Between 2023 and 2024's break-out hit, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, and the new series The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, IDW Publishing is on a roll with its horror slate. ScreenRant spoke to the creators of these two books - Patrick Horvath and Hannah Rose May, respectively - at New York Comic Con 2024, digging into their horror aesthetics and the joys of having great collaborators.

IDW is recommitting to its horror line in 2024 with Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Horvath and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, a story about a small-town serial killer that's been compared to both Animal Crossing and Dexter. In more recent months, IDW also published The Exorcism at 1600 Penn by May, Vanesa Del Rey, Jordie Bellaire, and Otsmane-Elhaou, a haunted house story about the most famous house in the world: the White House.

In bustling Artists Alley, ScreenRant spoke to Horvath and May at NYCC 2024, diving into everything from the connection between Catholicism and exorcism to Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering to the two's biggest horror recommendations. Check out the interview in full below, edited lightly for clarity.

Patrick Horvath and Hannah Rose May Discuss Their Fan-Favorite IDW Horror Comics

IDW's Horror Line Is Going Strong into 2025

ScreenRant: Despite a bit of turbulence at IDW, the horror line is really going strong, right? Especially with your books in the mix, and now the just-announced IDW Dark line, which is really cool. What's it been like working with IDW on your titles?

Patrick Horvath: To be honest, I've had nothing but an excellent experience. All of the direction that I've gotten, editorial notes, etcetera, for my book have all been great. Like, I didn't know what to expect when I first was approached by them. I was very explicit in my pitch of letting them know exactly how weird and dark I wanted it to get, and they were on board for all of it. Like I guess they ran it up the flagpole just to make sure, but everybody was cool. And then what blew me away was that, as I actually was writing the scripts, the only notes I got were to make it better? Better in of what I wanted to do?

Like they were helping sharpen it. They were helping draw out the themes that I was already laying down, and that was invaluable. The thing is, I'm new. I'm new to comics, and because of that, I'm leaning on my editorial team, heavy, to make sure they're steering me in the right direction. So I'm taking advantage of the “issue ones” as well as I can be, etcetera. You know what I mean?

It's all that stuff that maybe like— with issue one, that was probably the most notes I got just because they knew that we were setting the table, and [Editor] Maggie Howell in particular was like this. “You really should serve this up, you really should, you know,” etcetera. The cuteness of the town, and bringing in a couple of characters earlier just to set the table for later when they pop, things like that.

Hannah Rose May: Similar to Patrick, you know, this is technically my first book with a publisher where I actually got a per-page rate and worked with the publisher where we’d share in the success. Because my debut series was an Image book. So over at Image, it’s one hundred percent creator-owned, you deal with it yourself: all the marketing and all of that kind of stuff is all entirely up to you.

So this has honestly been like a breath of fresh air for me because I haven't had to take care of any of that! They have an exceptional team. I haven't had to worry about marketing or assets or— I quite honestly sat back, wrote the scripts, and then I just kind of step back and everyone else seems to do everything else. I show up where they want me to! But no, I really enjoy the experience. I would do it in two seconds. I highly recommend it. Partnering with a publisher is definitely worth its weight.

Horror Comics Go Niche with Beneath the Trees and 1600 Penn's Exciting Sub-Genres

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees #2 Variant Cover by Riley Rossmo

SR: So despite both working on horror books, you're both working in very particular sub-genres of horror. Patrick, you've got your kind of cozy take on serial killer fiction, which— I love that idea of cozy horror. It's really hilarious.

PH: Yeah, me too! The first I'd heard of it was when my book came out and people started discussing it, and I was like, “oh, I like that!”

SR: And Hannah, you've got your take on haunted houses and exorcism. What attracted you both to these particular niches in horror?

PH: With this story, as soon as I came up with the idea behind it, it struck me that it felt kind of profane, in a way? So I was like, well, this feels wrong. And the fact that I felt that way made me realize, like, I wanted to keep going. I was on to something, basically. And it was the idea of having such a cute setting for all of this and that I wanted it to have very grounded repercussions— I don't think I've really read anything quite like that.

A lot of things kind of kept the kid gloves on or whatever, and I was like, what would it be like if it totally felt real? [Laughs] Like if the violence felt real? Again, it felt wrong and I felt bad about it. And, again, it made me feel like I was moving in the right direction.

