Monstrous Books and Crystal Lake Publishing will soon launch the Kickstarter campaign for Darkest Depths, a new black-and-white comic anthology series devoted to extreme horror and bringing new voices into comics. The project has been planned for quite some time and was a joint project between Crystal Lake, James Aquilone, and Taylor Grant. Sadly, after Taylor fell ill, the campaign was put on hold. Taylor, who was a development executive at Stan Lee Media and Head of Global Animation at Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, ultimately passed away from cancer in September 2024. 

Darkest Depths will serve as a tribute to Taylor and feature the last comic story he wrote, “It Lives in Darkness.” Profits from the crowdfunding campaign will be donated to his son.

The plan is to continue to honor Taylor by leaving submissions open for additional stories, the number depending on the campaign’s final funding level. The hope is that Darkest Depths will be the launching pad for many aspiring comic book writers.

The first volume of the anthology already boasts a stellar lineup — including Nick Roberts, Candace Nola, John Durgin, and James Aquilone. Artists include J.K. Woodward, Robert Hack, Vanessa Cardinali, EV Cantada, and Zac Atkinson.

Darkest Depths, which will feature unflinching horror stories, will be available in a trade paperback and a digital edition and will launch May 19 on Kickstarter.

Check out the cover by J.K. Woodward and an exclusive look at unlettered preview pages from a story by James Aquilone and Woodward and sign up now so you don’t miss it when it launches!