Reel Monsters Podcast

Forbidden Museum feat. Craig Sawyer and AJ Danna

April 25, 2022 AJ Danna Season 1 Episode 2
Reel Monsters Podcast
Forbidden Museum feat. Craig Sawyer and AJ Danna
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Reel Monsters Podcast guest Craig Sawyer curates a new world of gods and monsters within the pages of "Forbidden Museum," an ongoing comic book series.

Hosted by AJ Danna: http://www.ajdanna.com/

Reel Monsters Podcast theme song by Alexander Taylor: https://www.alexandertaylormusic.com/

Reel Monsters Podcast logo and key art by Will Davenport: https://www.instagram.com/davenportwilldraw/

Igor:

Cameras are rolling... rolling, rolling!

Boris:

Sound speeding.

Mad Scientist:

The time has come for our celebration of cinema's classic Reel Monsters!

AJ Danna:

Hello everyone, I bid you welcome to episode two of Reel Monsters Podcast. I'm your host, AJ Danna, and I'm grateful you're tuning in. Thanks for joining me today. Previously on Reel Monsters Podcast, I interviewed Jacob Larson about the history of classic monster pinball machines. Today, my guest is Craig Sawyer, the writer and creator of Forbidden Museum, a new classic monster-inspired comic series. Forbidden Museum takes some familiar elements of the classic monster lore, and ties them in to a sort of Indiana Jones sense of adventure presenting a fresh take on the monster of the week format. We're following along with Henry Harker, a direct descendant of Jonathan Harker, as he traverses the globe looking for cursed artifacts and"prime evils" that plague the world. We'll talk to Craig Sawyer all about it in just a moment... but first, as you might know, I secretly invite each of my Reel Monsters Podcast guests to start their interview with their best mad scientist laugh to keep the cheesy Halloween/horror vibe going. So, without further ado, please welcome to Reel Monsters Podcast, Craig Sawyer! Wow, wow, wow, bravo. That is by far the best mad scientist laugh we've had so far on Reel Monsters Podcast, even though there's only a handful of episodes. That's the front runner. Everybody else is going to have to beat that one. Well done, sir.

Craig Sawyer:

The bar is set.

AJ Danna:

The bar is indeed set. And of course, it makes sense because you are a monster creator... writer and creator of Forbidden Museum, a new comic book series. At the time of this recording, you just successfully funded issue number two on Kickstarter. Congratulations.

Craig Sawyer:

Thank you very much.

AJ Danna:

So as I mentioned in the introduction, this is a story that sort of blends archaeology with the classic monsters by spawning one of Harker's direct descendants from the Dracula story and turns him into sort of an adventurer character. Tell us a little bit more about Forbidden Museum and how you got the idea for the story.

Craig Sawyer:

So, you're absolutely right. You go back and in the normal Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jonathan Harker, one of the hunters of Dracula... Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker Quincey Morris, and Dr. Van Helsing that we all know from the books and some of the movies... in my world, they trap Dracula in his coffin, and they seal it with this forbidden magic from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. So, what do you do when you trap this great evil... one of many great evils in the world of Forbidden Museum? Well, you build a magical prison for them. And not only does Dracula exist in my world, but also the Gill God, the Mummy King, the Wolf Beast, and Frankenstein's monster. So Jonathan Harker and crew hunt these Prime Evils down and they lock them away in this magical prison he calls the Forbidden Museum, which is located about a mile under the British Museum in London. And there he seals it with this powerful artifact, The Book of the Dead. Flash forward to present day and his great, great... maybe great grandson Henry Harker is an amateur podcaster and adventurer, searching for his grandfather's forbidden museum thinking that it holds priceless antiquities, and he'll be super famous for it. But what he finds is this magical prison of monsters that he accidentally releases and becomes this cursed curator who is slowly rotting until he can find all these Prime Evils and replace them back in the museum.

AJ Danna:

Excellent. And we're already seeing some of that story in issue number one... which is also beautiful, by the way... Luke Archey did the interior pencils and inks, James G. Brown did the colors, and Ed Dukeshire did the letters. But issue number one is really interesting because this essentially introduces us to how Henry Harker became the cursed curator of the Forbidden Museum in the present day. And issue number two, which was just successfully funded, focuses on the temple of the Gill God. Tell us about that.

