Chillin' with Robert Heske
By Don E. Smith Jr.

BONE CHILLERS: TALES OF SUBURBAN MURDER AND MALICE

Writer Robert Heske said it takes many resources to be a successful comic book creator, especially an independent one, in this day an age.

While it takes money, a good idea, an ability to tell a good story, and talented creators to work with - it takes something even deeper to create a project.

“Passion has to be the drive,” said Heske in a telephone interview with CosmicBookNews.com. “It takes a while to get your name out and to create a fan base, so you need passion to keep you committed.”

Heske said it is passion that drove his horror anthology series, Cold Blooded Chillers: Tales of Suburban Murder and Malice forward.

And every good horror anthology has someone creepy hosting it. Remember The Twilight Zone with Rod Serling standing off to the side smoking a cigarette or in modern incarnations of the show Forrest Whitaker standing around? Or how about the Crypt Keeper from either the comic or HBO series Tales from the Crypt? Or who can forget the mysterious leather coated Hitchhiker of the show of the same title and of course the master of the thriller - Alfred Hitchcock on his series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

After three inaugural issues and an award-winning trade paperback - Bone Chiller, Heske has decided to forgo a creepy brand character and instead focuses on a unique and far more fearsome villain – the monster next door!

“Cold Blooded Chillers was inspired by several of my short screenplays which all had a dark undertone about bad people doing bad things unto others,” says Heske. “Rather than make a bunch of short films, I decided to make an indie horror series.”

THE NIGHT PROJECTIONIST

In Heske’s writing man isn’t the only monster – The Night Projectionist, a separate OGN by publisher Studio 407 features a creepy night projectionist who holds his audience movie hostage on Halloween and reveals himself to be a vampire. But that isn’t the only bad news; the vampire’s coven is also coming to town to wreak revenge on the sharp-fanged projectionist and any humans who stand in their way.

“Originally, I had first started writing the vampire story as a screenwriter,” said Heske, based in Massachusetts. “I wrote a treatment and pitched it to a gentleman named Alex Leung who was a film producer and comic book creator.”

Both decided Night Projectionist would work better as a comic.

When the first issue came out, it met with positive results.

Web site, Ain’t-it-Cool-News.Com called the first issue “an impressive first issue” and the icon of horror magazines, Fangoria said Night Projectionist “could be the next 30 Days of Night.”

“Due to increased sales thresholds for first-issue books introduced by Diamond in December 2008, subsequent issues of Night Projectionist have been cancelled in the Diamond Previews catalog,” said Heske.

He added, “This is something that has happened to 95 percent of indie comics.”

He said that the book was going straight to trade paperback.

“The book will be released in bookstores and local comic book shops this Fall,” said Heske.

And he added that Hollywood has expressed their interest in his work.

“The film rights to Night Projectionist have been picked up by Myriad Pictures the same people who released Kinsey, The Good Girl, and Jeepers Creepers 2,” said Heske.

When he is not telling his own stories, Heske is giving advice to other creators.

“I have a regular column that I write at Investcomics.com and I discuss how a creator can get an independent comic up and running, and where to find artists and all those things,” said Heske.

And he also offers advice on how creators can sell their comics.

“Unfortunately, marketing is a necessary evil,” he said. “But you do what you have do.”

And apparently, it has worked out well for Heske. The aforementioned Bone Chiller trade paperback anthology pulled from his Cold Blooded Chillers walked away with a bronze medal in the horror category from the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards, also called the IPPYs.

“It's pretty cool,” he said.

In the meantime, he is happy to continue to tell his dark and twisted series and he invites all readers and fans of horror to visit him at www.coldbloodedchillers.com. Readers can also check out Night Projectionist Noir (a black and white web comic of the color OGN) at www.studio-407.com.

Up next, Heske is creating an End Times anthology tentatively titled 2012: Last Call. He is accepting submissions for consideration on his website, coldbloodedchillers.com.

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