Writers-artists unveil the hijinks and horror of ‘PROJECT: CRYPTID’

We humans like to think we have a pretty firm grasp on the world. But as a reminder that maybe we’re not so in charge, there’s cryptids. Be it Nessie or Bigfoots, these mysterious creatures are a chance to explore the unknown and perhaps tell ourselves that there’s forces beyond ourselves walking through the shadows.

But now the cryptids of the world are getting their time in the spotlight thanks to PROJECT: CRYPTID. Organized by AHOY Comics, the anthology series features a who’s who of talent, including Mark Russell, Steve Bryant, Alex Segura, Jordi Perez, Alisa Kwitney, and many, many more. The debut issue features two stories: “Ballroom of Death” by Russell and Jordi Perez and “Wormy and Me” from Paul Cornell and PJ Holden. (For more info on the book/individual stories, head here.) And if that weren’t somehow enough monster-y madness, the three first issues feature an “epic multi-writer prose story” that begins with a new seven-page story from the legendary Grant Morrison.

In order to get a sneak peek into the shadows themselves, we’ve assembled a horde of contributors to PROJECT CRYPTID. But this is no ordinary interview — no, in the name of spooky good times, we’ve asked them to answer our (trademark pending) “Cryptid Question Sheet.” It’s a fun (but terrifying!) look into a book that’s long on both.

PROJECT CRYPTID #1 is due out September 6 via AHOY Comics.

In 10 words or less, please describe your story/contribution.

Alex Segura: Miami occultist investigates a possible cursed bird murder.

PJ Holden: I’m drawing a short story about one man and his Mongolian death worm. Boy meets worm.

Paul Constant: Unprepared pioneers head off to the Northwest. Plus: Exploding bears!

Henry Barajas: Our story is about how the Beast of Gévaudan terrorized the French countryside between 1765 and 1767.

Paul Cornell: Mongolian Death Worm in cop buddy movie! Buy more eels!

Matt Ligeti: Florida Man is Swamp Ape, freshly shorn.

Zander Cannon: YouTuber pierces the veil between worlds to find a girlfriend.

Bryce Ingman: Someone is hunting Loveland, Ohio’s guardian angel – the Loveland Frogman.

Hanna Bahedry: Big cryptids with bigger egos discuss important cryptid business.

Melissa F. Olson: Bored tourists disrespect history and are doomed to repeat it.

Richard Pace: “I went to the forest to get bigfoot reference andAHHHHH!”

Gene Ha: I’m the artist with writer Zander Cannon on “Ultraterrestrials!” We’re playing with UFO researcher John Keel’s ultraterrestrial theory. He noticed that most alien contacts didn’t act like astronauts from another world, but more like old fashioned sightings of saints, faeries, and other cryptids. So maybe aliens are just how modern human brains interpret the same phenomena.

Steve Bryant: I drew a cryptid mystery by the brilliant Alex Segura.

My story is like (COMIC) meets (MOVIE) meets (TV SHOW).

AS: Black Monday Murders meets Miami Vice meets Columbo.

PH: It’s like X-Files meets The Addams Family by way of Gremlins.

PC: My story is like Jonah Hex meets Ravenous meets the X-Files.

HB: My story is Moonshine by Azzarello and Risso meets The Terror starring Jared Harris.

Paul C.: My story is like Man-Thing meets Marley and Me meets The X-Files.

ML: My story is like the visual vibe of TKO’s Goodnight Paradise meets the series of unfortunate, gruesome and darkly hilarious antics from Tucker & Dale vs. Evil meets the sweaty Florida sadness of the Netflix-exclusive show Bloodline.

ZC: My story is like Eltingville meets Weird Science meets The X-Files.

BI: My story is like Superman meets Blue Velvet meets Ted Lasso.

Hanna B.: My story is like My Bad meets Breakfast Club meets So Weird. (A weird, bad Breakfast Club.)

MFO: My story, “The Tall Tale Tour,” is like if Guillermo del Toro spent a long weekend in Wisconsin’s Northwoods with his elderly dog. Trust me, that will make perfect sense if you read it.

RP: “OMIGAWD! Help — it’s got me!”

Jordi Perez: Swamp Thing meets Lost Horizon (1937) meets Amazing Stories.

GH: I’m sure Zander has a better answer, but I’d say Pete Bagge’s Hate meets 500 Days of Summer meets The Lone Gunmen.

SB: My story is like Velvet meets Columbo meets The X-Files.

I think people are interested in cryptids because (BLANK).

AS: They tap into a greater unknown — it blends the mysterious with a dash of conspiracy theories.

