Nightmare Fuel, Issue 234

ISSUE 234: WE CAN DRIVE IT HOME… WITH ONE SEVERED ARM

Cindy and I are currently sharing a car. We have been for a few months now. For the most part, it’s been going well. A few headaches. A few alternative travel arrangements to be made. And, I mean, sometimes Cindy drives around town, does errands, has important meetings, and swings by our kid’s school…

…with a severed arm on the front of the car.

You see, every October for the past several years, my son and I turn our garage into a haunted house of sorts. That means (because I’m a little lazy when it comes to haunted house clean up) the garage is almost always a holding zone for animatronic monsters, skeletons, and gory body parts. Somehow, one of those body parts ended up on the front of the car and held on for dear… unlife. I’m a little surprised it stayed there without toppling onto the highway… which might have also been interesting. 

That’s what Cindy gets for sharing a car with a horror writer. 

Actually, I think the severed arm looks kind of nice there. Maybe I should just keep it that way. After all, when you drive a Jeep, other Jeep owners are always waving at you. This would take a little pressure off me since the arm is pretty much returning the wave. 

While it got off to a slower start than I would have liked, the Kickstarter campaign for THE FARAWAY 1 and 2 reached its funding goal yesterday. Now, we need to bypass that… by a lot. If you haven’t looked at the campaign, some support would be very much appreciated. If you have supported the campaign—THANK YOU! Please let your friends, family, and mortal enemies know all about it! 

Keep in mind, this is a shortened campaign. We have other Kickstarter projects planned! So, you only have a limited amount of time to back the project!

Wanna win some free comics? Well, here’s your chance! I used to do drawings like this all the time. It’s been a minute since I did one, though, and I’m trying out a new contest application. There are a lot of ways to enter and add entries to the mix. Join in the fun!

This, of course, is all part of my renewed effort to spread the word about my work, my Kickstarters, my Patreon, and just about everything else I’ve got going on. Sometimes, being a comic book writer seems like it’s about 10% writing and 110% everything else! 

After two weeks of Scriptpocalypse, I focused on anything other than writing. I worked on marketing. I planned. I sketched out ideas. I organized office space. I made list after list after list. JimmyZ stopped by for a few days and we plotted for the future. 

I’m back to (mostly) scripting this week. I have three projects I’d like to knock out. I have a few phone calls and Zoom meetings on the books, too. One of those Zoom meetings is a “really big deal” and I’ve been stress eating like wild in preparation for it. I’m like the Flash, I guess. I have to eat a lot to keep up with increased stress conditions and a heightened metabolism. Only, instead of connecting with the Speed Force and getting super-fast, I just gain weight and feel bad about myself.  

Then, starting next week, my focus shifts again, and almost all my time will be dedicated to writing the second draft of my novel, BONES OF OUR STARS, BLOOD OF OUR WORLD. I’m so hyped up (and nervous) about the re-write that I’ve been dreaming about it. I’ll be focused on that until the work is done. 

My pal Mr. Macabre is back with a few ideas on alien-centric horror. 

I try to let Macabre do his thing without a lot of editorializing, but I can’t just sit back and say nothing here. Is it just me, or does it feel like he’s trolling us with these rankings?

This week, there was much discussion among my friends about ALIEN: ROMULUS. The consensus is we all enjoyed it quite a bit. We all had quibbles, but we enjoyed the movie from beginning to end. 

I also watched THE COFFEE TABLE, which I did NOT enjoy from beginning to end. In fact, I may have hated it. I know a lot of people really liked it, but this one was not for me. At all. 

Because I’m running “my last D&D campaign ever” and I’m just now putting my players through the classic module DUNGEONLAND, which is based on the works of Lewis Carroll, I watched the ALICE IN WONDERLAND movies from a few years back. I just didn’t feel like re-reading the book. And, really, the characters are going to be fighting the Caterpillar in a death duel. It’s not meant to be a one-for-one translation. Anyhow, I had never seen those movies, and I thought they were interesting enough, definitely odd-looking in all the right ways. 

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.