I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE CEMETERIANS: The Complete Series by Daniel Kraus & Maan House Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Title: THE CEMETERIANS: The Complete Series
Authors: Daniel Kraus & Maan House (Illustrator)
Pub. Date: April 23, 2024
Publisher: Vault Comics
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 124
The X-Files meets Wake the Bones in THE CEMETERIANS: The Complete Series, an eerie, genre-blending story filled with horror, magic, mystery, fantasy, darkness, and bones that grow where they shouldn’t.
Some things won’t stay buried.
After human bones begin growing inside inanimate objects all across the globe, a renegade scientist and brilliant theologian delve into the cemeteries where the bones originated, discovering an otherworldly force tired of being buried in darkness.
The Cemeterians will chill you to the bone.
Written by New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus (The Shape of Water, Trollhunters (both with Guillermo del Toro), Rotters, Graveyard Girls, The Living Dead (with George Romero) The Teddies Saga, Whalefall (his latest), and The Autumnal (for Vault Comics)) and illustrated by critically-acclaimed and atmospheric artist Maan House (Witchblade, Krampus, Project Blue Book).
For fans of The X-Files, Poltergeist, Glitch, Wake the Bones (Elizabeth Kilcoyne), Rotters, Graveyard Girls, and The Living Dead (Daniel Kraus), Pet Sematary (Stephen King), Cemetery Girl (Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden), and The Resurrectionist of Caligo (Wendy Trimboli & Alicia Zaloga)
PRAISE FOR THE CEMETERIANS:
The Cemeterians (Nightfall: Double Feature) was named one of the “Horror comics to watch for in 2023” – Fangoria
“Tactile, fearsome, haunting — this is horror of the finest quality.” – Multiversity Comics
“Transformative, boundary-pushing horror.” – Gatecrashers
THE CEMETERIANS Virtual Tour EXCLUSIVE Q&A with DANIEL KRAUS
What was the inspiration for THE CEMETERIANS?
It's like the tagline on the back of the book: "The afterlife is full." I had the notion that the afterlife, whatever it was, was a physical space that, like any country or city, could be overrun with residents. And what might happen in that case is akin to a pipe backing up: everything we bury starts being shoved back into our overworld space.
What movies/television/books/video games inspired THE CEMETERIANS?
There's clearly some X-Files in the main relationship. But there is also a little bit of Ghostbusters in there! Alan's Styx resembles a proton pack in that it's a mystical gadget that, you know, we never really get a satisfactory explanation of how it works. We just accept it. That was the feel I wanted: this slightly elevated reality where we just go along with the fun without getting bogged down in the details (which is hard for me!).
Can you identify the universal themes in this book?
Generally, I think holding things sacred is a bad idea -- it slows evolution, new ideas, practicality, and empathy. This book is partially about giving up one of the oldest customs we have -- burying the dead.
What is addressed in THE CEMETERIANS that reflects the society in which we live?
Science versus religion is something I would have thought would be way behind us at this point, but instead it's a worse fight today than ever. This book imagines a way for both fields to work in concert, which is a pretty idealistic notion for me.
Why bones? Are they a metaphor for something larger than ourselves?
Bones are such a visceral sign of death. Even animals are leery around bones. When bodies are burned, generally the bones remain. They are the one unavoidable reminder of the deaths we have witnessed or, in worst cases, caused. Or hidden. Or looked away from. There may be no item in the world as immediately powerful.
Hogarth’s “Styx” reminds me of Edison’s spirit phone. Was that a consideration in the development of “Styx?”
No, but that's a good connection! What was most important for me was that the device was analogue, not digital, so that's why I went with the Atari game console as the base. I also remember reading long ago how nearly miraculous the Atari 2600 was, and I liked the idea of playing with that idea -- that even the designers of it didn't realize what they had created.
List your favorite graphic novels or comics from when you were a child and talk about how you see them as an adult.
The only comics I had as a kid were the final three issues of Marvel Secret Wars! But, man, I read those three issues a lot!
List the graphic novels and/or prose books that you’re looking forward to this year.
I am heavily, heavily on-board with Lonnie Nadler and Jenna Cha's The Sickness. There is nothing else like it and I can't wait for it all to be collected in a monster edition.
Talk about your favorite (and least favorite) type of character to create/write.
Comics have made me appreciate the largely non-verbal characters -- though there are few of those in The Cemeterians! It's sort of a gab-fest. I suppose my least favorite type of character would be anything approaching a standard superhero type character.
What are some of your favorites (and why):
Movies (Classic or Current)
I've been on a Werner Herzog kick lately, all sorts of masterpieces: Wings of Hope, Grizzly Man, Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices, Lessons of Darkness, Cobra Verde. I could go on and on, and will in fact do so (he's got a million films).
Books
The best things I've read recently are Sofia Ajram's Coup de Grâce, Dan Chaon's Ill Will, and Adam Charles Hart's Raising the Dead.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers about THE CEMETERIANS?
If you're a long-time reader of mine, this is a chance to see me working in a different mode. Broader, looser, dare I say "funner"? It was an experiment to go big -- really big -- and a fun one.
About Daniel Kraus:
DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling author. His posthumous collaboration with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero, The Living Dead, was acclaimed by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Kraus’s The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. Kraus has won a Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both Rotters and Scowler) and has been a Library Guild selection, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Bram Stoker finalist, and more.Kraus’s work has been translated into over 25 languages.
He lives with his wife in Chicago.
About Maan House:
House kicked off his professional comics career at Top Cow as the artist on both Witchblade and Cutter (2014-2015). During that time, he also illustrated the Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas, the comic adaptation of the movie Krampus, for Legendary.
In 2018, House illustrated the comic for Project Blue Book, the accompanying comic (from Titan) for the History Channel’s television series. He’s also worked on Godkillers (Aftershock), as well as developing an anthology comic work for the band Anthrax entitled Among the Living, along with other writers and artists.
Maan House is a Ringo Awards Nominee for Best Cover Artist (2021)
He is based in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Giveaway Details:
2 winners will receive finished copies of THE CEMETERIANS: The Complete Series, US Only.
Ends May 31st, midnight EST.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
4/29/2024 | Interview/IG Post | |
4/30/2024 | Excerpt | |
5/1/2024 | Interview/X Post | |
5/2/2024 | Excerpt | |
5/3/2024 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
5/4/2024 | Excerpt/IG Post |
Week Two:
5/5/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/6/2024 | IG Review | |
5/7/2024 | Review | |
5/8/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/9/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/10/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/11/2024 | Review/IG Post |
Week Three:
5/12/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/13/2024 | IG Review | |
5/14/2024 | IG Review | |
5/15/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/16/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/17/2024 | IG Review | |
5/18/2024 | Review/IG Post |
Week Four:
5/19/2024 | IG Review/TikTok Post | |
5/20/2024 | Review | |
5/21/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/22/2024 | Review/IG Post | |
5/23/2024 | IG Review | |
5/24/2024 | Review |