J. Michael Donohue Interview - MORSELS

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[00:00:54] Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I'm one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I have a returning guest to the podcast. We always like when people have such a good time that they come back or, you know, maybe there's just not enough outlets that are promoting indie comics. I don't know. I'm gonna hope it was the former rather than the latter. But in any event, he's here. He's got a Kickstarter coming up on March 2nd. We're gonna talk about it. Please welcome back to the podcast, Jay Michael Donahue.

[00:01:23] Jay, how are you doing? I'm doing good. How about yourself? Yeah, I'm doing alright. No real complaints. You know, things are moving along on the comics front and had a lot of fun episodes recently that I recorded. So yeah, I'm doing pretty good. Been reading some cool stuff. And one of those cool things I got to read was Morsels Presents One Good Scare.

[00:01:48] I think you previously did Morsels, which was like more collection of some short horror comics, if I remember correctly. Yeah, yeah. The first issue was Morsels. Yeah. And it was a collection of eight different stories. There are varying lengths. I think a couple of them are like three pages, four pages, you know, 11 pages. It just kind of depended. And, you know, it just kind of started off as a way for me to kind of have something to show maybe editors and things like that.

[00:02:14] Like, hey, here's kind of a portfolio, you know, all put together in a book. And as I've kind of moved on and done other things, I've always just kind of liked the idea of Morsels and thought it'd be a fun way to try and, you know, reinvent it for, you know, a new audience and for things like that. So, you know, I really liked the first thing that you did with Morsels, like the collection of stories in it. I'm a big fan of anthologies. I mean, you know, early last year, I kickstarted my own anthology made in Delco.

[00:02:43] And yeah, I think it's a great way to kind of like package stuff. And it was the same for me. I had a bunch of short stories. A couple had been in anthologies. A few had never seen the light of day, really. And I kind of always liked that format. You get something different, you get to work with different artists, color, colorists, letterers, editors. And yeah, you kind of get to see how everything's put together, like when you're making, you know, a comic and doing all of that.

[00:03:12] And I always liked the mix of stories. I really enjoyed all the things in Morsels. And so, yeah, I think it's a pretty cool idea that you're kind of keeping it going. I like the Morsels presents, you know, because, you know, you're going to put the kind of flavor you're getting from the earlier project. And people start to associate that with you. And yeah, one good scare was great. I don't want to. It's always hard to talk about these things because I want readers to have the same experience I did.

[00:03:42] But there are some things in here that I know I'm going to think about later and I don't want to like ever. Yes, but I've done my job. No, like no exaggeration. There was some creepy stuff in this one good scare. And it was it was really it was fun. I really liked the whole, you know, set up. And it's like a kid scaring another kid on Halloween. And then it just kind of goes off the rails from there.

[00:04:11] But there was one thing in particular in here. And I don't I don't want to mention it because I want folks to discover it the way I did. But it is it's not right, Jay. I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. And I do. I do. It is not right. You know, it was awful. So it was it's tough to talk about a comic when it's like, oh, wow, this is so beautifully done. Like it's it it looks really cool.

[00:04:39] And there's a couple of close up panels on this thing that that it's tough to talk around. But like it changes shape. I'll say that. And like there's some close up paneling of like a limb moving. And you really get the sense of, oh, this this thing is take you think it's in one form and it's taking shape. And then then there's another reveal that I can't. I just like I can't.

[00:05:08] I don't know what I it's just this is so hard to talk about this. Like I want to say listeners, this is what it is. But I want you to read it. I want you to back one good scare. I want you to get it. And I want you to be like, yeah, Jimmy, you weren't kidding. This was like a fun little kid scaring each other on Halloween. One's a bully, whatever, whatever. And then it was fucked up. You got sorry. It got real fucked up. And I don't I don't know what to do about it. I'll make it slightly easy for you.

[00:05:35] So if if what we'll do is we'll name it. So the monster in it, what comes up is called a and I could be butchering this pronunciation, but it's called a shurimi. Now, I won't tell tell everybody what it is because I want them to discover that. Or if they really want to go and do a Google search, you'll have some fun. But it's actually a Japanese yokai.

[00:06:01] Like that's a legit like spirit that they believe in the Japanese culture. Yeah. And the way we came about it is a good friend of mine, Nate Bayless, is a he's a writer and animator from Austin, Texas. And he came to me. He goes, oh, my God. He goes, I found this yokai. We need to do a story or something about this. And he told me and I'm like, oh, my God, like it's pretty unforgettable. I mean, you can probably agree.

[00:06:28] I can't draw, but I stared at it so long and like a like looking at a like a car crash scenario that I kind of think I could sketch it. And I and I honestly I'm I'm upset. So, I mean, I'm sorry, not sorry. That's how I feel about it. But no, we both basically we've kind of come up with a new challenge. So he he brought that to my attention. He's like, we should do something.

