Forever Redlit: Halloween v Hellraiser

Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Just to talk about this to people who might understand.

Some years ago I scripted up an entire run for a horror versus comic I felt I could get behind. Halloween versus Hellraiser. An Alternate what if universe.

At the time, horror crossovers were doing okay and I knew this idea was so well researched that it would also appeal to hardcore fans.
I started building momentum for it with people. An agent was interested but wanted me to crack the problem of getting third party permission. This is where the problems came. Regardless of how well scripted it was, my hopes to bring the two comic publishing divisions of those rights together were never going to work. If only I had realised sooner. It got stuck in red light Hell, which is ironic, as even the cenobites wouldn't venture there willingly!

I later found out that the same problem had happened when someone tried to make the same thing but as a movie.

You know, it's funny though, it may not have worked commercially anyway because I was worried about the Halloween parts of the comic - all for the sake of others. You see, it heavily referenced timeline and characters from the much disregarded Halloween 6, and the director's cut to boot! Yep, that's how hardcore this got! I figured that the setting and characters perfectly worked for this, and that I could write them into something that made sense in this AU. The added element of Cenobites and Leviathan in the mix really shook that up. The other thing I did that was worrying too, was making use of the classic Michael Myers with everything the films had established. Not the Rob Zombie remakes. Which means I fully embraced the druids as being the element in the background behind Michael. But for this it worked I thought, a faction versus a faction, so to speak. God versus God. Thorn versus Leviathan, ultimately.

I just thought I would share this story of what never was. I did put the scripts online here and there, hoping to encourage someone to draw it all up as a free webcomic (if only I could draw). That will likely never happen of course.
Lesson learned. Don't touch IP at all unless they ask directly. Don't hope to persuade companies to sort it out.

But it does get you thinking doesn't it? How did those other crossovers ever come about if this is all so hard? And there have been some really embarrassingly messy or bad crossovers!
 

Enlightened

Always Learning
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 5, 2018
Messages
4,863
Reaction score
167
Location
Colorado
The only crossovers that come to mind are Kreuger and Vorhees in a movie together and Batman vs. Superman. In video games, there are titles like Marvel vs. Capcom (or whatever it was titled). I can't see someone wanting to damage their character's success with fans if they lose at the end (or are deemed something never intended).
 

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
I still have an idea for a Hellraiser sequel I want to write as much as anything I've ever conceived of. It still bugs me I can't.
 

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 21, 2013
Messages
11,681
Reaction score
10,337
Location
In my head
Website
thewanderingquille.blogspot.com
But it does get you thinking doesn't it? How did those other crossovers ever come about if this is all so hard? And there have been some really embarrassingly messy or bad crossovers!

Someone at the art level of Archie Comics says to someone at the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down level, "Hey, I have a great idea for a comic with Archie and the Punisher together," and pitches the idea. From there, Archie Comics has the weight to go to Marvel and say, "Hey, we want to do a crossover with The Punisher. What do you think? Can we do this?" They also have the money to buy the rights if rights need buying. They're a big company bargaining with a big company. It's not necessarily hard to do, it's just hard for people at OUR level to do, because we're not big companies. If you were working with indie horror stuff, you'd have an easier chance of getting the greenlight, they had less legal hoops to jump through and more to gain if your work got traction. Halloween and Hell Raiser, though, they'd either want a big name behind it, or they'd want a lot of money for the rights you'd need to make it. It's a cool idea, but you gotta build yourself up as a writer before aiming that high. Keep the script, but start small and build up.
 

BeautifulRoses

Registered
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
29
Reaction score
5
This is where the problems came. Regardless of how well scripted it was, my hopes to bring the two comic publishing divisions of those rights together were never going to work. If only I had realised sooner.

Yeah. If you mow someone else's lawn without permission and then knock on their door asking for payment, it doesn't matter how well you mow it. You won't get paid for it.
On the other hand, you know how to get the interest of agents. Which is a big plus for your practice. Unless you're well off - and who is in this economy- you're probably not going to get an artist anytime soon. Reality is you won't get one for free. Instead look toward submitting to the comic publishers who accept scripts without the art. There should be a list somewhere on this subforum. Of course formatted correctly and all that.
 
Last edited: