THE SHOCK SHOP IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS, AND INTERVIEW WITH CULLEN BUNN

5/9/2022

Shock Shop is meant to feel like you’re getting two individual books in one, and the differing art styles helps that along. Plus, it’s just a celebration of how there are so many great styles of art out there in the world of horror comics!

Ginger Nuts of Horror is honoured to bring you an exclusive interview with the comic book legend Cullen Bunn.

Cullen Bunn has created horror comics such as Harrow County, Death Follows, The Empty Man, and more. This fall he has a new horror anthology series coming out called Shock Shop--it is a flip comic that features two stories throughout the series run, all framed within a haunted comic shop with a twister retailer who tells the stories.

Hello Cullen, congratulations on the forthcoming release of Shock Shop; how are you feeling in the days leading up to its release?

Thank you! I’m so excited. It feels like the slate of books I have coming out right now are so true to who I am as a writer, and I love it. Shock Shop is particularly thrilling, because it’s the kind of book through which I can tell countless horror stories for years to come!

I love the concept of framing the series within a book shop filled with some of your previous publications; what was the inspiration for this idea?

I drew a lot of inspiration from the great horror anthology comics of the past, notably DC’s House of Mystery. Issues of that comic would often start with these great full-page splashes of the book’s host Caine in some strange situation within the confines of this sprawling haunted house. I loved those splash pages, sometimes much more than the stories that would follow. So, I wanted to capture that feel. Rather than setting the framing sequences in a haunted house, I decided to set them in a haunted comic book shop. I feel like comic retailers and fans alike will get a kick out of the “meta” elements of those splash pages. And, yes, having the introductions in a comic shop gave me a chance to throw some hints out there to some of my other books.

And how did you decide which of your previous books were on show?

The biggest driving factor is I only wanted to showcase creator-owned books. Beyond that, I feel like I’m pretty open, though Dark Horse books like Harrow County, Death Follows, Lucky Devil, and Manor Black would get preferential treatment. Some others are just completely made up. Some might even hint at future Shock Shop stories.

You have taken the Tales of the Cryptkeeper approach to framing the stories with a "host", what was the reason for this, and will we learn more about Desdaemona? Does she have her own story to tell?

The horror host is such a time-honored tradition in comics, and I wanted to honor that. In addition, though, Desdaemona allows me to have a bit of fun, to be cheeky, to throw a few puns into the mix. Her surroundings allow for some wild shenanigans, the likes of which you might have seen in the good old days of horror comics. The comic shop she works in might look like the ghastly, mishmash painting on a county fair haunted house or on a 70s horror SFX record. Anything goes. But then we get into the stories which, at least for this go-round, much more serious and dark.

Many authors get inspiration from the things that scare them; what scares you, and how do you use your fears in your stories?

Only one thing scares me, and that’s getting struck by lightning a fifth time!

All joking aside, lately it feels like everything scares me. That’s not being facetious, either. There was a time in my life when nothing scared me. Nothing phased me. As I’ve gotten older, the pendulum has swung drastically in the other direction. Maybe the thing that really haunts me right now is the idea of letting the people I love down in some way. I’ve really been struggling with that a lot.

Most of the time, the things that are frightening me come to the surface without a lot of hard work. I start writing, and those pesky fears of mine bubble to the surface whether I want them to or not.

I have to admit I haven't read many comics since the mid-90s; I had an obsession that almost bankrupted me as a student; what has changed within the comic scene?

There have been a lot of changes! And you’ve missed a lot of amazing comics! There are so many great books. Creator-owned comics have been around for a long while, but nowadays there are so many! No matter what kind of story you like, there’s almost certainly a comic book for you. And the horror genre is very well represented. Every flavor of horror. It’s there for you. Yes, with so many books on the shelves, creators have to work extra hard to get seen. You have to do everything you can to stand out among a sea of amazing content.

One of the things that put me off reading comics was the massive multi-comic crossover events. Will new readers of Shock Shop get more out of this series if they have prior experience with your work?

Prior experience with my work is not necessary at all. Both of the stories in Shock Shop are completely self-contained and completely independent.
One of the things I love about creator-owned comics is that most of them stand on their own and you can dive into them without all the previous books or all tie-ins.

Now, if someone reads Shock Shop and likes it, there are plenty of books I’d suggest as next steps to exploring my work. Harrow County (also from Dark Horse) is collected in some really easy-entry collections. The Sixth Gun from Oni Press is another great example of my work and is collected and easy to follow. Those are longer series, but completely independent of other books. (And I’m pretty proud of them, to boot.)

When you sat down to write it, did you have a laid-out direction for the series? Did you know what stories you wanted to tell beyond the initial two tales?

I have a long list of story ideas I’d like to tackle in the pages of Shock Shop, but I had to narrow it down to just two. I chose “Something in the Woods, in the Dark” and “Familiars” because those two just sort of jumped out at me. I haven’t decided for sure which stories I’d like to tackle next, but I have some thoughts. One of them is one that wasn’t even on the initial list I put together!

