Q&A with Steve Niles on The October Faction

Last week marked the debut for some amazing new horror series. One of those was The October Faction by Steve Niles and Damien Worm. I was really excited to see a new horror series come out of IDW, especially with this wickedly, gothic cover. I drooled over it. I do that from time to time. The story centers around.. oh hell, why don't I just let creator Steve Niles tell you. I contacted him with a few questions. Steve Niles is most famous for 30 Days of Night which has pretty much secured his place among horror royalty as far as I'm concerned.


TFQ: Steve, could you tell me a little bit about how this story came together?

Steve: For most of my career I've done mini-series, usually 4-6 issues so really I created October Faction to be something I can do for a long time (hopefully) and tell a bunch of stories. The premise is really simple; a retired monster hunter tries to keep his family together. It's a creepy world I can throw anything into.

TFQ: How did the creative team form and where did the ideas behind the October Faction come from?

Steve: I found Damien Worm on Facebook of all places. I saw some of his sketchbook stuff and I asked him if he did comics. He sent me some spectacular samples so we did Monster & Madman together at IDW as sort of a test run and I think he did great. He's the kind of artist that grounds the comic firmly in horror and I just love that.

TFQ: When I first picked up this story, I thought that it would be very accessible for young adults because of the school settings. Do you consider this story YA? Or is it targeted for an older audience?

Steve: There will be some mature themes and possibly language now and then but I am trying to keep it accessible to anyone but I wouldn't advise too young. It will still be filled with all kinds of supernatural mayhem and death. At the same time there is a central theme of family and it being okay to be different.

TFQ: Here we have this incredible gothic artwork and limitless possibilities in the supernatural world, does this story become darker or keep a humorous balance?

Steve: It will get very dark at times, but these are people who deflect horror with humor so there will always be lighter moments as well.

TFQ: Can you give us any hints on the types of monster that might find their was into this story?

Steve: Every. Single. One. :)

You can get your copy of The October Faction #1 at your local comic book store right now!