[00:06:57] He ended up having an idea and he ended up making a kind of I think it's like a 30 second or less short that's actually gotten in quite a bit of film fest. I'll have to send it to you off air and you can watch it just to kind of really add to the PTSD that you're going to have from this. But then I, you know, I wrote my version of the story. And so we've had so much fun doing this that we're like, OK, we should challenge each other every year. We pick we pick some kind of monster and we each do our story.

[00:07:26] He can do animated. I can do comic. That's actually a really good idea. I really like that aspect of it. And and what I love is, you know, Carlos Angeli. God bless him. You know, who did the art. I think I was it was a little, you know, he was he was really cool. He was reaching out to me. This was probably about when Family Matters, my my last Addison Grove book was finishing up on Kickstarter.

[00:07:53] And he reached out and he was just like, hey, I'm trying to really liked your project. He goes, I'm trying to reach out to more writers and things like that and collaborate, you know. So I looked at his stuff, really loved it. He's got, you know, he's very talented. Had this idea. And I was like, hey, I've got a story for you. It's a little out there. It's a little. It's a little. So I was a little worried. What do you think? But, you know, sent it to him. He was like, oh, he goes, I really like that.

[00:08:22] He's like, I'd obviously want to do something not as gratuitous. And I was like, of course. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I'm not you know, we're not trying to go, you know, not safe for work necessarily. But I wish there's nothing wrong with that. That's just not the flavor I was going for. Yeah. But I think he did a great job. You know, it feels I don't know. I think it just yes, it's very disturbing. It gets in your gets in your head. Oh, yeah, it is very disturbing. No, the entire creative team did a fantastic job.

[00:08:52] You mentioned the art was Carlos Angeli. The colors were Lorenzo Scaramilla. Justin Birch, who's a phenomenal letterer. And Colleen Palmer did the logo and the logo design and trade dressing. Well, the funny thing is, so. And yeah, I just mentioned it like quickly. But the story starts out. It's Halloween. One kid's trick or treating. He goes up to a house. Another kid scares him and kind of bullies him to steal his candy. And the homeowner comes out.

[00:09:21] And that's kind of like the initial setup. And the art is the arts. Great. You know, the one character, I think Jeremiah. He's like got the Frankenstein's monster mask. And all of it looks really good. It looks more like a fun. Like, oh, this could be just a light. Like, this could be a sweet story. Like, the artwork and the colors. It just kind of evokes something. You don't know where it can go. It could go anywhere.

[00:09:51] But the art is great. But when you sent me the PDF. And after like the cover. You have the credits page. And you have that yokai. Like, on the bottom left. And I was looking at it. And I'm like, what the hell is that? And I'm like, what? Like, I'm trying to figure out. Like, you know, it was like I was on a submersible. And I saw something. You know, like I'm in the abyss. And I saw something outside the window. And I'm like, is that a fish?

[00:10:20] Is that an octopus? Hey, Carl. What do you think that was? And I'm like looking at it in the corner there. And I'm like, huh. I guess I wonder if that thing is going to come back. And it does. Oh, oh my gosh. Does it? Does it? Does it? Does it? But it has a very, you know. And we probably talked about this before. I think we did when you were on.

[00:10:46] But it has a very episodic feel to it. Which is also kind of what I like about Morsels Presents. Because like you can, you know, you kind of have a tone more so than anything else. Different than like your Addison Grove stuff. Which is, you know, the town and the whole setting. You more or less have just like a tone here. You've worked with different artists. But you know you're going to get some type of horror story.

[00:11:14] The aesthetic is going to be a little different. But you know you're going to get like a horror tale. But setting it up like this in this fashion. It does remind me of like the Twilight Zone. Or like the Outer Limits. Like this is like that kind of perfect episodic adventure of a really good solid horror tale. And as a huge fan of things like, you know, the Twilight Zone.

[00:11:42] I just felt like, oh, this is perfect for that type of format. I'm glad that comes, you know, comes across. Because I'm the same. I've always loved horror anthologies. You know, it's hard to. I mean you have some that are obviously more often than not. Maybe some of the segments aren't as good. But I've found that in most of them you usually have one or two, three that really stand out. But I did.

[00:12:11] I've loved, you know, Creepshow. I'm a huge Creepshow fan. You know, Tales from the Crypt. Tales from the Dark Side. Tales from the Hood. I mean all those. You know, I love those horror anthologies. And so I do. I, you know, I'm kind of pitching, you know, Morsels Presents is kind of like, you know, these four individually wrapped horror stories. And that's what I want them to be. I want them to be, you know, it's, you know, like you said, it's episodic. Each one's going to be different. I want to try and do different genres with each one.

[00:12:41] So that way it just doesn't seem, you know, it doesn't get stale. It's not the same thing. Like this one kind of, you know, dips its toe a little bit and maybe J-horror in a way. The next one that we have or the second in the series is me and Jeremiah Sheik are going to do zombies. We're kind of reimagining a story that we've done before. Or I've got, I think, a really fun, I feel like a twist on the slasher genre that I think actually Gerald Von Stoddard is going to do the art on that with me.

