuring Santa and Krampus joining forces to do battle against Nyarlathotep. Originally, I planned on including the story in the body of the weekly issues. It was just too unwieldy, though, and a separate email just works a little better. I hope you like the story. Please share it with your friends!
This week, for those of us who celebrate the holiday, is Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite weeks. I just like the feel of it. I’m thankful for many, many things. Cindy and Roman. My friends. And I’m thankful I feel hopefulness for the coming year, which is something I didn’t think I would ever feel again. I have a LOT of anxiety and stress right now, and I’m NOT thankful for that, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
And I’m thankful for YOU, the folks who read this newsletter and follow my work.
It means a lot to me.
Reader Questions…
Kenny Endlich writes — Any plans to return to Centralia?
I would certainly love to do so! Heath Amodio and I talk about the project and the world frequently. The plan has always been to return to these stories at least a few times, bringing the characters from the different tales together for an epic adventure. Will we be able to pull it off? I’m not sure. But I want it to happen.
Timothy asks — If you’re a digital reader is there a way to read your title ‘A Legacy of Violence’?
As far as I know, Mad Cave has many digital partners, including ComiXology, where you can read the books!
Mark Tweedale writes — Back when you did Harrow County, you did short stories as backups to incentivise buying the single issues. Did that work, do you think? And what do you think about doing short stories for one series, but running them as backups in a different series? I ask in part because I enjoy short stories as part of a larger series, but without titles like Dark Horse Presents anymore, I don’t know where these shorts can find a home anymore. And also because I wonder if this is something that could encourage fans of one of your series to try others. I also think with the series of miniseries format, it’s something that could help keep a title present in the reader’s mind between arcs.
I think the Harrow County short stories were relatively successful. We probably could have done a better job of promoting the idea that you could only get them in the comics. I love those short stories, too. They’re hard to write, but I love them! I also love the idea of running stories from one series in the pages of another! I’m going to chase that concept!
Interviews…
A couple of interviews about DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT just dropped!
Cullen Bunn and Sally Cantirino go “Door to Door, Night by Night” To Chat About Their New Series (Multiversity)
Cullen Bunn and Sally Cantirino discuss their new book DOOR TO DOOR NIGHT BY NIGHT (The Beat)
New Comics This Week…
BLOODBORNE: THE LADY OF THE LANTERNS #3
NEW COMIC SERIES BASED ON THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED GOTHIC GAMING HIT, BLOODBORNE!
Enter the city of Yharnam through the eyes of its citizens, when new hunters take to the streets to fight against the cruel and unusual epidemic that has gripped the city. In the black of the night, families and faith will be tested...
PARASOMNIA: THE DREAMING GOD #4
The story concludes as our heroes raid a cyber cult to save the child they hold prisoner and put an end to this madness once and for all.
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.
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.
PROJECT: CARD - A magical one-shot.
Work Update…
So far this year, I wrote:
1577 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)
8 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)
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
JULY 7 - 9, 2023 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
Weekly Obsessions…
This week, I’ve been…
…Reading a bunch of random short stories from writers like Brian Keene, Thomas Ligotti, Stephen King, and Ray Bradbury. Most of them are re-reads, but that’s all right.
…Listening to a Tiki Bar Music playlist on Spotify as well as a little Tito and Tarantula and Gunship.
…Playing Darkest Dungeons.
…Watching a bunch of Godzilla movies (which I like watching, along with Dr. Who, this time of year for some reason). I also watched Pearl a couple of nights ago, and I absolutely loved it. I loved that it treaded water nowhere near the waters of X. And it had such a pleasing aesthetic. The last five minutes are horribly disturbing.
Where to Find Me Online…
THE SHOCK SHOP - My online store, where you can find exclusive covers you can only get directly from me!
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.
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