Introductions

"Run-of-the-mill" seems like a modestly accurate way to describe myself in terms of horror fandom. In certain respects I find that valuable, since ideally I can make an appeal to those like myself, to those who may be testing the waters, and hopefully to the hardcore horror fans as well. (And I sincerely encourage feedback, especially from the latter.) It wasn't until several years ago, the present time of this writing being December of '09 to give perspective, that the genre genuinely appealed to me and I owe all that to the film adaptation of Stephen King's 'IT'. After that, it was a slow and steady progression that grew into watching more Stephen King film adaptations, then into watching general horror films. In more recent years it's branched from solely films into different mediums, namely: comics (comic books, manga, graphic novels, webcomics, etc.), purely written literature, and different games.

But let's get to the point, shall we? The Darkley Niche is something I've constructed after the comic-in-progress that a friend and myself plan on self-publishing, an anthology of short horror stories much in the same vein as 'Tales from the Crypt' and similar titles. The series centers around a faceless persona we've affectionately dubbed Alan Darkley, the Niche's namesake, and a cast of storytellers whose tales fall within particular subgenres and sister genres of horror. This site is the drawing board, if you will, where everything posted is either a form of research or a roughing out of ideas. It's all relevant in some fashion. By exploring these different horror stories and their mediums a better understanding and influence of the genre, as well as inspiration, can be put into the comic. Even if you have no personal interest in the project, perhaps you can glean something from the reviews and the like. And if nothing else, the Niche will work to serve my own purposes.

Be sure to browse over the column of banners below if you're looking for posts on a particular topic. (And at the very bottom of the blog, if you would like to consult the complete listing of post labels.) Otherwise, scroll down past them to get to the most recent articles. Likewise, refer to the right side for our latest tweets.

Meet The Darkley Storytellers

Meet The Darkley Storytellers

About Myself

My photo
Well, here's yours truly. The name's Drew, in case you were wondering. The Niche is my personal site, while the comic-in-progress is a partnered effort with Don, a lifelong friend of mine. We collaborate on the stories, but my partner's the writer in the outfit while I am the illustrator. This is currently little more than a side project, but we hope to make something of it.

artwork by yours truly

artwork and artist features

movies, short films, TV, webisodes, etc.

frightful films for your year-round festivities

book reviews: consult the niche's necronomicon

comic-related news and reviews

zed in the head randomness

Monday, March 29, 2010

postcard zombie prints: NotLD's Karen Cooper

Here's the fourth postcard-sized print in my series of cinematic zombies, Karen Cooper (Kyra Schon) from Romero and Russo's 'Night of the Living Dead' (1968).


Aside from the gruesome discovery of young Karen devouring her father's remains, the most memorable bit of this sequence was the stabbing of her mother with a bricklayer's trowel. In some respects, the "ghouls" of 'Night of the Living Dead' were more revolutionary than their modern, shambling (or in some cases running) counterparts. After all, these were tool-users. Additionally, unlike Romero's later adaptations, these zombies seemed to have an immediate grasp of the concept. In films like 'Day of the Dead' and 'Land of the Dead' it was a gradually learned process, whereas in this first film it was instinctive. Personally, that notion instills a greater sense of dread. I wanted to convey this in Karen, capturing her with the trowel raised in hand menacingly.

These prints are for sale, so send me an e-mail if you are interested in purchasing. My current asking price is $2.50 USD each ($8 for four prints), plus an additional $2 for mailing costs. Prints will include my personal signature as well. There will also be no watermark, as seen here.

NOTICE: The background is the original poster artwork from the film. It's a filler and gives recognition to the movie from which the depicted character is derived from.

Previous postcard zombie prints:
*Trash from 'The Return of the Living Dead'
*Tarman from 'The Return of the Living Dead'
*Cemetery Zombie from 'Night of the Living Dead'


2 comments:

  1. I can't believe I've been missing out on your postcards! Have you posted them to deviantart already or is my inbox THAT cluttered? Anyway, they all look fantastic, but this one might be my fav. I also really like the one with Trash, especially because of Tarman lurking in the background :D Fantastic job on them!

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  2. The Tarman and Cemetery Zombie have been posted on deviantArt, but I haven't put Karen up just yet. I'll get to it, though.

    I felt kinda iffy about posting Trash on dA, just because it's a bit more risque than my work usually is. Here at the Niche, I don't feel like I have to censor myself as much. But I try to be decent. XD

    Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you like them! Expect to see more in the near future. I'm currently putting the colors down on the Hare Krishna zombie from 'Dawn of the Dead' and started penciling in Bub from 'Day of the Dead'. :)

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