The first two stories have a similar tone and feel. Was this a deliberate move, or something that just happened by chance?

It was something of a happy accident, really. I picked those two stories because I thought they’d be fun beginnings to the Shock Shop series. As I started writing them, though, I realized they had a lot of thematic connections. Once I figured that out, I really leaned into it. I enjoyed exploring similar themes in very different ways, and I’ll be doing more of that in future stories.

Will the tone remain the same throughout the run? Do you have any comical" tales coming up?

Yes, the tone for the first two stories is set. They’re both fairly serious pieces. In the future, though, I absolutely have plans for more humorous horror tales. I really think Shock Shop will give me the chance to explore so many sub-genres of horror, which is one of the things I’m most excited about.

You took the, for me, unusual approach of having a different artist for each tale; why did you do this?

I very much wanted each of the stories to feel like unique entities. If the same artist had drawn both tales, I feel like they would have blended together a little too much for my taste. Shock Shop is meant to feel like you’re getting two individual books in one, and the differing art styles helps that along. Plus, it’s just a celebration of how there are so many great styles of art out there in the world of horror comics!

How well did you know the artists? Was this an easy pitch to make to them?

I have worked with Leila Leiz and Danny Luckert on other projects. Leila and I just wrapped a run on a horror series titled The Last Book You’ll Ever Read from Vault. And Danny and I did a horror series titled Regression for Image a little while back. When we were planning this series, they were the two artists I wanted to approach first. And, yeah, it was a pretty easy pitch. I told them the story concepts, and they were all-in.

If you could have any artist, living or dead, draw a future edition of Shock Shop, who would you have?

There are so many! Tyler Crook, Brian Hurtt, Dan Brereton, Kyle Strahm, Vanessa Del Ray, Joelle Jones, Sally Cantirino, Chris Samnee, Emily Schnall… Really, the list goes on and on.

If the mortal realm was no issue, the only real answer would, of course, be Bernie Wrightson, who helped shape my adoration of the horror anthology comic… and horror comics in general.

You have written comics based solely on your own creations and other intellectual properties, does your writing process change when writing within someone else's world?

I don’t know that my process changes that much, but there are definitely fewer steps. When writing something in a world someone else controls, there are more approvals to go through. Sometimes several rounds of approvals. It’s their world, after all. With creator-owned projects, the final decisions fall to the creator. In that case, it’s our world, after all.

What draws you to write in someone else's world?

Sometimes it’s nostalgia, a simple joy in becoming part of a world or character that I loved in days gone by. Sometimes it’s an excitement for being involved in a property I’m currently digging. Sometimes I’ll take a project because my kid or a friend is really into the property I’m writing for. Sometimes it’s a feeling of being able to contribute in some small to something bigger. Occasionally, if I’m really lucky, it’s a combination of all of the above.

Horror seems to be your preferred genre to write in; what draws you into the horror genre more than any other?

It’s the genre I feel most comfortable with. I feel like it’s a great genre to get a real, emotional reaction from readers. And I feel like it’s a terrific genre to explore so, so many different kinds of stories. There are many flavors of horror, and I love ‘em all!

You are one of the hardest working creators out there; when do you find time just to sit and relax, and what do you like to do during your downtime?

It’s sad to say, I don’t really feel like I get a lot of downtime. I’m almost always working, always plotting, always writing, always posting marketing content or responding to emails or taking meetings. It’s… a lot. I’ve been seriously considering hiring someone to help with the busy work like keeping my website and newsletter and social media updated so I can just focus on the part I like best—the writing—but I’ve been doing it all myself for so long, it sometimes feels like I’m the only one who can handle those things the way I like. I know, I know. Sounds like a control freak to me. I do try to carve out some downtime, and I love spending time with my wife and son as much as I can. We try to get little vacations and trips in when we can. I have a group of friends I get together with about once a week to relax and just talk. And I’m very excited that I’m planning on attending a convention next year—for the first time in well over a decade—just as a fan. A no work weekend!

Can you tell us about any future projects you have lined up?

In addition to Shock Shop, I have a few other horror comics lined up. We just announced Door to Door, Night by Night from Vault Comics; A Foulness in the Walls from Aftershock; and A Legacy of Violence from Mad Cave. And I’m working on several new series that haven’t been announced yet, but they are all going to be exciting for horror fans, I think! I’m always trying to cook up new stories, and I’m very thankful to the folks who give them a read!

Cullen Bunn

Cullen Bunn is the New York Times bestselling writer of the Sixth Gun, Harrow County, Bone Parish, and Dark Ark series; Bunn has written for Marvel, DC, Valiant, and many others. Bunn considers himself a lucky husband and father, and was once the world’s youngest hypnotist. His website is www.cullenbunn.com.