Beyond the Veil: Q&A with Man o' Ghosts
Multimedia ghost story creator Thom Burgess explains the techniques behind his latest horror project 'Mister Howl', as well as lessons learned piloting a host of successful indie projects
Hey, Thom! I’ve been following your multimedia ghost stories for several years now and had to reach out for an interview. You’ve received plaudits from several members of horror royalty, including Andy Nyman, Reece Shearsmith and horror director Corin Hardy. But, for me, it was Junji Ito who summed up the distinct creepiness of your work when he said that you understand very well, “that the most frightening tales are those told in whispers.”
I’ve just read your latest book, Mister Howl, and it’s an absorbing, innovative, and above all creepy-as-hell urban horror story. It’s like Rear Window as told by M.R. James (with a dash of Fright Night) and does brilliant work evoking a sense of horror gradually oozing from its hiding place over the course of the story. It’s another example of the brilliant work you’ve been doing within the grassroots horror scene.
For those horror fans yet to discover your work, can tell us who you are and the kind of projects you’ve created so far?
Thanks, Alec. That’s very kind of you to say. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, but doing so professionally since around 2013. Horror is my real passion, in particular ghost stories and strange folklore. I started off writing in comics, but I’m really interested in using different mediums to tell stories. From online to film, video games, to augmented reality. It feels like we’re existing at an exciting point in history where all these mediums, which once might have seemed fantastical, are becoming a lot more accessible. I think that’s hugely exciting, and if it means being able to tell a story in a new and unique way then that’s something that should be embraced.
You wrote your first graphic novella Malevolents in 2015 (with artist Joe Becci). You followed that with The Eyrie (with artist Barney Bodoano), which won Rue Morgue’s ‘Graphic Novel of 2017’. Last year your Early Haunts became one of the most successful horror anthologies ever launched on Kickstarter.
You’ve built an amazing back catalogue of graphic novel ghost stories, in which you’re combining traditions from across the spectrum of supernatural fiction: literary ghost stories with oral folklore, bygone hauntology with very modern, very urban found-footage mysteries.
When you first decided to write comics, why did you decide to self-publish? Why not save yourself some work and go pitch a story to 2000 AD instead? Or go to comic conventions in the States and chase editors at Dark Horse or Image...?
