{"id":8048,"date":"2024-08-09T09:40:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T07:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/?p=8048"},"modified":"2024-08-04T17:41:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T15:41:32","slug":"r-l-carver-all-is-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/?p=8048","title":{"rendered":"R. L. CARVER \u2013 ALL IS REVEALED!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Well, our last three postings, the wonderful stories \u201cKiller Caboose\u201d, \u201cSign of the Crimes\u201d and \u201cTipping the Scales\u201d seemed too good to be true<\/strong> \u2013 and they were!
The mystery around the artist person Reginald L. Carver has indeed been an elaborate hoax<\/strong>, pulled off by my friend and horror fiction writer Jasper Bark<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post Jasper now explains why he did it and why we all can enjoy his comics coup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The mysterious figure of R. L. Carver<\/strong> has caused historians of pre-code horror comics no end of consternation recently. Since the three strips that were attributed to Carver came to light, a controversy has raged around this artist and his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many notable figures have questioned the authenticity of the strips<\/strong> since they first came to light in 2024. The maddening lack of historical details surrounding Carver\u2019s life, coupled with questions about whether the pages were coloured digitally, led some to assert that the comics were a clever fake<\/strong>. Others claimed Carver never existed and the whole thing was an audacious hoax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were they right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the truth is, R. L. Carver is one of the central characters<\/strong> in Draw You In<\/em>, a trilogy of horror novels<\/strong> that I wrote that were published by Crystal Lake Entertainment over the months of June and July this year (2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So<\/em>, you may be asking, was this whole project simply a cheap publicity stunt<\/em>? Not entirely. I did hope to grab your attention<\/strong>, but I had other reasons for doing this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Draw You In <\/em>explores the history of horror comics<\/strong>, from the pre-code 1950s to the present day. It also reveals the secret, shadow-history of the United States. But another of its themes is the way that reality and fiction often bleed into one another<\/strong>, especially in the world of comics. There\u2019s always been a tension between the \u2018real\u2019 and the \u2018fictional\u2019 in comics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it was editor, Julius Schwartz or writer, Grant Morrison appearing as themselves in comics like The Flash #179<\/em> and Animal Man #26<\/em>, or artist David Lloyd\u2019s Guy Fawkes mask, from V for Vendetta, <\/em>becoming a potent symbol of protest for everything from the hacktivist group \u2018Anonymous\u2019 to the \u2018Occupy Wall St\u2019 movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this is a theme of the three novels, I invited many real life comic creators to appear as characters in the novels. These included comic legends, Walt and Louise Simonson<\/strong>.
Both creators not only appeared as themselves, they wrote their own dialogue and actions and interacted with the main characters, affecting the narrative in ways I couldn\u2019t control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant Morrison has spoken about putting on a \u2018Fiction Suit\u2019 and stepping into our favourite stories<\/strong>. That\u2019s effectively what we managed to do with Draw You In<\/em> and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever been done, quite this way, in a novel before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as bringing real life characters into the fiction of Draw You In<\/em>, I wanted to continue the experiment by letting the fictional characters escape out into the real world<\/strong>. The lead character of Draw You In<\/em> is a comics creator called Linda Corrigan. She has just written and illustrated a gothic novella that you can read for free by signing up for my mailing list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plot of Draw You In <\/em>follows an FBI investigation into the life and work of a forgotten horror comic artist called R. L. Carver<\/strong>. A misunderstood genius who never received the acclaim he deserved. I wanted Carver to step off the pages of my novels and into the real world, if only for a few weeks. I wanted readers to wonder if Carver actually existed<\/strong>, if only for a brief moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I worked with the creative team of my graphic novel Bloodfellas<\/em><\/a> to bring Carver and his creations to life. I have to thank artist Mick Trimble, colourist Aljo\u0161a Tomi\u0107 and letterer Mindy Hopkins for going above and beyond in this metafictional experiment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you liked what you read that\u2019s probably down to their contributions. If it annoyed you, for whatever reason, then I guess that\u2019s on me.
Even if you weren\u2019t taken in for a second, I still hope you enjoyed reading R. L. Carver\u2019s work. I also hope I\u2019ve intrigued you enough to check out the first volume of the Draw You In <\/em>trilogy, which you can buy here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DRAW YOU IN, VOL 1 \u2013 COLLECTOR\u2019S ITEM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you disappear so completely that only one person remembers you existed?

That\u2019s what comics creator Linda Corrigan<\/strong> asks, when her editor, disappears without a trace. Drawn into an FBI investigation by Agent McPherson, Linda and comics historian Richard Ford<\/strong> unearth a chilling link to the forgotten comic artist R. L. Carver, whose work might just hold the key to a series of mysterious disappearances.

As they explore Carver\u2019s life, they uncover the secret history of horror comics<\/strong>, the misfits, madcaps and macabre masters who forged an industry, frightened a generation and felt the heat of the Federal Government.
They also stumble on the shadow history of the United States<\/strong> on a road trip that veers into the nation\u2019s dark underbelly, where forbidden knowledge and forgotten lore await them.

Described as \u201cKavalier and Clay meets Clive Barker,\u201d\u00a0Draw You In Vol.1 \u2013 Collector\u2019s Item<\/em>\u00a0is the first in a mind-bending trilogy of novels. It contains stories within stories that explore horror in all its subgenres<\/strong>, from quiet to psychological horror, from hardcore to cosmic horror.

Experience the epic conspiracy thriller that redefines the genre for a new generation.

**********************

Draw You In Vol.1 \u2013 Collector\u2019s Item is the fourth book in the Bark Bites Horror series.

Bark Bites Horror<\/strong> is a spine-tingling series that takes the horror genre to a whole new level. Get ready for a Goosebumps for grown-ups and a sexed-up Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! This is your favorite new obsession. These are the terror tales you\u2019ve been waiting your whole life to read.

This is Horror 2.0, re-gened, re-tooled and recreated for a fearless new audience<\/strong>! Think you’ve seen everything in horror? Think again. Bark Bites takes you places you’ve never been and shows you sights few mortal eyes would dare behold.

Don\u2019t be the only weird kid on your block to miss out!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, our last three postings, the wonderful stories \u201cKiller Caboose\u201d, \u201cSign of the Crimes\u201d and \u201cTipping the Scales\u201d seemed too good to be true \u2013 and they were!The mystery around the artist person Reginald L. Carver has indeed been an elaborate hoax, pulled off by my friend and horror fiction writer Jasper Bark. In this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8051,"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions\/8051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fifties-horror.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}