'Tis the Season for HALLOWEEN TEAM to Return, from the Mind of DANNY BARAM

Danny Baram sits down with Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, to discuss Halloween Team: Shadows, available in print through Comicker Press and online through GlobalComix.

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COMIC BOOK YETI: Welcome to the Yeti Cave, Danny! How’s everything going back in Los Angeles as the Halloween season creeps up on us?

DANNY BARAM: Thank you - it’s an honor to be here! Things here in LA are good! I grew up on the east coast though, so even though it’s been quite awhile since I moved out west, it’s still a little strange to me for it to be October and still be warm and sunny outside. So this is always the time of year when I most miss the classic New England Fall season. That being said, there are so many great Halloween events here in LA - we never had this caliber of stuff where I grew up. Some of the haunted attractions we have here, like Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Knott’s Scary Farm, are truly amazing. Also, October is always a great time to partake in one of my favorite activities, which is watching horror movies. I plan out an annual Halloween Horror-thon each year and always look forward to it.

CBY: I can relate to the seasonal incongruity; here in Australia, spring has sprung, so while it's still cool, the color palette of the great outdoors isn't quite right. So Halloween Team was introduced as being up the same alley as Stranger Things or Buffy The Vampire Slayer, meshing the supernatural with the supercharged emotions of youth. You’d mentioned in other coverage, this started as a screenplay. When did you initially begin working on this project, and what did the development process look like leading up to the debut issue?

DB: Halloween Team did indeed originally begin as an idea for a TV series. I believe I worked on the original pilot script in 2018, so quite a while back. At the time, I had written a different TV pilot script for a series called Alt Alex, that did very well in several screenwriting contests. It was a sci-fi adventure script where I think I really found my voice as a writer, in that I was mixing more dramatic elements with a lot of comedy, and then also mixing some really high-concept sci-fi stuff with more grounded characters and relationships. So after I had that success with Alt Alex, I wanted to try another story idea that had a similar tone and vibe - and that’s when I started to think about Halloween Team. 

I was heavily influenced by one of my favorite TV series growing up, a 90’s Nickelodeon series called Are You Afraid of the Dark? I began thinking about the kids from that show, “The Midnight Society,” who gathered around a campfire every week to swap scary stories. I was thinking about how amazing that would have been to have a group like that as a kid; all these friends who also loved horror and storytelling and who had this unique bond. I thought about how, once those kids were grown up and led more boring, mundane lives, they must really look back on those Midnight Society days with a lot of nostalgia. Then, of course, I took it one step further and imagined a world in which those kids didn’t just tell scary stories, but also fought actual monsters and solved mysteries together. What then, would it be like for them, to be in their 30’s doing more mundane things? I thought about the general plight of us Millennials, too, and how we all feel a lot of angst about “adulting,” especially given that we were the generation that was sort of told we can—and should—pursue our dreams into adulthood. So that was the genesis of Halloween Team as an idea.

For whatever reason, the Halloween Team TV script didn’t seem to generate as much interest as Alt Alex. But I got really attached to the world and the characters and kept thinking about ways to get this story out there. At the same time, I had—for a long time—been trying to figure out how to get into the world of writing comic books. I’ve been a huge comic book fan since I was a young kid, and writing comics had always been a big dream of mine. So a few years after I’d originally written the Halloween Team TV pilot script, I began adapting it into a comic book script. At some point prior, I had heard one of my favorite comics writers, Peter Tomasi, give a talk on a panel where he’d mentioned his practice of writing comics scripts in a more screenplay-style format. And that really set off a lightbulb for me and made the task of adapting this story into a comic feel less daunting. 

Once I had the script, I had to figure out how I wanted to actually get the comic made. I thought about different paths, but by this point I was really eager to get the book out there and see if I could self-publish it. So I decided to find an artist and see if I could make this thing happen. I was lucky to find, initially, a fantastic artist and collaborator in Matt Shults. And then, later on, in Buğra Berah for our new sequel series. Sometime after we initially published the original series, I was connected to Comicker, and they agreed to re-publish Halloween Team and support development of a sequel. So that was absolutely huge in terms of getting to continue the story and find a home for the book.

