Shakespeare Unleashed – A Horror Anthology & Comic Book
Created by James Aquilone
Wicked stories & sonnets based on the Bard's work by Joe R. Lansdale, Ian Doescher, Cullen Bunn, Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Maberry and many more.
** SHIPPING NEXT YEAR **
Latest Updates from Our Project:
All Comic Book Art Is In!
about 2 years ago
– Sat, Nov 19, 2022 at 09:14:56 PM
Great news! All the artwork for the comic book has been turned in. Below are some sneak peeks.
If you haven't heard, we've added Steve Rasnic Tem and James Chambers to the prose anthology.
We've selected all the sonnets from the slush pile, but we're still going through submissions for the short stories. We have about 70 more to read and about 5 open slots.
Panel from Romeo and Juliet: Afterlife by writer James Aquilone and artist J.K. Woodward.
First page for The Gaslighting of the Shrew by writer Jeff Strand and artist Marco Finnegan.
Panel from Bloody Thou Art by writer David Avallone and artist Helena Masellis.
Shakespeare Unleashed Pre-Order Store Open
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Sep 14, 2022 at 07:00:55 AM
The Shakespeare Unleashedpre-order store is open. If you missed anything during our campaign, you can make late pledges here. We may even add a few things in the coming weeks. You'll also get a chance to add rewards once the surveys go out through BackerKit, but we're a bit away from that.
Our submissions period has ended. Thank you to everyone who submitted a story or sonnet. We're making our way through everything and hope to be done with the selection process in the next few weeks.
Almost all of the stories and sonnets from the invitees are in, so we're well on our way to putting this book together and getting it out to you all.
We've Funded! Thank You!
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 05:28:19 AM
After the campaign ended Thursday night, I collapsed from exhaustion and didn't wake up until this morning. We'll, that's my story anyway for getting this update posted so late.
We hit $40,000 at the last minute and almost got to 700 backers. Shakespeare Unleashed is now the 22nd highest funded anthology in any category of all time and the fourth highest funded horror anthology. (Classic Monsters Unleashed is still the No. 1 horror anthology. )
I'd like to thank all the backers and contributors, who've made this project possible. This is going to be an amazing book.
Jeff Strand, Marco Finnegan Added to the Shakespeare Unleashed Comic Book; Full Reveal of "Exit, Pursued by a Bear" Story
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 04:05:47 PM
As we enter the final week of the campaign, we have some major news! We've reached another stretch goal and added a fourth story to the Shakespeare Unleashed comic book.
Bram Stoker award-winning author Jeff Strand will write a horror tale based on Taming of the Shrew and James Bond artist Marco Finnegan will illustrate it.
Jeff Strand (left), Marco Finnegan (right)
They join David Avallone, Helena Masellis, J.K. Woodward, Zac Atkinson, Tom Napolitano, and me in the comic.
Here's another sneak peek at one of the stories. Below is the complete 3-page story I based on Shakespeare's infamous stage direction "Exit, Pursued by a Bear." Zac did the art and Tom handled the lettering.
A New Reward Tier & a New Contributor
over 2 years ago
– Thu, Jul 14, 2022 at 09:30:36 PM
With one week to go, we've made two big additions to the project.
We've added British horror author Simon Bestwick to the prose anthology. He's writing a story based on Shakespeare's Henry VI trilogy. Simon also wrote one of my favorite stories in Classic Monsters Unleashed. Read "Mummy Calls" if you haven't already. By the way, Classic Monsters Unleashed was published this week — and we're a No. 1 new release on Amazon!
We've also added a very cool, limited reward tier.
SIGNED IAN DOESCHER SHAKESPEARE BUNDLE
Ian Doescher is offering three of his Shakespeare works from Quirk Books — all signed. Plus, he'll sign a copy of SHAKESPEARE UNLEASHED, in which he'll have a very special story. That's four signed books! With free shipping (U.S. only)!
You can choose any three of Ian's awesome Quirk Books below:
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Hardcover
William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back Hardcover
William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return Hardcover
William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls Paperback
William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future Paperback
William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Clueless Paperback
My pal Wesley Snipes — yes, that Wesley Snipes — has returned to comics with a 140-page sci-fi/noir graphic novel!
The producer and star of the Blade franchise is back with a 140-page, OVERSIZED, balls-to-the-wall graphic novel. No punches pulled here.
In this dark tale, Detective Niles “Roach” Washington pursues a serial killer five thousand years in the makings. The world around him says to ignore the signs he's seeing, but his instincts push him forward. With enemies on all sides and within, Roach wades into the darkness to find the killer and uncovers Earth’s darkest secret.