[00:13:11] Oh, I love Gerald's art. That's awesome. Oh, yeah. And I think the story that we've cooked up, like I love how dark and gritty he is. And then just kind of the dark humor, hopefully, you know, I think it's going to be real, a real gut punch. And so that's the hope right now. The fourth one still isn't 100% announced. So we'll look at that who's going to be on that. And then, you know, if people like this, I even have an idea for possibly a Christmas issue. Let's do it to Christmas next year or this year, I should say.

[00:13:42] So. No, I think that's great. I love the Christmas horror stuff. You know, I've talked to Travis Gibb before with Orange Cone Productions and they kind of do their holiday spirits. And I think those are great. You know, it's like three stories packaged in the comic and, you know, kind of different takes on some type of Christmas themed horror. But yeah, I think that's awesome.

[00:14:08] I mean, doing stuff like that, I just think is so much fun. And I also love the artists that you're working with. You know, what is it like kind of balancing, you know, doing this stuff for Morsels Presents and like having done the Addison Grove stories? And then, you know, I see sometimes that you're, I'm sure, trying to like pitch other stuff to publishers and do things like that.

[00:14:37] How is it like balancing, you know, all those different storylines as well as, you know, real life? Oh, man, I try and block out real life as much as I can. I feel like that's scarier than anything I could write or anybody can write. Yeah, you know, I feel like it's tough. I feel like Addison Grove is one where I already had kind of the stories mapped out.

[00:15:01] I feel like I go that one, I go a little bit darker with the stories. You know, Morsels just kind of feels like it's just those, you know, fun little gut punches. You know, it's maybe a story that I feel like doesn't quite, you know, there's not enough there to stretch it out to a full issue or multiple issues or anything like that. But it's just a fun little, you know, caramel. You just got a nice little caramel, you know, you pop them out. But you don't, but you don't do too much.

[00:15:30] You're like, all right, it's a little too sweet, but it's overstayed. It's welcome. But, you know, one, you know, hits the spot. Just one of those nice little Werthers. Right. Oh, no, I like that. I think that's, yeah, that's, that's a great way to tie it in with calling it Morsels. That's perfect. Yeah, but I, but, but my hope is like, or I guess with all these is that I'm pretty. I guess maybe anal retentive, you know, like I like to write out and map out like, okay, what stories am I doing?

[00:15:59] You know, even like I, I'm, I'm an outliner for sure. I guess is what I should say. I can't, I can't pants with my writing. I can't, you know, I can't just sit down and just do it. I want to go in too many different directions. So I feel like it's been pretty easy not to repeat myself, but I do find that maybe if I, you know, the more that you write, it's like you come up with a twist and you do this and then later you start writing another story.

[00:16:26] And then sometimes you read it back and you're like, oh wait, I just did that here. Like maybe I need to change this up. So it can get a little tough. I think trying to do too many things. Cause then I feel like you, you start repeating things that you don't realize, but. Yeah, no, I get that. That makes sense.

[00:16:43] You know, we talked last time you were on about, you know, horror films we liked and, and I, I think you were talking about introduce, introducing your, your, was it your kids to certain horror films and seeing what it is that they like. Um, have you been reading or checking out anything recently that you've been really excited about horror wise? Oh man. Reading. I feel like my to be read pile is so big. Um, right now I know I am reading. Of course I don't have the cover on it.

[00:17:10] Uh, acquired taste by Clay McLeod Chapman. He's a buddy of mine, but this is his, uh, short story collection that came out last year. Um, and he's very much, I mean, he, he is, he's, he's a sucker puncher for sure with his short fiction. I don't know if you've read any of his work or not. No, I haven't. Um, if you haven't, I would say this one's been a really good collection, but I would say the first one I read that you should look into is ghost eater.

[00:17:38] Um, and it's basically about a, a drug that these individuals kind of, uh, find and go through that basically lets them start seeing, uh, dead people. All right. So I like the premise. Oh yeah. And it's Clay wrote probably like, I mean, ghost stories. I mean, all these things, you know, you have moments that creep you out, but he's got one in that even just reading it. I'm just like, it was so visceral and like, so like I could just imagine.

[00:18:07] And I don't, I don't get that a lot. I mean, I, you know, I, you know, obviously I can get kind of creeped out or, you know, there's things to get me, but he had a moment there that really was just like, oh man. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. All right. I'm always looking for recommendations and stuff to stuff to check out. I, I just recently finished. Um, I've been going back and reading some Stephen King that I hadn't actually read before. I just finished the dark half, which I really liked. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I've, I keep trying. I, this needs to be the year.

