Tuesday January 11, 1972, KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT TRACKER a terrified and thrilled audience on ABC. The TV movie – written by horror legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and based on an unreleased novel by Jeff Rice – was the highest rated TV movie in US history. It went on to spawn both a second TV movie, THE NIGHT STRANGLER, and a cult TV series that only lasted one season, but inspired a generation of storytellers, including X-Files creator Chris Carter. .
In 2022, Moonstone Books will celebrate this pop culture milestone with a Kickstarter campaign to KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER ROMAN GRAPHIQUE 50TH ANNIVERSARY, edited by James Aquilone (Classic Monsters Unleashed). This all-new, 100-plus-page full-color graphic novel will feature 10 startling stories about the life of monster hunting journalist Carl Kolchak. The stories are written by master storytellers like David Avallone (Elvira: Mistress of Darkness), Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia), James Chambers (Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Story of Edgar Allan Poe), Nancy Collins (Swamp thing), Pierre David (The Incredible Hulk), Kim Newman (Anno dracula), Jonathan Maberry (V-Wars), Richard Christian Matheson (Scars and other distinctive signs), Tim Wagoner (Temple of the Dragon Slayer), and Aquilone, and illustrated by such amazing artists as Jonathan Marks Barravecchia (Scarlet witch), Marco Finnegan (Lizard in a Zoot costume), Warwick Johnson Cadwell (Mr. Higgins comes home), Paul McCaffrey (Anno dracula), Clara Meath (Midnight view), Julius Ohta (Iron Man), Tom Rogers (Messenger: Lovecraft and Tesla), JK Woodward (Star trek) and Colton Worley (The shadow). NIGHT STALKER’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY GRAPHIC NOVEL includes covers by Colton Worley, Jerry Ordway (The Power of Shazam!) and JK Woodward as well as letters by Thomas Napolitano, coloring pages by Zac Atkinson and texts by Shawn T. King.
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER ROMAN GRAPHIQUE 50TH ANNIVERSARY Also includes an introduction by Richard Christian Matheson, successful horror writer / writer / producer and son of THE NIGHT STRANGLER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER writer Richard Matheson, an essay on the 50th birthday of Mark Dawidziak, l author of The Nightstalker Companion, and a retrospective of the history of the Kolchak publication of Moonstone Book by publisher Joe Gentile.
“It’s been half a century since Carl Kolchak made his first TV appearance and it looks like the fandom for the character is stronger than ever,” said editor James Aquilone. “I wanted to create something very special for the birthday: a look at the life of my favorite monster hunter, from his childhood to his last case… the ultimate story of Kolchak, full of creatures, scares and l emblematic spirit of the journalist. “
“Carl Kolchak is one of the great characters of the horror genre of the 1970s,” Kim Newman said.
“KOLCHAK has changed my life,” said Killadelphia writer Rodney Barnes. “The story we tell takes the character to totally unexpected places and it is a real pleasure to be a part of this incredible anthology.”
The KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER ANTHOLOGY OF 50TH ANNIVERSARY GRAPHIC ROMAN will be available in limited edition softcover and hardcover, both with cover variations. Additionally, Moonstone Books is creating a special 40-page standalone comic for the Kickstarter, featuring the story “Satanic Panic ’88”, written by James Aquilone and illustrated by Colton Worley, and featuring a cover by Dan Brereton.
For updates follow James Aquilone on Twitter and Instagram and follow the Kolchak campaign on Twitter. To receive a notification when the Kickstarter is launched, click on the pre-launch page:
NEWS WATCH: Moonstone Books presents KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER 50TH ANNIVERSARY GRAPHIC NOVEL on Kickstarter, a 100+ page comedy anthology featuring stories from Rodney Barnes, Peter David, Jonathan Maberry, RC Matheson, Kim Newman and more
