MOVIE:
30 DAYS OF NIGHT – Available on DVD Tuesday February 26
BOOK:
CRIMINAL MACABRE: THE COMPLETE CAL MCDONALD STORIES – Available Now at Your Local Bookstore
COMIC BOOKS:
30 DAYS OF NIGHT, CRIMINAL MACABRE: MY DEMON BABY, SIMON DARK, CITY OF OTHERS, STRANGE CASES, GIANT MONSTER –
Available Now at Your Local Comic Book Shop
INTERVIEWER: MIKE FISH
- START CLOCK NOW – Okay. AH. Ready.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Hey Steve! Are you gonna kill me that I left out the other 100 comic books you currently write?
STEVE NILES: It’s okay. I understand you guys only have limited space and I’m the biggest whore in comics so something gotta give. I really am trying to learn how to say “No”. It’s just that after so many years of rejection I’m trained to say yes to every gig I’m offered.
HORROR YEARBOOK: So do you have a social life? It’s amazing how much you write. I’d say you have at least three books coming out every month.
STEVE NILES: I have no social life whatsoever. Me and my girlfriend (artist Sarah Wilkinson) moved the office set-up into the living room so we can watch movies while we work, which is pretty much around the clock. But you know what? I get to write comics and she draws robots and space-people so what the hell do we have to complain about. I’m living my shut-in dream. Of course I’m starting to get very pale and my skin is kind of squishy.
HORROR YEARBOOK: You have the 30 Days of Night screenplay credit, the upcoming Dead, She Said comic book for IDW, and now a book showcasing your favorite character in Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal McDonald Stories. Do you prefer a certain format over another?
STEVE NILES: I prefer doing all three actually because each offers something the other doesn’t, or at least it’s easier to say do a chase scene in a movie, or glimpse inside someone’s thought process in a novel or a combination of the two in a comic. I really do enjoy all three. If I had to pick one I’d go with prose because it’s the only thing I do that is completely solo. As much as I love comics I have to be in synch with an artist to pull it off and with movies everybody gets to fuck with it so…
HORROR YEARBOOK: Cal McDonald has been around for a while now. What intrigues you to continue writing about this guy?
STEVE NILES: I loved flawed characters and Cal is as flawed as you can get without becoming a villain. I’m able to say things with Cal that just don’t come out in other characters. There’s something very honest about that junkie asshole and I just love seeing the world through his cynical eyes.
HORROR YEARBOOK: In the latest Criminal Macabre series, My Demon Baby, you have Cal inching closer to the end. What’s his fascination with tempting death, and the drugs pushing him further into Satan’s lap?
STEVE NILES: That’s a tough one, but honestly, would you want to live if you had his life? I mean everybody he’s ever known is dead. Between constant monsters and people getting killed AND major drug habits I’m shocked he’s lasted this long. Hell, besides that Cal is a representation of every fuck-up I’ve ever known, including myself. As far back as I can remember I’ve always befriended the biggest troublemakers. I’m fascinated with suicidal bravery I guess.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Aren’t we all? That’s a cute baby on the cover. Is she modeled after someone you know?
STEVE NILES: We rented her from a prop house. No, it’s Jane’s kid. Can you believe that guys a father? Now THAT’S scary. It’s actually funny how that happened because Demon Baby came from that cover. Tom was doing the shoot and his kid comes running in, and Tim snaps that picture, I get one look at it and go “My Demon Baby”. Yeah so the cover came first. Betcha didn’t see that coming?
HORROR YEARBOOK: Speaking of cover art, artist Tim Bradstreet tends to portray Cal as actor Thomas Jane for the Criminal Macabre series. Is there some hidden meaning behind that or is Tom a big fan that demands more cover time?
STEVE NILES: I met Tom because he approached me about playing Cal, so Cal sorta brought us all together. I think Jane would be perfect if we ever get a film going, but right now, he’s just a damn good model for Cal. Bradstreet has been a pal for years. He was actually the first guy I ever talked about the 30 Days idea with way back when I lived in Minnesota. He also suggested Tom as the model for Cal.
HORROR YEARBOOK: You co-write Bad Planet with Thomas Jane; a cool book I’ve been digging here at Horror Yearbook, especially that 3-D issue. How does that partnership work in the writing?
