Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kickstarter, shakespeare

What If Shakespeare Was Clive Barker? Welcome To Shakespeare Unleashed

Published Tue, 21 Jun 2022 11:57:10 -0500

Shakespeare Unleashed is the follow-up to Classic Monsters Unleashed, the highest-funded and highest-backed prose horror anthology in Kickstarter history, reimagining William Shakespeare's greatest works as short horror stories, horror sonnets, and horror comics.

Edited by James Aquilone, Shakespeare Unleashed features a roster of horror writers, including Joe R. Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale, Ian Doescher, Cullen Bunn, Seanan McGuire, and Jonathan Maberry Shakespeare Unleashed has a cover and interior art by J.K. Woodward, as well as a separate black and white manga-sized comic with three different reimagined stories.

"Bloody Thou Art" (Richard III) by David Avallone and Helena Masellis
"Romeo and Juliet: Afterlife" by James Aquilone and J.K. Woodward
"Exit Pursued by Bear" by James Aquilone and Zac Atkinson

And we have a look at some of it…

Shakespeare Unleashed doth take on the bloody bard for a unique and terrifying collection. From the blood of Macbeth and ghosts of Hamlet, to the dark fantasy of The Tempest and the twisted love of Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare Unleashed reimagines Shakespeare's greatest works as short horror stories… as well as horror sonnets and a 20-page comic book. "Shakespeare Unleashed will follow in our tradition, started with Classic Monsters Unleashed, of exploring different literary universes and giving them our unique and horrifying spin," says editor James Aquilone.

"Shakespeare saw the human condition in all its glory and its pain," says Joe R. Lansdale, who will write a Macbeth-inspired story in a collaboration with his daughter Kasey. "He saw the horror in the shadows, and the mystery in human loss and ambition."

"As a horror fan and a lover of Shakespeare, I'm excited to be part of this project," Ian Doescher says. "Like a demon being summoned, my contribution—based on the comedy Twelfth Night—will channel the Bard's darker side and show how happily ever after can end up in terror, tears, and tragedy."