While John Carpenter may never helm another feature, he has continued to tell genre stories in comic book form.
The master of horror’s first original graphic novel, Cathedral, will be published on August 4 via Storm King Comics.
Carpenter also composed a new album titled Cathedral to accompany the comic. Details on that are forthcoming.
The 120-page graphic novel is written by Carpenter, editor/producer/wife Sandy King, and Sean Sobczak, illustrated by Federico De Luca and Luis Guaragna, colored by Ryan Winn, and lettered by Marshall Dillon.
In the middle of downtown Los Angeles stands an abandoned cathedral, fenced in and ignored by the world around it. The preoccupied passers-by have long since ceased to notice the dilapidated church in their midst, never mind sensing the danger and centuries old evil trapped inside its walls.
A gruesome murder one late night pulls the structure into the spotlight, triggering a police investigation into the loss of one of their own. Lieutenant Christine Marks, along with detectives Paul Hernandez and Steve Mayfield, must enter the church in search of the monster that murdered her father. Every step takes them deeper into the belly of the church revealing the mystery of an ancient evil imprisoned within.
For centuries, shamans, warriors and priests have fought a powerful demon, holding it to this piece of earth. Now it’s trying to rise again, and these three must learn the secrets of those who’ve gone before them in order to find the demon and end the centuries long battle, once and for all.
Their stamina, resolve and faith will all be tested and every small victory along the way brings them closer and closer to indescribable horrors only hinted at in myths and nightmares.
“I saw it in a dream: a nightmare landscape deep underground filled with monsters too weird and sinister to exist in daylight,” says Carpenter. “I knew instantly I had to get these things out of my head and into everyone else’s brains.”
“We have a saying at Storm King, ‘Every dream should be a nightmare,'” adds King. “By reading Cathedral, you can take John’s dream and let it become your next nightmare.”