Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, house of fear, James Powell, kickstarter

House of Fear Tackles Bullying (And Evil Trees) On Kickstarter

James Powell writes for Bleeding Cool about his crowdfunding campaign, House of Fear: Rubber & Glue.

Remember middle school? For some of us, it was kinda scary. More kids flooding into one much larger building, puberty ruining everything, more challenging classes, and new cliques to deal with. For a couple of kids at Savini Middle School, things are about to get even scarier.

With our latest issue of House of Fear, currently live on Kickstarter, I wanted to showcase some of the scariest elements of those pre-teen years. Middle schoolers aren't scared of zombies or vampires. They're more worried about real-world fears, like doing poorly in class, failing at sports, or getting sick in front of their friends. And, of course, bullies.

I wanted to take all of those fears and mix them into one frightening story with this issue. It's as if a young Stephen King wrote an ABC Afterschool Special from the '80s. In "Rubber & Glue," Caden, a young bully, messes with Isaac one time too many. When Isaac uses the classic-but-still-juvenile retort, "I'm rubber, you're glue, what bounces off me, sticks to you," he curses Caden to live a couple of days in the shoes of the bullied. Caden gets a taste of his own medicine and sees firsthand just how scary middle school can be.

Everyone has been bullied in one way or another, and I wanted to show how easily a harmless prank can turn into something much worse. Our backup tale is more of what readers have come to expect from House of Fear. In "The Trees Have Eyes," we explain why Aspen trees have those weird-looking eyes on their trunks. Let's just say kids shouldn't be carving their names into the next tree they find.

My goal with the House of Fear series is to get kids interested in scary comics. These books are ideal for kids in the 8-12 range, but I've had younger, and older kids ask me when I'll have more to share. Even parents admit to enjoying them. And why not? It's essentially Goosebumps meets Tales From the Crypt, so what's not to like?

Each issue features complete, stand-alone stories, so new readers can hop right in without missing a bit. Of course, the campaign will feature digital and print back issues for those looking to catch up, too, including the collected-edition published by Dark Horse. The 16-day campaign for House of Fear: Rubber & Glue on Kickstarter ends on the 25th of March.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!