Sam Costello

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to tell you that an upcoming Split Lip story will be drawn by David Hitchcock, the brilliant UK horror artist best known for Whitechapel Freak and Springheeled Jack.

Given’s David’s historical interests, I had to give him a story set in the past – that’s what “A Mother’s Love” is. Expect to see this one on the site in the spring or summer of 2011.

Script excerpt after the jump.

Page 1

1/ It’s the mid-1820s in pastoral Massachusetts. Small clusters of people are making their way through the public commons, which is surrounded by small homes and features a few sheep and cows here and there, to a town meetinghouse. The meetinghouse is a plain building, with just a large door and a slightly peaked roof as its defining features. It’s early evening, but the sun is still faintly evident on the horizon.

2/ Inside the meetinghouse, the people of the town are taking their seats on benches. It’s a very plain building – plain walls, unadorned benches, etc. Straight up Puritan lack of gaudiness here. At the front of the room is a small lectern at which a man, MATTHEW, stands. Matthew is tall and thin, with a long, sharp nose, hawkish features, and brown hair.  He’s running the meeting.

3/ As a last few stragglers settle into their seats, MATTHEW holds up a hand to ask for quiet and attention.

MATTHEW: NEIGHBORS — FRIENDS — LET US BEGIN.

MATTHEW 2: WE HAVE GATHERED TONIGHT TO DISCUSS —

4/ Close on MATTHEW, who looks serious, troubled, as he speaks.

MATTHEW: — THE RECENT DEATHS MRS. MOORE AND MRS. STEWART, BOTH WITH CHILD.

MATTHEW 2: AS WE KNOW, THEY ARE NOT THE FIRST PREGNANT WOMEN TO DIE UNDER STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCE IN OUR VILLAGE. TONIGHT, WE —

SILAS (OP): GOD’S PUNISHMENT! THIS IS GOD’S PUNISHMENT FOR OUR WICKEDNESS!

Written by Sam Costello
Art and Lettering by TJ Kirsch

I’m not quite sure why, but when I write a script that’s influenced by, or attempts to be my version of, an Asian ghost story, I think of Doug Draper. Maybe it’s the delicacy of his lines, his soft brushwork, or the sense of time and place his work conveys.

Whatever it is, he’s always a great fit for these stories – as he proved on Termites in Your Smile.

For a new story –  Last Caress – Doug is tackling a tale set in the world of high-fashion modeling agencies. Should be fun! You’re going to see Last Caress in early 2011, most likely.

Script excerpt after the jump.

PAGE 1

1/ We open with a close-up view of a modeling photo. It’s being held at a slight angle and we can see a bit of the hand holding it (this hand belongs to our main character, Sybil, who we’ll fully meet on the next page; we’re seeing much of this page, and much of the story, through her POV). In most respects this is a fairly standard modeling shot: a tall, thin, white woman gazes vacantly out of the photo while striking a languorous, sexy pose.

But there’s something very, very strange here: Though the woman’s body is beautiful and her clothes are fashionable, her face and skin are tremendously ancient. (Check out this site for some sense of how very old this woman looks, and how odd this should be. Warning, this is kind of creepy stuff involving old-person nudity: http://www.ask.ne.jp/~yamanaka/gyahtei-e.html – definitely NSFW – I’m envisioning mostly lifting just the wrinkles and skin texture from these photos, nothing more). It’s important to note here, though, that it’s just the model’s looks and skin that are old – in all other respects, she’s in her early/mid-20s.

This effect – the very-old-person view – will be repeated throughout the story, as this is how Sybil sees the world. It’s important to note, too, that anytime Sybil is looking at herself, she sees herself as ancient, too, so where her body parts show up from her POV on this page, she’s wrinkled.

SYBIL (OFF-PANEL): I’VE SEEN THIS A DOZEN TIMES.

2/ Same kind of shot, this time of a different photo: a modeling headshot of a black woman. Though she clearly has excellent bone structure, again, she is ancient. Her skin is deeply wrinkled and her hair is thinning in large patches.

SYBIL (OFF-PANEL): WHERE DID YOU FIND THESE PEOPLE, THE PORT AUTHORITY?

3/ The hand that we’ve seen looking at the photos suddenly turns its wrist towards the viewer to show a thin, stylish, extremely expensive-looking watch (remember, Sybil looks old to herself, so her wrist will look old, too). The watch reads 10 minutes of 11. On the desk below is a pile of model photos and headshots.

