WE ARE 88% FUNDED!
about 4 years ago – Mon, Mar 09, 2020 at 06:39:08 PM

Thank you to all our beautiful backers, both new and those who have been with us from the beginning. We are so close to being funded.

What’s helping are all the interviews that have been coming out lately. First, there’s the interview with both Nancy Holder and me in The Beat. 

Then both Nancy and I appeared on the Read Between the Lines podcast. First, Nancy, where she reveals a secret that made me laugh out loud. 

Then me. I don’t reveal any secrets. My life is an open book. Listen to my part of the interview here. 

And, of course, before that, I had a great interview with the guys at Crowdfunding Comics and an interview in Black Gate Magazine. Phew!

If you haven’t heard/read these interviews, you might want to give them a go. Perhaps you can choose one to share on your social media.

For those of you reading this who haven’t pledged yet, check out the interviews. I think you will find us credible, enthusiastic, and committed to our Mary Shelley Presents project. A pledge of just $20 or more will get you so many extras your head will spin. Check them out on our campaign page.

And now I’d like to give a shout out to Jordan Thomas, who is running a Kickstarter for his horror comic, Frank at Home on the Farm.   

Frank At Home On The Farm tells the story of a man returning from war to find his family mysteriously missing from their farm. This sets in motion a series of events that claw and tear at Frank's mind, body, and soul.

Tormented by nightmares of the front line, the mysterious voices that plague him and disturbed by the townsfolk's lack of knowledge or interest in his family's whereabouts, Frank becomes more and more isolated on the farm as he tries to uncover where his parents have vanished to... all under the watchful eye of the farm's animals.

Frank At Home On The Farm #4 is the giant-sized 36-page final chapter of the beautifully illustrated four-part miniseries, bringing the farm-based, horror epic to a close as all the questions are answered.

Get all the issues here.

WE"RE TRYING THE "KITCHEN SINK" APPROACH!
about 4 years ago – Mon, Mar 09, 2020 at 02:38:09 AM

Five days left!  It's a bit mind-blowing but with your help, we're going to make it.

This is going out to all our backers that have skin in the game. That is to say, those who have a vested interest in us meeting our goal. But we need $1,600 more in pledges before we can start shipping our goodies your way. To that end, we're adding six more items to the ever-growing list of incentives for those who pledge or have pledged $20 or more. This is in addition to Dragons by the Yard issues one and two, Mary Shelley Presents digital art and the three comics announced in the last update. So what's the kitchen sink we're tossing in? Six, count 'em, six high-resolution PDF's donated to the cause by an awesome group of indie superstars.

We have another tale from Russell Nohelty, Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter. It follows the exploits of an insane and fundamentally deranged mental patient that escapes from a maximum-security asylum to rid the world of monsters during the Apocalypse with the (usually unwelcome) help of the omniscient, impatient, and authoritative voice in his head.

Nathan Lueth has contributed chapter one of Impure Blood. Roan, dubbed the "Abomination" because of his appearance, carries within his human body the Blood of a mystical and nearly extinct race known as the Ancients. Blood which manifests itself in exceptional strength and physical mutation. Blood that earned him imprisonment in the Veresta Stadium, where pure-blooded humans force him to fight in gladiatorial games. He jumps at the prospect of freedom when a mysterious girl named Dara appears at his cell and offers him a chance at a new life in exchange for his help.

From Leonie O'Moore we have Invoked, a spooky gothic tale of mystery and magic. As it unfolds, sisters Edith and Lucilla uncover the secrets of their late Aunt Adelia and her odd mansion.

Kristen Gorlitz has provided us with issue one of The Empties wherein a workaholic chef, Derrick, has a simple desire - he wants to be happy and he wants his wife Helen to be happy too. But just because Helen has a roof over her head, it doesn’t mean that she’s happy or fulfilled. There’s something missing in her life, and even she can’t put a finger on what it is. As Helen tries to fill the need inside her, the “zombie disease” hollows her out.

Unlikely Heroes Studio has contributed issue one of The Surgeon. In it, Doc Hanover answers a call for medical help that takes her farther west than she's been -- away from the violence and anarchy she knew back east and away from her past. At the feet of South Dakota's Black Hills, she finds a surprisingly prosperous and peaceful fort, where destiny has plans for her.

From DreamForge Magazine we have the first new issue of 2020. DreamForge is a beautifully illustrated PRINT and online magazine of science fiction and fantasy started in 2019, telling the stories that everyone else has forgotten about. 

It's an incredible bundle of goodies we've put together and we hope you'll help us out and coerce, cajole or otherwise convince your compadres to jump in and help us ALL out by pledging $20 or more to OUR cause. Those of you who are only in for five, ten or twelve dollars should consider upping your pledge so you too can get your digital fingers into this pie.

THE BIG STRETCH
about 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 07, 2020 at 11:27:04 AM

We've been inching forward but it's time to make a big stretch! 

The goal is $7K. Hit it and we'll unlock our first stretch goal. Yes, we're on a roll but we need to double down (to mix a metaphor or two) and to that end, we're going to give backers, who pledged $20 or more, three digital comics donated to the cause by three indie comic superstars.

• From Russel Nohelty of Wannabe Press we have twenty pages of Katrina Hates the Dead. It's two years after the rapture and Katrina is dealing with life, such as it is.
   

