'Cold Spots' Creators Tease What Makes Their Haunting New Series a Unique Spin on Ghost Stories

Ghosts have long been a staple of the horror genre, with Image Comics' latest supernatural [...]

Ghosts have long been a staple of the horror genre, with Image Comics' latest supernatural offering being Cold Spots from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Mark Torres. The creators recently detailed what makes their series different from what many readers have come to expect from haunting tales.

cold spots image comics
(Photo: Image Comics)

In the series, "Psychological terror, the undead, and a supernaturally bitter cold come together in this spine-tingling new series. Ten years ago, Dan Kerr turned his back on his wife and unborn daughter. Now, both mother and child have gone missing, and Dan must face cosmic terrors to find them again. He soon finds that ghosts stir when his estranged daughter is near. And as the dead grow restless, the cold deepens..."

"Cold Spots is a story about ghosts, sure, but that's just a small part of the story," Bunn shared with ComicBook.com. "There are aspects of cosmic horror and of a supernatural winter at play as well. Most importantly, though, this is a story about a father and a daughter. Ghosts might be a source of fear, but they are nothing compared to the sense of fear and guilt this father feels when he thinks of how badly he's failed his child."

He added, "That's another huge part of where this story comes from--my constant fear that I'm going to screw up when it comes to raising my kid."

Torres echoed the sentiment that, while ghosts are an important part of the story, the overall narrative has much more to offer readers than things that go bump in the night.

"The ghosts here are an element, not the soul. Deep down, as Cullen explains, is the human condition," Torres pointed out. "It's easy to do horror…Throw a bunch of (often times clueless) human victims, add in some creature of the night/evil, mix in a dark bag, wait for the blood to drip…but it's tricky doing proper horror, especially in print. The fear is more gripping, more alive, when you start thinking…this could be my friends, or worse, my family. And again, we're not just dealing with your dollar-store, terrestrial supernatural here."

More than just an interesting name, Bunn pointed out that the idea of "cold spots" has been with him for quite some time, with the phenomenon playing a major part in the series' journey.

"Like many of my ideas, Cold Spots is something I've been tinkering with for years," Bunn shared. "On some cold, ice-bound winter's day, I jotted a note in my journal about the belief that when ghosts manifest, the temperature around them drops. It struck me that if numerous ghosts were manifesting at the same time, the temperature might drop considerably. From there, I laced elements of estranged fathers and daughters, gothic mansions in coastal towns, and cosmic horrors."

Many ghost stories in a variety of mediums lean into colder tones with their color palettes, though Torres chose to buck that trend and avoid the predictable route by bringing in a lot of bright, warm colors in the new series. All of these choices tie into the creators making you feel exactly what they want you to feel from one moment to the next.

"My brain tends to gravitate more 'against the flow,'" Torres confessed. "On the outside, the palette I've designed for Cold Spots may at times represent the norm, other times, contradict it. But for me personally, it's the deeper effects. Hopefully misleading readers into a (false) sense of comfort…only to get knocked off at the turn. That's one of the hallmarks of effective horror, the uneasy atmosphere, and lingering dread."

You can grab a copy of Cold Spots when it debuts this Wednesday.

Will you be checking out this new series? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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