The Art of Terror: Early Haunts

"𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓰𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼, 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽𝓵𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓹𝓽𝓱𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓻𝔂 𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓬 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵 𝓪𝓭𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓵𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮. 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓢𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹𝔂 𝓗𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀, 𝓡𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓕𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓼 𝓒𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓵." 

 October is here. The nights are dark and cold, the perfect time to snuggle up in the warm, with a hot drink and something spooky. What's winter without a good ghost story? But there are so many to choose from and sometimes you want something new, something you haven't read before. How about a classic ghost story or two? Better yet, how about four in the form of a beautifully written and illustrated graphic novel?

This graphic novel is bought to us by author T.W.Burgess. His first novel was self-published in 2014
and he has since released five others, including Photoghasts, the worlds first AR haunted book. His works have garnered great praise from publications such as Starburst Magazine and Rue Morgue, and have included introductions from Junji Ito, Reece Shearsmith and Corin Hardy. With these books, he has helped introduce us to a wonderful world of spine chilling horror. And now, with the help of a team of amazing artists, that world is about to expand even further. I'd like to introduce you to Early Haunts, a stunning and much anticipated graphic novel which I hope you'll consider adding to your collection. If not for yourself, then for that special spooky someone in your life. This new anthology brings you four little known classic tales of terror, coming to us from mythology and early folklore, and introducing the reader to a carefully curated collection of some of the earliest recorded ghost stories. Some of you may have heard of these stories, but many of you won't have and Early Haunts is the perfect introduction to them for any reader. 

The Stories

The House in Athens

Adapted from the ancient Roman story of the same name, it was found in the letters of Pliny The Younger, a Roman politician and writer. He lived from 61AD to 113AD, which gives you an idea of just how old this story is, making it the earliest recorded ghost story in the book. The House in Athens tells the tale of a terrifying chained apparition stalking a house in ancient Athens and how a man named Athenodorus set out to solve the mystery of this ominous spectre. You'll recognise this chained ghost from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, as it was an inspiration for the tormented spirit of Jacob Marley.

It's illustrated by Mike O Brien, who has captured the story wonderfully with his rich colour pallet and sweeping brush strokes. His work has previously been included in Cracked Eye Magazine and at the Bishop's Stortford Museum, among others.

The Tale from Dish Mansion

Originally recorded as The Plate House, by Baba Bunko in 1758, this folktale can trace its origins to a Kabuki play by the name of Bancho Saravashiki. It tells the chilling story of Okiku, a girl doomed to become a tragic and terrifying Japanese spirit known as a Yokai. If she sounds familiar to you when you read this chapter, then you can thank author Koji Suzuki, who seems to have taken inspiration from this tale for his novel, The Ring, thus bringing us another well dwelling spector; Sadako. 

Illustrator Bri Neumann and colourist Bryan Valenza have bought this tale to life with incredible attention to detail and a gorgeously warm colour pallet. 

Bri Neumann has worked in Television, Animation and Computer Games in a variety of different roles, including working for Dreamworks Animation, Nintendo and Rick & Morty, among others.

Bryan Valenza has worked for both indie and non-indie publishers, including DC Comics, Image Comics and Lion Forge.

The Wild Huntsman

The Wild Huntsman has been carefully dapted from the poem of the same name, which was written by the German poet Gottfried August Bürger in the 1700s. Based on German folklore, it concerns the tale of a huntsman who, upon going hunting on a Sunday, soon finds himself cursed through his own actions. This creepy poem was a source of inspiration for Washington Irving, when he was writing his own classic ghost story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Illustrator Brian Coldrick has brought this chilling tale to life with a cool colour pallet and stunning art style that brings life to the frantic chase depicted in the poem. Known for his brilliant webcomic Behind You, his work also includes monster design for Doctor Who, robotic prosthetics for Lady Gaga and cover art for Locke and Key.

The Death Bride

A chilling Italian gothic horror story, The Death Bride hails from a French anthology of German ghost stories known as Fantasmagoriana. This tale of love and terror was first translated by Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, anonymously for some reason and it was published in 1812. Fantasmagoriana was one of many books read by Mary Shelly during her stay in Geneva with her husband Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, becoming one of her main influences when writing her famous novel Frankenstein.

This story is illustrated by David Romero, a freelance illustrator and animator whos speciality is horror. His haunting artwork adds a dark atmosphere to this story, which brings with it a creeping dread. Very fitting for a story like this. David has worked for many people and companies, including Image Comics and Simply Scary Podcast.

A lot of work has been put into this project, each story has been painstakingly adapted by T.W.Burgess and beautifully bought to life by the artists involved. Simply put, it's a labour of love. The Kickstarter campaign ends on the 6th of November, so you still have plenty of time to get involved and show your support for this exciting project. 

