Comics
Exclusive: Interview With Haunted Caves Scribe and Halloween Producer Sammy Montana! Part 1
Continuing our week of exclusive interviews with several of the industries’ key names in horror, today we have the first installment of my 2 part interview with writer/producer Sammy Montana (Writer-“THE HAUNTED CAVES”, Producer of the “HALLOWEEN” films)! Beyond the break you’ll Sammy talks with us about his original graphic novel “THE HAUNTED CAVES”, breaking into the industry, and his experience with comics personal and professional.
THEoDEAD: First off thank you for your time again, Sammy. I greatly appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to do an interview with us. Before we get into why don’t you introduce yourself to the readers who may not be familiar with your work whether it be in the film industry or in the comic book community.
Sammy: Sure, well I work production and development as a producer for the “Halloween” film franchise. Initially I got approached by a guy for the “Haunted Caves” (graphic novel). He had a script for the comic and wanted to do a graphic novel for it so we talked back and forth for quite awhile on whether it would work as a graphic novel or not, at first we thought we might end up getting somebody else actually, and I pitched my idea for the story and my take on the graphic novel, and they went for it. We talked to Devil’s Due Publishing about putting it into graphic novel format and they ended up going for it and publishing it.
THEoDEAD: I actually got to read “The Haunted Caves” and I really enjoyed it quite a bit. Now I did hear that the story was in development for a film, what’s going on with that? Is it still kind of in pre-production limbo?
Sammy: Michael made a trailer to the movie to try and help sell the idea, and we went back and forth with negotiations for the film, but then Michael had some personal issues come up and he was dealing with that. At the time we weren’t done with negotiations so that kind of took up our time. And then it honestly kind of fell by the way side. We had other projects that we were dealing with in other genres, action, horror, comedy stuff. So then we kind of fell out of touch.
THEoDEAD: That’s too bad. I got to watch the trailer and from what I saw it was very good, I really enjoyed the look and feel it had going for it. I know there were a lot of people who saw it and really dug it. It’s to bad that that kind of fell through.
Sammy: Yea, I’m definitely if he’s wants to get back in touch I’d love to continue talks because it’s really cool. There’s so much in the graphic novel because we had such a limited amount of time because the story is like 48 pages, so we had a limited amount of time to put the story on paper. So you had to figure out what to put in there and what not to put in there. And there was much more that I wanted to do with the graphic novel. I wanted to delve deeper into the characters but a lot of things had to be cut out because we were on a time crunch. So in the end I thought it turned out good but I think it definitely could have turned out much better. But yea I liked working with the artist and it was a lot of fun.
THEoDEAD: Well hopefully that works itself out because I know a lot of us would be looking forward to seeing the movie happen. Recently I got to sit down and talk to Joe Harris (“Ghost Projekt”, “The Tripper”, “Darkness Falls”) and one of the things that we kind of got onto the topic of is that with comics finally breaking through to the mainstream after so many years of being kind of this closet thing where people really didn’t want to admit that they read them, as to where now it’s this cool thing. I know that as a kid myself I got made fun of for my interest in the genre. So tell me what was your experience with comics at an early age? What got you into the genre?
Sammy: Well I grew up reading comic books, and I still read them, but now the comics I read are slightly more edgy. Like I read “Spiderman”, and that’s edgy now too but not to edgy. But edgy enough to where they’re not kids comics. They’re more like mid teens to late teens. So when I started out it was like anyone can read “Spiderman”. And then a friend of mine actually got me into them. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I’m pretty sure it was one of the “Spiderman’s”. This was back during the time where “Webb of Spiderman” and “Sensational Spiderman” were still running. So it was quite awhile ago. And I read them and got hooked. It was very very addictive. I’m a very visual person so that appealed to me. It’s almost like you’re watching a movie only it’s static that’s the only difference. So that’s what I thought was so good about it. So then I started reading “Spawn” when it first came out, and Image when their big hype was coming up like “Youngbloods” and all the other ones. So I basically grew up reading comic books, but then I went on hiatus for awhile because I got caught up with work and everything and I didn’t want to buy comic books if I didn’t have time to read them. So I just caught up, read a whole bunch, and then I took a hiatus for about 2 and a half years. But then about 2 years ago I thought I’d just walk into a comic book store and I ended up getting into it again.
THEoDEAD: That’s how they get you isn’t it?
Sammy: Yea definitely.
Stay tuned here to BD for the conclusion of my one-on-one with Sammy as we continue to bring you exclusive news, interviews, and previews you won’t find anywhere else.
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
You must be logged in to post a comment.