CBY: On the topic of your artistic collaborators, you’ve been effusive in your praise for Matt Shults, who has been with you throughout the series thus far. He put together all the visuals for the first four-issue run (available through Comicker Press). How did you two initially meet, and how did you enlist Buğra Berah as artist and Pete Steiner as letterer for Halloween Team: Shadows? 

DB: I got really lucky, in that I connected with Matt online and things worked out really well. When I first began looking for an artist for Halloween Team, I posted on a Facebook forum that connects comic book writers and artists. I tried to be very specific about what I was looking for, what I was able to pay, etc. But still, I got a lot of very spam-y replies and had to filter through a lot of questionable messages. But when I saw Matt’s message, it was clear that he was not just a talented artist, but also someone who I could have good dialogue with around character design, world-building, etc. I knew that that would be a crucial element for this story, and I thought it was important to do a lot of preparatory work on these design elements before jumping into the interiors. Matt did a great job of really bringing these characters’ personalities to life in a way that then helped inform how I thought about them. That carries through into the new series as well.

For our new sequel series, Halloween Team: Shadows, it initially looked like Matt wouldn’t be available, scheduling-wise, to contribute. So I was pretty anxious at first about finding a new artist, and I wasn’t sure how best to go about it. I was talking to Pete Steiner at Comicker to see if he had any ideas, but some of the art I was seeing just didn’t quite feel right. So I started browsing Kickstarter to look at different comics projects, and all of a sudden I saw this one particular project where the art really jumped out to me as being a perfect fit for this new, slightly darker Halloween Team story we were planning. The artist in question was Buğra Berah, and I reached out to him, cold. To my surprise and delight he was excited about the series and interested in joining the team. 

Eventually, I connected with Matt again, because as I was finishing the Shadows script I realized that each issue had flashback sequences, and it would be really cool if Matt was available to do the art for those couple of pages per issue. And I lucked out again, because Matt’s schedule had by then freed up a bit, and he agreed to draw the flashbacks. So I was really excited to have that sense of continuity and connective tissue, art-wise, with the original four issues.

One of the challenges then became coordinating everything with myself, Buğra, Matt, and Comicker. And of course, one of the big priorities was getting the first issue out by October, to coincide with Spooky Season / Halloween / etc. To help with that effort, Pete at Comicker jumped in to do the lettering. Pete has experience with letters and with overall book layout and design - so he’s been super helpful on a number of fronts as we worked to get towards a finished product with our first issue of Shadows.

CBY: Two other reference points that came to mind as I read through Halloween Team were Stephen King’s IT (regarding the decades between plot activities) and the group dynamic wasn’t unlike the aforementioned Midnight Society from Are You Afraid of the Dark? 

What other influences from horror films, television, and comics have contributed to your appreciation and engagement in each medium?

DB: Are You Afraid of the Dark? was definitely a big influence on the overall idea for Halloween Team, as mentioned. Even if more from just an ideation standpoint, as a starting point for brainstorming the premise. That show definitely shaped my early love for horror as a kid, so beyond that, it’s been a big influence on me overall. I’m guessing a lot of horror fans who came of age with that series would say the same! The other TV series that I was a huge fan of as a kid—and into adulthood—was The X-Files. That series really shaped my passion for writing, for horror, for all things spooky and supernatural, especially with regards to having these amazing, iconic characters in Mulder and Scully that power each episode. The dynamic between them is so good, and it leads to so much humor and heart and chemistry and tension. It’s definitely something I thought about with Halloween Team. Plus, I’ve always said that if Halloween Team is able to continue, I’d love for it to follow an X-Files-like cadence of alternating between bigger “mythology” stories and then smaller, more “monster-of-the-week” stories. We haven’t quite gotten to the smaller and more self-contained stuff as of yet, but it’s something I’d love to explore in the future. 

