9: Is Medieval Horror a genre?
Some people say yes (that includes me).
A month or so ago, I submitted an anthology pitch about a cursed suit of armor. It was a horror story set in a grounded, medieval era (sorry, no dragons), and it made me remember my love of medieval literature.
Back in college, I read a lot of old books for my not entirely unused BA in English. Without a doubt, my absolute favorite class was medieval lit, in which I devoured epic poems like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Canterbury Tales, and Beowulf.
I could keep rambling, but I bet you see where this is going…
I’m going to make short medieval horror comics and share them with you in this newsletter.
Yep.
Hope you like plagues!
Danse Macabre
The first—or technically second—medieval horror story I wrote along this vein is named after the Dance of Death, which was a common allegory found in medieval art. It’s an image of skeletons dancing, just like that old Disney cartoon.
I wrote the script and felt pretty good about it, so I wanted to share it with a few trusted writer-friends to collect some feedback before contacting the artist I had in mind to draw it.
As part of a special tier of Scott Snyder’s substack, Our Best Jackett, I can sometimes meet with Scott for office hours when his schedule permits, and as luck would have it, I was able to snag a spot. If you don’t know his work, Scott Snyder has written many, many high-impact titles across the Big 2 and creator owned comics like Batman: The Court of Owls, Wytches, American Vampire, and so much more.
I got some really encouraging feedback—along with some great advice on how to strengthen the script—and he even reviewed my script during his latest class, focusing on Twists and Turns. It’s a fun one worth checking out!
Anyway, I thought I’d share a few pages of the script, along with some character sketches by the artist I’m partnering with for the story, Chris Pittas.
Warning: death.
If you’re having trouble viewing the JPGs of the script and would like to read it, let me know and I’ll send you a Drive link.
This week’s horror of my heart:
Between Two Fires
To keep this one in theme, I wanted to share a novel I read back when I was getting inspired for Sunken Kingdom.
I found Between Two Fires to be a fun ride in a horrible, plague-ridden world filled with death and misery . The book centers on the journey of a disgraced knight traveling the countryside with a strange little girl who received visions of God à la Joan of Arc and an alcoholic monk. Each character is very well written, even the knight who is a vile yet somehow still likable main character.
There are dangerous river serpents, haunting dreams, and the risen dead. Also a whole lot about angels and demons I did not care for as much. But still, overall I very much enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.
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Also, thanks to everyone who voted to help me choose a project image in the last newsletter.