Vault's Nightfall Imprint Returns with THE AUTUMNAL, a New Horror Series by Daniel Kraus, Chris Shehan, Jason Wordie, and Jim Campbell

Vault Comics is thrilled to announceÂ THE AUTUMNAL, a terrifying new horror series by NYT bestselling authorÂ Daniel KrausÂ (The Shape of Water,Â Trollhunters), rising star artistÂ Chris Shehan, coloristÂ Jason Wordie, and letterer Jim Campbell.Â THE AUTUMNALÂ is the first title under Vault’s 2021Â NIGHTFALLÂ horror imprint.Â Â

Daniel KrausÂ is theÂ New York TimesÂ bestselling author, who, with Guillermo del Toro, co-authoredÂ The Shape of Water,Â based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authoredÂ Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. Kraus“sÂ The Death and Life of Zebulon FinchÂ was named one ofÂ Entertainment Weekly”˜s Top 10 Books of the Year, and he has wonÂ two Odyssey Awards (for bothÂ RottersÂ andÂ Scowler) and has been a Library Guild selection, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Bram Stoker finalist, and more.

InÂ THE AUTUMNAL, following the death of her estranged mother, Kat Somerville and her daughter, Sybil, flee a difficult life in Chicago for the quaint–and possibly pernicious–town of Comfort Notch, New Hampshire.

“In ten novels, I’d written about a lot of monsters, but most were humans, or lighthearted, or greatly sympathetic,” saidÂ Daniel Kraus.Â “I still had a hankering to create an original, frightening, supernatural thing that had a shot at being iconic. While discussing horror with friends, I stumbled upon the concept of fallen leaves being like stepping stones for some kind of forest monster — a pathway it could use to follow you home and so forth. It was such a visual idea to me that I thought it’d be the perfect story to be my comic debut. I’m a gigantic fan of EC Comics, but I wanted to go in the opposite direction here, and make something sophisticated and sad.

“I’ve been a devotee of folk horror since I saw The Wicker ManÂ on late-night TV as a little kid,” continuedÂ Kraus,Â “and coming from a rural area, I’ve always been especially keyed into the isolating dread of small towns. You whiz by them on interstates in a flash, but you never really know what’s going on inside all those little houses, do you?”

“When you write novels without pictures, you have to be good at giving the reader strong visuals through your words, and Daniel is very good at that,” addedÂ Chris Shehan. “For this comic, I“m drawing the visuals (along with outstanding colorist Jason Wordie), but before I drew a single line, I could see this entire story in my head beautifully and that“s thanks to a great writer like Daniel. My goal with this book is to move you, scare you, make you laugh, and make you cry with my art. This story has haunted me in the best way and I“m excited and grateful to be able to pass that on to you.”

NIGHTFALLÂ is Vault’s annualÂ fall horror imprint.Â Every year as the weather turns brisk and autumn sets in,Â NIGHTFALLÂ comes. As Vault continues its usual line, select new series introduced from September to December will bear theÂ NIGHTFALLÂ icon, promising genuine horror. PastÂ NIGHTFALLÂ titles includeÂ THE PLOTÂ byÂ Tim Daniel,Â Michael Moreci, andÂ Joshua Hixson, andÂ BLACK STARS ABOVEÂ byÂ Lonnie NadlerÂ andÂ Jenna Cha. More 2020Â NIGHTFALLÂ titles will be announced very soon.

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Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!