HRM: Patrick is like, “I'm method, okay?!” [All laugh]

PH: No! No, no, no, no, no! [All laugh] Very cute, but I'm horrible!

So what if we did that? And it was the first female president?

HRM: For me, I love putting women in places that we haven't seen before. And that's really where most of my stories start. And I came up with this idea four years ago: then we weren't entertaining the first female president. Here we are now, which is insane. Crazy timing.

So yeah, I just love the idea of putting a woman in the White House, and then I've always loved haunted house movies. And I was like, you know, we've never seen one in the most famous house in the world! So what if we did that? And it was the first female president? And she was dealing with all of the scares that come along with, you know, potentially your house being haunted and things not being what they seem—while also dealing with the, you know, the scare of the press and running America, essentially.

SR: You just mentioned that you came up with the idea four years ago, and we all know what four years ago was: more American politics. So why now for this kind of political horror story?

HRM: Well, I feel like there's no time like the present, of course. It's one of those stories where I always wanted to tell it. I actually had the idea a lot longer than that, but I really started working on it when I saw trailers for Top Gun: Maverick and I saw that they were able to tell that story, and they don't ever mention the enemy. All they say is the enemy, but you don't know who the country is that they're actually at war with. They just say the enemy.

And I thought that was really smart, because to tell a story like this, I wanted it to be apolitical. And I didn't want to ever mention any countries. We don't even mention what political party our president is in. It's kind of on the reader to think and assume and make their own assumptions. So when I saw that that was done, I was like, “oh, there is an interesting way to do this where it doesn't become so politically heavy.” And so it's kind of like it's set in the backdrop of politics, but the politics aren’t at the forefront of our story whatsoever.

Hannah Rose May Talks Catholic Influences and the Importance of Creepy Demons

The Exorcism at 1600 Penn #1 Variant Cover by Jock

SR: Something I love about the first issue of Exorcism was how steeped in Catholicism it is, which is both a traditional horror element—we've all seen those horror movies, it's an exorcism story—but it's also kind of a traditional Irish writer element as well. Can you talk a little bit about why you included the Catholic elements and also how it works in this story?

HRM: I think everyone's assumption when they immediately hear “an exorcism” is— they immediately think that it's going to be a Catholic exorcism, because that's kind of what we've seen before. In this, not to give away too much, we do kind of flip it on its head a little, though. Obviously we're telling you that our first family is Catholic. You see that they attend Mass on Sundays and whatnot, but our— I’m trying to think how I can phrase it without giving away too much!

You'll see throughout that it's less about religion and more about personal faith and having the personal faith in believing that you can overcome something. So it's all about personal strength throughout. So yes, the assumption is that it is a Catholic exorcism. Whether it ends up being a Catholic exorcism, you'll know by the end of issue four [laughs].

But I obviously am Irish, was raised in Catholic school, very obviously Catholic-heavy country. So it just kind of came naturally to me, and I don't know why when I immediately think about being Catholic, I immediately think about exorcisms. There may be something wrong with me on that part.

SR: The art, obviously, is absolutely gorgeous for this first issue. The shadowy demons in particular, they’re so—

HRM: Do you want to know what's so wild?

If it wasn't for Vanesa Del Rey, I don't know what this book would be, if it would ever exist.

SR: Yes!

HRM: My inspiration for this, and I had absolutely no clue that we're sitting next to this genius here— my inspiration for this was that, I was telling Vanesa Del Rey, our incredible artist, to think about the demon like the Negative Man, like negative space in The Night House. Patrick, here, actually created the Negative Man in The Night House.

PH: I designed the effects for it.

HRM: Literally! Yes, he designed the effects for it.

SR: That’s crazy!

PH: It is crazy.

HRM: And we only figured this out on Wednesday when we were at a g together, so.

Looking for more horror comics featuring otherworldly demons? Check out Somna by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay, available now from DSTLRY Media.

SR: That’s fate. [Laughs]

HRM: It’s fate. I'm his biggest fan and I didn't even— obviously I knew from the comics space, but didn't even know it outside of that. But yeah, no, we love that. It's one of those kinds of books where you have to kind of really look at every corner because Vanesa has put a lot of little hidden demons all over, a lot of hidden details. It's tricky to do horror in comic books.

