Alison Sampson & Steve Niles Stir Up Satanic Panic in Winnebago Graveyard – Paste Magazine

Over a decade and a half since reinvigorating the horror comic scene alongside artist Ben Templesmith with 30 Days of Night, writer Steve Niles remains one of the foremost names in sequential terrorand collaborator Alison Sampson meets him scare for scare on their upcoming Image mini-series, Winnebago Graveyard. The road-trip-gone-wrong story finds a young family stranded at an unsettling carnival, where tastes run bloodier than cotton candy and funnel cakes. Sampsons photo-realistic style, as seen in the Image OGN Genesis, helps sell every ounce of viscera dripping from the page.

While Winnebago Graveyard revels in the cult-fearing Satanic Panic that dominated headlines off and on between the 60s and the 90s, each issues backmatter essays from Sarah Horrocks and Casey Gilly contextualize the horror and reveal a fuller portrait of real-world Satanisma practice (typically) devoid of human sacrifice. Sampson has also recruited a whos-who of rising artists, most of whom arent traditionally known for horror work, to provide pin-ups for the series. Weve got an exclusive first look at issue #1 art from Jen Bartel and Donya Todd, as well as confirmation of upcoming contributors Paulina Ganucheau and Aud Koch. Check out the full interview below to uncover Sampson and Niles devilish plans for Winnebago Graveyard, which hits shelves June 14th.

Winnebago Graveyard #1 Pin-Up Art by Jen Bartel

Paste: Road trips seem to be an experience on the decline thanks to AirBnB and other modern conveniences. Do either of you have personal experience with long-haul journeysor, for that matter, with creepy (or at least not up-to-code) carnivals?

Alison Sampson: Who needs an AirBnBwhen you have a campervan? My partner and I have a 1994 Bongo (a very small Japanese RV, you sleep in a pop-up tent on the roof) here in the UK and go on trips in it regularlyweve been to Ireland, France, Spain, Australia and all over the UK with it. It is a good van but like a lot of older vehicles it doesnt go too fast, so we often break the journey at whatever is around, and we stop where we can. When you go slow, you find all sorts of things. And it is a very modern convenienceall we need to do is park, switch off the engine and make the gin and tonics. That said, weve been to places where we moved along very quickly and one of those, in Ireland, was an inspiration for this book.

Paste: Alison, Steves name is synonymous with horror, but is it a genre you hold close to your heart as well? Are there any novels, films or other horror comics that inspired you to co-create something as bloody as Winnebago Graveyard? Or was this a darker place than you often go creatively?

Sampson: It is. Im from a farm and I was brought up on the horror stories my dad told to keep us safe there. It was the 1970s and we had a lot of freedom, so we needed to know: the rats go for the throat, youll drown in the grain, be crushed in the machinery like (name of person we know), be dissolved by acid (they burned the potatoes off with sulphuric acid!), be poisoned, be trapped by fire, or get stuck in a space where no one can find you and so on. I believed all this because it either was true, or was sufficiently credible, and I tend to think horror is very close to us in the real world. I dont think of horror as a genre, I just think of it as something that is. Butwhen our lives seem to governed by fear, as they seem to be more and more in our current political climate, horror stories actually seem to take the edge off. It is dealing with those edges and borders and achieving some level of catharsis, in a safe space.

If Id have to name a literary inspiration, it would be my early-adult reading. Most people in the UK of my age have read James Herbert and I was going for that similar pass-it-around-at-school feel. This isnt by any means the first horror story Ive drawn, but I think it is the first that demanded a particular mindset where Ive had to go there. I think there is an interesting place and appealing for a lot of artists to do that.

Winnebago Graveyard #1 Pin-Up Art by Donya Todd

Paste: Steve, youve been writing comics for decades, and your breakout work30 Days of Nightcame out 15 years ago. What keeps the horror genre exciting to you after all this time? Which horror archetypes are you still dying to put your stamp on?

