But lately, it’s not just any old zombie that I’m associating with white-knuckle horror. It’s rock star/horror monger/entertainment mogul Rob Zombie. Because Steve “Mr. Horrorpants” Niles and Rob Zombie have joined diabolical forces to bring me and all the other horror fans out there the wildest horror comic to hit the scene in 2004.
In June, Dark Horse and the new Zombie/Niles endeavor Creep Entertainment International will proudly unveil a four-issue miniseries called The Nail. This comic—like most of the good, gory stuff these boys enjoy—is rooted in their mutual love for all things cool and freaky and man-like; namely: wrestling, motorcycles, rock and roll, classic ’70s horror films, road trips, Satanism…all that fun stuff. Toss in the occasional naked chick, and there you have it—the dream comic of any overgrown kid who ever loved rockin’ Iron Maiden on the Walkman while watching Duel on “Creature Feature” and reading Creepy under the covers long after Mom told you to get your butt into bed.
Set in the late 1970s over a desolate stretch of the North Dakota Badlands, The Nail documents two horrifying days in the life of a semi-pro wrestler touring the wrestling circuit with his family in tow. Rex “The Nail” Hauser has almost had it with the head-busting world of wrestling. And he’s certainly ready to get his daughter off the road and into more safe and sane surroundings now that she’s a blossoming teenager.
But before he can consider walking away from the life, he has a few more rings to conquer. And little does he know that the biggest fight of his life is just up the road—but this one won’t be safely staged in a sweat-stinkin’ Rotary lodge, or in any sort of roped- and-padded venue. The struggle Rex Hauser is about to encounter is against the deepest fears any man has ever known, and takes place in the darkest chambers of his heart. If he wins, he and his family will get to keep moving down the road toward home, safety, and contentment. If he loses, he loses everything—his family, his career, his very life.
Because on the road that takes him to his next big match, The Nail and his family encounter what can only be described as Hell on Earth—a gang of blood-thirsty, murderous, honest-to-Beelzebub devil bikers called The Warlords who are on the hunt for the perfect victim. If they happen to slaughter a few dozen bystanders in the meantime, all the better for fueling their demonic bloodlust. And if their goal of finding the perfect, 69th innocent victim is met, it won’t just be The Nail and his family who suffer an ungodly fate —it’ll be you and me and every other non-devil-biker sucker on the planet!
Leave it to Rob and Steve to come up with something like this—a comic that’ll make you revel in its pop-culture smarts, get you quaking with terror in your tighty-whities, and leave you begging for more with every page turn. And leave it to our amazing artist on the book, Nat Jones, to bring all of these freaky ideas to life in the scariest way imaginable. And did I mention Simon Bisley? He’s contributing a batch of spooky-as-anything covers for the whole run.
Everyone at Dark Horse is excited to be a part of the Creep Entertainment launch party (except for a couple of softies who like heads to remain attached to bodies and all that, but we won’t make them read The Nail!), Steve and Rob are stoked to get their little monster baby out of the crawlspace—and me? I’m just happy to be working with a real-life Zombie who doesn’t want to eat my brains.
Shawna Ervin-Gore