[00:18:36] Um, I really need to restart my dark tower journey. I feel like I've read the gunslinger and I've wrote the drawing of three, which is the first two. And then I've just had too long of a break. Yeah. I need to go back and reread, um, which they were both great books. So luckily that's, you know, it's not going to be a chore to have to go back and read them. Um, I've also found, I don't think, I don't think the gunslinger is a very, very big book. I don't know.

[00:19:05] I think, yeah, it's, it's pretty, it's pretty short. You know, I've found, I will say it's, it's hard to say for me to give a lot of recommendations. I think one of my, my biggest, um, goals this year is to kind of take in more media. Um, cause I just feel like over the last year, it's been a lot of, for me writing, like I just haven't had a time. It's, you know, morsels, the big thing that I'm kind of taking a leap with is, you know, as I sent you, the first book is completely done.

[00:19:34] Like I actually have a copy sitting right here. Oh, um, I had a few test prints. Yeah. But you know, getting, having those written, talking to the artists, getting everything done, getting the first book done and then going into the holidays. Like I just haven't had a lot of time to sit and like read, watch movies and things like that. So I'm really excited for, you know, this year to kind of, kind of do that. Like I said, I think, um, my middle son's really excited because I showed him, I mean,

[00:20:03] I've shown him multiple ones, but one of his favorite, I think so far has been the nineties remake of night of the living dead that Tom Sabini did. Oh, okay. And, and both of us are really excited because, uh, I just snagged the 35th anniversary, uh, 4k, but on it, apparently it's got an uncensored version that like Sabini went back in and put in like tons of gore that the studio apparently made him cut out over in the original. Oh wow. Yeah.

[00:20:30] So I'm kind of, he's excited to go back and see it to watch that. That's pretty cool. I don't know if I told my apologies to listeners. If I told this story last time, I, I can't remember if I did, but I think I might've mentioned it before on the podcast. When my wife and I were looking for a wedding venue, we went to a place, a hotel near her parents' house in Sherry Hill to check out the wedding venue. And it just so happened to be the same day as the monster mania convention.

[00:20:59] And I, neither of us knew it was going on. We just pulled into the parking lot and there were a very, there was a very tall young gentleman all dressed in black. And he had a shorter friend also in black and he had like a collar and a chain on. And my wife was like, what is this? Like, she hates anything scary. Like we used to not be able to watch Monk after 10 PM. So that's, that's like, she, she couldn't even watch a, you know, Tony Shalhoub solving

[00:21:29] a murder. That was, that was too much for her. Um, but we went in and looked at the wedding venue and they're like, Oh, you guys can take a look. Like, so we didn't have to buy tickets or anything. And we basically got on and walked around the monster mania convention. And there were a couple, you know, they have some celebrities there and signing autographs and doing all that stuff. And I saw Tom Savini was sitting there and my wife didn't know who it was. And I'm like, that's Tom Savini.

[00:21:57] That's like, you know, he's done special effects and he's done all these things. And he's, he's shown up in movies. Yeah. The first celebrity autograph I ever got was I got, um, I got Tom Savini's audit autograph at the, uh, the cherry hill monster mania convention. Nice. Um, yeah, yeah. And I've gone back to the monster mania convention a few times. It's, it's, it's, uh, it's a lot of fun. Is it? Yeah. Yeah. I have him. I've gotten him twice. I've met him once.

[00:22:27] I have him on like a creep show mini poster. And then I have him on, um, I started a mini poster. I have this just Jason's hockey mask. And so I've gotten multiple of the Jason's on it. Like I've got Steve minor on it, um, who directed two and three and some, and Tom Savini on it. You know, I, that's awesome. And, you know, I have to say this, I, one thing I, I, I'm kind of disappointed and, you know, everybody's different. Don't get me wrong.

[00:22:53] And I don't say this by to disparage by any means, but like, it's just kind of a bummer. I don't know how he was with you, but I feel like the last two times I've gone, he almost just seems like he's mad to be there at the convention. And it's just like, I mean, I'm not expecting to be up and jump and joy, but you know, Hey, how's it going? Oh, good. You know, but, but he was, I mean, I don't really remember too much about how he was. I think I, I don't remember anything in particular about the interaction.

[00:23:21] Just like, I was so kind of like that, you know, that's Tom Savini and got him to sign something. And, um, it is funny when you go to those types of things, like I've gone and I've had folks who just seem like they, you know, they'll happily collect your money for the autograph, but don't really seem like they want to be there. But, um, yeah, I, I went one year and they had like a, they live thing and it was, and, and Keith David was there and Rowdy Roddy Piper. And, um, Oh wow.

[00:23:51] Yeah. So I got Piper to sign a picture of, of him from they live and, uh, he couldn't have been nicer. I mean, he was just, just super sweet. He would talk to you as, as long as you were willing to stand there in front of him and talk to him. Um, that's awesome. Yeah. He was, he was, uh, really cool. I met, um, Oh God, what was it?

