S. Craig Zahler's Blog

I am currently drawing my third graphic novel while I prep The Bookie & the Bruiser,' which will be my fourth motion picture as writer/director/musical co-composer. There are some strong additions to the cast, including Theo James in a leading role opposite Vince Vaughn:

https://variety.com/2025/film/global/...

I acquired the publishing rights for Hug Chickenpenny, which is now available to order once more for reasonable prices on Amazon. This gothic orphan fable is quite different from my other books, but also my favorite published work.

https://www.amazon.com/Hug-Chickenpen...

I am a fan of making year-end lists, and below are three of mine (books, comics, and boardgames) and links to one for movies and another for albums.

The Top 10 Books I read in 2024:

--Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by Harold Schechter
(This is an atmospheric, evocative, frightening, and often funny book. It ranks with Ed Yong’s An Immense World as my very favorite nonfiction book ever.)
--The Human Stain by Philip Roth
(This is the best of the half dozen Roth books I’ve read by a significant margin. Roth expertly and fluidly moves though minds, time, events, and histories while exploring what can be done better in a novel than in any other art form.)
--Cold, Thin Air, Vol. 2 by C.K. Walker
(See my review on this site: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
--Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm
--Lush Life by Richard Price
--Rontel by Sam Pink
--The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
--Cold, Thin Air, Vol. 1 by C.K. Walker
--Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
--The Gorgon’s Head by Florence Hurd

My 15 favorite 2024 comics and new reprints editions that came out this year are:
--Smoking Kills by Thijs Desemt
--Peepshow #15 by Joe Matt
--Dreadstar vs the Inevitable by Jim Starlin
--Donald Duck "Mystery of the Swamp" by Carl Barks
--What We Mean By Yesterday Vol. 1 by Benjamin Marra
--Who Raped My Horse? by Johnny Ryan
--Nancy & Sluggo’s Guide to Life by Ernie Bushmiller
--Alley by Junji Ito
--Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It by Tara Booth
--Distant Ruptures by C.F.
--Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre by Tom Scioli
--I Wish I Was Stupid by Yoshikazu Ebisu
--Forces of Nature by Edward Steed
--12 by Manix Abrera
--Tender by Beth Hetland

Here is a link to my IMDB list of favorite new movies and revival house screenings in 2024:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls595638939...

Here is a link to a list I posted on rateyourmusic of my favorite albums released in 2024:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...

The best boardgames I played in 2024 were: Kanban E.V., an elegant heavy weight euro designed by Vital Lacerda, Vinhos (2010), another heavy euro made by the same brilliant fellow, Clank!: Catacombs (the best installment in this excellent series), Innovation, Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar, Android: Netrunner, and Cave Evil, my #1 favorite game of all time.

For the first time, I checked out some visual novels, a time-consuming storytelling format fusing manga, anime, and audio books that may or may not have some limited gaming aspects as well. Of the five vns I completed, Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild was the best by far, though Chaos;Head Noah was also worthwhile.

Below are some accolades I received for my second graphic novel, a huge-scale, hard sci-fi work published by Dark Horse Comics called Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos. Below the blurbs are some lists of and links to my 2023 favorites in books, music, movies, and comics.

"Zahler continues to amaze me. I got goosebumps." - Justin Lin, director Fast Five and Star Trek Beyond

"Yikes, what scary talent!" - Geof Darrow

"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt

"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis

Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...

The debut album of my experimental/power electronics/noise project Mindscrubber is now available on CD and digitally from Chondritic Sounds:
https://chondriticsound.bandcamp.com/...

I regained the publishing rights for Hug Chickenpenny, which is now available to order once more for reasonable prices on Amazon. This gothic orphan fable is quite different from my other books, but also my favorite.

https://www.amazon.com/Hug-Chickenpen...

I continue to prep 'The Bookie & the Bruiser,' which will be my fourth motion picture as writer/director/musical co-composer. I will post developments when things are certain, though there are some strong additions to the cast.

The debut album of my experimental/power electronics/noise project Mindscrubber is now available on CD and digitally from Chondritic Sounds:
https://chondriticsound.bandcamp.com/...
Below are some accolades I received for my second graphic novel, a huge-scale, hard sci-fi work published by Dark Horse Comics called Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos. Below the blurbs are some lists of and links to my 2023 favorites in books, music, movies, and comics.

"Zahler continues to amaze me. I got goosebumps." - Justin Lin, director Fast Five and Star Trek Beyond

"Yikes, what scary talent!" - Geof Darrow

"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt

"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis

Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...