Head over to the Early Haunts Kickstarter now and you can help bring this book to life in the form of an elegantly designed hardback novel. 

There are seven levels of support you can offer. Each brings with it a signed first edition of the book (either digital, physical or both.) and various other goodies, including (depending on the amount pledged.) limited edition bookplates, copies of T.W.burgess' other novels, a copy of the Early Haunts digital sketchbook and a Thank You in the back of the book itself.  The campaign also includes three fabulous Stretch Goals. It's reached the £10,000 goal so all print backers will receive a limited edition art print, but if it reaches £15,000 then they will be able to include AR pages in the book and if it reaches £20,000 then every backer will get a copy of an exclusive bonus comic. T.W.Burgess and Brian Coldrick have been working on a comic adapted from the actual haunting which inspired the classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw, written by Henry James. 

I myself have signed up and am following the campaign with much excitement. How about you, dear reader? Are you already following Early Haunts? What are you excited about the most, what has you hyped for the project's completion? If you arent following Early Haunts on Kickstarter just yet, then I highly recommend you do so. This unique and fascinating graphic novel is an excellent addition to any ghost story or graphic novel collection.

As always, I'd love to hear from you, either in the comments below or by tagging me in a post on Twitter. Plus don't forget to send some extra good vibes and support to team responsible for this beautiful project, by following them on Twitter too. Their profiles can be reached by clicking on their names.

 𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓗𝓪𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓼.

 𝓞𝓷 𝓚𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷!

A Ghost Story for Christmas

Photo by myself.

Christmas is rapidly approaching and the nights are drawing in. Combined with the winter weather, often rain and occasionally snow, it's a very gloomy time of year indeed. We brighten our homes with a multitude decorations, Christmas trees go up and towns are festooned with glittering lights of every colour. The tradition of Christmas decorations is used not only to celebrate but to drive back the darkness. But celebrating Christmas by drawing light and warmth into our homes hasn't always been our only festive tradition, another used to be the telling of ghost stories. It's possible that this particular tradition started way back before Christmas as we know it, back when people were predominantly Pagan and this time of the year was a time when spirits could draw closer. A time of year when both light and dark, death and rebirth were honoured. Huddling by the fire with their families, telling stories to scare each other was the perfect way to while away the dark nights. While this tradition carried on through the decades, it is the Victorians that created the Christmas Ghost Stories that we are most familiar with and wrote so many great stories that it has been hard to choose only five. Sadly, at some point this tradition went out of fashion and the Christmas Ghost Story became almost as decrepit and abandoned as the houses they were often based in. It's thanks to various incarnations of Charles Dickens Christmas Carol (which will not be on this list.), television programs such as A Ghost Story for Christmas, as well as the love of a good ghost story that this tradition didn't die out completely. More recently there have been various calls for this tradition to make a come back and I don't believe it will be long before it does. Not everyone wants a saccharine sweet Christmas, after all. Some of us like a bit of sour with our sweet.
So, grab a hot drink, a warm blanket and turn those lights down low as I present to you my top five ghost stories for Christmas.

The Shadow, by E. Nesbit

Out of all the stories on this list, The Shadow feels almost like a true story. Although just a work of fiction, it reads like something you'd find on a paranormal forum or hear on a true ghost stories Youtube video. And while it might surprise you to know that E. Nesbit is best known for The Railway Children, this short story is drastically different. If read late at night you may well find yourself jumping at every shadow on your way to bed. First published in 1905, under the name of The Portent of the Shadow, the style in which it is written only adds a sence of realism to the story.
Our narrator is at a house party with her friends. Things are winding down and those who are staying the night are starting to find rooms for themselves. Well, almost everybody, as we are informed that a few of the boys have bedded down on the dinning room table for the night. The narrator and a few of her friends have set themselves up in a room connected to another, in which a girl who fainted at the party is now sleeping and is being kept watch over by our little group. Not yet ready for sleep, the girls have chosen to start telling ghost stories. Although they all claim to not believe in ghosts, they have successfully spooked themselves. Soon they are interrupted by the housekeeper, who has come to check on they girl who fainted. Bribed with the promise of a warm fire, good company and hot chocolate, the house keeper tells the girls a ghost story of her own. The tale is that of something the housekeeper experienced herself. But to both her and her listeners horror, they discover the story has yet to reach its horrific and tragic end.

