Checking in With … Bob Heske @ Heske Horror

April 10, 2009 by Gary Rodrigue
Filed under Featured, Interviews

Bob Heske @ Heske Horror is a screamwriter and graphic novelist who has IMDB screenwriting credits and a graphic novel called THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST in development with Studio 407. Issue One was released on February 25, 2009. Myriad Pictures has optioned the film rights to the series.

Bob has also self published an indie horror series called COLD BLOODED CHILLERS and released a trade paperback called BONE CHILLER. His works can be purchased on IndyPlanet, Comixpress, SmallZone, HeavyInk (The Night Projectionist), and on DriveThruComics.com.

A loving husband and father of two little girls, Bob is a horror writer with a funny side who has written contest-winnning feature and short comedies, and an animated feature script waiting to be produced called MIGHTY LEMMING.

His websites are: www.coldbloodedchillers.com, www.bobheske.com, www.comicspace.com/heywell_scripts and www.studio-407.com

What projects are you working on right now?

I recently wrapped up the final issue of THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST, a 4-issue vampire series from Studio 407 (Hybrid, Night & Fog, Smuggling Spirits) in the vein of “30 Days of Night.” It’s about a night projectionist at a condemned theater who takes his audience hostage on Halloween. Turns out the projectionist is really a vampire preparing for a final showdown against the coven he fled and their malicious leader, Burak. His captive audience must find a way out of this dire predicament and determine whether the night projectionist is friend or foe. The film rights for THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST have been optioned by Myriad Pictures (Jeepers Creepers 2, Kinsey, The Good Girl). The search for a director, star and funding are underway. Artwork on the comic is by Diego Yapura with colors by Jorge Blanco.

I also just completed a self-published trade paperback called BONE CHILLER which is a “best of” composite of my COLD BLOODED CHILLERS indie horror anthology. The stories are standalone horror tales where man is the monster and the outcome is always gruesome. The cover art is by Preston Asevedo, with contributions from many notable artists and “up and comers” including Zeu (Infiniteens), Reno Maniquis (Wall of Angels), Monty Borror (Addicts), Adam Swiecki (The Reborn Legends), Mark Chilcott (Damaged Goods from Insomnia Publications), Dirk Shearer (The Necromancer), and more. Readers can check out the comics and book trailer on my website at www.coldbloodedchillers.com.

Currently, I’m writing two screenplays, getting ready to write the script for THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST this summer, and trying to convince my wife to let me self-fund and create issue #4 of COLD BLOODED CHILLERS.

What goals, both short and long term, have you set for yourself at this stage in your career?

Short term: Get my work published and gain an audience.

Long term: Quit my day job and write comics and movies for a living. And get a bigger house in this crappy economy so I’ll be able to hide from my two little girls (Carly and Emily) when I need to sneak away to do some writing.

Looking to the future, where do you see the comic book industry five years from now?

Digitized.

I can tell you from personal experience as a self publisher that getting great reviews is one thing, but getting people to buy your comics is something completely different. The best way to make money is to build a true fan base of 1,000 committed buyers and keep cranking out creative, mind-bending work. The avenue to do this is gonna be the Web – although I don’t think print comics will go away. There’s something so much more satisfying about reading a paper comic than a PDF. Plus, comics are art, and when you have it in your hands in print there is a greater sense of “ownership.” With that said, there is a whole new generation acclimated to uploading J-PEGs and M-PEGs on their iPods so the comics of the future will somehow blend the best of the old and the new.

What’s the most rewarding experience you’ve ever had while working in the comic industry?

Getting THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST optioned for film. (Studio 407 has a “first look” deal with Myriad, so they got to see the story in the galley stages which is why it was optioned before the comic built a large comic fan base.)

Number two is ripping open my envelope from Ka-blam or Comixpress and seeing my comic in hard copy.

Number three is winning an award (still waiting for that one – but this is my first year in comics, so it’s early…)

What is your dream project?

I’d love to have a horror anthology series picked up by Cable based on my COLD BLOODED CHILLERS series. I’d write all of the shows for Year 1 and then assign stories to a hand-picked staff of diverse, creative, quirky, caffeine-addicted horror writers in Year 2 until Ad Naseum.
I’d also have an annual screenwriting contest where the winner gets to see their story in comic form and on the TV show. And oh yeah – I’d tie it to a web series and also create a “Second Life” virtual nightmare city where people can become avatars of characters from past stories or create their own psychotics. Think “Desperate Housewives” meets “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

I’d also like to direct my own indie film at some point. At first, I thought – “Nah, I’m a writer. I’m too introverted.” But writing detailed descriptions for comics makes you really wear a Director’s hat when telling a story. And I’ve found that if I simply hand over the reins of a story to someone else, my original vision becomes obfuscated (that’s a fancy word for “changed too much”).