"Eisner-nominated writer Josh Tierney (World Piece, Iris Complex) joins longtime collaborator Caitlin Soliman (Iris Complex) in this spooky middle-grade graphic novel about ghosts, friendship, and making comics!"
With Haunted Comic Club now available from Oni Press, I caught up with Josh Tierney and Caitlin Soliman to learn more about comic clubs, collaborating, and the urban legend at the center of the story, and much more. We also have an exclusive preview just for Daily Dead readers that you can check out below!
What inspired the idea for Haunted Comic Club? Did you have your own comic club growing up?
Josh: Haunted Comic Club is about two lonely kids who meet in a club called the Tween Zone, where they find themselves making a comic together about the ghost said to haunt its halls. It’s inspired by my own childhood, mainly the period after my best friend moved away and I was going to the local Boys & Girls Club by myself, with no real friends to hang out with. At the same time, it’s inspired by working with Caitlin, including her taste for horror. I wanted to capture the excitement in making something together and use it to inspire kids to create their own comics.
My childhood best friend was my comic club, with us collecting and talking comics constantly. It’s the one time I made little comic zines that I drew myself.
Caitlin: The beginning idea was all Josh, but I think the closest thing to a comic club I had growing up was when my family had a couple of Peanuts and Garfield omnibus volumes, and my dad and siblings and I would sometimes look over them together.
Having previously collaborated, what's it been like working together on this new project? How has your process evolved or changed?
Josh: This is the big one—our first full book together! Caitlin drew a horror webcomic I wrote a while back called Iris Complex, but this time she’s fully the co-creator. She helped brainstorm the story every step of the way, and even wrote a few pages and some dialogue. It’s the first time I’ve worked this closely with someone, and the experience has been totally thrilling and truly rewarding.
Caitlin: It’s a big difference from when we were working together on the previous webcomic! I would try to build or bounce ideas off of what Josh already had in our brainstorm sessions, and it was a lot of fun and exciting seeing the story being pieced together that way. I think the biggest change in terms of process was realizing all the art I did would now also go through the Oni Press team’s hands, so I tried to make sure the files that I sent were more organized (the original files are definitely not as streamlined, haha).
What can you tell our readers about the story's main characters, Will and Anita, and their comic book club?
Josh: Both are shy, but in different ways and for different reasons. Will has trouble connecting with the other kids and feels like he’s forever stuck on the outside looking in. Anita has a friend group at school, but at the Tween Zone she’s deliberately shut herself up in the art room. Her parents drop her off there instead of hiring a babysitter, and she feels like an unwanted guest in a building full of strangers.
When they meet in the art room, Will takes notice of Anita’s art and mentions how he wants to be a writer. From there they form a comic-making club, and their goal is to make a comic about the ghost said to haunt the Tween Zone!
Caitlin: I’ll chime in and say that Will is definitely more the horror fan than Anita is, haha.
There are a few fun scenes in the comic about their relationship to horror and spooky things that end up helping them when they’re trying to figure out their horror comic.
Caitlin, what was your approach to designing the visual style of Will, Anita, and the world of Haunted Comic Club?
Caitlin: Ooooh in the original pitch we sent, the art feels a lot more gestural and flowy, but the final style feels more shaped, if that makes sense, haha. I think how I settled on the style was mainly me worrying about being able to draw the characters consistently, and having more defined shapes helped with that. It’s funny, but the more I think about it, I’m pretty sure this style basically came about from the time when I was working on that one horror webcomic (albeit more polished).
Can you give our readers more details on the urban legend at the center of this story?
Josh: There’s a rumor about a teenage volunteer who drowned in the Tween Zone pool a couple years back, the result of an unfortunate accident. Ever since then there have been more and more stories about empty containers being filled with ectoplasmic liquid, wet footprints in the halls, electric devices short-circuiting, and anything else a watery spirit might get up to!
Part of the rumor is that, before she died, this girl genuinely cared for the kids. Maybe that has something to do with why she still lingers and haunts the halls?
With it being the Halloween season, can you share with our readers some of your favorite horror movies and/or stories?
Josh: I’m a big J-horror fan, especially the period from the ’90s into the 2000s. I think Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of the greatest living filmmakers, or at least one of my absolute favorites, so Pulse has been my go-to answer ever since I first saw it. The atmosphere is unbelievable, like experiencing a whole other world while watching it.
I also recently watched Koji Shiraishi’s Cult on Caitlin’s recommendation and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s the rare movie that’s both super scary and really funny, making it a lot of fun in a way that’s absolutely perfect for Halloween.
Of course, those are more for adults—I think the absolute best entry-level horror for kids is Gremlins. That’s what got my daughter into horror.
Caitlin: Oof there’s too much horror media I enjoy! I have a huge soft spot for found footage horror films; any Exists (2014) fans out there? I also love creature feature films; if you want a movie where you’re stuck on a farm with what may or may not be mutant cows with an oppressive mood and very creepy creature designs, I absolutely recommend the movie Isolation (2005).
I also think it’d be remiss of me to not quickly mention some horror stories/books as well: The Butcher’s Table by Nathan Ballingrud, The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, and The Fisherman by John Langan are ones that have lingered in my brain after reading, haha.
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HAUNTED COMIC CLUB
To learn more and purchase Haunted Comic Club, visit: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/839629/haunted-comic-club-by-josh-tierney/
After more than a decade as a consultant in the entertainment industry, Jonathan James launched Daily Dead in 2010 to share his passion for horror. He takes immense pride in Daily Dead's talented team of writers, who passionately explore and celebrate horror as a respected art form capable of telling complex, character-driven stories with deep emotional and cultural impact.
Over the course of his career, Jonathan has written more than 10,000 articles and hosted panels at major conventions, including New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con. He is also consulted with as an expert on horror and pop culture, offering insights on horror history and the latest trends through media outlets, film festivals, and conventions.
After more than a decade as a consultant in the entertainment industry, Jonathan James launched Daily Dead in 2010 to share his passion for horror. He takes immense pride in Daily Dead's talented team of writers, who passionately explore and celebrate horror as a respected art form capable of telling complex, character-driven stories with deep emotional and cultural impact.
Over the course of his career, Jonathan has written more than 10,000 articles and hosted panels at major conventions, including New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con. He is also consulted with as an expert on horror and pop culture, offering insights on horror history and the latest trends through media outlets, film festivals, and conventions.
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