STEVE NILES: It started with Tom telling me this big crazy idea he had, something about space crabs invading earth and a giant turtle man saving us or something. It was the craziest thing I ever heard so naturally I said yes. We pounded out an outline, split the scripts down the middle and then both started writing. I generally would take a pass and then Tom would add his special brand of crazy on top of that and somehow we got a comic made. Thank GOD for Tim Bradstreet. He’s our real secret weapon. I don’t think Tom and I could have done it without him. As a matter a fact, I’m positive.
HORROR YEARBOOK: What went through your mind when Hollywood came knocking to turn your baby 30 Days of Night into a movie?
STEVE NILES: Thank fucking God! That was my response. It was a life-changing experience. I’d just quit my job with McFarlane and things were looking pretty bleak when the offers came along. It was a thrill. I’m naturally suspect of Hollywood because of the track record of messing up properties, especially in comics, but with Raimi attached I felt pretty good about the whole thing.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Is there plans for a sequel?
STEVE NILES: I have no idea. It did good at the box-office and reviews were pretty good so it seems to have all the earmarks of something they’d green light for a sequel, but I have not heard a thing. I think they might be waiting for the DVD to come out and see how it does.
HORROR YEARBOOK: You must be a horror movie buff. What are some of your favorites?
STEVE NILES: Of all-time? Night of the Living Dead is probably the biggest for me. It encompasses so much of what I like about everything. It was made independently. It pushed the limits. It was inspired by I am Legend. I’d say Night and both versions of The Thing along with Frankenstein have had the biggest effect on me. I’m also a giant schlock fan, so stuff like Monster on Campus is like crack for me.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Simon Dark is a new book you’re doing with DC Comics. It’s very different from your usual detective stories with monsters. What was the driving force behind that book?
STEVE NILES: I wanted to do a superhero that was a monster without being the Hulk or something obvious like that. Simon is a direct reflection of my obsession with Frankenstein and the idea of creating life from the dead. Sound like fun for the whole family, right? Yeah, that’s me. I love Simon and I’m having a blast with him. It’s really fun to do a book where the origin IS the mystery.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Some have said he’s kind of like The Crow meets The Scarecrow. Ok, not some. Just me.
STEVE NILES: I can see the comparison. Actually I’ve heard the Crow, and Frankenstein and the puppet from Saw and a mime and on and on. To me that’s a good thing though when people find something familiar in a character. The Saw comparison bugged me. I was like “But Simon is a 17 year old Frankenstein creature and that thing is a two foot puppet on a fuckin tricycle!”
HORROR YEARBOOK: You also have the City of Others series recently collected in a trade paperback with Dark Horse Comics. How was it working with horror art master, Bernie Wrightson?
STEVE NILES: Man, it was a total blast. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid so getting a chance to work with him was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Stosh Bludowski and Cal McDonald were very similar to me. Do you ever feel that some of the characters you create carry on similar characteristics from previous creations?
STEVE NILES: Cal is a detective and Stosh is a killer for hire. I think Stosh and Cal are similar in that they are flawed but I don’t think they are any more similar than say Bruce Banner and Peter Parker. My character does seem to share flaws though. That’s a theme with me I guess.
HORROR YEARBOOK: I didn’t know you wrote the Son of Celluloid graphic novel. That was a favorite of mine in high school, and even saw a stage play of it awhile back. Are you a big Clive Barker fan?
STEVE NILES: Huge. Clive was one of the first people I met in horror and gave me many of the opportunities that got me here today. I was just a kid when I did those (not a punk in high school, but still young!). I remember at the time he gave half the right to Eclipse and half to me. We wound up doing them together but I always thought it was so cool that Clive gave a stupid kid the same chance he gave a comic company.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Out of all the books you currently write… right now… which do you look forward to slinging words at the most?
STEVE NILES: Criminal Macabre.
HORROR YEARBOOK: Well, I’ve got a million more questions for the million other books you write, but this here is a quickie. Kinda like a nooner and I gotta stay true to those elevator scandals, you know? So we’ll have to visit you again, Steve. Until then, who would win in a fight: Blud or Cal?
STEVE NILES: That’s easy. Cal would kick Blud’s ass. Sorry Blud.
-STOP CLOCK-
Tomorrow – Day 2: HYB celebrates the DVD release of 30 Days of Night! Get your copy of 30 Days of Night
Read all Mike Fish’s Articles in his Archives
