If you’re not ready to give up spooky season, then maybe Fear the Funhouse: Toybox of Terror is the Archie title for you! If you love a haunted doll, keep reading to see our exclusive interview!
With Archie Horror Presents: Fear the Funhouse: Toybox of Terror officially out, we were proud to interview issue writers Timmy Heague, Danielle Page and Michael Northrup to get the lowdown on their favorite horror movies, their favorite Archie characters, and learn all about the storylines that didn’t make it into the issue.
Lisa Fernandes: TOYBOX OF TERROR makes great use of Evelyn Evernever, a character from Little Archie and twists her backstory in fascinating and truly chinning ways. Do any of you have a favorite Evelyn-based story from her earlier runs?
TIMMY HEAGUE: Evelyn Evernever, in her small list of appearances through the years, was always known to carry around her beloved doll, Minerva. With that, she was destined to be our “creepy doll girl” for TOYBOX OF TERROR! To prepare for my job of writing Evelyn’s Archie Horror debut, I read every single appearance of hers through the years. She’s been sparsely used, so it wasn’t too daunting of a task, though it was a bit hard finding them. But hey, isn’t that all part of the fun of being a comic collector? Most of her appearances were in Little Archie stories from the late ‘50s to ‘60s. While I’ve read the series before here and there, this deep dive made me want to read more and more, and now here I am with a short box of Little Archie comics! They’re so fun, delightful, and sometimes absolutely bizarre in such a unique charming way!
Other than her fun appearances in Little Archie, my absolute favorite Evelyn moment was in the more recent series BETTY & VERONICA: VIXENS, written by my editor Jamie Lee Rotante! It’s such a fun and special series. She was a quirky fun wildcard and even if I wasn’t writing Evelyn in TOYBOX, she would have been my favorite character in VIXENS! In that series they even gave her an awesome tattoo of her doll Minerva!
DANIELLE PAIGE: My introduction to Evelyn was in Riverdale! I think she is so deliciously played by Zoé De Grand Maison. I had to backtrack and find the comics; Timmy did such a masterful job of bringing her to life, just a perfect frame and toy box that Michael and I and the artists got to play in!
The wraparound story in particular has a very heavy EC Comics flavor to it; do you have a favorite classic EC Comics Horror tale?
TH: To say it has a heavy EC flavor to it is such an amazing compliment, thank you! It’s extremely hard for me to pick a favorite EC tale. In high school, I fell in love with EC with the ‘90s reprints when I first started working at a comic shop, and from there the obsession grew. What’s funny is I only pursued them because of a documentary I watched on Seduction of the Innocent, a book from the ‘50s that stirred up quite a controversy about comics in which EC horror comics were featured as an example of how comics weren’t good for the youth. Silly stuff! Give the kids their horror comics!
If I absolutely had to pick a favorite, the first EC comic that comes to mind is Crime SuspenStories #20. Sure, it’s not technically part of their horror line, but the Johnny Craig cover is an iconic horror comics image regardless. There’s just something about it that mesmerizes me in the most awful yet best of ways. I almost got it tattooed on my leg in my early 20s but never pulled the trigger. I’m sure my mother is very happy about that. Gosh, I love EC!
MICHAEL NORTHROP: I don’t have a favorite one from the comics—the 1950s were a little before my time!—but I can honestly say that the Crypt Keeper from the Tales from the Crypt TV show scared me maybe a little too much when I was young. I think he was supposed to be sort of campy silly fun. Like, “Good evening boys and ghouls!” type stuff. But I found him legitimately creepy, to the point where I even kind of avoided the show. Online, he’s described as “the show’s moldering host.” I guess when it comes to TV personalities, I am OK with smoldering and definitely with Mulder-ing, but moldering is a step too far.
DP: I am ashamed to say that I, too, have not taken a big EC dive. I am going to order some now based on these recommendations from the guys!
Danielle, your use of Midge shines a sympathetic spotlight on a character that’s just starting to get more attention in the comics. Do you all have a favorite Midge story?
DP: I loved getting to shine the spotlight on Midge, and Tango brilliantly encapsulated that feeling of being part of the gang but still feeling like you are a little left out. Midge has friends and a boyfriend, but she doesn’t have a best friend and she is longing for that and a little respect and she wouldn’t mind being on the top of the pyramid for once. And having CH3RYL be the one who sees that and tries to make it happen for her was just really fun and amped up the creep factor. I did a dive and got this great solo Midge comic where they expand on her story with Moose. I’d love to see her get the BIG ETHEL ENERGY treatment! As for favorite Midge stories, I have to mention the “New Look” graphic novel MOOSE & MIDGE: BREAKUP BLUES, where Midge breaks up with Moose and dates Reggie, and the gang tries to reunite them. It’s just sweet and funny stuff!
MN: It’s not so much a specific story, but as a kid I was really invested in her relationship with Moose. It’s mostly just background in the stories, or played for a quick laugh, but there was real drama there to me. I liked Moose, and he always seemed to be on the verge of messing things up—and even then, I knew he was never going to do better than Midge!
