Back in March, we announced that Tony Fleecs, author of Stray Dogs and Feral, would be leading the charge on the FANGORIA: Horror Anthology project. (Made possible by the wonderful goblins and ghouls who backed First In Fright: The FANGORIA Compendium.) We promised you more names in that announcement, and oh, what names we have.
We’re thrilled to share that Amanda Deibert (Teen Titans Go, The Batman and Scooby Doo Mysteries), Catherine Corcoran (Terrifier, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence), Cullen Bunn (X-Men Blue, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time), and Steve Niles (Spawn: The Dark Ages, Bad Planet) will be joining Fleecs in the lineup, offering their own twisted tales to the anthology.
As with Fleecs, we wanted to make sure that our Fango fam had the opportunity to get to know any of the writers that they might not be familiar with just yet.
What’s your personal relationship with FANGORIA?
“I came late to Fangoria,” says Deibert. “I grew up about a centimeter from being Carrie, so most of the horror genre was forbidden, as were horror-themed magazines. As you can imagine, it had the opposite outcome… forbidden fruit. So, thank you for being something delightful for me to discover in the freedom of my 20s.”
“I got into FANGORIA in high school after taking an early college class at NYU and finding an archive copy in their library,” Corcoran offers. “I was immediately hooked and subscribed to the cult of what became my sacred text. Two years later, I was lucky enough to star in a film featured in it, and I’ve been doing my best to uphold that honor and make my fellow cult members proud ever since.”
Bunn, however, came into Fango a little earlier in life. “Oh, I absolutely read FANGORIA as a kid. I grabbed copies here and there when I could find it,” he says. “Then… as I started getting into special effects makeup (because that was a dream of mine)… I started collecting it rabidly. Even when I moved away from that dream and started pursuing writing, my love of the horror genre and of FANGORIA remained. In fact, while I was in college, I made my first professional sale to a magazine – to FANGORIA. The story appeared in issue 144 in 1995!”
The same can be said for Niles, who has been a part of the Fango fam from Day 1. “I distinctly remember getting the first issue when it came out with the Godzilla cover and inside was the exploding head from Dawn of the Dead. I was hooked for life. The first time a project of mine was covered was a major thrill.”
What horror filmmaker or film most heavily inspires your work?
“There are so many but recently, Julia Ducournau, Karyn Kusama, all doing really fearless, body-forward work really inspires me,” Corcoran starts. “I love everything Bong Joon Ho does, and I think Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is magnificent. Anything Jamie Lee Curtis takes on is a master class in cinema. Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was my gateway horror movie so I stop what I’m doing any time that is on, along with The Craft, Brian De Palma’s Carrie, David Slade’s Hard Candy and the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”
“It’s got to be George Romero and Night of the Living Dead 1968,” says Niles. “It was the first horror movie that truly scared me as a kid. Romero himself was the DIY king. He did everything outside the Hollywood system, and I loved that. There is also the connection to my favorite book, Richard Matheson’s I am Legend. Romero always said it was a huge inspiration.”
“John Carpenter,” Deibert chimes in. “I love his films, he’s an absolute master of the genre and a true artist in every sense of the word. Also, that is quite literally how I got started writing horror. John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight Vol. 2 was my very first published horror comic. Sandy King Carpenter said she would ‘drag me into horror,’ but the truth is I was an enthusiastic and willing victim, and now here I am almost a decade later with a high body count.”
Bunn agrees after some consideration, adding, “I guess my defaults are Cronenberg and Carpenter. I am such a fan of both directors, and I think about their films a lot.”
If you could only work in one hyper-specific horror subgenre for the rest of your career, what would it be?
“I have a character: Cal McDonald. He’s a hardboiled monster hunter,” Niles explains. “I could write him forever. Love monster hunters. It’s a great subgenre because you have access to everything.”
“Hyper-specific? You’re really putting me in a box here,” says Bunn. “Let’s say… localized rural eco-system folk horror. Have I ever written anything in that sub-genre? I didn’t think of it in those terms as I was writing it, but yes! I loved the story and readers will be seeing it soon!”
Corcoran takes things to space, offering “alien vampires. Give me your blood and your intergalactic daddy issues.” Deibert, in the meantime, keeps her feet on the ground with a “feminine rage psychological thriller with folk/occult elements.”
If your work had a soundtrack, what musicians would be on it?
As you can expect, Carpenter came up in conversation more than once.
“I listen to John Carpenter’s albums often while writing horror,” says Deibert. “So, a lot of John, Cody [Carpenter], and Daniel [Davies]. And Florence + The Machine, particularly the ‘Everybody Scream’ album, Kiki Rockwell, ØXN, and a lot of folk.”
“It changes from project to project,” mentions Bunn. “While I’m working, I can’t listen to music with lyrics, so it is a lot of John Carpenter and Christopher Young (depending, of course, on the genre), so they should have spots on the soundtrack. I feel like Gunship, Carpenter Brut, Nick Cave, Goblin, Rosegarden Funeral Party, The Cure, Joy Division, Bloody Hammers, and Rob Zombie would all have spots.”
Niles and Corcoran chime in with a succinct “The Birthday Party, Bad Brains, Russian Circles and Motörhead,” from the former and “Nine Inch Nails, PJ Harvey, Bikini Kill, Siouxsie and the Banshees and a touch of Kneecap for the spiral,” from the latter.
What’s your favorite FANGORIA cover?
The best part of asking this question is that the answers are almost never the same. That’s certainly true of our anthology team, making us all the more excited for their varying entries (which are included below, for you visual learners!)
Deibert offered some options, because how do you choose just one?! “This is very difficult. I’m going with #153: I love The Craft AND Escape from LA is in the top left corner. It’s a win,” she says. “Other close contenders include #176, #344, and #343.”
Niles keeps things nostalgic and offers a runner-up. “I’d have to go with the first issue. It means so much to me. Second place is the Rob Bottin Thing cover [#21],” he says.
“Definitely #7: Jack Nicholson, The Shining,” says Corcoran.
“Oh wow! So many great covers! The one that springs immediately to mind, though, is #9 with that Motel Hell imagery,” Bunn gushes. “The pig’s head. The blood. The chainsaw popping right off the page!”
We’ve got more updates on First In Fright coming your way much sooner than you think. But, in the meantime, don’t forget that the only way to snag the affectionately dubbed FANGORIA Issue 0 (this incredible horror anthology comic) is to back the book on Kickstarter before it comes to a close.