PH: Because we have lost all sense of reality and nobody really knows what’s going on anymore. So why not Mongolian death worms?

PC: I think people are interested in cryptids because they’re often cute, they’re always mysterious, and they’re likely to murder you if you don’t play by the rules.

HB: …because we all want something to believe in because reality isn’t very interesting sometimes.

Paul C.:I think people are interested in cryptids because there’s only so far you can go with gerbils.

ML: I think people are interested in cryptids because they’re strange, mysterious, and have an element of danger to most of them.

ZC: I think people are interested in cryptids because they want there to still be some blank spots on the map.

BI: I think people are interested in cryptids because humans can get pretty annoying.

Hanna B.: I think people are interested in cryptids because we as a society are obsessed with things we cannot prove exist. See: God, astrology, a McDonald’s with a fully functioning ice cream machine.

MFO: I think people are interested in cryptids because everyone wants to believe in something. Sometimes the inability to prove something isn’t real is as close to magic as we can get.

RP: “It’s holding me upside-down! UGH — it’s very male!”

JP: Despite being surrounded by technology, cryptids remains in the collective imaginary, impassive to human evolution, which is a mystery.

GH: I think people are interested in cryptids because our minds know the world is bigger than what our eyes can see and our ears can hear. We want to reach out and touch the transcendent.

SB: We’re fascinated by the unknown.

My favorite cryptid is (BLANK) because (BLANK).

AS: The chupacabra! Because Miami. :)

PH: …is Mongolian death worms because that’s the one I had to draw.

PC: My favorite cryptid is the Loveland Frog because it sounds like a risky sex position.

HB: My favorite cryptid is the New Jersey Devil because he has two low-hanging balls with a cute, little button cock.

Paul C.: My favourite cryptid is the Jersey Devil because it can be literally anything, like, hey, they just felt they needed a monster too, right? They just didn’t have the mythical infrastructure to really settle on what it was.

ML: My favorite cryptid is the Comic Book Yeti because they are friendly and you should give them money.

ZC: My favorite cryptid is The Mongolian Death Worm because there have never been three more metal words put together.

BI: My favorite cryptid is the Loveland Frogman because he can harness electricity from the air using ordinary wooden sticks. If you ask me, that’s a super-cool trick.

Hanna B.: My favorite cryptid is the Devouring Gourd, because that is an incredible band name.

MFO: My favorite cryptid is the Mongolian Death Worm because it inspired the first cryptic I ever wrote, a giant snake monster in my fifth novel.

RP: “He’s tossed me over his shoulder and is now walking deeper into the woods!”

JP: Mothman. It’s so strange that he always appears before a catastrophe.

GH: WWII Allied and Japanese militaries, and how they inspired “Cargo Cults” among Pacific island tribes that hadn’t yet experienced much contact with the industrialized world. In that case, we were the cryptids.

SB: Sasquatch (!), because I grew up in the 1970s when Bigfoot sightings were scattered throughout the U.S. We even had one in Central Illinois, the Cole Hollow Road Monster. As a pre-teen, I was incredibly bummed out to learn it was a hoax.

If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called (BLANK) and look like (DESCRIPTION).

PH: It would be the pizza pie monster and it would look like a pizza and be delicious.

PC: If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called The Ethical CEO and it would look like a decent, normal human being who deeply cares about other human beings.

HB: If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called Tally The Bushwick Wacker and look like my real friend Tally but she would have two low-hanging balls with a cute, little button cock.

Paul C.: If I could invent a cryptid it would be called Nessie and look like a plesiosaur. I would make a mint in tourist dollars.

ML: If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called Carl and look like just, like, a normal dude. But different.

ZC: If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called The Creature From Devil’s Creek and look like a sad goat.

BI: If I could invent a cryptid it would be called Harry Dumpster and it would disguise itself as a hairy dumpster in order to feast on delicious human garbage…and the occasional human.

Hanna B.: If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called Richard Kitchen and look like the blue guy from Snood wearing a cowboy hat. He wouldn’t hurt anyone, necessarily, but he would make everyone incredibly uncomfortable.

MFO: If I could invent a cryptid, it would be called Devil Tortoise, which looks like a tortoise but with tiny devil horns. The Devil Tortoise will cause havoc unless it gets regular cuddles and is allowed to binge-watch What We Do in the Shadows.

RP: “It stinks so bad!”

JP: Cloud Ness. A snake that appears on the darkest stormy nights, surfing among the clouds.

GH: I wish that Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett’s Tank Girl and Booga were common ultraterrestrial visitors to folks who need some injustices righted, comic book mayhem style.

