Monstrous Books
James Aquilone, the founder of Monstrous Books, has proven his appreciation for the character Carl Kolchak. Initially, he celebrated the character with the Moonstone Books 50th Anniversary Collection for Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which was received with great enthusiasm from fans (me included) and critics. Winning the Best Graphic Novel at the 2023 BRAM STOKER AWARDS® as well as The Best Graphic Presentation at the 2023 RONDO HATTON CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS. Subsequently, he secured the character’s license from the Rice Family for Monstrous Books and produced a deluxe edition of Jeff Rice’s original novel, originally titled The Kolchak Papers.
Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters
Now, James along with a stable of talented writer and artists are collaborating on a four-book comic series: Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters. Bringing aboard such talents as David Dastmalchian and Lukas Ketner, Steve Niles and George Quadros, and Rodney Barnes and Alex Lins. Not to mention cover work by Matt Wagner, Russ Braun, Cotton Worley and Dave Acosta, with colors by Zac Atkinson on the deluxe hardcover edition. All coming to a Kickstarter near you.
With this exciting new Kolchak project getting ready to launch, we sat down with Monstrous Books Founder and Editor James Aquilone, along with writers Rodney Barnes and Steve Niles to discuss their work on the books and their admiration for the Carl Kolchak character. So, let’s welcome James Aquilone, Rodney Barnes and Steve Niles to GVN Talking Comics.
Inspiration for Love of Horror
GVN: Thank you all for spending some time with us. Since we are closing in on Halloween and we are talking about Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Please tell me what or who inspired your love of horror, and which writers or performers made the greatest impression on you in that genre.
JAMES: My first experience with horror was seeing the Abbott and Costello monster movies at a very young age. This campaign, obviously, was inspired by those films as Kolchak “meets” the same monsters they did.
RODNEY: When I was a kid, I loved the Universal Monsters. The Hammer films, Stephen King followed and blew my mind, Richard Matheson, who penned the first two Kolchak movies of the week and a slew of books I loved, came shortly thereafter, Anne Rice. So, so many. These are just a few.
STEVE: For me, my biggest inspirations are Richard Matheson, George Romero and Bernie Wrightson. I go back to their work over and over. And it just so happens Matheson wrote some Kolchak.
Introduction to the Night Stalker
GVN: I believe I have asked this question in past discussions with James, but let’s do this anyway, when were you first introduced to Kolchak: The Night Stalker? Was it the made-for-television films or the series, and what about Kolchak character intrigued you?
JAMES: For me it was the late-night reruns in the ’80s.
RODNEY: The movies of the week: The Night Stalker then The Night Strangler, were my first introduction. I loved Darrin McGavin’s way of both taking his work seriously while still having a sense of humor. He was determined. I respected that. It affected me deeply.
STEVE: I was seven years old when the first TV movie came out. I have memories of watching it and the series with my parents. They always let me watch stuff like that. I was immediately taken by Kolchak. He’s quirky but brave at the same time, and he’s almost always right. Later, in my early 20’s, I created Cal McDonald, my own monster hunter, and Kolchak was an inspiration.
Steve Niles
GVN: I fit in the same boat as Rodney and Steve. I watched the original made for TV Movie and I was hooked on the character from that moment on. Ok, let’s break this up a bit. Starting with you Steve: You and Rodney Barnes are writing a Kolchak story with multi-talented performer David Dastmalchian bringing Karl into a confrontation with each of the classic movie monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf. How did this collaboration come about?
STEVE: James wrote and mentioned this might happen and I immediately said yes. I’ve written Frankenstein-themed stories before, but this was a chance to have the monster go up against Kolchak. I couldn’t pass it up.
GVN: You previously collaborated with David on your Dark Horse book “Criminal Macabre/Count Crowley: From the Pit They Came.” What did that creative process involve and how has it evolved since then?
STEVE: I remember seeing David’s Count Crowley character and thinking it would make a great team-up with Cal McDonald. In many ways they are the same, and at the same time very different. They are both addicts but Crowley is recovering and well, Cal is not. I thought they’d work great together and wrote David. He agreed. Dark Horse was into it so we started writing. I would do five pages and then send it off to David and he’d do five. It was done in a week. It was a really fun time for me. David is easy and fun to work with.
GVN: You are pulling double duty, combining Karl with a solo encounter with Frankenstein in Book #2. When it comes to writing The Night Stalker, did you have a set of character or storyline guidelines you were given, or did you have the freedom to explore a bit with the character? (As successful as you are, I imagine you were given some leeway.)
