A New Killr™ Emerges in Exclusive Preview of TRUE BELIEVERS: ISSUE #3 – SLASHFEST, Now Available from Bit Bot Media

2025/10/13 18:12:35 +00:00 | Derek Anderson

After slicing through convention-goers in the first two issues of True Believers, co-writers Stephen Graham Jones and Joshua Viola are once again teaming up with artist Ben Matsuya and letterer Jeremiah Lambert to bring a new masked Killr™ to bloody life in True Believers: Issue #3 – Slashfest, the closing chapter of the killer cosplay comic book series that takes place at the real-life Colorado Festival of Horror!

With True Believers: Issue #3 – Slashfest now available from Bit Bot Media, we're thrilled and chilled to unveil an exclusive preview from the star-studded third issue that features a look at legendary guitarist Slash as the issue's narrator and Re-Animator star Jeffrey Combs (who is also joined in the issue by the amazing Barbara Crampton and Bit Bot Media co-founder Klayton of Celldweller) checking into the convention's hotel before the latest round of macabre mayhem unfolds in frightfully fun fashion!

Below, you can read our exclusive preview and the official press release with additional details, and we also have a look at the four variant covers by Matthew Therrien and the main cover by Ben Matsuya and Jeremiah Lambert.

To learn more about True Believers: Issue #3 – Slashfest, be sure to visit Bit Bot Media's official website!

Press Release: Stephen Graham Jones, whose latest novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, was featured on President Barack Obama’s 2025 Summer Reading List, and Denver Post bestselling writer Joshua Viola are returning to the deadly world of their comic book series TRUE BELIEVERS for a frightening grand finale. The star-studded, blood-soaked, final issue features appearances by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Re-Animator and From Beyond stars Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs, and fan-favorite musician and Bit Bot Media co-founder Klayton of Celldweller. Previous issues of TRUE BELIEVERS featured some of the biggest names in horror — iconic actress Jamie Lee Curtis, the band GWAR, bestselling novelist R.L. Stine, screenwriter and film director Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination), musician Matthew Kiichi Heafy, actor Devon Sawa, and the characters from the cult horror film Deathgasm. TRUE BELIEVERS: ISSUE #3 – SLASHFEST will be available from Bit Bot Media on October 13, featuring art by Ben Matsuya, letters by Jeremiah Lambert, four variant covers from acclaimed horror artist Matthew Therrien and a main cover by Lambert and Matsuya.

“Thanks to Slash for sitting on that stool and bringing this closing installment of True Believers home,” writes Jones. “When you have a stable narrator, the story can be operatic and bloody, funny and scary, have chimpanzees and mannequins, heroism and evil: everything you might want from the last in a slasher trilogy.”

After the first issues of TRUE BELIEVERS introduced fans to the bone-chilling slasher character, Killr™and an obsessive fan who wreaked havoc at the real-life Colorado Festival of Horror, TRUE BELIEVERS: Issue #3 – Slashfest once again pits con-goers against another masked menace who takes their devotion to the cult slasher franchise Killr™ far too seriously. But is this just a cosplayer, or someone from the past with deadlier intentions? True to its bloody roots, the issue promises outrageous kills, tongue-in-cheek gags, meta Easter eggs, and enough gore to satisfy even the most die-hard horror fan.

“The third and final issue of True Believers is finally here and I couldn’t be more pumped,” says Viola. “This series has been a wild ride from day one and I can’t wait for fans to see how it all goes down. It’s louder, bloodier and funnier than ever, but still true to the twisted idea that kicked this whole thing off. Welcome to Slashfest!”

Fans can purchase TRUE BELIEVERS: Issue #3 – Slashfestvia Bit Bot Media. For more updates, sign up at bitbotmedia.com for the Bit Bot newsletter and follow the company’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of some thirty novels and collections, and there’s some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are Don’t Fear the Reaper and the ongoing Earthdivers. Up before too long are The Angel of Indian Lake, and I Was a Teenage Slasher. Stephen lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.

Joshua Viola has contributed to video games including Pirates of the Caribbean, Target: Terror, and The Smurfs. In 2024, he co-founded Bit Bot Media with Klayton (Celldweller/Scandroid). The company is best known for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise (co-written by Viola), the fourth most-funded graphic novel in Kickstarter history, along with a slate of licensed IP projects spanning The Terminator, Evil Dead 2, The Rocky Horror Show, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and more. Beyond games and comics, Viola has also produced films such as Deathstalker, Deathgasm 2, and Shrine of Abominations.

Ben Matsuya illustrated the comic Jupiter Jet—co-created by Jason Inman and Ashley Victoria Robinson—which was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2017. His follow-up was the horror-comedy graphic novel Midnight Massacre. He recently illustrated a 6-issue comic book miniseries for the Unioverse videogame tie-in.

Jeremiah Lambert, from full time mechanical engineer turned full time comic and art man. Doing gigs for Hasbro for both Transformers (Movie versions, Rescue Bots and Robots in Disguise) and Tonka Truck (Tonka Chuck) promotional art, as well as He-man and the Masters of the Universe exclusives for Mattel / MVCreations / Super 7 Toys. Comic and design work for GenSeven Comics, Viper Comics, Hex Publishers, ActionLab Comics, plus dozens of various other independent comic companies and comic writers. Jeremiah also has enjoyed internet viral exposure with his parody art.

Bit Bot Media is a multimedia studio co-founded by musician Klayton (Celldweller) and bestselling author and film producer Joshua Viola, known for its innovative fusion of graphic novels, video games, film, and collectible merchandise inspired by cult-classic franchises.