Arms Down. Head Back. Pray Hard. GUNGNIR Publishing announced today that it has signed a deal with award-winning screenwriter and veteran entertainment journalist Jeff Spry to develop and write horror comic Killride.
The graphic novel about a hellish roller coaster is launching in 2027.
Killride will follow Michael Wylde, once the Godfather of Roller Coaster Design and a cocky rock star on rails, until a tragic thrill ride crash on one of his coasters results in a dozen casualties, including Robin, his beautiful young fiancée. Ten years later, the reclusive Wylde is coaxed back into the game by an eccentric billionaire to conceive the planet’s tallest, fastest, shape-shifting exa coaster for Pandemonia, a radical new playground for the elite featuring attractions deemed too dangerous for other parks.
Christened the SoulSteeler, this 666-foot-tall hellbound contraption infused with its mad creator’s rage, guilt, and torment begins to manifest malevolent attributes which cause riders to suffer psychological harm and even death. When Wylde is banished from the project and his life is threatened after voicing safety concerns, he must infiltrate Pandemonia during its Halloween Night grand opening to permanently disable his sentient offspring before more unspeakable atrocities arise. Will this devilish machine unmake the man, or will Wylde triumph over the twisted looping spawn?
“I’ve loved roller coasters since my first ride on the Matterhorn and Space Mountain at Disneyland as a California kid,” Spry shares. “Killride has been marinating in my mind for nearly two decades, and now it’s time to unleash the beast. It’s my cautionary tale about love, redemption, runaway obsessions, our insatiable appetite for external stimulation, and technology pushed too far.”
“Killride is a haunting collision of supernatural horror that takes the familiar thrills of the amusement park and twisting them into something deeply unsettling with pure terror,” warns Matthew Medney, Founder and Publisher of GUNGNIR. “For fans of nightmare fuel and cinematic thrillers, this graphic novel combines a high-concept premise with pulse-pounding suspense.”
Killride will also feature artwork by Scott B. Henderson, coloring by illustrator Jao Canola, and editing by Eisner-nominated executive editor Steve Orlando and publisher Matt Medney.
The announcement arrives just ahead of International Roller Coaster Day on Sunday.