Craig Sawyer:

So, the Gill God... some of the things in the museum are artifacts and some of them are actual monsters, so... the egg of the Gill God got stolen. Henry Harker had a partner named Malcolm who betrayed Henry Harker and locked him in a sarcophagus, and stole all the items and sold them on the black market, which is why they're scattered across the globe. Henry Harker has this magical Scarab that attaches itself to the new curators' chests, which gives him the strength of ten man. He doesn't have to breathe, sleep, or eat... so it all sounds great at first, until you realize you're slowly rotting. It's actually a curse. He's becoming a cursed monster himself, so it kind of gives him this vibe of where to find these items. It's almost like a GPS tracker, so he knows the next item he needs to find is in the Amazon. He hires... he gets a plane using his... he also has his great grandfather's money... so he's got all this money, and flies down to find the egg, and he's got to locate each one. So each issue of the comic will be a different monster that he has to hunt down, or an artifact.

AJ Danna:

See, I totally love that format, because you've got a monster of the week set up here with these characters that are from myths and legends that lend themselves very well to these various environments that Henry Harker can be visiting. And I particularly enjoy the Gill God concept because when I was younger, I really enjoyed a TV show called Legends of the Hidden Temple. And fans of this show may recall the contestants had to venture through all the various haunted and treacherous rooms of a temple environment to find an artifact from history. But I don't recall them doing any monster related artifacts. So the fact that this Forbidden Museum series exists, tracking down artifacts, it's something that definitely appeals to my nostalgia, and probably will do so for people who grew up with the Hidden Temple series and other various productions like that. It's perfect. Honestly, I love this setup. And speaking of my childhood, a lot of the monster things that I grew up enjoying are what influenced my career both as a creator and as a writer (and a creature performer.) Tell us about your childhood, Craig... were you a monster kid growing up? I mean, you're still a monster kid now, but tell us about that. Oh, no.

Craig Sawyer:

Oh, for sure. So, I grew up in a small town in But yeah, man, you know, I grew up in the 80s... like twelve to early teens. I mean, even my bus driver sold, Middle Tennessee, where we have a lake and a high school and a like, the spike wristbands and butterfly knives. It was a few stores. And I think I had three channels on the TV. And, of course, I saw Universal monster movies. And the first time I saw... those images of those monsters, as well as Hammer Horror. The British monsters like Oliver Reed in Curse of the Werewolf was in the pages of an old... the Crestwood horror books. I don't know if you know about them, but my grammar school library had these set of orange bound Crestwood monster books. And the covers were black and white imagery from the Hammer Horror movies and from the Universal movies. And when I was in the fourth grade, only sixth graders could check these books out. So I begged and begged the librarian if I could check these books out. And so I got all of them. You know, before I got to see the movies, it instilled this fascination for these images of, like, King Kong and the Mummy, Wolf Man, and all these creatures that just stayed with me so much. That was how I started, like, my obsession with monsters. And there was actually a book in the library, too, as well that was a book on werewolves that literally taught you how to transform into one. And when you're in the fourth grade, you believe things are real and, like, it involved a wolfskin belt, but now that I look back, it was like... what are the ingredients of the spell? It turns out it was poppy seeds, which I think is opium. different age, man. But my parents were cool later on about me watching horror movies. And for some reason I've always been drawn to monsters. It's just... I don't know if it's the outsider quality of monsters, or just this the extreme appearance of monsters. But yeah, from a young age, definitely a monster fan.

AJ Danna:

Well, you and me both, my friend! I recall reading an early copy of Edward Edelson's Great Monsters of the Movies. I found this little paperback for seventy-five cents when I was probably no older than six years old. And you know, seeing Nosferatu and Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera in these pages... you're right, it is that outsider quality to these characters. They're not the sort of characters we're seeing in our day to day lives, and not even really what we're seeing in the movies that are being made nowadays, which is why I appreciate creators like yourself who are still making these monster stories. So, you mentioned that your parents were cool with you watching horror movies, which is great a great way to get into the genre. Do you recall what your first monster movie was?

Craig Sawyer:

There's... I distinctly remember, like, two things that really influenced me as a child. One was a film and one was a TV movie. The film was Jaws, which I consider a horror movie, per se. And I remember my mom... she raised me as a single mom for the first six years of my life.... and I think I was, like, two and a half or three... I barely remember this... but, she took me to the movies. To Jaws. And I remember this because it was storming outside and right when the music... that"dun, dunnn"... the power went out in the theater.

AJ Danna:

Oh, wow.

