An Interview With Denis Kitchen On The Kickstarter For The ‘Oddly Compelling’ Documentary And More!

For more than half a century, Denis Kitchen has been the embodiment of punk-rock persistence in comics—equal parts artist, publisher, and First Amendment firebrand. Long before “creator-owned” was a buzzword, Kitchen was stapling together Mom’s Homemade Comics, hawking issues out of head shops, and launching Kitchen Sink Press so voices like Will Eisner, Trina Robbins, and Alan Moore could run wild without a Comics Code muzzle. When prosecutors finally came knocking, he didn’t flinch; he built the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund brick by brick, turning courtroom showdowns into victory laps for free expression. Now filmmakers Soren Christiansen and Ted Intorcio are rolling the tape on Oddly Compelling, a documentary that threads Kitchen’s hippie-era pranksterism, his thirty-year publishing crusade, and his ongoing fight against censorship into one heck of an origin story for modern horror comics.

Why does that matter to Horror Tree readers? Because every grotesque panel, banned-book challenge, and late-night anthology pitch we celebrate traces back to the doors Denis kicked open. Oddly Compelling isn’t just a look in the rear-view; it’s a rallying cry at a moment when book bans are spiking and moral crusaders have libraries in their crosshairs. So I sat down with the man himself to talk EC horror, From Hell, giant penises invading Manhattan, and the practical ways tomorrow’s creators can keep the gates of weird wide open.

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Ghosts, Crime Podcasts, and More with Keller Agre

Have you ever listened to a true crime podcast?  I bet most of us have, whether it’s a favorite genre of interest or not one you gravitate toward often.  But when I read Keller Agre’s newest novella, Let the Ghosts Sleep, centered on true crime podcasters exploring a haunted hotel, I knew immediately the plot would make for a fun summer horror read!  

So put your earbuds in, play that latest true crime podcast, and cozy in to read Keller’s interview on his newest release, hauntings, true crime, and more!

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An Interview With Eric LaRocca

Eric LaRocca is a 3x Bram Stoker Award® finalist and Splatterpunk Award winner. He was named by Esquire as one of the “Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age” and praised by Locus as “one of strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fiction.” LaRocca’s notable works include Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Everything the Darkness Eats, and At Dark, I Become Loathsome. He currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with his partner.

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Max Allan Collins Author Interview

Baby, It’s Murder – It Could Be The Last One…

By Sarah Elliott

People struggle to follow my train of thought on the best of days. I can’t imagine leaving unfinished manuscripts for another writer to complete. Max Allan Collins, an accomplished writer in his own right, took this on and continued the legacy of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer. But is it now time for Mike to lay his gun and fedora down to rest? Will Baby, It’s Murder be the last we hear from our favourite hardboiled PI?  

“Don’t worry about being overwhelmed by sentimentality: The legendary shamus still kills and maims with the best of them.”—Kirkus Reviews

Mickey Spillane is the legendary crime writer of the Mike Hammer novels, selling millions of copies worldwide.

Max Allan Collins was hailed in 2004 by Publishers Weekly as “a new breed of writer.” A frequent Mystery Writers of America nominee in both fiction and non-fiction categories, he has earned an unprecedented eighteen Private Eye Writers of America nominations. In 2002, his graphic novel Road to Perdition was adapted into an Academy-Award winning film starring Tom Hanks. He lives in Iowa, USA.

Mike Hammer doesn’t like people. Fortunately, Max Allan Collins likes them well enough to take some time to speak with us.

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Interview with Award-Nominated Poet Deborah Sheldon

I’m a fan of award-winning horror author and anthology editor, Deborah Sheldon. I’ve read most everything she’s written, including short stories, novellas, novels, and anthologies as well as flash fiction and drabbles. She’s a master of the horror genre in all its forms, and I await each of her regular new publications with eager anticipation, always wondering what it might be – a novel, a collection of short stories, an anthology? I’m happy to report that Deborah Sheldon’s latest publication The Broonie and Other Dark Poems is available now through Hiraeth Publishing. For those of us who read her horror stories with relish, the contents of this poetry collection will not disappoint. Intrigued that Sheldon has now turned her hand to verse, I caught up with her recently to talk about her multi-faceted writing journey.

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“You’re Only Alive if You’re Online”

By Sarah Elliott

Why the impending feeling of doom at the thought of switching off your phone? Why does the panic-induced pounding of your heart feel like, at any moment, your insides will spew forth if you dare to disconnect?

Being accessible and online seems non-negotiable these days. In Zac Thompson’s graphic novel Cemetery Kids Don’t Die, it’s more than non-negotiable, it’s a matter of life and death. Gamers beware! Will you accept the same challenge as the Cemetery Kids?

Let’s get to know the creator of this possible future world.

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