Jeremy Haun's horror anthology Haunthology launches on Kickstarter today, and Screen Rant has some exclusive preview pages and a special message from the creator himself. The pandemic changed the comic industry in 2020, posing new challenges to creators and retailers, but it also inspired comic book projects like this one. Taking the form of an oversized hardcover containing 24 interconnecting stories, Haunthology explores the all-too-familiar themes of claustrophobia, isolation, and uncertainty.
Haun's creation features both his writing and illustration skills in all their black-and-white glory. He previously co-created Image Comics' horror series The Beauty with Jason A. Hurley as well as co-creating the fantasy series The Realm with Seth M. Peck. Haun has done a variety of work for other publishers, including on the DC series Batwoman, Batman: Streets of Gotham, and Constantine. Screen Rant previously covered the exclusive preview for his sci-fi mini-series 40 Seconds. Haun is joined for Haunthology by designer Fonografiks, whose work includes producing, lettering, and designing comics such as Saga and They're Not Like Us. The editor for the oversized anthology is Joel Enos, a comic book writer in his own right whose writing credits include Ben 10: Omniverse and Sonic the Hedgehog. Enos previously worked with Haun as the editor of his books The Beauty and The Realm.
The Haunthology Kickstarter is now available (beginning on July 6, 2021) for backers to support; first-day backers will also get a free bonus exclusive enamel pin. Haun started working on the graphic novel back in April 2020. As he explains, “HAUNTHOLOGY is a collection of short horror stories that examines all of the things we felt over the past year and a half during Covid. Each story stands on its own, but also connects to a bigger mythos within the book and my larger oeuvre.” When listing his inspirations for the stories, Haun mentioned the likes of horror and dark fantasy giants such as Stephen King (It, The Shining), Joe Hill (Locke & Key, NOS4A2), Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed), Laird Barron (Swift to Chase, Blood Standard), and Nathan Ballingrud (The Visible Filth, Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell). Below are exclusive pages from the story "The Monday After Monday," which begins by showing readers a seemingly average day only to take a wild turn, as well as an exclusive statement from the creator himself.
In his exclusive statement to Screen Rant, Haun goes into haunting detail about his personal journey into the world of horror and his biggest inspirations within the genre:
When I was a kid-- probably too young to be watching most of them, the horror section of my local video store was practically my second home. I was fascinated with them. It was the covers that always got me. The more something scared me, the more I wanted to see it. I think that's where it all started.
There's always been so much amazing horror out there. You just had to know where to look. When it comes to horror movies, I'll watch pretty much anything. So much of the stuff that really inspires me comes from those days in the video store. I constantly think of HALLOWEEN, THE THING, THE EXORCIST, ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE WICKER MAN, POLTERGEIST, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and THE SHINING. I beyond love THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. I try and watch it at least a couple times a year.
Finding Italian horror took things to a whole different level. Fulci and Argento made these perfect, dark films that got straight to the things that upset you. SUSPIRIA and INFERNO from Argento were absolute favorites, with their connected mythos. I also absolutely, nostalgically love PHENOMENA, with all of its bugs and that terrifying little monster. And of course DEEP RED. Wow...
Of course all of George Romero's work left a huge impact on me. I saw NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD when I was far too young (because it was in black and white, it MUST have been safe for a seven year old to see, right?). It still haunts me. I love all of Romero's DEAD films, but DAY OF THE DEAD is still my favorite. ZOMBI 2, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, and THE BEYOND were all just brilliant. Especially THE BEYOND. Fulci kind of broke my young mind with some of that imagery.
I have a lot of love for Stewart Gordon's bizarre, no holds barred Lovecraftian films. THE REANIMATOR is just an absolute classic. FROM BEYOND and even to a degree DAGON were a lot of fun too. There's this brilliant '70s folk-horror flick called THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW that I think about a lot. RACE THE DEVIL, while completely different, was another '70s movie that I love. Alan Parker's ANGEL HEART has stuck with me in a way that I can't quite explain. I love how that movie builds and unfolds. I think about the imagery from that film a lot. Some of those shots were perfect. The same with JACOB'S LADDER. Also ALIEN. Always always always ALIEN. Yes it's sci-fi. But it's absolute horror. And it's gorgeous.