SB: Gosh, there are so many cool ones already. I think I’d just like to illustrate them all A-Z!

Cryptids are scary because (BLANK) but they’re also funny because (BLANK).

PH: Because people shoot first and ask questions later (no matter who gets caught in the crossfire) but also funny ‘cus they’re usually so dang goofy.

PC: Cryptids are scary because they’re like people but they’re also funny because they’re like people.

HB: Cryptids are scary because there’s no proof they don’t exist, but they’re also funny because I really hope there’s a Bigfoot out there; otherwise, this sham of a life I have been living would prove even more pointless.

Paul C.: Cryptids are scary because they’re dangerous on levels ranging from ‘a bit clawy’ to ‘makes one question the nature of reality’ to ‘could be anything’ if it’s the Jersey Devil.

ML: Cryptids are scary because they’re usually these dangerous, ugly, solitary, mentally and/or emotionally troubled creatures, but they’re also funny because being away from human society makes them these innocent beings who aren’t jaded and ruined by greed and a lack of justice and social media and having to figure out how to fold a fitted sheet. And so when you bring these strange and mystical creatures into the mundane world of waiting in line and riding public transportation and calling tech support, it creates this silly cognitive dissonance that you can’t help but laugh at.

ZC: Cryptids are scary because they could be standing behind you right now but they’re also funny because how the heck did they get in this office building??

BI: Cryptids are scary because most of them could easily murder you, but they’re also funny because they read the New Yorker and watch a lot of Adult Swim shows and have developed a varied and sophisticated sense of humor.

Hanna B.: Cryptids are scary because they could be anywhere, including right behind me right now. But they’re also funny because I just checked and they’re not and that is something to be celebrated.

MFO: I don’t think cryptids are scary. I think they’re wondrous, fascinating, and a litmus test for what we value as a society…kind of like comic books.

RP: “He just hung me from a tree and walked away. I’m barely getting a signal with my phone now.”

JP: They are scary because in each country and region there are stories about them. This shows that it is something that we have linked to our most archaic fears—or, even more terrifying, that some may be real. They’re funny because some are too impossible even for a movie, like the One-Legged Devil of Devonshire from 1885.

GH: Cryptids are scary because we humans are such flimsy fragile creatures. But cryptids are funny because we’re so easily shocked when the world doesn’t behave according to our rules.

SB: They’re scary because they represent the unknown, but they’re funny because the people relaying stories about sightings are frequently pretty cartoonish.

(If applicable) My favorite story in this series-collection is (BLANK).

PC: I haven’t read any of the other stories yet! As a fan of AHOY Comics, I’m very excited to read along with everyone else.

HB: The one about the chupahuahua. You got to love the chupahuahua.

Paul C.: My favourite story in this anthology series is by Melissa F. Olson, whose name you will be seeing again. Melissa F. Olson. I mean, again after that time.

ML: My favorite story in this series-collection is Lane Lloyd’s because their art is singular and rad as hell.

RP: “I think I hear him coming back. Oh, man, there’s a whole family!”

JP: “Wormy and Me.”

SB: “Diana Montalvan and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.” I came into this story already a fan of Alex’s writing and it was a blast to visualize his work!

If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by (INSERT CRYPTID).

PH: My accountant-chupacabra. Who will demand payment in silver.

PC: If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by an Ethical CEO—and she’s such a famously kind, compassionate lady that everyone will assume you must have done something really awful to make her mad.

HB: …by the Beast of Gévaudan while your pants are down. Do you want your friends and loved ones to know you were mauled by the Beast of Gevaudan while you were bottomless? I don’t think so!

Paul C.: If you don’t buy this book you’ll be attacked by the Jersey Devil, so good luck with formulating a defence against that.

ML: If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by negative press for 7 years.

ZC: If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by 1,200 jackalopes.

BI: If you don’t read this book you’ll be attacked by Harry Dumpster.

Hanna B.: If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by Leap Dave Williams (unless you trade him children’s tears for candy).

MFO: If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by, obviously, the Devil Tortoise. He will spread stinky wet poo all over your home and trash everything that’s exactly six inches off the floor (the height of his horns). He can only be appeased by nomming on a receipt for one purchase of my PROJECT: CRYPTID issue.

RP: “They look hungry!”

JP: The Loveland Frog!

GH: If you don’t buy this book, you’ll be attacked by Eyebrow Faerie. You’ll lose one of the eyebrows over your eyes, but the Eyebrow Faerie will leave a new eyebrow somewhere else on your body.

SB: An ivory-billed woodpecker, of course!