Craig Sawyer:

And, like, I remember that was... being three years old, it really put a shock in my system. And now that I look back, you know, I started thinking about some of the things we're gonna talk about today... it's like, you know, those kinds of events really shaped you growing up. And I think it kind of instilled that cinematic fantasy horror kind of,like, "world" in me at a young age. And the other... the TV movie I was talking about... there was an old movie based on H.G. Wells Island of Lost Souls... it was The Island of Dr. Moreau. There's a couple of Islands of Dr. Moreau that were

made:

there's the old one for the 30s... 20s and 30s. Then there's one in the 80s that had Burt Lancaster in it, and Nigel Davenport, which is the one I saw on television, where the monsters are just terrifying. The hybrid monsters... and they were very sympathetic, too. And then later, we have the Brando and Val Kilmer version, which was just a train wreck. We'll talk about that, too.. there's a documentary on that called Lost

Soul:

The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau about the director who went insane because he got fired from that. You gotta check that out, but that's another story. But... this Burt Lancaster version of Island of Dr. Moreau is, like, I think I was probably maybe four or five or six. But it came on television. And the monsters on it just, like, blew my mind. And I really remember that movie as one of the first kind of, like, monster movies I saw.

AJ Danna:

Yeah, it sounds to me like you had a lot of these formative experiences, essentially, before the age of ten. And when you do have monsters as part of your upbringing, at that point in time, I mean, that really is an easy way for one of two things to happen. Either you're going to be completely turned off by the genre, because it freaks you out, or it's gonna freak you out in the best way possible. And then you're hooked on it, it becomes normal to you, you know? I completely agree with you. I think one of the

Craig Sawyer:

It wasn't really scary. It was more like, like,"Oh, there's something magical in the world." There's"differents" in the world. And there's this, you know, a little reasons I enjoy being an actor and being a creator, much like bit of fear to have... but mostly just, like, "wonderment" I guess is a better word. Like,"Oh, there's something else out yourself, is finding that magic and "curating," so to speak, there that I don't know about?" Like, what is this? that magic, as opposed to what we see in our day to day lives. And I think that's something that makes the Forbidden Museum story also stand out is you've got this character like Henry Harker, who is so deeply rooted in what is material and what is"now." You know, he's a podcaster... he's an adventurer... an urban explorer, so to speak... and then he's introduced to these supernatural powers that obviously his relatives and his relatives associates were quite familiar with, but it's something that you... correct me if I'm wrong... but Henry Harker, in the beginning, is sort of like a skeptic, wouldn't you say? I mean, yeah, I mean... he has no idea that there's this underbelly of a magical monster-filled world. You know, he was more like a"getting hits on his podcast" kind of guy, and although he likes adventure and stuff, I don't think it ever entered his mind that this could be... there could be a supernatural component to his grandfather's Museum.

AJ Danna:

Well, boy, he was in for a rude awakening there.

Craig Sawyer:

Absolutely. But yeah, he's definitely the eyes of a modern audience, seeing these monsters, you know, and being introduced to these monsters. And that's... what I love about, you know, a genre of movies that I don't see much anymore. There's a void of, like... everybody says, "I love Indiana Jones. I love the monster movies." Most people love these movies. They love adventure movies, but you don't see too many of them anymore. I mean, there's a lot of... I love the comic book movies... but I feel like they're... the classic monsters are gonna make, like... they're right on the verge of making a comeback into the public consciousness. Very close.

AJ Danna:

I completely agree. I was just talking about this with my guest on the podcast in the last episode, Jacob Larson. We were discussing how events like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal have really helped bring the monsters back into the mainstream with their series of attractions like The Bride of Frankenstein Lives and Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. These theme park attractions have, I think, really helped with the brand awareness in the general public eye when you see classic monsters advertised right alongside, you know, modern franchises like Jurassic World and Fast and Furious. It really reminds you that in many ways, we wouldn't be where we are today without these movies of yesteryear.

Craig Sawyer:

Absolutely not. You know, Forbidden Museum was was born of the fact that, like, I was waiting for Universal to kind of come up with... or, fix their "Dark Universe," and then I started thinking, like, "Why is this not working? What would I do? If I had the reins to make my own monster film universe, how would I do that?" So what started as a thought experiment was like, "You know what, I'm gonna make a comic book and get this out of my system." And the Forbidden Museum was born from that.

AJ Danna:

And I'm really glad it was, because you picked a great format to showcase this, essentially, "multiverse" of monsters and have them all tied together in a way that works very well in a linear series like a comic book, because you have the opportunity to sort of introduce a different monster in each issue and explore their environments, which is another interesting opportunity you had here... because using these classic monsters of mythology and folklore, you've sort of expanded the world that each of them comes from with their own environments, like the Temple of the Gill God. Where was your thought process going when you were looking for inspiration to expand each of these environments the monsters come from? You know, you've got the Temple of the Gill God, and the Wolf Beast, and it was sort of up to you to draw upon familiar stories but create new elements for these monsters' homelands and environments. Tell me about that.