A Warning to the Curious, by M. R. James

This was a difficult one to choose, as I was torn between this story and Lost Hearts. When it comes to choosing any of James' tales for a top five list, it's not an easy task as they are all wonderful. This one is based in the fictional seaside town of Seaburgh, which itself is based on the real life town of Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. First published in 1925, this a beautifully dark and bleak ghost story. M. R. James' well rounded, descriptive writing builds up the unsettling atmosphere and the growing sense of danger, as our narrator realises just how much peril his new friend is in.
Taking place during what is meant to be a relaxing holiday, our narrator and his companion make the acquaintance of a man by the name of Paxton, who is staying at the same hotel as they are. Their new companion is a gloomy and nervous fellow, one who has a terrifying secret. You see, he is an amateur treasure hunter and he has managed to find a hidden anglo-saxon crown. This treasure is one of three such crowns hidden along the English coast and the only one not yet lost. A wonderful treasure indeed, for it has been long sought-after. But it's discovery comes with a terrible price, as it's protected by a shadowy, supernatural keeper. The ominous presence of this ever following sentinel is turning poor Paxton into a nervous wreak and, if his new friends at first doubt his claims, they soon come to see that he speaks the truth.

The Signalman, by Charles Dickens

I know I said the A Christmas Carol wouldn't be on this list, but I couldn't ignore Dicken's completely. Not when he's responsible for this chilling gem of a tale. On the 9th of June, 1865, Charles Dickens was involved in a terrible train accident. The train partially derailed and most of the carriages fell from the viaduct they were traveling across and into the river below, with their passengers trapped inside. Dickens carriage was one of the only ones not to fall and he stayed at the scene, helping his fellow passengers, both alive and otherwise. While he survived, the sights he saw there left him scarred by the event. It's believed that this tragedy influenced the creation of The Signalman. This story revolves lonely signalman at a remote signal box, who is befriended by the narrator when he comes upon the location completely by chance and spots the Signalman as he goes about his duties. The Narrator enjoys the company of his slightly gloomy new friend, visiting him often, but notes he seems haunted by something and tries to get the man to open up to about his worries. And open up he does, eventually revealing that he is haunted by a sinister spirit, one who's appearance heralds disaster but gives no clues as to what it might be. Worse yet, he has seen the spirit again, several times that very week. The narrator believes his companion is suffering from hallucinations, but his comforting presence doesn't stop the supernatural happenings, which continue even though he cannot see them himself. The atmosphere is dark and foreboding, claustrophobic even, growing more and more tense as the story leads to it's inevitable and horrifying end.



The Old Nurse's Story, by Elizabeth Gaskell.
The Old Nurses Story brings to mind the image of an old Victorian parlor, lit only by a roaring fire, with the old nurse surrounded by a new generation of charges, all eager for just one more story before they go to bed. Both cosy and chilling, it's a shame there have been (to my knowledge) no TV adaptations of this tale, as it would make an amazing TV show. Imagine The Haunting of Hill House, but more claustrophobic and urgent. Charles Dickens very much admired this tale, even offering constructive advice on how Gaskell should write the ending. While she paid attention to some of that advice, she didn't end the story entirely the way Dickens suggested, resulting in this beautiful short story.
Following a young child Rosamond and our Narrator, her nurse Hesther, the story begins when the young mistress is orphaned and the two girls are sent to live with the Aunt of a Cousin at a large and crumbling old house in Northumberland. This sinister abode comes with a tragic secret that seems determined not to remain buried, and our narrator soon realises that getting to the bottom of that secret is a matter of life and death, as history is seeking to repeat itself. With the situation growing more tense by the page and time running out, this story will leave you wondering how it will end.

The Captain of the Pole-Star, by Arthur Conan Doyle

While he is most famous for his stories about Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle is also known for his tales of horror and the supernatural. Many excellent ghost stories came from the mind of this author and out of all of those tales, this one is probably helped along by Doyles own adventures. If the descriptions of the Arctic in this story seem particularly realistic and haunting to you, that would be because Arthur Conan Doyle, who studied medicine from 1876 to 1881, served as a surgeon on a whaling boat by the name of Hope during 1880. Who better to write about the Arctic than a man who, by all accounts, fell into the sea there more than once and nearly froze to death. Thankfully he did not, and we have this wonderful ghost story. First published in 1890, this is the tale of a young doctor working aboard a whaling ship. For a short story the atmosphere builds slowly. Certainly the ships captain seems a bit eccentric at first, but when the ship gets frozen in the ice he only seems to grow more unpredictable. Soon the rest of the crew are claiming to both hear and see a pale specter stalking them on the ice and at sea. But are they really seeing a spirit or is the isolation and bleakness of the environment just driving everyone insane? Will they be trapped in the ice forever with no escape? And if there is a spirit haunting the ship then what, or who, does it want?

I hope you enjoy these stories, they're all guaranteed to send a chill down your spine. Read them before? Know any good Christmas ghost stories you want to share? Let me know in the comments sections below or tag me in a Twitter post!