There's a lot of fantastic modern horror that I love. I feel like these are filmmakers that are around the same age as me and were influenced by all of this stuff I've mentioned. BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW, MANDY, HEREDITARY, THE WITCH, IT FOLLOWS, RAW, GET OUT, THE ENDLESS, and THE BABADOOK are shining examples of what can be done with horror. I could honestly go on and on about TWIN PEAKS and how it's affected and influenced me from that first episode back in 1990, to today. Lynch is a singular genius. I have so much love for all of his work. There's no way to begin to replicate what he does, but I think there is an entire generation of creatives that learned about the terrifying beauty of expressionist filmmaking from Lynch.
I started reading pretty early. It was an escape. I found THE HOBBIT, which led to the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, and I just never stopped. Early on I was a fantasy nut. Still am, really. I absorbed every CONAN novel I could get my hands on. Robert E. Howard was an absolute favorite. While CONAN was always my favorite, I loved (and still love) SOLOMON KANE and KULL. I didn't really get his Lovecraft influence until later, but there's definitely a throughline there. All of that led to DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS and an obsession with the DRAGONLANCE novels.
In 1988, at 13, I found this paperback edition of Stephen King's DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER on the shelves. I'd always been curious about King's novels, especially IT, with that terrifying image of the paper boat and the grate with the clawed hand reaching out, but could never convince my mom to let me pick one up. In spite of her "No King" rule, I managed to convince my mother that THE GUNSLINGER was just another fantasy book, like the piles of CONAN, SWORD OF SHANNARA, CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, and THE LORD OF THE RINGS I had laying around my room. THE GUNSLINGER was my gateway drug. I was in. The moment I finished THE DARK TOWER, I wanted more King. I read everything I could get my hands on. I raided the library. I bought every dog eared paperback I could find. I found that feeling I'd been searching for.
Steven King led to Clive Barker. King's quote "I have seen the future of horror; his name is Clive Barker." grabbed me. If Stephen King loved this guy, I knew I was going to as well. To be honest, I'm not sure I was ready for Barker. BOOKS OF BLOOD scared the HELL out of me. It did things that I didn't even understand. And I loved it. Barker's unfinished "BOOKS OF ART" trilogy is still a favorite. Somewhere in there, all of this led me back to H.P. Lovecraft. At the time I didn't understand what a deplorable human being the man was. I just found this bizarre mythos filled with Old Gods and became obsessed. Lovecraft was kind of the father of it all. The...horribly racist, sexist father that you no longer talk to, but still.
For me, horror comics are all about those EC short stories. TALES FROM THE CRYPT, THE VAULT OF HORROR, THE HAUNT OF FEAR, and even the sci-fi stuff like WEIRD FANTASY were such an inspiration on my work. I've always loved short stories and they did it perfectly. Much like with film, there's a whole slew of comic creators making fantastic stuff right now. Mike Mignola, Emily Carroll, Cullen Bunn, Jeff Lemire, Becky Cloonan, James Tynion, Jordie Bellaire, and of course Robert Kirkman are writing amazing horror comics. More than anyone right now, Junji Ito's work (UZUMAK, GYO, TOMIE) just gets to me. It is brilliant, beautiful, and absolutely, unrelentingly disturbing. His short story work is definitely an inspiration for my work. The idea that one voice is creating a breadth of short horror is exactly what I want to be doing.
It's amazing how all of the varied influences, across different mediums (and at times genre) influence who we become as creatives. There's such a legacy in horror. I'm honored to jump in and be a small part of that.
Other highlights from the collection include an online shopper who gets more than they bargained for when a ghastly package arrives for them and a group of the undead coming to terms with their weakening connection to humanity. The oversized anthology specializes in taking the ordinary and pairing it with the extraordinary, keeping it relatable and exploring important themes that may have never been more relevant to readers than they are right now. A 144-page hardcover collection, Haunthology is available to back now, from Jeremy Haun.
Source: Kickstarter