Coloring In The Details With ‘The Beauty of Horror’ Creator Alan Robert

Coloring books have become a sort of therapy in our society. Perhaps they remind us of a simpler time in our lives. Or maybe they just give us something to focus on as life can sometimes feel like it’s spinning out of control. Alan Robert, the bassist and songwriter for the band Life of Agony, keyed into those feelings a few years ago with his The Beauty of Horror coloring books. The series has reached its sixth volume, selling over half a million copies. In a Comicon.com exclusive, Robert discusses how coloring can be therapeutic despite the fact that he is not a natural colorist himself.

Tom Smithyman: Why coloring books?

Alan Robert: In 2009, I signed with IDW to publish my very first horror comic series called Wire Hangers. Crawl to Me, a psychological thriller, came next, and I followed that up with the dark comedy called Killogy. I had intended on working on The Shunned One graphic novel in 2016, but on April Fool’s Day that year, I got the green light from IDW to illustrate the first horror-themed adult coloring book called The Beauty of Horror. I specifically remember that it was April Fool’s Day because I received the quickest “YES!” from IDW for any project I had pitched them up until that point. In fact, it was so fast that I thought they were joking with me as an April Fool’s Day prank (laughs).

Before The Beauty of Horror, horror-themed adult coloring books were very uncommon. Now they’re everywhere. But the ones that did exist basically consisted of black and white pages from existing comic books. As a huge horror fan myself, I was very excited to create the ultimate coloring book for fellow horror fans. I drew designs that I would want to color. Plus, The Beauty of Horror also kind of poked fun at the whole adult coloring craze a bit too. For instance, if there was a design depicting a beautiful field of flowers, I’d drop a rotting corpse in there. If there was an underwater scene with magnificent schools of fish and coral reefs, I’d be sure to include a hideous sea monster tearing apart a swimmer.

It was a ton of fun, but I honestly thought the book would be a quick one-off, in between my horror graphic novels. I had no idea that it would explode and find its own audience, outselling all of my graphic novels combined. I feel very grateful for that, and for the opportunity it’s given me to create a world around the series’ main character Ghouliana.

There are currently six main volumes of the series, plus Halloween and Christmas specials, along with Tarot books and card sets, a haunted journal, and even a ‘Best of’ book! My friends at NECA made Ghouliana into an action-figure and there’s so much more cool stuff in the works.

Smithyman: Many of us can’t draw to save our lives, but we all color – or at least we did at some point in our lives. Is there something universal about the experience of coloring?

Robert: There’s something to be said about unplugging and putting color to paper as a creative way to unwind. We spend so much time viewing our screens all day, I think it’s healthy to put down the phone every now and again. The colorists that really enjoy The Beauty of Horror post their color work on social media, and I have to tell you, they are absolutely fantastic! The cool thing is, you could have the same design colored in by 10 different colorists and they’d all come out completely unique and different.

Colorists use all types of mediums, as well. Watercolors, pencils, gel pens, markers, or even nail polish! It’s amazing how creative folks get with it. Their color work has definitely inspired me to draw new designs, too. You’d be surprised how colorful a horror book can get. People definitely add a lot of their own personality into the pages. It’s not all blood red, as you might expect.

It really is a great creative outlet for colorists, and for me, as a creator, it’s a very fulfilling experience to see the black-and-white line work get completed by fans all over the world. There’s a great community built around coloring, and they’re very supportive of each other. It’s kind of like a never-ending art project.

Smithyman: You are onto your sixth book in a series that has sold over 500,000 copies. Has the response surprised you at all or did you always know there was a pent-up demand for this kind of color therapy?

Robert: Nah. I had no idea at all. In fact, while the adult coloring craze in general has died down a bit since my first book was released, demand for The Beauty of Horror books have only increased. I have so much fun drawing them, so that works out well for me (laughs)!

Smithyman: How many more of these books do you think you have in you?

Robert: Every book has its own theme to it, because I like to keep the series fresh. The first The Beauty of Horror volume was pretty much a birds-eye view of everything horror-related; vampires, werewolves, zombies, graveyards, etc. So with book 2, I got more specific. I expanded on Ghouliana’s “Creepatorium,” which was her museum of oddities. Volume 3 explored haunted carnivals and killer clowns, and the last few books have been parody-based. Vol. 4 focused on horror movie spoofs, Vol. 5 was dead celebrities, and Vol. 6 was horror parodies of famous art. I’ve really been enjoying drawing the parodies a lot. I actually have a new one in the works that hasn’t been announced yet.

Smithyman: How has your work in the band Life of Agony helped you to create this series?

Robert: Hmmm. I’m not sure The Beauty of Horror overlaps too much with my work with Life of Agony. I do all of my drawings for the books while I’m home, in between my busy concert touring schedule. So in that respect, my time and mindset is very separate for the two projects. It’s almost like having a split personality, because life out on the road can be very chaotic and loud, surrounded by thousands of people every day, while being home drawing for 7-8 hours a day alone in my office, can be very isolating.

Smithyman: In school, we’re always taught to color inside the lines. Is that the worst advice you can imagine?

Robert: I’m the first to admit that I am not a natural colorist. Sure, I have colored my own illustrations over the years, especially with the comics series work, but it doesn’t come easy to me. In most cases, I struggle to get started, and I’m usually dissatisfied with the outcome. When I see what the colorists can do to my Beauty of Horror designs, it gives me encouragement to keep trying to get it right.

Smithyman: Does Crayola send you a gift at Halloween every year, and if not, shouldn’t they? 

Robert: Funny! Only if the box comes with that built-in crayon sharpener… that was always a great feature (laughs)!

Smithyman: You always knew you hit the big time when you had that 64-pack with the sharpener! Thanks for talking about the series – and keep us up to date on that new volume.