Amusement, Fear, Revulsion, And Joy: Mad Cave Studios Announces ‘Murder Kingdom’

Mad Cave Studios has announced Murder Kingdom, a toon-themed terror comic from writer Fred Van Lente, artist Chris Panda, and letterer Becca Carey.

Once upon a time…

In a strange land called Florida, a masked psycho starts murdering cast members of the Storybook Kingdom theme park in ways identical to the gory original Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Princess-turned-detective Tanith is the only person who can unmask the killer before she and her friends are all Dying Unhappily Never After.

“Murder Kingdom riffs on classic slashers and classic fairy tales in equal measure,” said Van Lente. “It’s a giallo* whodunnit with a tomboy princess detective who has to make sure she and her best friend live to see the sunrise—and that means unmasking the killer. 

“One of my first jobs was as a fry cook at a theme park and I feel like I’ve been working on this project ever since. I’m so thrilled that the team at Mad Cave have helped me bring it to bloody life. And I am so lucky to have Chris on artwork. His work is equal parts adorable and terrifying, resulting in some of the most shocking kills I’ve seen in any horror comic ever.”

“This has been a dream come true project mixing three things I’m really fond of: theme parks, horror, and fairy tales,” added Panda. “When Fred and Mad Cave first sent me the pitch for Murder Kingdom, it took me five seconds to be sold on that project with just those three elements.

“On top of that, I have been a huge fan of Fred’s works for years so helping him bring that whole universe he created to life has been a blast. Him and the team have been stellar in letting my creativity go wild in designing every aspect of the storybook kingdom world.”