Two guys walk into a bar...
...then all hell breaks loose.
Hello to you, my Misfit friend.
This year, Halloween comes early!
About two weeks ago we published the first story of the Ghosts Inside Us initiative. Ascendant’s Demon took you through one hell of a ride exploring father-son relationships.
But since then, October came knocking. Halloween is around the corner and we just can’t wait for it to give you some thrills.
We are proud to announce that our second story is online!
Shaft is a horror tale which will leave you with a taste of rotting flesh on the tip of your tongue, we made sure of that.
Shaft is our first short story published in prose, but we wanted to give you more than just words. Way more.
The mind behind this horror story is a guy called Juan Carlos Fernandez. A name you might not have heard of yet, but certainly will keep your eyes open for once you've read what his twisted mind can come up with.
From Paris to Florida through the Netherlands
When talking about Shaft, Juan Ca had this to say:
“I was born and raised in Southern California in a big city and recently made the move to Central Florida; in both places there is incredible natural beauty but with big cities there is always a lingering darkness. Something that lives in between sunny days and empty beaches that scares the shit out of me. I often find myself writing about outcasts, people who are displaced and the two met, and somewhere along the way Shaft was born.”
If he loves writing about displaced people, it may be because dude just can’t sit still. Not only did he move from one coast to the other, sometime last year he ended up in a bar in Paris, and good stories often start in bars.
I was there, like I often am, and there was this charming guy. We started speaking in Spanish until I got he was from the US which made communication way easier as my Spanish skills are nowhere near my English. It was two drunk guys who connected, like it often happens, but from the get go the discussion was… rewarding, I’d say?
We both came from different walks of life but we had so much in common. Our love for writing was on top of the list. Juan Ca wants to write movies. And, damn, does it feel when you read his words! The descriptions are so vivid, they cram pictures in your brain. And, most often, not funny pictures.
So, once we decided which story of his we would publish first, he came up with an interesting idea: what if we produced actual visceral pictures to go with the story?
That’s where Jorg de Vos comes into play. A Dutch artist who draws that kind of things:
If you haven't heard of the French comic magazine Métal Hurlant, you must have heard of its English counterpart: Heavy Metal Magazine. I’ve alway been fascinated by the history behind the creation of Métal Hurlant. In a nutshell, back in the 70’s, when the comic code authority was a thing in the US and the situation wasn’t much different in France. At a time when the vast majority of the comics sold had to be for the whole family, comics legends Mœbius and Philippe Druillet joined forces with a guy named Jean-Pierre Dionnet to create a magazine; a place where artists could explore “more sexy and less conventional” stories than what the industry would allow everywhere else. Also, they did their best to fairly pay the artists they worked with, even if it meant owing money to the printer for a few months. This story played a huge role in the inception of Happy Misfits.
Then the story ended. Métal Hurlant closed doors. But, in 2021, like the proverbial phoenix, it rose again with an all-new #1 issue. That’s where I first laid my eyes on Jorg’s work. Since Métal Hurlant came back from the dead, he has been part of their new roster and has been blowing my mind away. The page above comes from a story he did for them. I loved it so much, I bought the original. And since the moment I hanged it on one of my office’s walls, I’ve been wondering: “How the fuck do I get to convince this wizard to collaborate with me?”
Then Juan Carlos tells me about this “visceral pictures” idea of his, and it hits me. Jorg is the perfect guy for the job. So I send him the story and tell him about these three scenes we want him to give life to. One of his reactions to the story and the scenes we wanted him to depict simply was: “Glass bottle in throat, yes, blood!”. He seemed to like the idea.
So he did give life to that glass bottle shoved down a throat, and you won’t forget that picture once you’ve laid your eyes on it.
But once the three illustrations were ready, I had to think of a way to incorporate them into the story that would do them justice. That’s how I came up with the newspaper format idea. So, the story is delivered in three pages looking like this:
The three of us are particularly proud of the final result, and we can’t wait to hear and read what you think of it! Also, a very limited physical edition of these pages will be produced and signed by Juan Carlos and Jorg in the near future. Keep your eyes open for when they hit our store!
That’s enough talk for today. The story is this way. And we have no doubt you’ll love it.
Steeve Aubert
CEO of Happy Misfits Publishing