True Believers is an idea born from a conversation with Josh Viola of Hex Publishers and Bit Bot Media, Jeanni and Bret Smith, and Smurf about producing a comic book whose story has a cosplaying killer on the loose at Colorado Festival of Horror. Josh then approached Bram Stoker Award-winning writer Stephen Graham Jones with the idea and the two of them created a bone-chilling villain named Killr™ who offers up a scary look at diehard fandom.
To promote the Kickstarter at COFOH 2023, Hex Publishers distributed free previews for attendees to get a first look at Issue #1. In its meta world of horror, the Killr™ film franchise has rising popularity, and devoted fans embrace Killr™ with enthusiastic cosplay at COFOH. However, things get out of hand thanks to the ramifications of being “true believers” and idolizing Killr™’s malevolence.
Issue #2 has a story that begins on load-in day of Colorado Festival of Horror: Friday the 13th. The story concludes in Issue #3 where we learn what created Killr™ amidst all the mayhem of the convention! Will the real Killr™ please stand up?! The Issue #3 Kickstarter begins in April 2025.
All issues feature cameos of the comic’s creators and COFOH cofounders, as well as multiple cameos of horror celebrities, including Jeffrey Reddick (guest at COFOH 2023), Jamie Lee Curtis, Deathgasm, R.L. Stine, Trivium’s Matthew Kiichi Heafy, Devon Sawa, GWAR, Klayton (Celldweller), Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Slash. Each issue features interior art by Ben Matsuya and variant covers from numerous talented artists. TRUE BELIEVERS is a 3-issue comic book series. Issues #1-2, plus the premiere of Issue #3, as well as other True Believers merchandise, will be available to purchase at this year’s Colorado Festival of Horror: Monsters in September.
Check below for more information and updates!