Steve Niles: Horror has always been the thing for me. Ive been lucky enough to write tons of comics, but I always come back to horror. I think its easier to relate to an outcast monster than a superhero, or maybe thats just me. Id say werewolves are the one creature I havent been able to really dig into, though Ive written some werewolf characters. I know theres a great werewolf story out there but I havent been able to crack it yet.

Paste: What is your collaboration like on this project? Steve, if Im not mistaken, this is your first full-fledged creator-owned work at Imagewhy was this the right project for Image as opposed to some of your other regular creative homes?

Niles: Ive written a few creator-owned comics with Image over the years, but this has definitely been one of the best books due to Alisons amazing art and hard work. She really took the reins and steered the whole production, which is why it was perfect for Image. As a creator you can have full control of your book with them, and thats exactly what we wanted to do.

Sampson: Very straightforward and easy. This is mainly because weve had a very clear division of roles. Steve offered an outline, I made some art and designed some characters and settings and we had a bit of discussion, and then Steve wrote the script and Ive drawn it and then Ive put the book together. I have a strong sense of this being written for me, although much of it is things I have not drawn before. I told Steve not to hold back, and he hasnt.

Winnebago Graveyard #1 Interior Art by Alison Sampson & Stephane Paitreau

Paste: The book plays into some deliciously gory tropes surrounding devil worship, but youve enlisted guest essay contributions in the back that flesh out real-world Satanism. Was it important to you to pull back the curtain on that community?

Sampson: The backmatter is there for a number of reasons. I wanted to provide some non-fiction that is exclusive to the single issues because I (frankly) wanted to give people a bit more for their money, and then I wanted to provide some essays that were a foil for what people see in the book. Sarah [Horrocks] contributions provide color, where they explore space and violence in cult horror films, set in the space that our book inhabits. Casey [Gilly]s contributions provide context for our story. There are questions and feelings that come out of reading the workand we wanted to address some of those, and we do.

Niles: What made the Satanic cult movies of the 60s and 70s so great was the Fear of the Unknown. The cultists were mysterious and sinister. They came across as regular townspeople, they could be someone youre supposed to trustthe mayor, the head of the church, but at night theyd be wearing black cloaks and holding torches, chanting something ancient and unknown. We never knew too much about them, but as a group, they had power. Alison added a whole new level of essays and voices to the back of the issues, and it helps flesh out a bigger picture for a new generation.

Paste: Alison, you mentioned when we first started e-mailing that youve particularly sought out artists known for their Magical Girl work to provide pin-ups and guest contributions. What inspired you to pursue that mash-up of genre influences?

Sampson: I dont in any way think of this as a mash-up of genre influences. I was looking (and am looking) very much at the artists themselves and if this is something they wanted to do. There is a thin line, if indeed there is a line at all, between magical girl and Satanism. It is just bad magical girl, and that area is hugely appealing, and frankly I hope some of our contributors explore that it further.

I wanted to provide the best thing for our book and our readers and sometimes one doesnt have to have a single reason for that, or indeed a single style of art. For example, I have a huge fondness for Donya Todds chutzpah and the matter-of-fact earthiness of her work. It just felt like a good fit for the actual feeling we wanted to evokeit is almost folk art, yet is frenetic and full of emotion as well, and, if you look, it is very much about doing.

Winnebago Graveyard #1 Interior Art by Alison Sampson & Stephane Paitreau

Paste: Winnebago Graveyard is billed as a mini-series. What else do the two of you have in the works that you can tease?

Sampson: Ive got a story coming out in Shelly Bonds Femme Magnifique book very soon, maybe July, written by Leah Moore about Beth Ditto. The rest I cant talk about for nowto be revealed when it is ready.

Niles: Ill be starting a new October Faction series, more books, comics and projects to come.

Winnebago Graveyard #1 Interior Art by Alison Sampson & Stephane Paitreau

Winnebago Graveyard #1 Interior Art by Alison Sampson & Stephane Paitreau

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Alison Sampson & Steve Niles Stir Up Satanic Panic in Winnebago Graveyard - Paste Magazine