This is a link to my top 50+ albums of 2023:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...
These are the best new movies and revival screenings I saw in 2023:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524075975/

My top 15 favorite prose books I read in 2023 are:
An Immense World (Yong)
Permutation City (Egan)
Skidding into Oblivion (Hodges; reviewed by me on this site)
Soldato! (Albert; reviewed by me on this site)
Valley of Assassins (Albert; reviewed by me on this site)
Reborn as a Demonic Tree (XKarnation; reviewed by me on this site)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
Fargo: Death Valley Gold (Haas)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Diaz)
My Best Friend's Exorcism (Hendrix)
Rontel (Pink)
Children of Time (Tchaikovsky)
Imaro (Saunders)
In Watermelon Sugar (Brautigan)
Everyman (Roth)

Baby Boom (Yokoyama) was my favorite 2023 comic, and an all-time great manga/use of the medium. This book contains the most exciting daily chores in history (and might have come out very late 2022 in some markets).
The Gull Yettin (Kessler), Monica (Clowes), Life Under Tension (Harkness), I Wish I Was Stupid (Ebisu), Werewolf Jones & Sons (Hanselmann & Pettinger), Michael Mouse (Lohmeier), Tombs (Ito), Three Rocks (Griffith), Maniac Army (Ryan), and Night of the Ghoul (Snyder & Francavilla) are also special books.

A number of articles have announced The Big Stone Grid as my next picture, which isn't quite correct. I am sending that one around as a possible fifth movie, but I've made far more progress with another different original project to direct for my fourth one: I am negotiating deals to see if it will become a reality. I will give more information about this when things are more certain. Continue to look here for my next movie announcement.
The debut album of my experimental/power electronics/noise project Mindscrubber is now available on CD and digitally from Chondritic Sounds:
https://chondriticsound.bandcamp.com/...
Below are some accolades I received for my second graphic novel, a huge-scale, hard sci-fi work published by Dark Horse Comics called Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos. Below the blurbs are some words and links to my 2023 favorites in books, music, movies, and comics.

"Zahler continues to amaze me. I got goosebumps." - Justin Lin, director Fast Five and Star Trek Beyond

"Yikes, what scary talent!" - Geof Darrow

"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt

"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis

Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...

This is a link to my top 50+ albums of the year:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...

These are the best new movies and revival screenings I saw this year:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls524075975/

My top 15 favorite prose books I read in 2023 are:
An Immense World (Yong)
Permutation City (Egan)
Skidding into Oblivion (Hodges; reviewed by me on this site)
Soldato! (Albert; reviewed by me on this site)
Valley of Assassins (Albert; reviewed by me on this site)
Reborn as a Demonic Tree (XKarnation; reviewed by me on this site)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
Fargo: Death Valley Gold (Haas)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Diaz)
My Best Friend's Exorcism (Hendrix)
Rontel (Pink)
Children of Time (Tchaikovsky)
Imaro (Saunders)
In Watermelon Sugar (Brautigan)
Everyman (Roth)

Baby Boom (Yokoyama) was my favorite 2023 comic, and an all-time great manga/use of the medium. This book contains the most exciting daily chores in history (and might have come out very late 2022 in some markets).
The Gull Yettin (Kessler), Monica (Clowes), Life Under Tension (Harkness), I Wish I Was Stupid (Ebisu), Werewolf Jones & Sons (Hanselmann & Pettinger), Michael Mouse (Lohmeier), Tombs (Ito), Three Rocks (Griffith), Maniac Army (Ryan), and Night of the Ghoul (Snyder & Francavilla) are also special books.

"Zahler continues to amaze me. I got goosebumps." - Justin Lin, director Fast Five and Star Trek Beyond

"Mr. Zahler first started painting images with words. Then he used his words with a camera to thrill, intimidate, and scare. Now he has turned his attention to the medium of comics and I am now filled with intimidation, trepidation, and realized expectations. Yikes, what scary talent!" - Geof Darrow

"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt

My second graphic novel is a huge scale sci-fi work entitled Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos, which has been released by Dark Horse Comics as an oversized hardback. Blurbs and ordering info below...

"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis

Pre-order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...

Article on Screenrant:
https://screenrant.com/bone-tomahawk-...