[00:24:15] Uh, last year me and my buddy went, um, I, I talked him into flying for in from Austin and we went over Cincinnati cause at whore hound, it was actually, uh, Sam Raimi was going to be there. Oh wow. Actually it was all three Raimi brothers. It was Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, um, and Ivan Raimi. And, uh, unfortunately it's like Sam was pretty much like, Hey sign. Hey, how you doing? You got to move on. It was a long line. So it was a bummer. Um, but it was a really cool one though.

[00:24:43] Cause we actually went and met, um, uh, Jeffrey Combs from reanimator and he was super nice. And it was funny. He was, he was joking around and talking with us. Um, I mean, a lot of the guys that go there, I mean, usually they're pretty happy to be there, you know? So. Oh yeah. Yeah. I've, I've had a lot of, you know, you know, fun interactions with folks there, but it, you know, it is nice to just to kind of be a part of it and see, and, you know, talk to folks about things. It just, just depends.

[00:25:12] And I also think it's interesting to see like who has a really long line and, you know, and, and who doesn't, like, it just depends on like what the other, you know, what, what else is going on that year sometimes. But, you know, what's, um, the conventions you got to, what's been the craziest line you've seen? Cause I bet I have you beat. Oh, um, okay. Let me, let me think. I, the craziest line, um, like the longest, like, just like, you're like, Oh my God, how

[00:25:40] could I monster mania one year. They're like the, the, the, the big draw they had was Bruce Campbell and the line was unbelievably like it was out the building around the side. And I'm like, Oh yeah, I'm not, I'm not meeting Bruce Campbell today. Yeah. Okay. So then maybe we're equal. I tell you, I had the craziest one and luckily I had gotten them at a convention previous, but

[00:26:09] my brother is real big into autograph collecting and we went to a horror hound. I mean, this is probably, I mean, this might be close to 10 years or so, give or take. And there were people we wanted to get, but Norman Reedus was there. Like they had a couple of walking dead people and this is probably like, you know, height of it. Yeah. But we get there at open 10 minutes into open. They said his line is capped for the day. And yeah. And we're talking, and we're talking it when he had the biggest hall.

[00:26:38] I mean like two sides, it wound all the way from the front to the back, went out and around. And I mean, it got to probably down outside and around the building too. But like 10 minutes into open, they're like, we are capping up to the day. Nobody else can get in line. That's like, wow. Crap. Yeah. No, that's, that's a lot. That's funny. My brother, my brother, Bobby, I shout out Bobby every podcast. He's the cryptic creator corners. Number one, most dedicated, dedicated fan.

[00:27:07] Bobby listens to all my episodes. Bob, you know, Bobby likes to collect autographs too. And he actually, he does have Norman Reedus, but only because we got, they had Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery at Monster Mania in Jersey for the Boondock Saints. And it was like the year before Walking Dead.

[00:27:33] Like Walking Dead might've been announced as a TV show, but I don't even know if we knew, I don't know if we knew that he was going to be in it or like it, we knew, but it wasn't like, like a thing yet. So I, there, it was, it was a decent line, but it was more like Boondock Saints, you know, people. Yeah. And, and, and he still does that. And I think I felt bad because I feel like when I got him, cause I got him on Walking Dead poster.

[00:28:01] Walking Dead was probably in its first season and just come out second season. And, uh, I saw him at Wizard World, I guess now they call it Fan Expo, but, uh, yeah, I waited probably 25 minutes to get through his line and, um, Bernthal was there too. So I got Bernthal, but yeah, I, I, I got Reedus 25 minutes, got him. I was like, Oh man, this line's pretty crazy. Yeah. But two, three years later when that was the whorehound and it's out the door, I'm like, Oh my God. Yeah.

[00:28:30] That's, yeah, that, that's, that's a lot. I felt, and I felt horrible because so at that convention, like, you know, he was there for him for Walking Dead. The first time I met him, which like, you know, you said it's Boondock Saints and I think they have Sean Patrick Flannery and there's like 20 people online and fetuses goes out and it's really long.

[00:28:51] So I'm just like, Oh, when we went to the, um, Oh, the, the, the one where for, so my brother could get both of their autographs for, um, for Boondock Saints and my wife, I think my brother's wife and my wife came with us at the time. And, um, there's a movie that Sean Patrick Flannery did with, I want to say Sarah Michelle,

[00:29:20] Gellar. Um, but we, we, we went up, we went up through the line and you know, they have like eight by 10 glossies out. It's all like Boondock Saints. And I think he actually had a couple for powder as well. And my, and my, my wife was kind of like kind of clammed up, but she wanted to get his autograph and like get her picture with them. And yeah, like right away I was, I was just like, do you have, do you have any pictures of you from simply irresistible?

