Nightmare Fuel, Issue 233

ISSUE 233: AND, SO, IT ENDS

“No one is going to trace this back to us. No one is going to expect red to be a sentient color.”

Those words, spoken by an artist-turned-cult leader, echo in my head as I write this newsletter.

I just woke up from a nasty little nightmare involving eco-terrorism, body horror terrorism, foul artistic expression, and a murderous artist who, charming though he may be, is going to haunt me forever. He might be the new Maddie Someday. Maddie, as you may know, is the ghost-witch who has invaded my nightmares for years and years, over and over. This artist/cult leader guy, though, may have the juice to usurp Maddie’s power, to devour and replace her, to turn her into one of his dead art pieces.

Or they’ll team up.

Oh, Hell, I’m inadvertently willing that into existence, aren’t I?

Either way, this artist, this dream, this story, is definitely going to find its way into something I write. As of this moment, I’ve been sitting here thinking it could make a great starting point for a surreal horror novel. 

As you may know, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks knee deep in a Scriptpocalypse. This is a time during which I focus more energy and effort than usual into scripting comics. The first week was very productive. The second was less productive in terms of comics. I only finished three scripts. This is because I focused a ton of effort into completing the first draft of my upcoming novel, BONES OF OUR STARS, BLOOD OF OUR WORLD!

Maybe it was just writepocalypse?

But, yes, the first draft is done! I’m letting the novel sit for a couple of weeks, then I’ll be dedicating a few weeks to rewriting the beast and making it better!

All in all, not a bad use of time, I’d say. Several scripts and the novel—finished. And with that, for now, Scriptpocalypse comes to an end. Although, really, I’m no less busy. 

I did take a day off from writing to go canoeing with my kid. I haven’t been canoeing in… over 30 years. The last time I went, my friends and I were chased down the river by some gun-wielding freaks. In defense of the gun-wielding freaks, we DID steal their Doritos and Pop Tarts. A story for another time, maybe. Anyhow, I don’t think I really lost the hang of it. It was a great time. I’m really glad I got to spend that time with him, because summer vacation is coming to an end for him. Today, he returns to school, a Junior, if you can believe that, and it feels like everything is changing so fast.

He and I spoke this week about his plans and dreams for the future. When you’re a Junior, plans and dreams tend to twist and change and mutate from second to second. Still, since he told me his big plans, I’ve been rolling the ideas over and over in my head, trying to figure out what I would need to do to make those things happen. One way ot the other, it shall be done. I’m too damn stubborn for anything less. 

I see many more scriptpocalypses in my future.   

This week, my pal JimmyZ is coming into town and we’re gonna work on a few projects together. Prose projects, comic projects, and so many gaming projects! Very excited for the weirdness we’re cooking up. 

I’ve been talking to a new publisher about doing some work together in a significant way. I’m hoping that starts to come together this week. As the same time, right now I can’t afford to sit and wait, and three other publishers have approached me about working on some new projects. I’ll probably be having those conversations this week. 

And if they all come together at the same time?

It’ll be like Maddie Someday and body-horror eco terrorist artist teaming up all over again!

It might spell almost certain madness and disaster!

But what a beautiful ride. 

The campaign for THE FARAWAY #2 will go live this week! The campaign will only run for 15 days, so don’t miss it! You can follow the campaign and you’ll get an email when it launches! The book is ready to go. I just received the lettered PDF in my inbox! In fact, I’m already preparing the launch page for the next Kickstarter comic I’ll be launching. Good times, good times.

I made time this week to watch ALIEN: ROMULUS. Without spoilers, I enjoyed it quote a bit. I had problems with it, but the mood was right and there were some really tense scenes. I would love to write a review of it, to examine the things I liked and didn’t like, but who has times for reviews? Also I hate spoilers so much. Anyhow, here is my current ALIENS movie ranking:

My "official" aliens ranking

Alien
Aliens
Alien: Romulus
Alien vs. Predator
Alien 3
Alien: Covenant
Prometheus
Alien: Resurrection
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem

All events are subject to change at a moment’s notice, but here is where I’ll be appearing in the next several months!I 

October 4 - 6, 2024 - AuthorCon 4, St. Louis, Missouri

October 26 - 27, 2024 - Cowtown Comic Convention, Fort Worth, Texas

All Year Long - KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES, Worldwide

THE SHOCK SHOP - My online store, where you can find exclusive covers you can only get directly from me!

PATREON - Here, I post a serialized novel, a serialized comic book, short stories, and other cool materials.

CULLEN'S AMAZON STORE - Listen! If you have a local comic shop or bookshop, PLEASE visit them and order your books from them. If you don't have a shop, though, or if you can't get my books from your local bookseller for some reason, this Amazon shop has tons of options.