Exclusive: Cullen Bunn Talks the Upcoming Eerie Comic Series The Unsound
Jonathan Barkan
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Horror is a malleable genre, one that lends itself to being told through a wide variety of mediums. It obviously works well in the form of movies and TV shows that bombard our senses with disturbing and frightening imagery and as books that send our imagination into overdrive.
A medium that passes by many horror fans is horror in the form of comics and graphic novels. While we all know of titles such as The Walking Dead and Locke and Key, there are so many more out there that deserve our attention for the rich stories they have to offer as well as the magnificent artwork they present.
Today I want to introduce you to The Unsound, an all-new series from writer Cullen Bunn (X-Men: Blue, Deadpool, The Sixth Gun) and artist Jack T. Cole. Coming out this month, the series is a supernatural conspiracy, one that will take readers into a world they’ve never seen before.
Synopsis:
Ashli’s first day as a nurse at Saint Cascia Psychiatric Hospital turns into a nightmare as a bloody riot sends her fleeing into the bowels of the hospital. As this unsettling descent takes her to a hellish world populated by lunatics and monsters, cloaked in a secret history of black magic and heinous scientific experiments, she’s forced to ask one horrifying question: Is there such a thing as sanity?
To give you a taste of what’s to come, we interviewed Bunn about The Unsound to see where this eerie tale will lead.
Dread Central: Tell me how the story for ‘The Unsound’ came about and what inspired you to write it.
Cullen Bunn: I’ve always been fascinated by sanity and insanity and the power of perception, and I enjoy creating massive, sprawling dark fantasy. Those interests came together to form the first inkling of inspiration. I also love exploring the idea that everyone is crazy in their own way. You see hints of this thread in the first few pages of the issue, but it becomes more prevalent as we move along. We are all touched by little glimmers of madness. It’s how some of us deal with sorrow or anger or anxiety or even happiness. The question is really how close we take it to the tipping point.
DC: ‘The Unsound’ takes place in a psychiatric hospital, which, through popular culture, is often seen as the perfect spot for a horror story. What about that setting appealed to you?
CB: One of the things I liked about the “haunted” or “evil” psychiatric hospital trope is that it helps to immediately ease the reader into familiar territory. You’ve seen horror stories that start this way. That familiarity, though, is sort of a trap, because as the story moves forward, you find that it’s nothing like what you might expect. It moves into some surreal, horrific territory. The asylum is just the “safe and sound” foundation that falls out from under you at the worst—or best, depending on how you look at it—moment.
DC: The purpose of a psychiatric hospital is that it is meant to help the insane regain their sanity. However, from what I’ve read of ‘The Unsound’, it seems like that might not be the case… Can you tell me a bit about the story?
CB: The asylum in The Unsound is understaffed and underfunded. The people who work there genuinely want to help. At least, they wanted to help when they first took the job. The grind of the job might have worn some of them down. The lack of resources might mean they are unable to provide the care they should.
But there is a sinister force at work in the hospital—something completely inhuman. In a way, it wants to help people, too. But its understanding of “help” is absolutely alien and ghastly.
A little more history on the asylum. In the ’80s, it was shut down due to lack of funding. At that time, it was home to hundreds of patients. Many people question just where those patients went when the asylum was closed.
DC: When playing with elements of sanity, the story possibilities are rather endless. How far down the proverbial rabbit hole do you feel ‘The Unsound’ is able to go?
CB: This story really goes to some pretty wild, pretty dark places. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it takes a pretty significant turn.
DC: At the end of the day, what do you feel ‘The Unsound’ brings to the horror genre?
CB: This book presents a new horror world and a new horror-based mythology to the genre. It’s one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever written, and I think readers are going to love it!
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