PH: Yes, it is.

HRM: It really is, you know. Especially if you're not doing something particularly gory. If it's not blood, it's like, how do you put in those tense thrills? And honestly, if it wasn't for Vanesa Del Rey, I don't know what this book would be, if it would ever exist. If she had said “no,” I would have just left it in the pan and been like “uh, we tried!” Yeah, I have Vanesa to thank for all of that. And as the series goes on, the shadows get darker throughout, and you'll see a lot more creeps spill in.

Patrick Horvath and Hannah Rose May Rave About their Undersung Collaborator

Letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

SR: I think it’s interesting that you're both working with Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou on letters for your books. No one ever asks about the letterers in these interviews.

HRM: Oh my gosh!

SR: But I think Hassan’s work in particular is just so distinct, so unique, he adds so much to the book.

PH: Yeah, agree, agree, yes.

SR: So what do you guys think his lettering adds to your work?

HRM: Oh, we've shared in this conversation already.

PH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'll just repeat what I've mentioned a bunch of times, but like, I always feel like I hand in the art, and Hassan will hand back the comic. Like it feels like an actual comic whenever I get the work back from him. Also, there's always something special that he'll put in that helps accentuate a performance or helps add to the theme that I'm pulling out or some element of the story that I'm trying to highlight.

He intuitively understands a lot of what makes comics great and is so thoughtful about the style and the mode of storytelling that you're employing specifically with each comic he works on that the end result is just like a complete— “the sum is greater than its parts” sort of situation. It's wonderful.

HRM: Everything Patrick just said.

PH: [Laughs]

SR: I was gonna say, anything to add? [Laughs]

HRM: For me, I do tell a lot of stories—obviously similar to Rogues’ Gallery, [my Image book]—Exorcism at 1600 Penn deals with a lot of social media and media elements in general and Hass is [the one] who breathes life into that. Without him, I don't know if I could tell the stories. Honestly, I've been so fortunate that Hass has actually lettered all of the books that I've done, that I'm just going to follow whatever schedule he has and continue hopefully to do that.

PH: Yes. Yes. Uh huh.

HRM: Because I'd be lost without him.

SR: I'm a huge fan of his work—like I said, no one ever asks about the letterers!

HRM: Let me say, Hass doesn't sleep. We don't understand this.

PH: Yeah, I don't know how he's got the bandwidth to do all of this, but I'm forever grateful.

HRM: I’m so happy!

PH: But the fact that he, like, decided to take on a book from a no-name creator, like—

HRM: Oh, the exact same with me! Rogues’ Gallery was my first and Hass jumped on.

PH: It's such a bonkers thing and, again, a testament to the person. Like he's willing if he just— if he legitimately likes the story, he'll do it. He doesn't really care about all the whatever-trappings that come with names or whatever.

HRM: Yeah, he's got no ego. For someone who should be—

PH: Really. Really. He's the most humblest person that I've worked with so far. He's just like— I’m literally congratulating him on his Eisner and he's like, “No, it was all you!” [All laugh]

Otsmane-Elhaou won the 2024 Eisner for Best Letterer, a massive industry honor.

HRM: It's literally so true. For someone who should have the biggest ego, he is ego-less, and he's just the best, the nicest, most talented person ever.

SR: My favorite part about doing these interviews is hearing people talk about their collaborators.

HRM: What’s funny is that most of the time we don't actually know the people we're working with. We work behind screens, so when we come to conventions, we're mostly meeting these people for the first time, which is insane. I met Vanesa Del Ray, literally our artist on this, for the first time at a g.

SR: I hear that all the time, yeah.

HRM: A lot of our cover artists we were meeting here at cons for the first time. I'm so grateful for the likes of these conventions and the opportunities to bring people together.

Patrick Horvath Reveals More About His Process in Making Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

The Hit Horror Comic No One Saw Coming

SR: Patrick, turning to you, let's start with a process question. As both writer and artist on Beneath the Trees, can you take us into the process a little bit? Where do you start? With story, image, some strange mix of both things?