Comics-wise, I could ramble on and on about favorite comics, favorite comics writers, etc. But two big influences for Halloween Team in particular are Robert Kirkman and Brian K. Vaughan. With Robert Kirkman, I love the way he blends genres and can deliver these big, dramatic stories—like Invincible and The Walking Dead—that also have a ton of quirky and offbeat humor. Brian K. Vaughan is similar in terms of genre-blending, and Vaughan is also the master at doing these epic, complex genre stories that are actually centered around very grounded, relatable characters. Y: The Last Man is one of my all-time favorites, and I love his current, long-running book Saga as well. Both Kirkman and Vaughan are also so good at writing cliffhangers, and I really love trying to end issues on some sort of really great hook that makes you excited for what’s next. And both, to me, write comics that are really absorbing and expansive, but can also be handed to someone who isn’t necessarily a huge comics reader and work as a great first comics experience. This is definitely something I aspire to with Halloween Team. 

I will also shout-out that I am a longtime DC Comics nerd, and I’ve always loved their supernatural and horror characters; Swamp Thing, Zatanna, John Constantine, and all the rest. Alan Moore’s legendary run on Swamp Thing is one of my favorite things ever, and I feel like it constantly influences me consciously and unconsciously. Certainly, some of the ideas in Halloween Team around Hell and demons and the high cost of practicing magic owe a tip of the hat to Moore and to some of the other DC horror-tinged stories that I loved to read growing up (and to this day).

Oh, and circling back to IT and Stephen King; I think I’ve always had a weird fascination with stories that follow characters through vastly different periods of their lives. So there was definitely an inherent appeal to doing that sort of story here. Then Stephen King in general … I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of his body of work, but he is of course a true master at making horror stories resonate via incredibly well-defined and vivid characters. My favorite book of his is The Stand, and I think about it all the time in terms of it being the gold-standard for epic world-building and character-based genre storytelling. It’s no coincidence that in Vol. 1 of Halloween Team, we see a young Tommy wearing a “Stephen King Rules” T-shirt (also, of course, a tribute to The Monster Squad).

CBY: I didn't ready any Stephen King until COVID, despite seeing many film adaptations over the years; I found N to be the most frightening in concept and execution of anything I've encountered - but I also admit I still need to read The Stand. Regarding other media production, I know you’ve got a variety of other projects in development. Is there anything you’d like to share with our readers that you’re allowed to talk about at the moment? What else do you have underway while the Halloween Team production is back underway?

DB: I’m still in the midst of Halloween Team: Shadows, in terms of working closely with Buğra and Matt on art and overall storytelling, and then with Pete from Comicker on production, scheduling, etc. So I stay very involved with all that and pretty hands-on all the way through. But one fun thing I’m working on writing now is a sort of epilogue to Shadows, that we’re calling Tales Of Halloween Team. The idea is for it to be an anthology issue with three short stories to both provide some additional backstory for certain characters, and give some teasers as to what might come next. So that’s been really fun to work on.

Also, I worked with another great artist, Lorry Jamison, on a short story for an anthology book that is releasing following a successful Kickstarter campaign - called It’s a Horror Show: The Found Footage Anthology. The book is from a group called Lesser Known Comics, in conjunction with another group called Apollo City Comics, and it’s going to be a really cool compilation of crazy, over-the-top horror stories. The story Lorry and I worked on is a darkly funny vampire romance, and it’s even got a bit of a connection to Halloween Team! So definitely give that a look if you are able.

By the way, Lorry is another artist who I connected with online, as I was looking to submit to this particular anthology. Lorry then ended up connecting me with Comicker. So it goes to show, always try reaching out to people as you never know what could come of it. Also, a shout-out to Lorry’s books for Comicker, all part of a series of stories called The Nightshade Anthology; really fun horror/comedy that is well worth a look!

