It started out innocently enough…and that lasted about fifteen seconds. One of the ‘godfathers of splatterpunk,’ as screenwriter David J. Schow (The Crow) has called him, Joe Monks has been churning out envelope-pushing horror since the mid-1980s. His underground comic, Cry For Dawn, was banned in 7 countries in the early ‘90s and seized in federal raids. His latest title, SICK ‘N TWISTED, has a story whose title alone distributors requested be changed. And now? Best selling author Edward Lee (The Bighead, Triage), has opened the door, gifting Monks, Franklin E. Wales and 2022 Splatterpunk Award winner Candace Nola (Baker’s Dozen) an opening line all three authors needed to kick off their nefarious tales with.
“I was just thinking, ‘I oughta call Frank, see if he’s got time’,” Monks said. “I didn’t know Candace aside from online posts and reviews of her books, so I said, ‘Ehh, why not?’”
The result is Exactly the Wrong Things, an ‘80s-style chapbook that’s getting wildly favorable reviews…and blurbs commenting on its cringe-factor.
The book will debut on Drew Stepek’s Godless.com digital platform on October 8, and the trio have launched a Kickstarter to ensure the best print quality possible. “We may make you vomit,” admits Monks. “And that’s our fault. But, at least your puke won’t go through the paper!”
Artist Jason Moser provides the cover and support illustrations, with Tomiwa Olu providing colors. The print edition will be released Oct 13 with B/W interiors, while the digital edition, available exclusively on Godless thru early December, will contain the color interiors.