5 horror comic books screaming for the screen
By Joe Fisher
American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Stephen King
Sticking with Scott Snyder creations, American Vampire is a much needed fresh vampire tale. Like the final season of Arrow, we bounce between two time periods to explore the history of Skinner Sweet. Skinner was an outlaw in the wild west akin to Jesse James, who encountered vampire blood during his capture and subsequent hanging, turning him into a creature of the night.
Decades later, Skinner shows up in a roarin’ 20s Los Angeles setting. He meets a wannabe actress who is trying to make it in the town, waitressing to make ends meet and bumps shoulders with star makers. The actress, Pearl Jones, thinks she’s gotten her big break when she meets a bigshot producer. Little does she know the high society group she hopes to network with is an underground cult of vampires!
With Skinner as her Mr. Miyagi, Pearl looks to turn the tide on this band of blood-thirsty monsters. As the story unfolds you learn there are many different species of vampires and they often don’t coexist with each other. The result is bloody, sexy, period-piece action.
An ongoing series on a streaming platform would be the perfect medium for this. Some of the gore could be toned down without diminishing the story to fit the model of Supernatural or Being Human as well.
Scott Snyder paired with horror master Stephen King for the first five issues. Each tackled one time period apiece for the initial run of American Vampire before Snyder became the sole writer.