PH: I mean, honestly, process-wise, I outline. I might have an idea, visually, of what it's going to be like, but I just have to outline everything before I do much else. I kind of have to have a road map of where I go? Because otherwise I'll just get lost. If people can figure out the story as they write, excellent! I've written whole screenplays, and at the end of it have found that they were completely just—whatever, you know? [All laugh]

It's like, that was an interesting exercise. That was a month I'm not getting back. I learned some lessons, and largely the lesson learned was that I need to outline this stuff first. And then I start breaking down the script, and then I pretty much put it all together, writing-wise, before I even start drawing at all. And then I'll just lay down the railroad tracks and start putting it together. But! As I'm writing, I layout. I have to have an idea of what the visual is gonna be.

SR: Beneath the Trees seems to have scratched a pretty unique itch in readers, as we were just talking about with the cozy horror stuff.

PH: Sure.

HRM: The sickos!

SR: [Laughs] Yeah, yeah, the delightful sickos!

HRM: Me included in that. We're all down in the sickness.

SR: I feel like people didn't even know they were looking for such a discordant story, like the tension between the cute and the gory. So what is it about that combination—cute and gory—do you think has captured the “sickos,” as Hannah puts it?

PH: I feel like it really helps accentuate the trauma of the stuff that happens. I think the impact is larger than if they were just people. Humans. And I think that, as a result, you really don't want— I mean, I don't want these horrible things to happen to the characters. I think that's why I feel bad about it. But I know, setting it up, how bad it's gonna get. And I do feel terrible about what I'm gonna do to these families, etcetera.

But there's something about the innocence, I think, that we attribute to animals in general, and also the unconditional love that we feel from pets, for example. And then you're playing against all that. That, and also just the nostalgic childhood children's book aspect as well. I feel like there's a certain nostalgic innocence that you're leveraging—I'm leveraging this violence against. Yeah, I feel weird about it. But like I said, it really strikes a chord.

HRM: You know when you're really gonna feel weird, is when your daughter’s of age enough to ask you why. [Laugh]

PH: I got a couple of years.

SR: That will be a moment.

PH: A couple of years to think about it.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring Is Already One of 2025's Most Anticipated Titles

Patrick Horvath Reveals More About His Sequel

SR: Okay, so, the big one: obviously yesterday you announced the sequel, Rite of Spring. What can you tell us about what's going to happen with the sequel, how it's connected to the original series that people already love so much? What's up with Rite of Spring?

PH: Well, we're reing Sam back in Woodbrook, but now it's eight years after the first book. And in the time jump, we're going to catch up with some of the characters that have survived the first book and see what the psychological impacts have been and then also the day-to-day, like how their lives have just changed.

Also we're going to find ourselves in the world of the early ‘90s, where the first book was more like the early ‘80s. And because of that time change, all of a sudden we have the Internet now. And we also have globalization happening. We have factories shutting down, but suburban sprawl is happening, forests are getting smaller. And for Sam, the world's getting smaller. And out of that, she ends up happening upon something that she's never really encountered before. That's pretty much where I'll leave it. Her decision and how she decides to interact with that is kind of the main thrust.

HRM: If your editor had been here, they would have been cutting you off. [All laugh]

SR: One last question for you both. What horror story do you think people absolutely have to check out? Could be a comic, a movie, a novel. What horror story?

HRM: Well, I'm gonna say Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees!

PH: Awww. I mean, obviously, Exorcism at 1600 Penn.

I mean, I'd be remiss in not mentioning The Substance. Like if anybody hasn't seen The Substance, like— go see The Substance!

HRM: I haven't seen it yet! Everyone keeps recommending it to me.

PH: Yeah, it's particularly excellent. And maybe where some people have been frustrated with some of the recent horror films that had great tones but maybe didn't have substance, this one has it. I'm also like, I mean—talking about IDW alums, I'm a huge fan of Stephen Graham Jones and his novels. I just finished reading I Was a Teenage Slasher and loved it. Also, Gretchen Felker-Martin. If you haven't read Manhunt, that one was awesome and gnarly. There's a lot of exciting stuff going on in horror across all sorts of different media. It's fun.

The Exorcism at 1600 Penn #2 is available December 4th, 2024 from IDW Publishing. The collected edition of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is available now from IDW Publishing.