INTERVIEW: This new year, check in to Dark Horse’s ‘Lunar Lodge’
Image courtesy of Dark Horse / Provided with permission.
Lunar Lodge, the new horror miniseries from Dark Horse, features a werewolf-centered story from writer Tyler Marceca and artist Mirko Colak. Here’s how the publisher explains the first issue: “Marriage ain’t easy, especially when your spouse is hiding a monstrous secret. Just ask Rob Moreland, who knows things aren’t great lately with his wife, Fiona, but is hoping to fix that … until the Lunar Lodge calls to confirm her stay.”
The first issue of the horror series has been released, with the second issue planned for March 20 and issues #3 and #4 following in April and May, respectively. Just in time for Halloween 2024, Dark Horse will also publish a trade paperback of the entire series.
Marceca recently exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox to talk all things Lunar Lodge. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What were some of your favorite werewolf stories / movies / comics growing up?
As a kid, I really dug Monster Squad (1987), which had this fun, Amblin vibe to it. Of all the featured monsters, I would instantly perk up whenever the Wolfman appeared on screen. I loved the creature effects, especially during that transformation scene in the phone booth.
On a deeper level, though, I suspect I was also drawn to the duality of the character. That both a villain and a victim could exist in the same body was just deeply fascinating to me.
With Lunar Lodge, did you try to honor the history of werewolf stories or completely diverge from it?
My intent with Lunar Lodge was actually to do a bit of both. When I first landed on the concept for this book, it became clear right away that the meat of the story would play out over the course of a single evening. This meant I could adhere to the most basic of rules regarding werewolves; that they only “turn” on nights when there’s a full moon in the sky. Now, I know there have been other books/movies that haven’t necessarily required the moon to be full for a person to transform … but for me, to discard something so inherent in werewolf lore always felt fundamentally wrong — like allowing vampires to be unaffected by daylight.
That said, the reason we (myself and the good folks at Dark Horse) moved forward with this concept is because it presented us with an opportunity to put a contemporary twist on the classic werewolf story. To tweak the formula a bit.
So yes, the intention is to be respectful of what’s come before … while also finding ways to veer off in some fun, new directions.
What can you say about Rob and Fiona as characters?
Rob and Fiona are a young(ish) married couple who’ve sort of fallen out of sync. Not really communicating well. There’s this line in the second season of The White Lotus, delivered by Aubrey Plaza’s character, that stuck with me: “We are too young to be this old.” That basically encapsulates Rob and Fiona.
So when Rob gets a call from the Lunar Lodge confirming Fiona’s upcoming stay, Rob makes that leap to believing she’s having an affair without really needing a running start.
If only Fiona was simply having an affair…
Do you feel that this miniseries can have legs and continue as an ongoing series?
Though we do wrap up our four-issue run with a satisfying conclusion, there’ll be a tease right at the end for how the story could extend past the final panel. Because the truth is, with the shadowy world we’ve established in this book … there’s only so much ground we can cover over the span of four issues.
So while the hope is that no one comes away from this miniseries feeling like they weren’t served a full meal, I believe there’s still plenty of meat on the bone for future installments.
How did you divide the work? What did the artistic process look like?
Once Mirko (our artist) was given the script, he’d start by sending us layouts (basically a rough sketch) for the pages. Then, once the team (Mirko, myself and our editor Megan) felt good about the general blocking, Mirko would dive into more detailed inking. That would be followed by a round or two of notes before the page was approved for color, which requires a separate artist. Then the lettering would be layered in by another artist.
So yeah, it’s an incremental process … but one where you really get to watch as the pages come to life.
Would you say that Lunar Lodge is frightening?
I’d say it’s frightening in more of a popcorn sense. There’s mystery baked into it (especially in the first issue) and plenty of tension/jump scares, but at its heart, it’s a creature feature.
Have you ever pondered the metaphor of werewolves and what they mean to us humans?
Smarter men and women than me have already discussed/extensively written about how werewolves are a metaphor for our primal, animal urges.
What’s always resonated with me, however, is the secretive nature of werewolves and how they manage to keep their monstrous condition hidden from others.
To watch or read a werewolf story, it’s easy to draw a parallel to those notorious murderers who maintained unassuming everyday lives. I reside in Long Island, New York, and a story that’s received a tremendous amount of coverage lately is the arrest of the man believed to be responsible for the Gilgo Beach murders. And the question that continues to pop up is how did this man allegedly do what he did for so long while keeping it a secret from everyone.
All this to say, stories about werewolves are as much about people as they are monsters.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Lunar Lodge #1, written by Tyler Marceca, is now available from Dark Horse. Issues #2, #3 and #4 (plus the trade paperback) are coming in 2024. Click here for more information.