My first artistic interest was illustration, and after writing eight novels, recording nine albums, and directing three movies, it was a pleasure to draw once more. In this graphic novel, which is my second, I explore morally complex characters, intimate human drama, large-scale world building, and speculative science.
I began working on the piece at the very beginning of lockdown and finished more than a year later when I received my first vaccine. Creating ‘Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos’ was an incredibly gratifying experience, and I’m thrilled to have it published by Dark Horse Comics, whose books I’ve read since the eighties.

“Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos is a hefty dose of world-spanning, relationship-spanning, time-spanning, galaxy-spanning weirdness with the perfect amount of alienism and humanism. S. Craig Zahler has created a tale of cosmic terror, heartbreak, and hope unlike anything else you’ll read anytime soon.”–Cullen Bunn

My second graphic novel is a huge scale sci-fi work entitled Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos, which will be released by Dark Horse Comics as an oversized hardback in October 2022. Blurbs and pre-order info below...

"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt

"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis

Pre-order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...

Article on Screenrant:
https://screenrant.com/bone-tomahawk-...

My first artistic interest was illustration, and after writing eight novels, recording nine albums, and directing three movies, it was a pleasure to draw once more. In this graphic novel, which is my second, I explore morally complex characters, intimate human drama, large-scale world building, and speculative science.
I began working on the piece at the very beginning of lockdown and finished more than a year later when I received my first vaccine. Creating ‘Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos’ was an incredibly gratifying experience, and I’m thrilled to have it published by Dark Horse Comics, whose books I’ve read since the eighties.

“Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos is a hefty dose of world-spanning, relationship-spanning, time-spanning, galaxy-spanning weirdness with the perfect amount of alienism and humanism. S. Craig Zahler has created a tale of cosmic terror, heartbreak, and hope unlike anything else you’ll read anytime soon.”–Cullen Bunn

My debut graphic novel Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus and new crime book The Slanted gutter are both widely available.

The kind words posted on Goodreads and Amazon for these works are helpful in spreading the word and very appreciated as are the likes/upvotes for these reviews...

Here is a fun interview I did on Felix Comic Art--
http://www.felixcomicart.com/podcastd...

Here is an interview I did about the comic on Word Balloon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1yZX...

Here is a link to an extended chat I had with Benjamin Marra for The Comics Journal website:
http://www.tcj.com/just-draw-it-yours...

I posted some lists on rateyourmusic.com, including one for my favorite albums of 2020:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...

Here's a fun interview I recently did for Daily Grindhouse:
http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/th...

Limited availability signed edition of The Slanted Gutter is available from the publisher here:
https://www.paypal.com/instantcommerc...

Filmmaker Simon Rumley has this to say about The Slanted Gutter:
"S. Craig Zahler proves himself to be a natural successor to Raymond Chandler and Jim Thompson... [E]xpect to be bludgeoned by the journey and thrilled by it."

And below are some comments on my debut graphic novel, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus:

"Half a surreal, modern day nightmare, and half evocative of 1940s noir detective films, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus is comic, creepy, and compelling."
--Peter Dabbene of Foreword Review

"IT'S INSANE. I love it."
--Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Grayson)

"With DR. DIVINUS, Zahler arrives as a cartoonist fully formed. It's as if he's been doing this for twenty years. But it's only with this graphic novel, his first, that Zahler has turned his considerable creative talents toward comics. As a medium, comics should feel blessed."
--Benjamin Marra (Terror Assaulter, Night Business)

"S. Craig Zahler brings the same furious energy to his first graphic novel that he does to his music, movies and novels. Forbidden Surgeries of The Hideous Dr. Divinus is a deliberately paced weird horror story with punctuations of cruelty and uncomfortable hilarity." --Josh Simmons (The Furry Trap, Black River)

My debut graphic novel Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus and new crime book The Slanted gutter are both widely available.

The kind words posted on Goodreads and Amazon for these works are helpful in spreading the word and very appreciated as are the likes/upvotes for these reviews...

Here is a fun interview I did on Felix Comic Art--
http://www.felixcomicart.com/podcastd...

Here is an interview I did about the comic on Word Balloon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1yZX...

Here is a link to an extended chat I had with Benjamin Marra for The Comics Journal website:
http://www.tcj.com/just-draw-it-yours...

I posted some lists on rateyourmusic.com, including one for my favorite albums of 2020:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...

Here's a fun interview I recently did for Daily Grindhouse:
http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/th...

Limited availability signed edition of The Slanted Gutter is available from the publisher here:
https://www.paypal.com/instantcommerc...