This issue mixes up some rarer members of Archie’s rogues gallery; aside from Evelyn Evernever, Moose plays a sizable part in the story, along with Midge Klump. Who’s everyone’s favorite Archie character outside of the core Betty/Veronica/Jughead/Archie quadrilogy?
TH: Outside of the core four Riverdale gang, I’d have to go with Riverdale’s biggest jerk…Reggie! He’s truly just so fun to hate! I can’t wait to tell a story with him one day. Maybe something where he is just his usual awful self or maybe I want to make a hero out of him. I’m a big fan of how rotten he always appears on the outside but his love for his dog Vader truly shows what a big softie he can be. I’m a big dog lover so that always spoke to me, how Reggie’s dog is his kryptonite, showing he isn’t ALL that bad.
MN: It’s Moose for me. My two favorite Moose facts: His real name is Marmaduke, and he’s dyslexic, like me.
DP: Cheryl forever, which is why it was so fun creating CH3RYL with the brilliant artist Tango. I always love the challenge of writing characters who have a bit of an edge. Cheryl is so magnetic, and fun and funny, but she isn’t always nice, and I find it fascinating to explore what makes characters like that tick. And the opportunity to have Cheryl face off with her doll doppelgänger CH3RYL was just too hard to pass up.
I also have a new appreciation for Midge, having gotten to give her a little more panel time. She’s both an insider and an outsider. She’s part of the group but not part of the core quad. She’s a cheerleader, she’s smart, she has a lovable boyfriend Moose (and another potential love interest in Reggie). But she doesn’t have a best girl friend, so she is on the outside looking at those friendships/romances that we know so well. Giving a little window into who she is and what she’s feeling while she’s searching for her own best friend is at the core of her story, and what leaves her vulnerable to the CH3RYL doll.
Do any of you have a favorite doll or action figure?
TH: I’m a huge toy collector and enthusiast so picking an absolute favorite is quite the challenge, but the first to come to mind are the early 2000s Marvel Legends figures. It was the first time I got to hold a Spider-Man toy that had all the articulation and posing capabilities to bring Spider-Man to life in the exact same way he appeared in a comic book. It’s fifteen years later and I still geek out over it! I’m in the process of recollecting them all which has been plenty fun.
MN: Mine is a Teen Titans Go! Robin Funko. I bought it early in the pandemic when things were really bad here in NYC. I was writing Teen Titans Go! Undead?! and that daily dose of ridiculous fun was probably the only thing keeping me sane. And when my local comic shop opened back up for “limited in-store shopping,” I was looking for things to buy to support them and I saw this Robin. My first Funko.
DP: I have this stunning figure of Mera that Jim Fletcher sent me when Mera: Tidebreaker came out. I love it.
Also, growing up I was all about Barbie.
I grew up in Atlanta, home of the Cabbage Patch kids. When I was little, my sister and I got to “adopt” our dolls. They had a whole process; you selected the way your doll would look, you signed an adoption certificate, and you had to wait a couple of weeks for your baby to be born in the hospital room / cabbage patch. It was pretty incredible.
Were there any story ideas that ended up on the cutting room floor? Different endings or story ideas?
TH: In my initial pitch, TOYBOX OF TERROR was actually going to feature an evil possessed Veronica doll “V3RONICA” vs Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I’m more then over the moon with what it eventually became, with Evelyn Evernever as the star of the show, but maybe if people want more FEAR THE FUNHOUSE comics, we’ll be able to throw Sabrina in the mix! Fingers crossed!
MN: I had a really creepy Little Ambrose idea. He was trapped inside a chef doll and could only wave his little knife and say his catchphrase: “Now we’re cookin’!” Everyone laughs every time, but at the end, the little doll is alone in the dark with a single tear running down its face.
DP: There were more scenes of Midge getting to know CH3RYL. And originally, I wanted to have CH3RYL attack Veronica but there wasn’t room. And there was this great line that I loved but we didn’t have room for about why Cheryl called Midge, “Smidge.”
If you could go back in time and give advice to your childhood self, what would you say?
TH: Not to be a cliche, but “DON’T GIVE UP” comes to mind especially when it comes to writing. Making comics has made me the happiest I’ve been in a long time, and I wish I had kept pursuing it and practicing it through the years, letting it be a constant in my life. I let the day job take control, and while that’s gotten me its own type of success, I wish I didn’t let it overpower every other passion of mine. I’m very thankful I’ve gotten back to one of my earlier passions and it’s led me to finding a home in Riverdale, which has been a dream come true to say the least. I’m forever thankful for that.
MN: The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics were produced in the little town next to where I grew up in northwestern Connecticut. I had them all. This was back when they were in black-and-white, total ‘80s indie stuff. But I was a just dumb kid, and long story short, I’d tell that kid to keep those comics safe!
DP: To dream bigger, be vocal about what you want, and start trying other kinds of writing sooner. I was a very precocious, very ambitious kid, but it takes a while, I think, for any writer or any person to learn to ask for what you want. And this is what I tell young writers constantly: you are not one piece of work or one kind of work, you are a writer.
