Interview: Comic Author Jesse James Baer
When I saw the picture of the homicidal Easter Bunny, I HAD to know more about the creators of BURLAP. Not only did I learn much about the comic creation process, but I got to see how much creative people have in common.
With the world around us filled with content, both good and not so good, Jesse James Baer and his colleagues are people we must watch out for. I would like to thanks Jesse in advance, for his participation in this interview and for contributing creations to the Horror genre.
With all the creative outlets available to you, why write comics?
So, as a kid I always loved comic books and superheroes. I had them all: Batman, Spider-Man, the X-men, you name it. In elementary school, I’d ask to stay inside during recess to draw and write my own comics instead of going outside to play kickball.
Growing up, I had many creative passions. My main passion was writing. I’d write short stories, plays, novels and film scripts. Eventually, I would make it my goal to become an independent filmmaker, attending Bucks County Community College and Temple University to attain a degree in cinema production. I took part in several indie film productions, but as I got older, filmmaking became more and more difficult.
In March of this past year I met comic creator Buz Hasson (The Living Corpse), at Monster Mania Convention. We got talking, and he offered his talents to draw a concept sketch of my short film’s lead character. The whole process of working with him opened my eyes to my old passion of making comics. I saw it as a great way to visually tell the story I wanted to tell and there were no limits! I wasn’t constricted by a budget or actors or locations! I could write my story however I wanted with no constraints. So I set to work re-writing my film script as a comic script and have been truly invested in writing comics since.
Why Horror?
My relationship with horror has been quite the roller coaster. I grew up with a mother who loved horror movies, she had every one on VHS. Of course, being one of three boys, my brothers would often “borrow”, a horror movie when our parents were away. Safe to say, these movies scared me half out of my wits! I was six, and had been witness to movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Leprechaun and Child’s Play. I constantly had nightmares.
But I also found a love for horror in the form of books and stories. I was obsessed with Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Edgar Allan Poe. I then discovered the Universal monsters: The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, Dracula.
Growing up, I often felt like an outcast. Horror was filled with relatable characters that I came to love. So when I started writing my own stories, I was drawn directly to horror as a way to express myself and escape the problems of the real world.
List some of your favorite writers or pieces, and tell how your work has been influenced by them.
My biggest influences when it comes to writing are from a couple of different mediums. Comic book-wise, my biggest influence is James O’Barr (The Crow). He, like me, used writing and creating comics to deal with trauma he suffered in his life, and that inspired me to do the same. When it comes to novels and fiction, the writer A. Lee Martinez (Gil’s All Fright Diner, The Automatic Detective) is my “go to”. I always loved the way he could blend any genre with comedy, which influenced me to add bits of humor to my writing. He creates these amazing characters that you just fall in love with.
Of course, the greats, like Stephen King and Poe were very influential for me growing up and I learned a lot about conveying human emotions from their depictions of humanity and people. Last but certainly not least, are the great Pulp writers like Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammet, and Raymond Chandler. Pulp noir is one of my favorite genres and their work really influences the dark and mysterious/gritty tones I use in my writing.
How does a story start? An idea, thought, message, scenario, etc.?
I always begin with a character. I get an idea for a person, I figure out who they are, what they look like, and what their motivations and background is. From there, I build a story around that character. The story almost writes itself. The characters I create start to breathe life into the stories themselves.
Tell me about your writing process.
My writing process always starts with a notebook and pen, creating character webs and bullet pointed plot lines. Once I know what I’m getting into by brainstorming and outlining, that’s when I sit down at my laptop and start churning out the actual story. My ideas hit me at random. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I’ll suddenly figure out the next plot point or a scenario, and run straight to my notebooks to write it down.
My writing also comes from a very personal and emotional place. Getting lost in my own stories became a sort of therapy for myself. BURLAP was a way for me to release all my anger and sadness after I unexpectedly lost my older brother in 2018. I took all my rage, and aimed it at fictional villains through my lead character.
Which piece are you most proud of, and why?
That would definitely be the first issue of my new comic series, BURLAP, a twisted tale of murder, revenge ghosts, gypsy curses, forbidden romance… and a homicidal Easter Bunny. It began as the script for a short film. I spent almost two years writing and rewriting the script. In the end, I’d written six drafts, the seventh being the comic book version. I’m most proud of this because I spent so long with it, trying to make it a reality. I had finally done it!
I’ll never forget coming home to the package on the front step, opening it to find my first self published printing of the comic. Just holding it in my hands and seeing my words brought to life through the amazing artwork of Zoran Jovicic, was absolutely thrilling.
BURLAP would not have been possible without the illustrations and lettering by accomplished artist Zoran Jovicic, of Novi Sad, Serbia. Zoran was born in 1984 in Mrkonjic Grad, a city in the Republic of Srpska. In Belgrade, he graduated at the Higher Vocational School, Department of Industrial Design. His first comic was Kosingas-Order of the Dragon, and recently has done the artwork for the comic book Memento Mori.
