By: Nicole D’Andria
Welcome
to Ghost Island—what the creators
like to call “Jurassic Park but with ghosts”.
This Kickstarter is for funding the first 3 issues of the 5 issue black
& white supernatural horror comic mini-series. Get ready for their grand
opening!
Ghost Island is about a wealthy entrepreneur planning
on opening a theme park on an island he has filled with his collection of
imprisoned ghosts. But right before the opening, he brings a small group of
people to the island in order to assist him, including troubled psychic Josh
Evans. And while Josh has been accused of horrible things after his wife
disappeared, now he must face the evil minds of the ghosts on the island.
The
series is written by Joseph Oliveira, the person behind British Horror Comic
Publishing House Aftrerlight Comics. Oliveira is also a BAFTA nominated
filmmaker. The artist is Anabela Turlione, who got her PhD in physics in 2015
and decided to devote herself to drawing instead.
The first
three issues of Ghost Island will be
successively funded if the Kickstarter reached its $2,164 goal by May 25, 2018 at
5:00 AM EDT. They’re even offering the first issue for free here. Rewards for the
project include digital (£6) and signed physical (£18) copies of the first 3
issues of Ghost Island as well as
various options for posters (£24) or t-shirts (£24). You can see the rest of
the rewards on their Kickstarter page.
I
interviewed writer Joseph Oliveira in-depth about his island full of ghosts.
 |
| Joseph Oliveira |
Me: What about Jurassic
Park inspired you to create this horror story?
Oliveira: It wasn’t actually intentional at all;
really the link came to Jurassic Park
afterwards. I was sitting at a comic convention with a friend at a comic con
explaining to him the story of Ghost
Island to pitch to someone if I were to go for a toilet break and he
replied to me “Oh so it’s Jurassic Park
but with ghosts.” I honestly hadn’t made the link until that moment.
Me: You mention a small group of people who come to
the island—how would you describe each of the people in this group, as well as
the entrepreneur behind the island?
Oliveira: You have a psychic, a priest, a
non-believer and his son, and two reporters. Each of them bring a very
interesting dynamic to the story as they’re all from such different backgrounds.
The scenes between different characters really feel fresh and tangible.
Me: Who are some of the ghosts we can expect to see
lurking around Ghost Island?
Oliveira: In Issue #2 you meet a Ghost penned as
“The Butcher.” Psychic Josh Evans goes into his past and finds out his horrific
past and what led him to be imprisoned on the island. There’s dozens and dozens
of ghosts locked up the island to explore more of further in the series
Me: If you had the choice between going to Jurassic
Park or Ghost Island, knowing what could go wrong will go wrong, which island
would you go to in the hopes of having a better chance at surviving?
Oliveira: Now that is a tough one! I’m going to go
with Jurassic Park! With Ghost Island there’s this sinister undertone and
lingering mystery of the whole place that I certainly couldn’t see myself
lasting a night there.
Me: What inspired you to initially create
AfterLight Comics and what is the publisher’s mission statement?
Oliveira: My first comic was Ghost Island and since then I started getting new ideas and wanted
to really be recognized under a certain brand. That’s where AfterLight Comics
came in. Our latest successful horror title was Folktales Of The Cryptids. The mission statement is that we’re the
place to bring you the best horror stories told when the lights are out. We’ve
got so many more interesting scary projects coming up we’ll be announcing soon.
Me: You also worked as an award-winning filmmaker.
Why did you decide to transition from filmmaking to comics and what have been
your favorite aspects of each?
Oliveira: I just found the entry level to comics
so much easier. With filmmaking most of the time you need this big gigantic
team of people, lighting, sound, cameraman, editor, etc. With comics it can
literally be you and the artist and I love that. Things don’t get lost in
chains of command and you can really get your vision across.
Me: Some of the rewards include other AfterLight
titles. Can you tell us a bit about these other titles and why people who enjoy
Ghost Island would enjoy them as
well?
Oliveira: So
Folktales Of the Cryptids was our last successful comic Kickstarter where
it’s four short horror tales each based on a Cryptid legend. It’s been
described as Fantastic Beasts as
written by George A. Romero.
Me: What do you think is the number one reason why
people should pledge money to Ghost
Island?
Oliveira: If you enjoy horror, mystery, and the supernatural
this will be a genuine read I’d hope you’d enjoy. It plays out like an episodic
series and after reading and getting to the end of the first issue I’ll
guarantee that you’ll want to find out what happens next.
Me: What inspirational words do you have for
aspiring comic book writers?
Oliveira: Be the hardest worker you can be and
you’ll get the rewards.
Me: Thank you for taking the time to share your
ghostly trip with us! If you’re reading this and interested in taking a journey
to a haunted island, check out the Ghost
Island Kickstarter here.
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have a Kickstarter? Want to be interviewed about it and have the project
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