Interview: Dr. Chris McAuley - StokerVerse and Stoker & McAuley Productions - July 2022

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StokerVerse

Stoker & McAuley Productions: Home of the StokerVerse Facebook

Dr Chris McAuley - LinkedIn

Work

The Terror Under the Rue Morgue

Profiles

Comic Books Creative Creative Arts Art Media

Dr. Chris McAuley and Dacre Stoker

The Media Man Group takes a deep dive into the world of comic books, creative writing and dark art. From imagination to pulp to LinkedIn to your dose of Media Man interviews with the best in their field. We've dug up something extremely special on this creative hunt.

1. How did you get your break into the creative and pop culture related world?

A box of tattered comics was given to me by my brother-in-law. They had been his as a kid in the 70's. I read them and became fascinated with comic book narrative and art, the synthesis between visuals and text-based story telling. I began to write reviews of these comics which brought me to the attention of the creator of 2000AD and co-creator of Judge Dredd, Pat Mills. I was asked to read Pat's manuscript for the book which became 'Be Pure, Behave: A secret history of 2000AD'. We became good friends and he encouraged me to begin writing factual articles about comics and also fictional short stories.

2. What are the most enjoyable aspects of being a professional writer, and why?

Thinking up new genre-based stories. With horror its choosing whether the story will be gothic, supernatural, suspense-filled or brutally violent or a combination of all these. Science Fiction worlds could be peppered with amazing cities, robots and action-packed battles. The media which we use also opens even more possibilities for story-telling. Comic book scripts where you are paired with a powerful artist allows for special effects and character crafting that only a big budget Hollywood movie could dream of. Possibilities are what make the craft so exciting.

3. What's been your biggest challenge you overcame?

Learning how to write well and authentically. Writing is a craft which must be learned, this comes from looking at the structure of language and understanding the power of words. Writing is the craft of writing one word after the other and understanding which word to place before and after. Authenticity comes from understanding what you naturally gravitate towards in the art.

4. What's been your biggest life and career highlights to date?

Working in the worlds of Doctor Who and Terminator. Two franchises I adore. I've written for Doctor Who in annuals and anthologies. Pitting the Doctor against some of their evil foes in the craziest situations. I wrote parts of the Terminator RPG, short stories which became canon in the franchise's history. Piecing together the origins of Skynet and the infiltrator units. Of course, I also write authentic prequels and sequels to Dracula with Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker. That's an incredible experience, I have access to the Stoker family insight and manuscripts as well as Bram's notes. Dacre and I are piecing together the characters which Bram originally placed in his novel but were removed by the publisher.

5. How would you describe your natural writing style?

Visceral, packs a punch, takes no prisoners.

6. How much of your writing makes it into the gaming and comic book world?

I think its now an even split between those worlds and traditional publishing such as short stories and novels now. I work for various game companies crafting narrative and game design and comic book houses as well. Its easier and quicker to craft short stories for magazines and anthologies of course. Video and tabletop games are high end products that take longer and cost more to produce.

7. What is the main inspiration and purpose of your Dark Universe and what aspects are you currently focused on?

My Co-creator in the Dark Universes, actress Claudia Christian and I have written and been published in several magazines and books focusing on cosmic horror and science fiction. Those are the main aspects of Dark Universes and sets it apart from the StokerVerse franchise. We have a comic book series being released by Scratch Comics coming this year and a tabletop RPG being released. Those are very exciting projects, with more to come.

8. How Technical are you?

Well, I come from a Software Developer and engineer background. I still code and have great interest in IT networks and developing technologies. In the sense of writing for games, understanding c++, C# and the various engines such as Unreal and Unity is a real advantage.

9. We noticed your appreciation of professional wrestling aka sports entertainment - what do you enjoy about the artform the most?

The theatricality of it, good guys vs bad guys, the gladiatorial arena. Mostly it's the artistry around it all, the clever craftsmanship of the storylines and the acting ability of the wrestlers. That sometimes gets missed with the showmanship of the actual wrestling. It's a hell of a machine as well with all the incredible skills of the folks backstage and the commentators stoking up the audience with foreshadowing and emotional language. Its an arena I would love to write for someday.

10. What's your motto?

Always be relentless. Don't be discouraged by 'failure', embrace it, learn and grow to be ready for the next challenge.

11. What's the best thing about the StokerVerse and what's next on the adventure?

For Dacre and myself, its being able to bring the authentic Dracula that Bram intended audiences to see into various media. Between novels, comics, games and audio dramas, we craft new stories in the universe for different audiences. Its amazing to think that since Hollywood adapted Dracula, there have been very few authentic adaptations or realizations of the Count. Ford Coppola's film for example was an amazing spectacle visually but wasn't representative of Bram's novel. Dracula is not a love story.

...end.

Ed: As you have just read, Mr McAuley is quite likely a creative genius and to say he has a gift for writing is a vast understatement. His teaming up with Dacre Stoker appears to be a masterstroke, pardon the pun. The genres of writing enjoy a strong and passionate niche in fantasy and the mediums are being adopted and even embraced by production companies in the position to turn pulp into games, motion pictures and beyond, and have the budget to turn to writers vision into a reality. We look forward to following the outstanding creations of StokerVerse and Stoker & McAuley Productions. Not a love story, but compelling writing all the way to creative fulfillment and success on multiple levels, while finding the audience. Get your fangs into this, and check out the entire portfolio. The next victim (or customer) awaits.