Timmy, I’ve been following Arsenal Comics and Games’ story since you started offering Archie exclusive covers in your online shop. What was it like getting to write your own story for the Archieverse? Were there any artists you specifically wanted to work with for variant covers for the issue for the shop?
TH: To start my next chapter in comics going from retailer to writer has been a dream come true, I can’t stress that enough. To have it be with one of my all-time favorite publishers, on a comic that’s part of their horror line which I’ve been an IMMENSE fan of since its start in 2014, and with characters that mean so much to me? It’s. A. Dream. Come. True. Archie and the gang, the town of Riverdale, and the horrors that get unleashed in their horror comics have such a special place in my heart. Opening up the Toybox of Terror in Riverdale has made me the happiest I’ve been in a long, long time.
And thanks for following our covers, I really appreciate that. Our exclusive covers with Archie mean a lot to me and we put massive amounts of heart and soul into them with our artists. Coming up with each concept and seeing them brought to life is a thrill every single time. For my Archie Comics writing debut, I am more than over the moon with the selection of artists I have somehow been lucky enough to assemble. I’m still in awe of it all, truly. Archie Comics modern master Bill Galvan, BITE-SIZED ARCHIE creators Ron Cacace & Vincent Lovallo, my good friend Ryan Carr who has been doing a series of painter portrait covers for us (so to have him do an installment of the series for Toybox was a MUST), Mike Allred, creator of Madman who is my all-time favorite artist and comic book mentor, and lastly my high school art teacher Justin Frazier, which is just the coolest thing to say, talk about full circle right? Every artist I could have ever wanted for a cover, I somehow miraculously pulled off. I’m a lucky guy! There were a couple other artists I wanted for covers but ended up seeing them snagged by other shops I’m friends with, so I still got to see them do a cover and other shops got to support the book, too; win win! To see Archie legend Dan Parent do a cover for my friends over at Comics Conspiracy in Sunnyvale was a milestone moment for sure!
DP: I am so in love with all the variant covers! Timmy even helped me do an exclusive with the Lehrer Bros (animation writers and artists who are responsible for The Freak Brothers and Highly Gifted.)
For all three of you: what’s your favorite scary movie? And do you have a favorite movie you watch every Halloween?
TH: Evil Dead 2 and Alien come to mind immediately for favorite horror movies, movies I’ve seen so many times I can act them out line-for-line yet every time I watch them, it still sends shivers down my spine as if I’m watching them for the first time. Even the taglines of the movies still give me the horror equivalent of butterflies in my stomach… or maybe that’s just the Necronomicon doing its thing or the Chestburster inside me starting to creep up.
For an annual Halloween movie, I’ve started to watch Muppets: Haunted Mansion every year since it came out in 2021. Sure, that wasn’t something you expected to hear and it’s not straight horror, but it’s become my new Halloween yearly watch guaranteed and my Muppet lovin’ heart enjoys it every time. Muppets + my favorite Disneyland ride = bliss
MN: My favorite movie of all time is Jaws. I don’t think that’s considered the scariest movie these days, but the first time I saw it as a kid was at a drive-in on Cape Cod, so that was terrifying. I’m still a big fan of the big bitey animal genre of horror, from Piranha to even like Piranha knock-off Killer Fish (starring Lee Majors and Karen Black!) and up to Anaconda and beyond. I think I’m probably still chasing the thrill of wading out into that cold, murky Cape Cod water the day after seeing Jaws, doing everything I could not to just turn around and run for shore.
A favorite for Halloween . . . that’s a tough call. I’d probably say the original Halloween. It’s such a classic and weirdly almost cozy at this point? But now that I think about it, Arachnophobia could work!
DP: I love the slow burn of The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby and more recently Orphan. There is something about horror that hits close to home and gets me every time. And of course, M3GAN which was the inspiration for my little CH3RYL story in TOYBOX OF TERROR. Comedy makes the jump scares a little jumpier! And I would second Timmy on Alien! A forever fave. As for an annual watch, I never skip It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. And I am obsessed with the old Universal Monster movies; I can never pass up a Frankenstein or Dracula rewatch!
If you could draw or write one more thing for Archie Horror, what would it be?
TH: There’s a long list of Archie projects I want to tackle and bring to life but writing Sabrina the Teenage Witch definitely is top of the list! The horrors I want her to face would be like nothing fans have seen before!
MN: I have a “Lughead” idea that’s like Riverdale meets Sleepy Hollow. Jughead is beheaded on his way to Pop’s and is cursed to carry his blood-dripping head around, still looking for that perfect burger.
DP: I’m doing it! I got to write a little prequel story for Sabrina’s aunts, the Spellman sisters, for the SABRINA HOLIDAY SPECIAL out in December, and I’d just love to expand them into a longer comic, or in a dream scenario, a television show! Like I’d tell my teenage self: dream big!
Thank you to Danielle, Timmy and Michael for spending time with us! Fear the Funhouse: Toybox of Terror is currently available at a comic book shop near you!