Otherwise, as always, I have some other projects cooking in both comics and screenwriting, but nothing concrete to share just yet. Hopefully more to be announced soon!

CBY: Thanks for sharing Lorry's work with our readers. You’ve created in this title a world in which the supernatural and occult co-exist with the mundane. What sort of internal rules did you set for yourself when building the narrative universe of Halloween Team? What can readers expect to fall within (or beyond) the boundaries of your story? 

DB: This is a good question! I picture the world of Halloween Team as one that’s mostly similar to our own, in the sense that there are no headlines or national news coverage about demons or vampires or anything like that, but it is a world where there are definitely certain people—like the members of Halloween Team—who know that these things are out there and need to be dealt with. With that said, one of the most fun parts about writing Shadows was having the opportunity to really expand the lore of this world and these characters, and think a little bit more through how everythingfits together. As an example, in Shadows we learn that one of our main characters, Casey, actually trained in the art of magic at a school called the Domus Arcana. This school sort of sits at the center of the magical universe, and a lot of the people in the world of Halloween Team who are familiar with the supernatural have either passed through the school or are at least aware of it. So we start to see, in this new series, that Halloween Team are a bit of a rogue element, because other than Casey they’re just a bunch of ordinary schmoes who get mixed up in the supernatural. That’s concerning for certain authority figures within the Domus Arcana hierarchy. It was really interesting to think about how this group that started as just a bunch of kids having adventures in their small town was now on the radar of some pretty powerful people because of their various activities involving magic and the supernatural. 

Really, the fun thing about Halloween Team is that pretty much anything can happen in this world. It’s a sandbox where any sort of monster or supernatural entity can pop up if the story calls for it. There are lots of little hints dropped throughout both the original series and in Shadows about either creatures that the team has dealt with in the past, or that they might run up against in the future. Suffice it to say, I’ve got a lot of ideas for future villains and threats!

Plus, the story is always character-driven. A lot of these dynamics evolve from the characters. Like Tommy, who’s really our POV character in the first series; part of his character is that he has this super-idealized nostalgia for his childhood adventures and for the importance of Halloween Team. But in Shadows, we see his sort of child-like worldview—where everything is a big adventure—run up against other characters who perhaps take the job of saving the world from monsters and demons a little more seriously. So a lot of these story elements end up emanating from asking, “what conflicts and dynamics are interesting for these characters?”

CBY: Speaking of boundaries, you’ve set the story in Greenwood, Massachusetts. There’s a hamlet by the same name in Wakefield, Middlesex County; is the identity incidental, or is the setting of the story based upon the same little corner of New England? 

DB: Oh, that’s really interesting! I wasn’t aware of that until now. Greenwood, as presented in Halloween Team, is sort of an amalgamation of small towns I spent time in growing up. I’m originally from a small town in Connecticut called Bloomfield, so that was probably an influence on the name in some fashion. But yeah, I was mostly just looking for a name that quickly evoked that sort of classic New England vibe, where there’s perhaps a hint of darkness and danger lurking behind something that seems more idyllic or mundane.

CBY: A deeper darkness in small, picturesque New England towns is another trope King has reliably leaned upon for decades, so you're in good company. The first run of Halloween Team ran for four issues. Do you have the same scope in mind for the Shadows arc, or is there more in store for this segment of the story? What do you have in mind (if anything) for installments beyond this current run of issues?

DB: Shadows is also planned as four issues, although we pack a LOT of story into those four issues! So our page counts will get a little higher this time around, and at the end of the day it’s a pretty epic story. I keep calling it the “blockbuster movie” version of Halloween Team, because Shadows is so full of big action beats, crazy villains, and big emotional moments. We also had a lot of loose threads that I wanted to really address from the previous volume, so we touch on many of those here. Then, in addition to these four new issues, we’re looking to release the Tales of Halloween Team special sometime soon after the release of Issue #4. So that will be a nice bonus chapter to Shadows.

