Talking With Jeff Lemire About New Horror Series ‘Tenement’

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino recently expanded their Bone Orchard Mythos shared horror universe with new title, Tenement (reviewed here). So, no time like the present to catch up with writer Jeff Lemire and discuss the new book, working with Sorrentino and what’s at the beating, bloody heart of this new horror series:

Olly MacNamee: Hello to you again, Jeff. Certain comic book writers and artists collaborate again and again, with the both of you being a great example of this. What makes the pair of you work so well together? It can’t just be a shared love of horror, right?

Jeff Lemire: Andrea and I first connected at DC on Green Arrow and our collaboration and friendship grew over that book and then Old Man Logan at Marvel. So, we learned to live working with one another long before we turned our attention to horror comics. I think we have a deep respect for each other and a great chemistry creatively. 

MacNamee: Your new series, Tenement, is described as Rosemary’s Baby meets Inferno. The idea of a whole building worth of potential has always fascinated me. I’m surprised it doesn’t seem to be used more often in horror. But, I am interested in your initial thinking behind the set-up for Tenement? Any previous stories set in and around high-rise tower blocks worth their way into your psyche when coning to write and develop the mise en scène for the series?

Lemire: I didn’t really think all that much about other stories with a similar setting. I was more interested in a set up that had a diverse cast of characters who were living in close proximity but were strangers. Then horrific and fantastic events force these people together. 

I was also struck by the idea of these people having to descend through different layers or levels of terror represented by the different floors of the building. It seems ripe with potential. 

MacNamee: This series will revolve around seven individuals and their dark secrets. Even ahead of any horror, they seem to have their fair share of real world problems too. How did you come to build these characters and their inevitable connections? Was it important that we saw them as vulnerable from the get-go?

Lemire: The horror, or any otherworldly aspects, need to come second to strong characters. At least for me to be engaged creatively. So, like with most of my stories, I built from the characters out. And the flaws and vulnerability of each character just helps to make them more relatable despite whatever supernatural aspects we throw at them. 

MacNamee: The first issue is a very brooding one. From the characters to the tone of the series, and the tenement block itself, are very effectively established. But, with a slow-burn, what else can you let slip about this new book and the horrors to come?

Lemire: The hook for the series, which will become clear as we get into it, is that in each issue the cast will have to pass through another floor of the building. And each floor houses a different kind of horror they must endure. Like a crucible. So each issue is a new floor and a new horror. 

We will also, finally, give readers some big answers about the underlying mythology of The Bone Orchard in this series. 

MacNamee: Finally, then, as I know you’re both extremely busy; how has the reception, thus far, been to this bold new venture collectively known as The Bone Orchard Mythos?

Lemire: So far, very positive. I think with each new project that comes out we build momentum more and more for the overall mythology.

Tenement #1 is out now from Image Comics