Friday, October 16, 2020

The Art of Terror: Early Haunts


"๐“•๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ป ๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ต๐”‚ ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ผ๐“น๐“ฒ๐“ป๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ช๐“ต ๐“ฐ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐“ผ, ๐“ถ๐“ธ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ต๐”‚ ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป๐“ฐ๐“ธ๐“ฝ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ท ๐“ฒ๐“ท ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ญ๐“ฎ๐“น๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ผ ๐“ธ๐“ฏ ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ช๐“ป๐”‚ ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ป๐”‚ ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ฎ ๐“ซ๐“ป๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ฐ๐“ฑ๐“ฝ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ฐ๐“ฎ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ป ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ฏ๐“ฒ๐“ป๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ถ๐“ฎ ๐“ฒ๐“ท ๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ฎ ๐“ฐ๐“ป๐“ช๐“น๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ฌ ๐“ท๐“ธ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ๐“ต ๐“ช๐“ญ๐“ช๐“น๐“ฝ๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ธ๐“ท ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“ช๐“ท ๐“ฎ๐”๐“ฌ๐“ต๐“พ๐“ผ๐“ฒ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ญ๐“ซ๐“ช๐“ฌ๐“ด ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ต๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ผ๐“ฎ. ๐“ข๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐“ผ ๐”€๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ฌ๐“ฑ ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ผ๐“น๐“ฒ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ข๐“ต๐“ฎ๐“ฎ๐“น๐”‚ ๐“—๐“ธ๐“ต๐“ต๐“ธ๐”€, ๐“ก๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ, ๐“•๐“ป๐“ช๐“ท๐“ด๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ฒ๐“ท ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“ช ๐“’๐“ฑ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ถ๐“ช๐“ผ ๐“’๐“ช๐“ป๐“ธ๐“ต." 

 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 Bรผrger 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 Benoรฎt Eyriรจs, 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.

 ๐“ž๐“ท ๐“š๐“ฒ๐“ฌ๐“ด๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ป ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“ฌ๐“ธ๐“ถ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ป ๐“ซ๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ด๐“ผ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ต๐“ฏ ๐“ผ๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ท!



4 comments:

  1. I got super excited as I clicked on this post and here I am reading all this and just waiting to search this up. The House in Athens seems very interesting. I think I am going to that one a try. :D Thank you so much for sharing. Spooky Season is always fun :)

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  2. You had me hooked by the first story. I wonder if my library carries this?๐Ÿค” *runs to check*๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿฝ‍♀️๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿฝ‍♀️๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿฝ‍♀️

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  3. This sounds like a great anthology for Horror lovers! I've never seen a graphic Horror novel like this before but it definitely makes a change and would definitely make a great gift for the spooky someone!

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  4. The artwork in this book looks gorgeous!

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