The horror community and comic book communities alike will very much enjoy BURLAP. My goal was to create a character that was part Batman/The Punisher and part slasher-killer like Michael Myers/Jason Voorhees. It takes the slasher formula and flips it, the silent stalker in the mask is actually the hero and his victims are the villains! Instead of focusing on the hero, BURLAP mainly focuses on the rogues as they struggle to survive, much like a slasher film mainly focuses on the slasher killers victims. My artist and I have worked hard on creating a cast of wild villains I believe the readers will love to hate.
Where can I find your work?
My comic series, BURLAP will be available from Covenant Comics, later this year. Currently, you can find great info including a preview of the book, cover and concept art, and some great background info on myself and the project here.
Covenant Comics and myself will be releasing a Kickstarter campaign in March of 2020, to raise funds to keep the series going! We’re really hoping to rally the horror community around BURLAP and acquire the means to share it with the world!
What do you think of this interview? If you know of any talented Horror creators we should interview, have a suggestion, question, or request, either:
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Published in January 2025, Virginia Feito’s second book, Victorian Psycho, is… hard to categorize. Much like Feito’s first book, Mrs March (which I also highly recommend), Feito has created a main character that is paranoid, violent and utterly charming. Victorian Psycho might be any classic Victorian novel about a governess. Miss Notty, entering her new place of employment and getting to know the Pound family and their two children, Andrew and Drusilla. That is if you ignore the psychopathic thoughts that keep entering Miss Notty’s head.
- SOON TO BE A FEATURE FILM FROM A24 STARRING MARGARET QUALLEY AND THOMASIN MCKENZIE”This book will be the bloody belle of the 2025 literary ball
- ” (Oprah Daily)Most Anticipated Books of 2025: Vulture, Oprah Daily, Polygon, Reader’s Digest, Lit Hub, CrimeReads, The Stacks, LibraryReads, PasteBest Books of the Month: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Goodreads, Gizmodo, Book Riot, The A
- V
Last update on 2025-03-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The Plot.
When we begin Victorian Psycho, we meet Winifred Knotty, a young woman travelling to Ensor House through the English Grim Wolds in what feels like the Victorian era (the year is never actually pinpointed.) The reader is provided with a countdown of ‘three months till Christmas’ and simply told that “in three months everyone in this house will be dead.”
Miss Notty is to be the new Governess to the two Pound children. As she settles into her new position, she appears to be good at her job. She ensures that the children are fed, tucks them in at night, tells bedtime stories and provides them with intellectual conversation. She only jokes about eating children and really has no idea where that missing maid has disappeared to.
Highlights.
Victorian Psycho is written as a chaotic interior monologue, punctuated with intermittent dialogue as Miss Notty interacts with other characters, or eavesdrops on them from the hallway. The reader is completely immersed in this confused, violent mind, despite this, it is impossible not to like Miss Notty. I think it might be due to her witty intelligence and her keen ability to dismantle the other character’s social pretenses. Whatever it is, Feito has done a marvelous job of characterization on Miss Notty.
As an extra highlight I need to mention the way Feito has named her characters using a very Dickensian method of using words that describe their personalities. To name a few; Miss Notty, whose mind seems to be in knots, Mr. And Mrs. Fancy, who are very posh and the name that took the cake for me was the baby, called William Ebenezer Poncy Fancey, but don’t worry, you won’t have to read that name too often as he does not last long in Miss. Notty’s care.
Drawbacks.
There is a lot of confusion in Victorian Psycho, which is in keeping with our point of view main character. However, at some points in the story the confusion was so thick that I had to stop reading and try to untangle the events I had just read. If you are a reader who enjoys a clear and concise plot and action, this one is probably not for you. While you are in Notty’s head suffice it to say you have to roll with the unconnected tangents and strange metaphors, if you’re not willing to do this it would be best to jump ship.
The Final Take.
This is a perfectly perverse take on a Victorian gothic. Full to the brim with brutal horror and visceral imagery, balanced out with tongue in cheek sarcasm. Victorian Psycho flips the script on the traditional ‘women running away from houses’ theme of the gothic. Instead, we have a woman coming in and, well… you’ll have to read the book to see.
(5 / 5)
As a disclaimer, this is a review of The House of My Mother from a critical perspective. I will not be discussing my opinions of the legal case against Ruby Franke and Jody Hildebrandt. I will be discussing the merits of the book as a work of true crime alone.
In 2015, Ruby Franke started a YouTube channel called 8 Passengers. In August of 2023, Franke and her business associate Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested for, and later plead guilty to, charges of aggravated child abuse. And in January of this year, Shari Franke told her story in The House of My Mother.
The story
The House of My Mother is the true story of Shari Franke, the oldest child of one of the most famous family vlogger families.
As a child, Shari came to the conclusion that her mother didn’t like her. Soon, she began to fear her mother’s anger.
Things got significantly worse when Ruby started their family vlog. All of the families most intimate moments were splashed across the internet for anyone to watch. This became a living nightmare for Shari.