Craig Sawyer:

these monsters? You build more of a cohesive world for them in a backstory and take full advantage of adventure, humor, and the horror aspects of it. You know, I wanted to give a four course meal. I think The Mummy series with Brendan Fraser did humor well. I think Universal's version did casting the monsters and the atmosphere well. Hammer Horror did the over the top blood and sexy horror well. And the novels had things in them that were never added to the mythos in general... like, many people that love Dracula don't realize that... I don't think they've ever read Bram Stoker's Dracula. Because, you know, Dracula in that book, was a black magician who sought out this magic school in the Carpathians, that was actually ran by Satan himself, and he became the most adept student of evil. He was literally a necromancer that turned himself into a vampire. That's in Bram Stoker's Dracula. There's more to this character that hasn't been done and... and there's a quote from the creator of the movie Alien, Dan O'Bannon, that goes, "I didn't steal from anybody, I stole from everybody." Not... I'm not talking about plagiarism. I'm talking about... nothing's new under the sun. Everybody takes stuff that's come before them and uses... puts their own imagination into the soup and creates something new from that. Dracula, in my world, is a dark wizard... magician... necromancer who stole Vlad Tepes' identity and castle, and he seeks power. And so Frankenstein in my world shares a brain with Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. And so he's literally both of them. So now you can actually call Frankenstein's monster"Frankenstein," because he is... and they share a consciousness in my book. And the Gill God is worshipped as a god in the Amazon by a particular tribe. And I added more of a prehistoric Lost World element to the Amazon where there's more dinosaurs in it, and he's a throwback to prehistoric times. So there's gonna be a dinosaur battle with the Gill God. And the Wolf Beast is a thief from New Orleans who steals a cursed wolf belt made of wolf skin, and he finds himself cursed as the new Wolf Beast. So I'm trying to put a spin on all these and give each story, like, its own identity that we haven't seen before. Exactly.

AJ Danna:

Well, I think it's working. Just reading the book so far, it's got its own original identity that still feels rooted in mythology and folklore and some elements of the original novels, and certain things borrowed here and there to create your own original vision of these characters, which I really appreciate... and it comes across very clearly, and it's a really enjoyable read. I recommend everybody out there check out issue number one, if you haven't yet. I believe you said issue number one had a sold out run, is that correct?

Craig Sawyer:

Yeah, we had two sold out runs for issue one.

AJ Danna:

Well, thank you for playing your part in helping get classic monsters back on to comic book stands, and hopefully into young hands, very soon. But Forbidden Museum is not the only project you're working on... tell us what's next for you,

Craig Sawyer:

I'm glad you asked. I have the artists Craig. finishing up issue two of Forbidden Museum, which should be out in July. And I also just wrapped up my debut novel. It's a horror story. It's called The Clay Boy; it's out to a few publishers. And I'll have a very creepy short story called The Bone King being published by Quill & Crow Publishing in the

anthology Carnival Macabre:

An Anthology of Gothic Horror. It's a story of a group of modern day train hoppers encountering the terrifying folk legend known as The Bone King, so please check that out. The anthology will be available in May. You can find it at quillandcrowpublishinghouse[dot]com.

AJ Danna:

Well, I'm looking forward to reading those, and I hope some of our listeners today are going to look into those, as well (and Forbidden Museum.) So for anyone looking to learn more about your work, where can they find you online?

Craig Sawyer:

You can find me on Insta and Twitter@csawyerwriter. You can also e-mail me directly at infoskulldustpress[at]gmail[dot]com.

AJ Danna:

All righty. Thank you, Craig, and thank you to all of you for listening to today's episode of Reel Monsters Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the interview, and I hope you enjoy reading Forbidden Museum. That wraps up today's interview, so,"Keep it reel, monster fans!" I'm AJ Danna, and I'll see you next time for more Reel Monsters Podcast. Reel Monsters Podcast theme song by Alexander Taylor. Reel Monsters logo and key art by Will Davenport. Reel Monsters Podcast is an unofficial fan tribute to the classic monster stories of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and is not sponsored by any of the entertainment entities discussed. Any and all opinions expressed within Reel Monsters Podcast are those of my own or those of my guests. Stay tuned and subscribe to Reel Monsters Podcast for even more monstrous discussions.

Introduction
Forbidden Museum Overview
Monster Influences
Forbidden Museum Origins
Further Reading
Credits