Interviewing Steve Niles About His New Prose Collection ‘Cal McDonald: Plague Of Evil And Other Stories’

With Steve Niles resurrecting his ghoul-chasing gumshoe detective, Cal McDonald, for thirteen all-new stories in a new collection — Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories — currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, Comicon Senior Editor Olly MacNamee was keen to ask Niles about the return of a character he created nearly forty years ago and what’s in store for him in this new prose anthology:

Olly MacNamee: You’ve been writing Cal McDonald stories, in one form or another, for over three decades now, with the last short story collection out twenty years ago. What made you itch to return to your gruesome gumshoe now?

Steve Niles: I’ve been mainly doing Cal McDonald comics the last decade or so, but I always loved doing the prose. I started writing new stories in between projects and I just fell into it again. He’s my favorite to write.

MacNamee: And what are some of the specific threats he has to confront in this new ten-story collection? Looking at some of the gorgeous chapter illustrations — from some of the best in the biz — there seem to be stories involving werewolves, exorcisms, ghouls and more.

Niles: Cal deals with a lot of vampires and werewolves, but he also deals with many new, strange creatures that are one of a kind. The true threat for Cal in these stories is that he allows himself to fall in love. That’s never good.

MacNamee: They say a good horror story often reflects the fears of the era it’s created in. How do you utilise the horrors and fears of our modern times in these stories? 

Niles: I think people reflect their fears in horror, but I also think there’s escape. There are so many things to worry about now I just hope people can escape for a short period of time through Cal and his stories.

MacNamee: I love the Joe Jusko cover. It’s so evocative of the pulp paperbacks sporting Robert McGinnis covers of the ‘60s. How much of a hand did you have in the design of this killer front cover, and for that matter, how did you get so many great artists contributing to this project as well as David Dastmalchian? A good friendship network, I imagine?

Niles: I described what I was looking forward to Joe and he said: “You want scary McGinnis, right?” He knew absolutely what to do and went for it. I love the cover so much. I am very lucky to have so many talented friends like Liam Sharp, Damien Worm, and Cat Staggs. Everyone came through.

MacNamee: How was it to return to Cal McDonald after some time away, and what made you decide on another prose collection as opposed to a graphic novel anthology?

Niles: I feel like the comics have run their course. I can do so much more with prose and it’s much more manageable. Cal started as a prose character that I adapted to comics so returning to prose feels natural.

MacNamee: One last one, then, Steve, and I promise I’ll untie you and let you go. And it’s a simple one: will we be seeing more of Cal McDonald after this very successful crowdfunding ends? It would seem there is a hunger for more Cal McDonald.

Niles: I already have 13 more stories ready to go!

You can check out the campaign for Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories here now.