STEVE: I watched a lot of the old show before writing. Kolchak has a very particular way of speaking, and I wanted to make sure I got it down. For the monster I borrowed a little bit from the novel and a little bit from the movies. It was a lot of fun.
Rodney Barnes
GVN: Thank you, Steve. OK, Rodney, it’s your turn. Let’s start out with the same question I asked Steve. You both wrote a Kolchak story with multi-talented performer David Dastmalchian bringing Karl into a confrontation with each of the classic movie monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf. How did this collaboration come about from your end?
Rodney: All things Kolchak begin and end with James Aquilone. We worked together on the 50th anniversary Kolchak book, and I was honored and appreciative that he asked me to be a part of this project as well.
GVN: You are ALSO pulling double duty with Book #3 and Karl’s confrontation with Dracula. (This would not be Kolchak’s first meeting with a vampire – Episode 4, called appropriately enough: The Vampire). Same question I asked of Steve, did you have a set of character or storyline guidelines you were given going in, or did you have the freedom to explore a bit with the characters? (As successful as you are, I imagine you were given some leeway.)
Rodney: A good amount of freedom! The story is set in a specific period of time. Certain boundaries were set character-wise. Other than that, all the freedom I could ever want lol.
GVN: You have worked on creator-owned books like your iconic “Killadelphia” (which I’m embarrassed to say I only recently started reading…God it is so good) and established mainstream ones like in the Star Wars Universe. Which is the greater challenge and where does writing for “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” fit in challenge-wise?
Rodney: As much as I like the aforementioned projects, Kolchak hits me in the heart in a very specific way. It’s my childhood revisited. When life and my imagination had a certain innocence to it, Kolchak was one of those horror pillars that urged me to write my own stories. I’m eternally grateful for that. And again, honored to play a small role in his legacy.
James Aquilone
GVN: Thank You, Rodney. Since this is our 4th time talking together, I saved you for last James. Once you obtained the license for Carl Kolchak for Monstrous Books and did your successful campaign to give Jeff Rice’s original book the deluxe treatment, did it seem inevitable to bring the Night Stalker back to his “facing Monsters” roots with these new books?
James: This project has been in the back of my mind for years. It’s a no-brainer for Carl to meet classic monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein, so it was definitely inevitable.
GVN: You and Monstrous Books are bringing this new set of comics in the Night Stalker Universe to Kickstarter once again. With two successful Kolchak campaigns under your belt, is there anything you will be adding to the campaign this time, or is it a matter of why fix what isn’t broken?
James: Actually, yes, we’re adding to very cool rewards. One is a Kolchak Challenge Coin, which I’m absolutely in love with. They’re already printed and I couldn’t be happier with them. And we’re doing Kolchak trading cards, which is something fans have been wanting for a long time.
Upcoming Projects and the Kolchak Campaign
GVN: Excellent. I have supported the first two Kolchak Campaigns. I don’t see this one being any different. So, let’s wrap this up by giving you each a chance to talk about upcoming projects. Starting with you, Steve.
STEVE: Right now, I’m ramping up a new Cal McDonald short story collection. I will probably use Kickstarter so keep an eye out. It’s going to be a fun collection with great art and some surprises. Aside from that, everything I’m doing hasn’t been announced yet but will soon. Have some big stuff coming.
GVN: Looking forward to it. What do you have coming up, Rodney?
Rodney: “Batman: Full Moon” illustrated by Stevan Subic was just released by DC comics, which was a blast. Earlier this summer, my company’s (Zombie Love Studios) second graphic novel “Florence and Normandie,” which I had the pleasure of co-writing with legendary rapper Xzibit. My horror Podcast “Run, Fool,” narrated by myself, drops new episodes every Tuesday.
Other than that, I have a ton of stuff in the works. T.V., Movies, graphic novels, comics. I’m really just excited to continue to work with fantastic people to bring intriguing stories across various mediums.
GVN: I LOVE the name of your Podcast. How many people haven’t shouted at the main character during a horror movie: “RUN, FOOL!!” Ok, James…let’s wrap this up with what is happening for your ‘Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters’ campaign.
James: The campaign launches on Tuesday, October 15. You’ll be able to preorder the three stand-alone comics, “Kolchak Meets the Werewolf and Count Crowley,” “Kolchak Meets Dracula,” and “Kolchak Meets Frankenstein,” as well as a hardcover graphic novel that collects are three of stories with bonus material. We’ll also have original art, the Kolchak Challenge Coin, trading cards, and paperback copies of the original Night Stalker novel.
For those who are interested (like me), here is a link to the Kolchak campaign as well as a look at the challenge coin, the covers of the books and some sample pages from Kolchak Meets Frankenstein.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