[00:29:49] And, and he kind of, and it made him laugh and he's like, I don't, but, and I'm like, my wife loves that movie. And he was like, it's a good movie. You know, it's nice to get to, you know, the chat with, he's probably really proud of that movie, you know? Yeah, I would be, you know, if I, if I was in any movie, but. All right, everybody, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Y'all, Jimmy, the Chaos Goblin strikes again.

[00:30:17] I should have known better than to mention I was working on my DC Universe meets Ravenloft hybrid D&D campaign on social media. My bad. He goes and tags a bunch of comics creators we know. And now I have to get it in gear and whip this campaign into shape so we could start playing. Another friend chimes in. Are you going to make maps? It's fair to say it's been a while since I put something together. So I guess, question mark? It was then that I discovered Arkenforge.

[00:30:42] If you don't know who Arkenforge is, they have everything you need to make your TTRPG more fun and immersive. Allowing you to build, play, and export animated maps, including in-person Fog of War capability that lets your players interact with maps as the adventure unfolds while you, the DM, get the full picture. Now I'm set to easily build high-res animated maps, saving myself precious time and significantly adding nuance to our campaign. That's a win every day in my book.

[00:31:10] Check them out at Arkenforge.com and use the discount code YETI5 to get $5 off. I'll drop a link in the show notes for you. And big thanks to Arkenforge for partnering with our show. I think I'm going to make Jimmy play a goblin warlock just to get even. Welcome back. Yeah, the horror stuff is great. I love the horror conventions.

[00:31:33] I love the mix of folks that they get from newer stuff and then folks who haven't been in anything in a while. And then there's always a weird wrestling contingent. They'll always spring out both WWE guys and stuff too. That stuff's pretty fun. The only thing that irks me, and I mean, it is what it is. You pay for what you want.

[00:32:02] And maybe it's to kind of help keep the line going. But it used to be like, usually if you wanted a, the photo op, you paid for the photo op. Usually if you got there, they'd let you, you know, they'd do a quick selfie with you, whatever. Now it's like 60 bucks, 70 bucks to take a selfie at the table. And it's just like, all right, no, come on. I'm taking a picture of me and you on my phone. You're going to charge me 70 bucks. It's like, oh, yeah. I'm good.

[00:32:27] It's just like, yeah, it had the prices of things like, you know, we, 10 years ago or so, it wasn't too bad. But we've gone to, my brother and I have gone to like comic conventions and, you know, we go to Baltimore every year. And then you look at some of the cost for like some of the non-comic guests, like the media guests. And yeah, it's like, it's, it's a lot, but it can be fun.

[00:32:54] So, you know, but in any event, to turn it back to the horror you're writing and, and morsels. Yeah. I'm, you talk about writing the different short stories or the one shots and not wanting to repeat yourself. But what do you think affects like what it is you want to write in terms of horror stories, you know, the most?

[00:33:18] Like, is it, is it still stuff that you're churning out that you've been thinking about or, you know, different fears as a, as a dad and getting older? Like, is that stuff starting to creep in and affect like the type of stories you want to tell? You know, I only say that because it is, it is, it does, it does to me. You know, yes and no. There are certain things that pop in. There are certain, certain, certain things that you kind of have those thoughts. I also try and keep those out because I think they drive me insane.

[00:33:49] Um, constantly thinking about them. Um, I think, you know, so much of it always just kind of depends. Like, I feel like I just try and think of stories that I, I mean, this is probably cliche because that's what people say, you know, to do and write. But I just kind of think of stories, um, or genres or things of what I want to watch. And, you know, I'm like, okay, what would this be fun? I'd love to see this. Um, and I, and I love to, it's just fun to play with different genres. Like, uh, you look at us and Grove. I mean, and maybe, you know, it's kind of the same.

[00:34:18] It's like the first one's kind of a J horror, you know, it kind of plays around with a yokai. Um, you know, so that you kind of have that there. It's kind of more of a, a darker norish type story. Um, family matters, you know, I get to play around with werewolves and kind of serial killers, you know, so it's just kind of fun to, to mess around. Um, and then one of those stories I'm kind of thinking about is, you know, the next one is, um, kind of, uh, uh, extraterrestrial or alien, you know, and things like that.

[00:34:47] And I just kind of think of what movies, what stories are really, you know, kind of, um, inspired me over the times and kind of find ways to, I feel like it's kind of a fine line because I never want, nobody wants to be like, well, I'm just ripping them off. But I definitely like to find ways to, um, to honor the movies that I love and the characters I love and put little things in there. Um, you know what I mean? To, to honor what's come before.

[00:35:13] And, you know, I've also found, you know, I do say, I don't want to repeat myself and, you know, that I, I feel like every writer, there are certain things you get a style, you get certain things, but I mean, hell, even Stephen King, you look at him, it's like one of the greatest, you know, fiction writers of our time and a bit, you know, populist writer and just an amazing writer. And it's like, how many times is his main character a writer, a struggling writer? You know what I mean?