Of course, that was only the start of the family nightmare. Because Ruby was about to meet someone who would reinforce all of the darkest parts of herself.
Eventually Shari manages to escape her home. But her younger siblings were still in her mother’s clutches. She had to save them, and her father, from the monster her mother had become.
What worked
Through the book, Shari only ever mentions the name of one of her siblings, Chad. This is because Chad is the only of her siblings that is an adult at the time of the publication.
There are children involved in this story. Children who’s lives and privacy have already been damaged. Shari didn’t want to do that to them again, and neither do I.
It probably won’t surprise you that this book is full of upsetting details. But not in the way you might imagine.
Nowhere in this book will you find gory details about the abuse the Franke kids suffered. And I consider that a good thing. Those sort of details are all fun and games when we’re talking fiction. When it’s real kids who are really living with the damage, it’s not a good time.
What you’ll find instead is a slew of more emotionally devastating moments. One that stuck with me is when Ruby’s mother gives her a pair of silk pajamas as a gift after Ruby gave birth to one of her babies. Shari asks Ruby if she’d bring her silk pajamas when she had a baby. Ruby responds that yes, when Shari becomes a mother they can be friends.
What a lovely way to make a little girl feel like she’s not worth anything unless she reproduces. And, if she does decide to have children, who is going to bring her silk pajamas?
- From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing
- Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival
- Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2
Last update on 2025-03-02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
In the end, this isn’t a story about ghosts or demons. It’s not about a serial killer waiting on a playground or in the attic of an unsuspecting family. Instead, this is a story about things that really keep us up at night. It’s the story of a woman so obsessed with perfection that she drove away her eldest daughter. The story of a young woman who’s forced to watch from afar as her beloved brothers and sisters are terrorized and abandoned. These are the sorts of things that really keep us up at night. These are the real nightmares.
More than that, though, The House of My Mother is a story of survival. It’s about a family that was ripped apart and somehow managed to stitch itself back together again. It’s about a brave young woman who managed to keep herself safe and sane in the face of a nightmare. If you haven’t read it yet, I can’t recommend it enough.
For more like this, check out my review of Shiny Happy People.
(5 / 5)
Boreal: an Anthology of Taiga Horror is a collection of twenty-two haunting tales that dwell in the deepest darkest woods and frozen wastelands, edited by Katherine Silva and including Haunted MTL’s very own Daphne Fauber. Each story has even been gifted with its very own poster, hinting at the horrors to be found within it, bestowing a beautiful visual collection as well.
The tales are varied and touch upon the environment in new and different ways, each hearkening to a sort of epiphany or raised awareness. These stories exude both dread and wonder at the smallness of our human existence in contrast to the sacred world we have isolated from, sheltering ourselves in our comfortable houses with centralized heat and everything we could possibly need or want at the ready. The taiga becomes a sanctuary outside of our own dulled awarenesses. It is a holy place imbued with powers beyond mortal human reach, a wilderness that threatens to swallow us – both whole and bit by bit, simultaneously.
The protagonists enter into this realm through ritual, superstition, longing, stubbornness, and their own hubris – yearning to survive its dangers, and to make their own marks upon it. The starkness of their surroundings harbors delicate moments that would be all too easily missed if not deliberately sought or pointed out. The softness of fur, the dappled sunlight shining through trees, the hazy clouds of breath forming in crisp air, the brittleness of bleached bone… those quiet experiences that beg to be forgotten, to lay safely sleeping just below the frozen surface, awaiting spring.
There are those who followed in the footsteps of their predecessors, seeking to escape the constraints of their parent’s and elders’ indoctrination, traditions, madness, and abuse, yearning to find their own way despite also being inextricably bound to their own pasts. There are those who just wanted to go for a walk in the woods, and remained forever changed by what they experienced. There are those who wished to impose their will upon the wilderness, their order falling to disarray, unable to make lasting impact. There are those who sought to leave behind the world of mankind, looking for oneness in the natural order of things through isolation, leaving a bit of themselves behind after being consumed by the terrors they encountered. There are those who truly found communion with the woods, became one with its wildness, and invited its spirit into their hearts to find peace, even at cost of their own lives. And then, there are the spirits themselves…
(3 / 5)
All in all, I give Boreal: an Anthology of Taiga Horror 3.0 Cthulhus. I love existential angst so I found it to be an enjoyable read, and I appreciated the myriad manners in which the biome was explored. But there were points in which I found myself struggling to follow along, as if the words were swept up into their own wilds in ways that alienated myself as reader, as if my mere voyeurism into this otherworldly place was not enough to comprehend the subtle deviations in storytelling mannerisms fully. I suppose in some sense this seems appropriate, but at the same time, it left me feeling a bit unfulfilled, as if I had missed a spiritual connection that should have resonated more deeply.
- English (Publication Language)
- 248 Pages – 02/25/2025 (Publication Date) – Strange Wilds Press (Publisher)
Last update on 2025-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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