The following is an interview with Adam Barnhardt regarding the recent launch of a Kickstarter campaign for the comic book collection, House of Haunts #1, in collaboration with Meltdown Press. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Barnhardt about his creative approach to arranging the short story collection, the incredible backer rewards available to supporters, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on your Kickstarter campaign! As the editor of the collection, how would you describe your thematic approach when arranging the monstrous short story collection?
Adam Barnhardt: I’ve always been a huge fan of retro horror magazines, whether it was sequential storytelling as seen in CREEPY or Savage Sword of Conan, or more traditional magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland. At the same time, all of the comics I’ve written so far take place in the same shared universe—the RiotVerse—so I wanted to combine the two ideas. After workshopping some ideas, I think we came up with the right one that both fits into a larger world while keeping the feeling of a CREEPY-esque anthology true and earnest.
BD: In bringing together a host of talented writers and artists for the project, what can you tell us about the shared creative process of working with the creators to shepherd their stories to completion?
AB: There were two routes I took when searching for collaborators for this particular story, with the first beings friends I wanted to make comics with. Some writers, such as Caleb A. Borchers and Charles Henry, are making their comics-writing debuts in this story, but they’re both students of the craft and I wanted to see them finally break in in some shape, way, or form. The same goes with artists like Nicolas Santos, Rolly Marchadesch, and Rolands Kalnins; they have been longtime collaborators of mine, and I didn’t want to do a project without their involvement, especially since I could have them all partake in the same title. The second route was an open submission, allowing anyone with interest in participation to pitch me an idea.
Whatever route they took, the skeleton for the collection of stories remained the same: The monsters of the RiotVerse all descended from the villainous titan Typhon. With Typhon locked away in Tartarus, the only way to create more monsters is through a tome called the Brutumoire, with each House of Monster fighting to the death for the rights to control the book for 37 years, allowing them to flesh out their House with the dark magics. With that basis in mind, writers were free to pitch any idea they wanted as long as they could tell it in under eight pages, and ended with a invitation to the tournament at hand. This has resulted in a fine mix of monster origin stories and stories I like to call stream-of-thought type stories, where readers enter the mix in the middle of a story that’s already started to unfurl.
BD: Likewise, as a contributor of four short stories to the collection, what can you tell us about the creative influences behind your stories?
AB: With any stories I tell, I set out to write something I’d like to read. I’ve always been in the camp of champion character-driven storytelling when I can, with the thought that as long as the characters are well-written and interesting, they could do nothing but chit-chat and I’d be alright with it.
Part of that stems from a movie I watched countless times growing up, a thriller called Finder’s Fee. It starred James Earl Jones, a young Ryan Reynolds, a post-Scream Matthew Lillard, and a few others playing a game of poker where the prize is a lotto ticket worth some $6 million. It’s a super-restrained and atmospheric watch, where the character work does nearly all the lifting given the movie largely takes place around a single poker table.
Combine that with my life-long love of monsters and the like, and you’ll get much of my inspiration for both my short stories in House of Haunts, and my writing style overall.
BD: Are there any specific backer rewards for the campaign that you would like to highlight for potential backers?
AB: We’ve gone all out with all of our covers for this one, featuring pieces from faces both new and familiar. Longtime Meltdown Press collaborators Federica Mancin and Giraaz Studo contributed cover pieces, and we have a handful of new artists doing additional pieces, as well. I even dipped my toes into the design of one of the covers, a delightful homage to vintage Monster Cereals boxes.
BD: Are there any other projects that you would like to highlight or share with our readers?
AB: House of Haunts will be Meltdown Press’ third crowdfunding campaign of the year, and we’re already working on our offerings for 2025. Next year, we intend to do one campaign each quarter, resulting in four new releases throughout the year. The next campaign will be for the second issue in our fan-favorite Nock series, while we’ll also launch a campaign for the first issue in the anticipated follow-up to SHTSHOW, my first-ever direct marketing release. On that front, I’ve managed to get the publishing rights back to both SHTSHOW and Keepers of the Cosmos, and we’re re-releasing the former in the direct market through a new publisher next year, right around the time the sequel is funding on Kickstarter.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about and support the Kickstarter campaign for House of Haunts #1?
AB: I can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @adambarnhardt, and you can Meltdown Press titles online at www.meltdownpress.com or on the GlobalComix app.
