The Shopping Haul

1000 Larcenous Words

Here’s what you get in every issue of Into the Storymaze: writing insights or a work-in-progress; something creative I’m digging; a highlight from my comics-writing credits; plus a quote that’s got me thinking — both about right now and what’s next.

ANNOUNCEMENT: If you're in the US Northeast, drop in on the Terrificon Comic Convention at Mohegan Suns Casino in Connecticut. I'll be there Saturday Jul 31 and Sunday Aug 1 — come by table N14 and say hi!

Twisty Little Passages

The writing prompt #1000wordsofsummer took me down a bunch of different paths. I leaned into the idea of short stories — not my normal format — and used Storymatic to jangle my neurons. The 4 card prompts for this one were “shoplifter”, “the dispute escalates”, “pulled over by police”, “person who is locked out.” This was pretty much pure stream of consciousness, although as I saw story forming (I hope!) I did curve back every now and again to draw things together. (The essence of going with the flow of the StoryMaze!) I have mixed these up with audio readings, some others will be all text — LMK if there’s a preferred format. And, oh yeah, if you dig them at all!

---

Prefer to read this one? Here’s a PDF.

Treasure Seekers

I first became aware of Junji Ito’s work a few years ago when I walked into a comic shop in Boston and said, “What’s good and scary?” Without hesitation the owner put a collection of short and disturbing tales in my hand. These were not jump frights, or Tales from the Crypt morality plays, or grisly slasher indulgences.

These were slow burn transgressions against nature and reality that had few neat or pat endings. More often than not, Ito's abrupt conclusions left his main character in a hideous predicament — assuming she or he survived long enough to make it to the end of the tale. 

As the reader, every story had me weirded out in its own unsettling way. More than once — sometimes multiple times across each set of dread-filled panels — I'd pause and say to myself, "Why am I reading this?!?"  And then turn the page for more, because it was so delightfully eerie. His comic storytelling makes you doubt the real world, because his nightmares are so relentless and matter of fact.

One of my favorite quotes about horror storytelling is from Arthur Machen, who wrote, "And if the roses in your garden sang a weird song, you would go mad." Mr. Ito's flowers really know how to carry a tune. 

All that preamble is to convey some sense of the world of Junji Ito — and it's a literal world that occupies his book length tale of "Remina." This bizarre, galaxy-hopping planet shares its name with a young female celebrity here on planet Earth. After that, the similarities diverge. She’s persecuted by end of the world cults who blame her for the planet’s ominous approach.

The planet, for its part, turns out to be a monstrous living thing that spends its time savaging the Earth with oozing tentacles; dissolving astronauts fool enough to try and land on its horrid surface; and generally terrifying the dwindling population with the baleful glare of its continent size eye. 

But the girl and the planet do have the same name. 

Remina's terrors reminds me a bit of filmmaker David Cronenberg’s wonderful strangeness: organic  modification and transformation that is deeply unsettling…yet somehow also transcendent. Don't mistake that for any higher ground though, please. There’s a shuddering inevitability to Japanese horror, and especially Mr. Ito’s work. Few get out unscathed, and you will confront more abnormal than rational.

But if you like your horror with a side of shock you, creep you, and leave you small and uncertain of your place in the universe — there's a place for you on this hungry planet.

I found I enjoyed it even more when I remembered it was manga and read it in the correct direction: back to front! (I recently became aware of a Toho production, Gorath, also about a runaway planet. Perhaps an inspiration of Mr. Ito's? Maybe another treasure to share sometime-somewhere else in the Storymaze…)

The Comics Labyrinth

Following the majority of my time being spent writing comics, my days (and long nights) became about creating advertising. In the last 20+ years, many have involved way too many marketing pitches. These cryptic rituals are where ad agencies sacrifice vast sums of money and time — and sometimes people — in intense, weeks-long incantations where they hope to conjure a business win.

But the wrong sigil can just as easily cast a spell of confusion and gibbering madness, draining energy and morale and unleashing a howling force of darkness that — whoa. The more I describe this fell beast, it sounds like the kind of supernatural nasty the Nightstalkers were made to go after.

It's appropriate, perhaps, that winning the spot in the creation of the Nightstalkers team was itself a pitch. Editor Bobbie Chase was in the early phases of collecting the paranormal forces and characters that all the creators across the original titles would later christen the Midnight Sons. Ghost Rider was of course the central figure in all this, but as Bobbie was figuring out which other characters would be part of this "dark corner of the Marvel Universe" a decision had been made that Frank Drake, Hannibal King and Blade would somehow be involved. The "somehow" then, was the essence of the pitch. Who would they be together, and what would be the reason for their team-up? Go!

As a youth, I'd always been more of a DC guy — a narcissistic obsession with the initials, I'm sure. For all my familiarity with the Marvel characters — as a reader, and then having worked on staff as an editor — this trio weren't much on my radar. So digging into them and their various vampiric relationships and curses and powers was new territory — and maybe that gave rise to a somewhat unique take. These guys should be more than transformed or haunted by their situations. They needed to get ANGRY. 

And while this was the nineties, and everyone ultimately had to get angry — I was looking for something a little deeper in what drove this dysfunctional union of Dracula’s descendant, a daywalker, and a "cured" vampire. The creatures of the night had kicked them around, taken from them — these insults and affronts demanded a response. The Nightstalkers would now bring the fight to the night, on a take no prisoners, salt the earth, burn it all down mission. 

Sometimes it's that "one thing" that's just waiting for you — or someone — to grab onto and make more out of it. I remember thinking, "I'm pitching a team of zealots, dead set on eradicating anything that reeks of the supernatural — for a tentpole title in a group that is going to be made up of dark power characters. This is either madness…or inspired." Well, I got the book…so I'm going with the latter.

Fun fact: I was wasting way too much time then trying to pretty up my pitches, and found a strange negative space font that I thought was a unique combo of action and "other dimensional." Took me forever to get it to center and render and print out in whatever kludge of a word processor passed for modern software back then. While I never intended it to be anything beyond, "Look at me, I have a Mac…" — Bobbie liked it enough that she essentially had it cleaned up and enhanced for the distinctive look of the Nightstalker's actual logo. So my one true “logo design” claim to fame. 😂

Thinking about it now, I really should have brought along Frank, Blade and Hannibal on more of those arcane advertising pitches. 

Web of Intrigue

“I love to remind people that no one lies to their search bar.” — Steven Bajaio

Amazing Times

How’d we end up here together? Maybe a detour off the dark web! But I’m hoping it’s because you subscribed to this share-out of projects I’m working on plus things that have me jazzed. I’m D.G. Chichester. Which sounds very pretentious, and tweed jacket and pipe — so feel free to just call me “Dan”, and have a go at the last name as Chai (like the tea) Chester (just like it looks). I earned my word-cred writing comic book titles like Daredevil, Terror Inc., Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, along with all manner of digital widgets and websites in the world wide web of advertising. I keep my storytelling cred by trying new things —  this is one of ‘em, with more on the way. I like weird and sometimes creepy tales, so if things here bend that way — now you know why!

Folks seem to like the comic book adventures I’ve written, so if you haven’t checked one out — please do. Many are now available in fab collected editions.

Know someone who’d enjoy this newsletter? Ask them to join us… plus subscribers get access to a free copy of the plot to Daredevil #380!

What’s that? Not subscribed yourself? Gasp! Remedy that right away…

I know I’m not the only one with something to say. Jump in…

For the lonely moments between these newsletters…

@dgchichester — 280 characters from the Twitterverse

@dgchichester — images + context via Instagramland