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About John Harris Dunning and Summer Shadows
John Harris Dunning is the UK-based writer of graphic novel Salem Brownstone. He instigated and curated the Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK exhibition at the British Library, the most prestigious exhibition of comics to be held in Britain. He’s written for world-renowned publications like GQ, Esquire, Dazed, iD, The Guardian and Metro.
But most recently, Dunning's surreal vampire comic book story, Summer Shadows, has been published by Dark Horse Comics. Penguin Books calls it The Talented Mr Ripley meets Dracula but, for me, I found the mood, tone and pacing to be way more surreal than you'd expect. Like a queer take on multi-faceted Salem's Lot and Twin peaks combo complete with vivid and neo-noir inspired colours. With the fourth and final issue coming out in less than a week (January 15th), I caught up with John to get his reflection on a mini-series that has been incredibly well delivered.
An Interview with John Harris Dunning about the End of Summer Shadows
MY KIND OF WEIRD: You're on the cusp of the final issue of Summer Shadows being released. How has this creative journey been for you so far?
JOHN HARRIS DUNNING: The whole creative team - artist Ricardo Cabral, colourist Brad Simpson and letterer Jim Campbell - all previously worked together on the Afrofuturist graphic novel Wiper, also published by Dark Horse. So, there was definitely a shorthand going on. We all gel really well together. So it was a real pleasure to produce. What we didn't expect was the response of readers and fellow creators. It's been amazing. You always hope for that, but you're never sure how something's going to land.
MY KIND OF WEIRD: Summer Shadows has been this unique blend of queer and surrealistic horror. Where did the original idea come from?
JHD: I spend a few months of every year on an unspoilt Greek island. A few summers ago I was lying on a beach and a gigantic black yacht moored on the horizon and stayed there a few days. No one emerged to enjoy the paradise surrounding it. That got me thinking about how tragic it was that while everyone else was out enjoying the sunshine, the yacht's owner was essentially trapped in an air conditioned coffin like... a vampire!
That was the germ of the idea. I love horror, books as well as films.The Ring and Rosemary's Baby are specific inspirations for Summer Shadows. As a creator I'm attracted to the idea of implied dread and the uncanny rather than jump scares. Having said that, I love the original versions of Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street - there are frights galore in those, but they're also poetic and dreamlike. There's something deeply psychological about the horror genre. That's what makes it such fun to write.
MY KIND OF WEIRD: I once penned a post expressing how important the need is for queer horror and horror that is crafted by marginalised creators. Mainly because the fears and assumption of what can be horror from the perspective of someone who is queer can be different to someone who isn't. And how important it is, for the longevity of the genre, that we hear these stories and aren't seeing the same ongoing horror tropes. Does any of this resonate with you? I'd be eager to hear your thoughts on the matter.
JHD: Wow! Great topic. Look at creators like James Tynion IV, Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Michael McDowell and Poppy Z. Brite, for instance. They've all made major contributions to horror, and their queer perspective has been crucial to their vision. There's something about growing up queer in a straight society that really resonates with horror narratives. You could say growing up gay IS horror!
Being an outsider makes you really question the accepted norms of your surroundings - and that's something that horror does so well as a genre. Growing up gay is all about fear: fearing yourself, fearing your body, fearing your surroundings, fearing the future... The gay experience is making friends with the monster. And the monster is you.
MY KIND OF WEIRD: Something that resonated with me from the first issue of Summer Shadows is that, while the main threat is rooted in the vampires that come to town, the other unspoken threat appears to be in the tension and atmosphere that is palpable throughout each and every issue. It's almost a character to this series much like Gotham is its own character in the Batman Universe. Can you speak about any influences or inspiration that came in the need to create a slowburn atmosphere?
JHD: That's very much a conscious choice and is as a result of the horror I've been inspired by, particularly Japanese horror comics. I'm thinking of key texts like Hideshi Hino's Panorama of Hell, Kazuo Umeni's Cat-eyed Boy and Junji Ito's Uzumaki. They all allow the story to breathe and heighten the feeling of the uncanny by building atmosphere... I try to produce that effect for my readers.
MY KIND OF WEIRD: Summer Shadows felt like a new Salem's Lot but with Twin Peaks thrown in the mix. How do you see it?
JHD: The ultimate compliment. Twin Peaks is horror, right? It's kind of genre-defying, but if you had to define it as one thing, you could make a very good argument for it being horror. Of all creators across all mediums, I'd say David Lynch is my number one influence. He makes being creeped out feel like a seduction. I spent a night talking to him over cocktails in Cannes at the film festival the night he screened Mulholland Drive.
It won best film at the festival that year. He's like a shaman or holy man. Utterly singular and true to his vision. I feel lucky to have met him. I adore Stephen King - It is one of my favourite horror novels of. He's such a generous writer; his characterisation is so granular. He really invests you in his characters, so that you really care when they're attacked by a killer clown, ravening dog or vampire. It's a good lesson for all writers to learn. Make your readers care about the cast!
MY KIND OF WEIRD: Are there any thoughts, ideas or scenes that didn't make the final cut which you'd like to tell us about?
JHD: Funny you should ask that... yes! I always start off trying to cram way too much into a story, then prune it back to allow scenes room to breathe. I originally had the idea of the female lead singer of a Greek Black Metal band, named Mother of Dog, begging to be initiated into the vampire circle. Because of her celebrity status and the complications that would cause, they refuse. I liked the idea of someone begging to be taken while others are being slowly seduced over to the dark side. There's a long history of heavy metal in Greece, and the homegrown band Rotting Christ is a significant part of metal's evolution.
MY KIND OF WEIRD: Is there any chance that Summer Shadows will be revisited in the future?
JHD: I originally wrote it as a single story arc - but I fell in love with the characters - dead and undead - so I'd love to catch up with where they've gotten to down the line... I love hearing from readers on Insta - they can get me on @johnharrisdunning
