After enrolling readers in the Scare School with his first graphic novel in his new Just Beyond series, R.L. Stine and artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews (along with cover artist Julian Totino Tedesco) will bring readers on a creepy camping trip in Just Beyond: The Horror at Happy Landings, a new graphic novel coming in May of 2020 from BOOM! Studios’ KaBOOM! imprint.

Press Release: LOS ANGELES, CA (June 18, 2019) – BOOM! Studios today announced JUST BEYOND: THE HORROR AT HAPPY LANDINGS, a brand new graphic novel in the highly anticipated middle grade horror series from R.L. Stine, the award-winning, bestselling author of Goosebumps and Fear Street, artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews (Pandora’s Legacy) and featuring a cover by Julian Totino Tedesco (Life of Captain Marvel), in stores May 2020. This new original graphic novel takes readers to the supposedly serene camping grounds of the forest preserve at Happy Landings where things take a decidedly terrifying turn when the Walden family encounters a pair of body-snatching aliens.

ENJOY YOUR VISIT TO HAPPY LANDINGS!

Family camping trips are supposed to be fun, but for the Walden family, they’re an absolute nightmare! After a creepy, unidentified bird attacks their mom in the forest, Parker and Annie find themselves face to face with two strange creatures that suddenly enter the kids’ brains and take control of their bodies. Can Parker and Annie break loose of this horrific control and convince their family of what’s happening, or will the creatures take over their lives for good?

JUST BEYOND will be published through the company’s award-winning KaBOOM! imprint, marking the first time R.L. Stine has originated new concepts in the comic book medium as part of his multi-book agreement with the publisher. With the release of his debut novel Blind Date in 1981, R.L. Stine established himself as one of the most important voices in horror for a new generation. This was followed up with the release of Fear Street in 1989, which remains the best-selling YA series in history with more than 100 books published thus far, and Goosebumps in 1992, which transformed Stine into a worldwide celebrity. The series was soon adapted as a hit TV series and recently returned as a blockbuster film starring Jack Black in 2015 from Sony/Columbia Pictures, with a sequel hitting theaters October 12, 2018. Stine has continued to create exciting new horror concepts for younger audiences each year, in turn becoming one of the most successful American novelists of all time.

“I'm not an outdoors person. When I'm in the woods or out in the country, I think of all the creatures who live there, and I instantly begin to think of horrifying encounters.” said writer R.L. Stine. “This story goes JUST BEYOND my normal imagining: What if you were camping out--and you were invaded by creatures from another planet?”

Kelly and Nichole Matthews are twin sisters from Seattle who work as freelance comic book artists and illustrators. They were the artists on Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal: Power of the Dark Crystal, Toil and Trouble, and Pandora’s Legacy from BOOM! Studios. They currently have an original webcomic, Maskless, available on Hiveworks.

“"It's exciting to return to the world of Just Beyond with a new, out-of-this-world experience.” said artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews. “We hope you enjoy the Horror at Happy Landings!”

BOOM! Studios’ award-winning KaBOOM! imprint is home to comics for middle grade and younger readers including licensed series such as Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Rugrats, Peanuts, and Garfield, along with original series like Dodo by Felipe Nunes, Mega Princess by Kelly Thompson and Brianne Drouhard, Bodie Troll by Jay Fosgitt, Ruinworld by Derek Laufman, and The Deep by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer.

“R.L. Stine brings all of his celebrated humor and horror to his newest graphic novel, JUST BEYOND: THE HORROR AT HAPPY LANDINGS.” said Matt Gagnon, Editor-in-Chief, BOOM! Studios. “Old fans and new readers alike will discover brand new thrills and chills from the master of middle-grade scares himself as we run into strange creatures, body-snatching aliens, and much more. Artists Kelly & Nichole Matthews are immensely talented and bring this world to life with stunning art. This is a creative collaboration that we can’t get enough of.”

Print copies of JUST BEYOND:THE HORROR AT HAPPY LANDINGS will be available for sale in May 2020 at local comic book shops(use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one), bookstores or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and the BOOM! Studios app.

For more news on R.L. Stine’s JUST BEYOND and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.