[00:35:41] Um, well, yeah, you know, you know, like he's got a lot of things to repeat. And I think what I love about him and what's kind of interesting, especially when you go from like his short stories, his early, you know, his collections to his novels. It's like, okay, if there are certain things to repeat themselves, like he doesn't seem to afraid, afraid to do that because I think he, I mean, I guess like I shouldn't speak for him, but I look at it as like, Hey, I'm going to try something new. I'm trying this out. Okay. This worked here, but this didn't work here.

[00:36:11] Let's take what worked and let's try it again here and kind of do it in a new way. So I think he's always learning. He's always building. Um, it's not like a necessary. Well, I did a zombie story. I'll do another zombie story. I guess I'll do another zombie story and I'll do, you know, it's, it's always just kind of, I feel like he's, he's challenging himself to, to one up himself almost. Yeah. Yeah. I agree with that. One of the things I find interesting about writing horror and I've, I've written, I've written a couple of things.

[00:36:38] There was some stuff in made in Delco that, you know, is a little bit horror, not, you know, but, um, not, I don't think, I don't think too, too frightening, but, uh, kind of in that realm. But I think in terms of other things that I've read and, and, and movies that I've seen, one of the things that disturbs me the most is, is body horror.

[00:37:02] I find it a lot of times difficult to watch, but I, I, I gravitate to a lot of comics like Zach Thompson and his work with, you know, Hayden Sherman. And I'm just thinking about the more recent into the unbeing. Like there are some elements of that, that, that are body horror, but his stuff with, what is it? Andy McDonald, uh, um, I breathed a body is definitely right within that wheelhouse. And I find it very disturbing. Um, the, the weird thing is though, I, I really want to write it.

[00:37:31] Like, I really want to like write a story that is like heavy into body horror, almost as a way that I feel like I can, you know, if I, if I can get into a story and, and, and get it on paper and, and, and like kind of unlock it, I'll have some type of power over how much it disturbs me. It's like conquering your fear, right? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:37:56] But you know, as, as a, in a writerly way, I guess, I don't know. Like, I just thought, do you use writing like that at all? Do you like with some of the stuff, not just the things that you've seen and kind of, you know, that you want to have out there and have your little twist on it. But do you think that is there ever like a topic that you want to take on that you're like, wow, this really bothers me. And I, but I think if I write it, I'll feel better about it. Does that make sense? Yes. No, for sure.

[00:38:25] I mean, I would say, I'd say probably a degree. I think something like really in a body horror would be something that would be, I think, challenging because I feel like the really good stuff that, that, that has body horror in it, um, has something to say. And there's a reason, like, I don't want to just do, I guess, body horror to be body horror. You know, I don't want to come in, oh, mom, peeling my skin off. You know, like, well, why, you know, like, what's the reason behind it? Sure.

[00:38:54] You know, so I, so I would say definitely, yeah. You know, body horror being there. I, I feel like, you know, it's, it's kind of funny. I think, you know, there are some ideas, you know, the ones that probably, and this will seem odd that I think kind of scare me. And I think would be probably more of a challenge and mainly because it would be a big step in my wheelhouse is like, there's like one or two, um, that would be like maybe middle

[00:39:18] grade, you know, uh, stories that I have that are more fantastical or really aren't horror at all. And so, you know, that I kind of have sitting in the back of my head. So I feel like not writing horror kind of scares me because I, one side of my wheelhouse, um, I think it would be a big challenge to me, uh, because I don't know, I, I don't know well about you. Um, but I feel like I come up with stories and sometimes I'm like, oh, this'll be great. Wait, but then a monster comes in.

[00:39:47] And that would be all like, somehow horror always creeps back into my story. Um, because you know, like for instance, like, um, I mean, you've read, uh, I think you have to like together forever. Um, but like the first story I did, which was three pages and, and originally when I had that idea, I just, I, I had this idea. It really was about, um, this man that was just like utterly broken. Like he had lost it, you know, the love of his life.

[00:40:16] You know, it was just kind of the story, but then I was like, well, how did he lose them? Oh, I bet he, man, I bet they got eaten by zombies. Like, you know, it just, they all creep back. Well, I mean, it's working for you though. I mean, I, I, I really liked the stuff that you've done so far. I like morsels. I like this newest one. Morsels presents one good scare. Um, I did want to ask in terms of your, your friend from Austin, is it going to like, since he found this, you know, yokai that, that is in one good scare.

[00:40:45] Like, is, is it going to go back and forth? Like, is it your job to figure out the next one? We didn't put anything on that. I think we're open to ideas, but, but after we had all this done, I'm like, okay, I feel kind of challenged, like almost to myself. Okay. I've got to find what's the next one we're going to see. So I did some searching and I found one and I'm like, okay, we might have to do this.