How much would the Apocalypse suck? Katrina would tell you it sucks more than anything ever sucked in the history of suck. That's why she's headed to Hell to kill the Devil and end it once and for all, cuz screw that guy. 

• From Madeleine Holly-Rosing at Boston Metaphysical Society we have issue one of Boston Metaphysical Society.
   

The year is 1895 … Our world has developed along the lines of Steampunk technology, but with a modern twist.

Here exists steam driven rudimentary computers and electronics. And dirigibles rule the sky. But with it comes social and political upheaval as not everyone is comfortable with change.

In fact, many people fear it.

That fear and the violence that followed caused a psychic rift to puncture the veil of space and time allowing the entity known as “The Shifter” to escape.

And the only people who stand a chance in hell of destroying it are: Samuel Hunter, ex-Pinkerton Detective; Caitlin O’Sullivan, Medium and Spirit Photographer and Granville Woods, Scientist Extraordinaire.

They are the Boston Metaphysical Society. 

• And from Barbra Dillon at Fanbase Press, we're including the digital comic Something Animal, a story that revisits the terror and hunger of traditional vampire mythology.
   

After witnessing his sister's brutal murder, Jack struggles to cope with the disturbing, psychological aftermath. Tormented by images of the attack, Jack finds himself physically ill and unable to eat.

Scared and alone, he is forced to confront a growing thirst for blood and the harsh reality that either his sanity is quickly crumbling or that he is turning into something else... something dark... something animal... 

THE CAT'S MEOW PLUS
about 4 years ago – Thu, Mar 05, 2020 at 03:16:27 AM

We've added three new rewards: "THE CAT'S MEOW PLUS", "OVER THE TOP" and "THE PHILANTHROPIST".

 We added "THE CAT'S MEOW PLUS"at the request of a backer who wanted to get digital copies of issues one through four of Mary Shelley Presents and Pet Noir Volume One.  So we combined "THE CAT'S MEOW" with the "THE HORROR" and voila, THE CAT'S MEOW PLUS!" We're open to suggestions. Let us know if there's something you're looking for but don't find among our rewards.

"OVER THE TOP" and "THE PHILANTHROPIST" were added somewhat in jest but we would be estatic if one or both found a backer. Either of them would imediately put us over the top with the latter ensuring that everyone who is due the trade paperback verrsion of Mary Shelley Presents Volume One would instead receive a hardcover version of the book.

Check all three out in the rewards section of the campaign and let us know what you think.

Exciting Happenings!
about 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 29, 2020 at 10:28:53 AM

Let's get into it--campaign news, live streams, a new review, a new reward and projects we love. 

First off, woo-hoo! We passed the 100 backers milestone so we've unlocked the free high resolution PDF of Dragons by the Yard issue one for everyone with a pledge of $10 or more. We have a similar milestone for 200 backers that we're targeting now. Hit it and everyone with a pledge of $10 or more gets issue #2 of Dragons as well. So please keep posting to your social media and help us get pass that 200 count and on into stretch goal territory. If you want to get your hardcover copies of Mary Shelley Presents Volume One we need to blow through our initial goal. We're past the 60% funded mark but let's slip into overdrive and target 160%.

Next, in just a few minutes, catch me being interviewed live at Crowdfunding Comics at 6:00 PM PST (9:00 PM EST) tonight. I'm on about thirty minutes in. You can watch it here. 

I was also interviewed over at Black Gate, a zine on adventures in fantasy literature. You can read that here in an article titled Call for Backers! Mary Shelley Presents Four Horror Stories by Victorian Women.

We've added the "CATS IN SPACE + PLUSHIE" to our expanding list of awesome rewards. With it, you get your choice of one of two 6" plush characters from Pet Noir. Spatz is a feral cat who roams the warehouses on Gamma Station and has a lot to teach Leon about being a cat. Leila is the story's femme fatale. She is genetically engineered like Leon and has the ability to change her coloring to match that of her owner's outfits, the ultimate fashion accessory.  For only $10 more, you'll be receiving all of the items in "CATS IN SPACE" plus one of these huggable felines.

Now onto the projects we love...

Box of Bones

A graphic novel by Ayize Jama-Everett, John Jennings, and Friends. Described as “Tales from the Crypt Meets Black History,” Box of Bones is a supernatural nightmare tour through some of the most violent and horrific episodes in the African Diaspora. Here's the cover from issue one of Box of Bones.

When Black graduate student, Lyndsey, begins her dissertation work on a mysterious box that pops up during the most violent and troubled time in Africana history, she has no idea that her research will lead her on a phantasmagorical journey from West Philadelphia riots to Haitian slave uprisings. Wherever Lyndsey finds someone who has seen the Box, chaos ensues. Soon, even her own sanity falls into question. In the end, Lyndsey will have to decide if she really wants to see what’s inside the Box of Bones.

Love 80's horror? Want to know the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet? Then "The Empties" graphic novel is for you! 

 In The Empties, a chef has a simple desire - he wants to be happy and he wants his wife to be happy too. But just because his wife has a roof over her head, it doesn’t mean that she’s happy or fulfilled. There’s something missing in her life, and even she can’t put a finger on what it is. That is, until she develops an insatiable hunger for flesh!