Bram Stoker Award Winner James Aquilone Talks KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER Deluxe Edition (INTERVIEW)
A Limited Edition of Jeff Rice’s KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER Novel Comes To Kickstarter
Monstrous Books is set to Publish A Deluxe Edition of Jeff Rice’s KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, the Book that Spawned the Cult TV Series. This Delux Limited Edition Novel features a new foreword by David Dasmalchian, an all-new afterword by Rodney Barnes, an essay on Jeff Rice by Kolchak Expert Mark Dawidziak, and a new cover and spot illustrations by Russ Braun (The Boys).
The Kickstarter campaign will run from Tuesday, June 18 to Thursday, July 11. To support the project, visit Kickstarter.
I had the pleasure of “picking the brain” of the genius behind the project, Bram Stoker Award Winner, James Aquilone.
Aquilone is the owner of Monstrous Books and the writer of the Dead Jack, Zombie Detective series. He is also the editor of the anthologies Classic Monsters Unleashed, Shakespeare Unleashed, and, most recently, Kolchak: The Night Stalker 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel, for which he was awarded the Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel in 2022.
I would like to thank Aquilone and the team from Monstrous Books for taking the time to speak with us at Macabre Daily about the upcoming release of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER Deluxe Edition.
Q. Which Kolchak character would your closest friends describe you as? Why?
Kolchak, of course! Which is why I’m so drawn to him. Like Kolchak, I have a journalism degree and have been working as a journalist for quite some time. I like to think I pursue the truth like Carl, but despite my hopes, I’ve never encountered a monster during the course of my job—only monstrous editors.
Q. Do you remember your first introduction to the world of Kolchak? What kind of influence did it have on you as a writer?
I first saw Kolchak in reruns when it used to air late at night. It was a huge influence on me as I became a journalist and I write about monsters.
Q. Do you think modern audiences have something to gain or learn from the reintroduction of Kolchak to this decade?
Kolchak is a pursuer of truth. That’s a good thing to learn in any era, and it would be great if all reporters were as honest as Carl.
Q. In your opinion, what makes The Night Stalker a revolutionary cult classic?
It was unlike anything that had been on TV. Before The Night Stalker, horror TV was more sci-fi based such as The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, or it was comedic such as The Munsters or The Addams Family. The Night Stalker perfectly blended realism with fantastical horror and threw in a dash of humor. It was fun but still scary.
Q. Can you tell us about your editing process for this project?
The idea was to restore the manuscript to its original form. The previous edition had deleted a lot of material and I wanted this version to be true to the original. I also wanted to fix the many typos and errors that had been in all previous editions. James Chambers, who won a Bram Stoker Award for this Kolchak graphic novel in 2016, edited this edition and did an amazing job getting it into shape.
Q. Do you have a favorite monster from the series?
That’s tough. There were so many great monsters, from the vampire Janos Skorzeny to the Rakshasa and Jack the Ripper. But I really love the headless motorcycle rider in Chopper. That was a great update on the headless horseman. He looks kind of cheap but also kind of cool.
Check out their press release for more information on this exciting project and find out how you can support their Kickstarter!
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