[00:41:10] And it's a, uh, similar, somehow similar lines to a shurimi, but in a different way. Okay. Well, let me tell you that the Japanese have some weird ghosts. I mean, there's some that are frightening. Like, that's why, like what I really found is, um, and I mean, I mean, this one's was more frightening kind of what I did with graveyard shift and I, I'm probably going to pronounce

[00:41:38] this, but, uh, the, uh, goshu de Kuro hopefully is, you know how I would pronounce it. Um, but it's a yokai and it's something where it, it seeks out, you know, people or hunts them, but it's basically all the bones from, um, discarded people or people that died will come together to create one giant skeleton. And that basically hunts the people down, we'll eat, you know, eat them. Um, and so that one was just like, holy crap.

[00:42:07] So that, that was what I kind of wrote with graveyard shift. And it's just kind of fun to play with different cultures and different things. And, and I feel like it's kind of fun. Some of the things I've tried to do is find a monster, find something that's different, kind of bring it to light. You know, like we've seen vampires, we've seen, you know, werewolves and don't get me wrong. They all have their place and I love them. I mean, I'm not going to talk. I just did a werewolf book last year. Um, you know, but you know, it's, it's the goshu de Kuro, the shirimi.

[00:42:35] I mean, that's something, you know, a lot of people are going to be like, what the, you know, what the hell is that? Um, oh, uh, yeah. Yeah. A lot of people, everyone that reads it, I doubt everyone that reads it. Yeah. And I'm sure, I'm sure it'll be something where it may turn off some people. Some people, I think I'll like it. I think what's exciting for me is whether they like it or not is the reaction that it's going to get.

[00:43:00] Um, and I, and I, I would give, I'm going to have to give a 80, 20%, like 82. I guess we'll split this up differently. 40, 40, 20. And we're going to go 40 of 42, uh, Carlos and Lorenzo, um, just for the art and actually drawing it and making it feel, uh, you know, icky and slimy and, and gross. Yeah. Um, yeah. But I, I feel like what I've really enjoyed is I've had a few people where I've shown

[00:43:29] it and, and each time they're like, oh, I really liked this. And then I got to that reveal and I'm like, what the hell dude? Yeah. That's, that's appropriate. Yeah. And I love it. They're just like, oh yeah. Yeah. It's gross. It's, it's, it's deeply, it's cheaply upsetting. Well, and I, um, I have to say, um, I felt really good the other day. So my, my friend, he's got two young ones. I think his, I think his oldest is six.

[00:43:56] I think, uh, terrible that I don't know that, but I think he's about six. He's got another one that I think is three or he's about four, um, his two sons and his, his, uh, six year old comes up and he said apparently recently on the show, on his desk, he's working and he had family matters and he had a copy of one good scare cause I sent him one and his son apparently opened it and looked for a few minutes and came back and threw him down. He goes, those are too scary for me and walked away. And I'm like, yes, I've done my job. Yeah.

[00:44:26] Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh, yeah, yeah. I, I, I would love you should get like, you should, you should, I think send people a copy of it and just have them record their reaction to seeing that. Like, that's how you should like Jay, I'm telling you this, this is how you should advertise this book. All right.

[00:44:49] You just need to get like 10, 10 people and just have them film themselves as they like scroll or get to that page and what their reaction is to seeing that. And then, you know, make, make video for Facebook, Instagram, Tik TOK. There's no, there's no better promotion than seeing how people react to seeing that thing for the first time. All right. That's a good idea. I might have to see who I can get.

[00:45:18] I can, I can reel in with that. That's a great idea. Um, but all right, well, Jay, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast, uh, and talking comics and horror and horror conventions. Um, morsels presents one good scare March 2nd. I'll put a link in the show notes so listeners can go check it out. If you're listening to this within the first week or two, probably when this episode comes

[00:45:44] out, you're going to have plenty of time to click that link, uh, for Kickstarter to get notified when it goes live and then you can back it and, uh, check out, you know, Jay's other stuff. I'll put links listeners so you can follow him on, uh, social media. If you haven't read any of the Addison Grove stuff, I, uh, or, or the, the earlier, uh, morsels book, uh, I highly recommend those. Um, but yeah, Jay, thanks. Thanks a lot. And, um, I really appreciate it.

[00:46:12] Listeners make sure to rate, review us, do that stuff that they tell you to do for podcasts. It really does help. Um, you can find me on blue sky and tick tock. Let me know what comics you're reading. Um, and if you back, uh, morsels presents one good scare, you know, once you get your hands on it, let me know what you think once you get to the reveal and you'll, you'll, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you get to it, there will be no doubt in your mind. Okay.

[00:46:42] All right. Um, so for comic book, Yeti's cryptic creator corner, I'm Jimmy Gasparo. My guest today has been J Michael Donahue. Uh, thank you so much for listening. Um, I'll see you next time. Have a good night. This is Byron O'Neill. One of your hosts of the cryptic creator corner brought to you by comic book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast. Please rate review, subscribe all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve.

[00:47:12] Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of the cryptic creator corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast into the comics. Kate, listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.