As for what comes after that … still TBD. I’m hoping we get a great response to Shadows and there’s a clear demand for more. Like I said, my dream is to get to a point where we’re able to do this as a monthly, ongoing book - where we can alternate between bigger storylines and more case-of-the-week type stuff. So we shall see. I do think that a third volume, even if it’s a limited run, would probably focus a bit more on slightly smaller and more contained stories. Shadows sort of wraps up the origin story of the team reuniting, in a sense. So after that, the door is open to tell more stories about Halloween Team just going about the business of being a team and solving mysteries. Plus, there are still a lot of characters I’d love to further dig into and flesh out in a deeper way.

CBY: It's good to know this is a launching point to a wider world. As you release Halloween Team: Shadows in print, you’ve also made it available through Kindle and GlobalComix. What sort of promotional activities have you taken on personally, who else has helped in getting the word out? What kind of support has Comicker Press been able to provide, and how did you land with them for the print edition?

DB: We’ve actually got Issue #1 of Halloween Team: Shadows live now (as of September 30th), for digital purchase specifically - on retailers like Amazon, GlobalComix, Comix.One, and on Comicker’s website. There have been some slight delays around a print version, but that should be available shortly via Amazon as well as via the Comicker website. The collected edition of Halloween Team Volume 1 is also still available—in both digital and print—if you need to catch up! We also have some really cool T-shirts and other merch available on the Comicker site, all perfect for Halloween parties and events! 

Ideally, the hope is to continue to ramp things up and eventually get Halloween Team into more brick-and-mortar comic shops and bookstores. For now, digital retailers are your best bet to find us.

In terms of promotion, I’ve been doing everything I can to get the word out. I try to stay active on social platforms, and readers can follow me on BlueSky (my main social home of late), Threads, X, and TikTok - all under @DannyBaram. I’ve also been reaching out to a ton of comics and horror platforms to see what if any traction I can get. Luckily, over the last few years, I’ve been able to cultivate some solid relationships with different folks in the comics and horror worlds, so it’s been great to have people who are really supportive of the book and open to covering it. 

Comicker has definitely been helpful in setting up certain things too, like interviews and podcast appearances. There’s a great roster of writers and artists there who are all incredibly supportive of each other, out boosting each other on social media, etc. So being part of that mini-community has been really fun and rewarding, and made me feel a little more like a “real” comic book writer. 

All that said, my time as an aspiring screenwriter has really taught me the importance of hustle. So where possible, I try to be really proactive and work as hard as I can to reach out to people to help get the word out about the new book. And hey, I think it is paying off! I was really amazed to see, in our first few days of launch, that Halloween Team: Shadows #1 was ranked on Amazon right alongside some pretty high-profile books from Image and other bigger publishers. So that is really encouraging, and I think it speaks to not just the appeal of Halloween Team, but also to the fact that a lot of great books are coming out of the indie space at the moment. Not only niche stories that are more traditionally “indie,” but really big, broad stories that have mass appeal to core comics fans and beyond.

CBY: Seeing it perform on launch comparably to larger titles you admire must be encouraging. As a writer working in multimedia formats, collaboration is a key element of successfully completing projects. If you had the opportunity to select a project of your choice to undertake with a comic creator you admire most, which project(s) would you put at the top of your priority list?

DB: Oh man, that is a tough one. As a longtime comics fan and as someone who currently reads a ton of new comics every month … there are SO many amazing artists out there who I’d love to collaborate with. I grew up reading comics in the 90’s, and was very obsessed with Superman, Batman, and all things DC. So any of the big artists from that era who are still working - working with them would be a huge dream-come-true. People like Dan Jurgens, Tom Grummett, Kevin Maguire … their art was so incredibly influential to me. When I was working with Matt Shults on Volume 1 of Halloween Team, I would constantly reference Kevin Maguire and his talent for drawing facial expressions! On that note, while I have any number of original ideas and scripts I’d love to get out there into the world, a huge dream of mine would also be to write a book for DC. I’ve written a few sample TV spec scripts for DC Comics TV series like Supergirl, Stargirl, and Superman & Lois - and it was so fun and exciting to write these iconic characters who carry so much cultural significance and symbolic weight. So DC, if you’re reading this, call me!

