Bram Stoker Award win for horror comic ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary’

Comics
Written By Chris Well

Celebrating the classic series with a graphic novel chronicling the life of monster-hunting reporter Carl Kolchak.

“It seems the fandom for the character is stronger than ever. I wanted to create something very special for the anniversary: a look at the life of my favorite monster hunter, from his childhood to his last case…the ultimate Kolchak story, full of creatures, frights, and the reporter’s iconic wit.”

The comic book anthology Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary has won the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. Edited by James Aquilone and featuring original stories by lots of writers—including David Avallone, Jonathan Maberry, Peter David, R.C. Matheson, Kim Newman, Gabriel Hardman, Steve Niles, Rodney Barnes, Tim Waggoner, James Aquilone, Nancy A. Collins, and James Chambers—Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary features several brand-new stories for fans of the classic show.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary
James Aquilone, editor
(Moonstone Books)

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In 1972, the TV movie Kolchak: The Night Stalker terrified and delighted audiences on ABC. Based on an unpublished novel by Jeff Rice, the TV movie written by horror legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) was at the time the highest-rated TV movie in U.S. history. It led to a second TV movie, The Night Strangler, and a cult TV series that ran for just one season.

It also inspired a generation of storytellers—notably including X-Files creator Chris Carter.

In 2022, Moonstone Books celebrated this pop culture milestone with Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary, edited by James Aquilone (Classic Monsters Unleashed). This all-new, 100+ page, full-color graphic novel will feature 10 startling stories chronicling the life of monster-hunting reporter Carl Kolchak.

The stories are written by such master storytellers as David Avallone (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia), James Chambers (Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe), Nancy Collins (Swamp Thing), Peter David (The Incredible Hulk), Kim Newman (Anno Dracula), Jonathan Maberry (V-Wars), Richard Christian Matheson (Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks), Tim Waggoner (Temple of the Dragonslayer), and Aquilone, and illustrated by such amazing artists as Jonathan Marks Barravecchia (Scarlet Witch), Marco Finnegan (Lizard in a Zoot Suit), Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (Mr. Higgins Comes Home), Paul McCaffrey (Anno Dracula), Clara Meath (Midnight Vista), Julius Ohta (Iron Man), Tom Rogers (Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla), J.K. Woodward (Star Trek), and Colton Worley (The Shadow).

Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary features covers by Colton Worley, Jerry Ordway (The Power of Shazam!), and J.K. Woodward as well as lettering by Thomas Napolitano, coloring by Zac Atkinson, and text design by Shawn T. King.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary also includes an introduction by Richard Christian Matheson, the bestselling horror author/screenwriter/producer and son of The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler writer Richard Matheson, an essay on the 50th anniversary by Mark Dawidziak, the author of The Nightstalker Companion, and a retrospective of Moonstone Book's Kolchak publication history by publisher Joe Gentile.

“It’s been half a century since Carl Kolchak made his first appearance on TV and it seems the fandom for the character is stronger than ever,” said editor James Aquilone. “I wanted to create something very special for the anniversary: a look at the life of my favorite monster hunter, from his childhood to his last case…the ultimate Kolchak story, full of creatures, frights, and the reporter’s iconic wit.”

"Carl Kolchak is one of the great horror genre characters of the 1970s,” said Kim Newman.

“KOLCHAK changed my life,” said Killadelphia writer Rodney Barnes. “The story we're telling brings the character into some wholly unexpected places and it’s a genuine thrill to be a part of this incredible anthology.”

Aquilone told Daily Dead about why the Kolchak: The Nigth Stalker series was so important to him:

“I go way back with Kolchak so I can’t remember exactly when and where I first encountered him. I was probably up past my bedtime watching a late-night movie on my black-and-white 13-inch TV in the '80s when I came across Carl and his penchant for running into monsters.

“Fictional reporters like Kolchak and Clark Kent are what inspired me to get a journalism degree. I thought being a reporter would be exciting and dangerous. But my job mostly consists of writing about the Kardashians. But if you think of the Kardashians as monsters, then my job isn’t much different than Kolchak’s.”

Chris Well

Chris Well been a writer pretty much his entire life. (Well, since his childhood.) Over the years, he has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio, and books. He now is the chief of the website Monster Complex, celebrating monster stories in lit and pop culture. He also writes horror comedy fiction that embraces Universal Monsters, 1960s sitcoms, 1980s action movies, and the X-Files.

https://chriswell.substack.com/
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