Filmmaker Simon Rumley has this to say about The Slanted Gutter:
"S. Craig Zahler proves himself to be a natural successor to Raymond Chandler and Jim Thompson... [E]xpect to be bludgeoned by the journey and thrilled by it."

And below are some comments on my debut graphic novel, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus:

"Half a surreal, modern day nightmare, and half evocative of 1940s noir detective films, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus is comic, creepy, and compelling."
--Peter Dabbene of Foreword Review

"IT'S INSANE. I love it."
--Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Grayson)

"With DR. DIVINUS, Zahler arrives as a cartoonist fully formed. It's as if he's been doing this for twenty years. But it's only with this graphic novel, his first, that Zahler has turned his considerable creative talents toward comics. As a medium, comics should feel blessed."
--Benjamin Marra (Terror Assaulter, Night Business)

"S. Craig Zahler brings the same furious energy to his first graphic novel that he does to his music, movies and novels. Forbidden Surgeries of The Hideous Dr. Divinus is a deliberately paced weird horror story with punctuations of cruelty and uncomfortable hilarity." --Josh Simmons (The Furry Trap, Black River)

My debut graphic novel Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus has been shipped from the printer and should be out February 9th. The piece may be pre-ordered now on Amazon.
Digital and print editions of my crime novel The Slanted Gutter will be out in February 2021 as well and are now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Here is a link to an extended chat I had with Benjamin Marra for The Comics Journal website:
http://www.tcj.com/just-draw-it-yours...

I posted some lists on rateyourmusic.com, including one for my favorite albums of 2020:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...

Here's a fun interview I recently did for Daily Grindhouse:
http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/th...

Filmmaker Simon Rumley has this to say about The Slanted Gutter:
"S. Craig Zahler proves himself to be a natural successor to Raymond Chandler and Jim Thompson... [E]xpect to be bludgeoned by the journey and thrilled by it."

And below are some comments on my debut graphic novel, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus:

"Half a surreal, modern day nightmare, and half evocative of 1940s noir detective films, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus is comic, creepy, and compelling."
--Peter Dabbene of Foreword Review

"IT'S INSANE. I love it."
--Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Grayson)

"With DR. DIVINUS, Zahler arrives as a cartoonist fully formed. It's as if he's been doing this for twenty years. But it's only with this graphic novel, his first, that Zahler has turned his considerable creative talents toward comics. As a medium, comics should feel blessed."
--Benjamin Marra (Terror Assaulter, Night Business)

"S. Craig Zahler brings the same furious energy to his first graphic novel that he does to his music, movies and novels. Forbidden Surgeries of The Hideous Dr. Divinus is a deliberately paced weird horror story with punctuations of cruelty and uncomfortable hilarity." --Josh Simmons (The Furry Trap, Black River)

My debut graphic novel Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus has been shipped from the printer and will be out the last week of January or shortly afterwards. The piece may be pre-ordered now on Amazon. Digital and print editions of my crime novel The Slanted Gutter will be out in February 2021 and are now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Filmmaker Simon Rumley has this to say about The Slanted Gutter:
"S. Craig Zahler proves himself to be a natural successor to Raymond Chandler and Jim Thompson... [E]xpect to be bludgeoned by the journey and thrilled by it."

And below are some comments on my debut graphic novel, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus:

"Half a surreal, modern day nightmare, and half evocative of 1940s noir detective films, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus is comic, creepy, and compelling."
--Peter Dabbene of Foreword Review

"IT'S INSANE. I love it."
--Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Grayson)

"With DR. DIVINUS, Zahler arrives as a cartoonist fully formed. It's as if he's been doing this for twenty years. But it's only with this graphic novel, his first, that Zahler has turned his considerable creative talents toward comics. As a medium, comics should feel blessed."
--Benjamin Marra (Terror Assaulter, Night Business)

"S. Craig Zahler brings the same furious energy to his first graphic novel that he does to his music, movies and novels. Forbidden Surgeries of The Hideous Dr. Divinus is a deliberately paced weird horror story with punctuations of cruelty and uncomfortable hilarity." --Josh Simmons (The Furry Trap, Black River)

I discuss my new graphic novel, comics, movies, and music on Lo Fi Horror Guy podcast...

https://youtu.be/ydVZ5PiYdHQ

I discuss my new graphic novel, comics, movies, and music on Lo Fi Horror Guy podcast...

https://youtu.be/ydVZ5PiYdHQ