One other artist whose name I keep throwing out lately in conversation is Sean Phillips. I’m a massive fan of the graphic novel work he does in collaboration with writer Ed Brubaker, who for my money is perhaps the best comics writer in the business today. I’m a huge fan of their work on series like Criminal and Reckless. And I have one comics project that’s a little darker, a little grittier, a little more noir-ish than some of my other scripts. And as I was writing it I kept imagining it as drawn by Sean Phillips. So that would be a dream collaborator as well. 

CBY: I don't know who in the DC bullpen reads Comic Book Yeti, but you've sent up your proverbial bat signal, so here's hoping it catches attention in the right quarters. We always close here with an opportunity for creators to share any unrelated material that has been inspiring them lately. What other comics, films, books, art, music, etc. has been catching your attention when you’re not working on Halloween Team?

DB: Well, speaking of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and Criminal, I recently read their new Criminal graphic novel, The Knives, and wow - it’s a masterpiece. I love pretty much everything this team puts out, and I’m excited for the upcoming Criminal TV series as well. 

One of my favorite recent comics writers has also been Kelly Thompson. I feel like we have some stylistic similarities, and I always enjoy her work. I really like her current runs on both Birds of Prey and Absolute Wonder Woman from DC. Another DC book I’ve really been enjoying is G. Willow Wilson’s ongoing Poison Ivy series. Such a great blend of character study, supervillainy, and horror. On the Marvel side of things, Ryan North’s run writing Fantastic Four is absolutely brilliant. Incredibly imaginative, smart sci-fi that is a monthly highlight for me. I also enjoy a lot of the work of James Tynion, and his book The Department of Truth for Image gives me that dark, X-Files-esque conspiracy thriller vibe I love.

I also go to the movie theater a ton and watch a lot of movies. I recently loved Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, One Battle After Another. Incredible filmmaking and extremely memorable and thought-provoking. I really admire the way that it comments on the state of the world, but in a way that isn’t necessarily a 1:1 with current events. More in a way that almost is like a fable that holds up a dark mirror to current events, which is really tricky to pull off. The Long Walk was another recent movie I really enjoyed; an extremely well-done Stephen King adaptation that kept me on the edge of my seat.

TV-wise, I really enjoyed Alien: Earth these last few months. I’m a big fan of the Alien franchise (yes, including the more recent movies!). But this series really captured the aesthetics and vibes of the original Ridley Scott film, while adding some interesting new wrinkles from a plot standpoint. I also loved the recent revival of King of the Hill. The way that Mike Judge and team brought the show into the modern era was so funny and clever and full of heart. 

Oh, I’m also a big pro-wrestling fan - which is probably very obvious due to the numerous wrestling references in my work. I love AEW in particular, and their weekly shows have gone a long way to act as an escape and to help keep me sane during these crazy times we live in!

On a side note related back to Halloween Team, I’m a huge rock music fan - and readers may note that every chapter title in Halloween Team is a reference to a different rock song that sort of reflects on a key story thematic. So take a look at the chapter titles and see if you spot anything interesting! Music plays a huge part in my writing process, and often hearing a certain song will lead me down various creative rabbit holes that are reflected in the stories I choose to tell.

CBY: Danny, thanks for dropping by today and all the insight into your inspirations. If you’d like to share any portfolio, publication, or social media links with our readers, this is the moment of truth!

DB: Thank you so much for having me! Readers can find me on pretty much every major social media platform under @DannyBaram, though as mentioned BlueSky is sort of my home base of late. And thank you again for your support for Halloween Team - I appreciate everyone who has taken a chance on our book, and I hope more people continue to discover it in the weeks ahead, as we continue the countdown to Halloween!

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