SYBIL (OP): I’M LATE FOR AN APPOINTMENT BECAUSE OF THIS GARBAGE. I’LL BE BACK IN AN HOUR —

4/ SYBIL, a thin, white woman in her 40s, rushes out of her office, her back to us. She’s wearing chic, stylish clothes and her office is a heavily minimal affair. As she rushes out, an expensive handbag and scarf trail behind her. Next to the door, her two ASSISTANTS are sitting on a low-slung, minimalist couch, shocked at what’s just happened. The assistants are young – in their 20s – both women, one white, one Asian.

SYBIL: — AND YOU WILL HAVE BETTER CANDIDATES WAITING FOR ME.

5/ The ASSISTANTS eye each other cautiously, hardly feeling safe to even look at each other directly in the wake of Sybil’s outburst.

ASIAN ASSISTANT: WHAT IS SHE LOOKING FOR?

6/ We go close on the photos we just saw, this time with the assistants looking at them. We’re seeing the first photo – the full-body shot of the white model – and things are very different now: now, instead of an ancient woman, we see a young, beautiful woman (basically, the shot we’d expect to see in the first panel).

ASIAN ASSISTANT (OP):  I MEAN, LOOK AT HER. SHE CAN’T SEE THAT?

Written by Sam Costello
Art and Lettering by TJ Kirsch

Written by Sam Costello
Art and Lettering by TJ Kirsch

Written by Sam Costello
Art and Lettering by TJ Kirsch

Coming this fall is a tale of romance, tragedy, and horror called “If You Get Close to Her, Kiss Her Once for Me.” In writing this, and a few other stories (notably Se Perdre), I’ve been toying with the notion that horror stories are often also tragedies. I hope this one gets that idea across.

“If You Get Close to Her…” is going to be drawn by Christine Larsen, who you may know from her work on Valentine with Alex De Campi or on Zuda’s LaMorte Sisters. The story should hit the site late this fall or in early winter.

Script excerpt after the jump.

Page 1

1/ In the fading afternoon light, a family huddles in front of their car. The car is a Jeep or SUV – something suitable for living in the country and not getting into town too often. It’s parked in their driveway (in the country – I’m thinking dirt driveway, large expanses of open land and grass around them) and they’re clustered next to it.

These are the STEVENSONS. MR. STEVENSON is a white man in his early 40s wearing business-casual attire and square glasses. MRS. STEVENSON is a tall, trim white woman. They’re clutching JILL, their nine-year-old daughter, to their waists in front of them.

They’re looking back at the audience (at their house, actually, but we can’t see it here) and look worried, even a little scared.

MR. STEVENSON:                   YOU’LL BE OK WHILE WE’RE GONE?

DIANA (OP):                             IT’S THE SAFEST THING FOR ALL OF US, MR. STEVENSON.

MRS. STEVENSON:                THEN WE’LL BE BACK IN TWO DAYS.

2/ We see who they’re talking to: DIANA. She’s a black woman in her 30s. She’s got a short haircut (think Angela Basset on the final season of ER) and an alert, smart face. She wears stylish jeans and a button-down shirt underneath a thigh-length corduroy jacket.

She’s standing in the doorway of a big country house – think two floors, porch, giant yard. Off to one side of the house, in the back yard, is a small pond, surrounded by a tree or two.

She’s halfway closed the door, as if to push the Stevensons on their way.

DIANA:                                       IT SHOULD BE TWO DAYS. BUT DON’T COME BACK UNTIL I CALL YOU.

3/ We’re inside the house now, in the large living room, which is decorated in a rustic, country style (heavy on exposed wood beams, furniture made from rough-hewn logs, big blankets draped over the couch, etc).

Amidst this country style, though, are a number of incongruous elements: Spread throughout the room are high-tech-looking boxes. They’re on nearly every surface. They’re monitors and cameras, boxes with blinking lights and antennae and sensors. The specifics of them don’t really matter too much – they should just look very high-tech and very out of place in this room.

DIANA is hunched over one of them, adjusting a dial or setting.

4/ She waves a smoldering bundle of herbs and incense, which leaves a thick smoke in its wake, around the large, open doorway leading from the dining room to the room she’s in.

DIANA:                                       THIS SHOULD WAKE YOU UP A BIT.

5/ We’re behind her now, in the dining room. She’s still in the living room, her back to us. She’s bending over one of her instruments, inspecting something that we can’t see.

DIANA:                                       COME OUT, COME OUT —

6/ Reverse the shot. We’re right in her face now and can see some of the room behind her (though not everything). She’s in the same pose as last panel. Hearing something, she looks up. She’s not scared, but the sound has definitely got her attention. She’s focused, serious.

At the edge of the panel, there’s a hint of a shadow in the shape of a man, indicating a presence, but we can’t see details yet.

GARY (OP):                               WHY CAN’T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?