'Hellraiser' continues to horrify with 'The Dark Watch'

• 'Hellraiser: The Dark Watch' continues Clive Barker horror franchise
• Series will revolve around the Cenobites and other characters on Earth and in Hell
• Barker was an influence for series co-writer Brandon Seifert

Brandon Seifert counts two people as his literary horror idols: H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker. And one of them he counts now as a collaborator.

Seifert is expanding the mythology created in Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart — and the popular movie series Hellraiser — for a new Hellraiser: The Dark Watch ongoing series for Boom! Studios beginning in February.

Written by Seifert and Barker with art from Tom Garcia, The Dark Watch is a continuation of the current Hellraiser storyline that Barker and his collaborators at Boom! have been spinning over the last few years. The current series ends with issue 20 this month.

However, it's also a fresh start for the franchise, according to Seifert, as it "picks up with familiar characters in unfamiliar roles, and I'm making a big effort to make it accessible for new readers."

As part of his back-to-basics approach, Seifert went back and revisited the first two Hellraiser films from the late 1980s — the movies introduced most of pop culture to the Cenobites, horrific-looking beings from another dimension that harvest human souls; their enigmatic leader, the fittingly named Pinhead; and human girl Kirsty Cotton, who gains possession of a mysterious puzzle box and creates a whole mess of terror when she opens it.

While watching the films again, Seifert realized there was a lot of forgotten material in them that hadn't been touched yet in the comics.

"Hellraiser is about the Cenobites and the Cotton family, sure — but it's about other things too. It's about the people who escape from Hell, just like it's about the people who put them there," says Seifert, who is currently writing the self-contained, "year one" miniseries Hellraiser: The Road Below and his creator-owned horror series Witch Doctor for Image Comics.

He also found he wanted to build mainly from the first two movies and not the many that followed — there are nine Hellraisers, so far — because the later ones veered from the original formula.

"In the first movie, Pinhead and the Cenobites aren't even the big bad — a human, Frank Cotton, is," Seifert explains. "It isn't until Hellraiser 3 that Pinhead really becomes the main villain, the Freddy or the Jason of the series.

"In the first two movies, his role's a lot more complex — he tries to take Kirsty to Hell, but he also saves her from Frank!"

Seifert can't go into details with what The Dark Watch has in store for Elliott Spencer, the former Pinhead, and Kirsty, who's actually the current Pinhead, without spoiling the end of the current series.

However, it's seen has seen massive changes already and Seifert promises it's ending on a scale worthy of what they've already set up. "When The Dark Watch opens, things will be very different — for our cast, for Earth and for Hell."

Seifert comes to the Hellraiser comics with deep love for the Cenobites and Barker's other creations — Books of Blood and Imajica were two of Seifert's favorite novels for years, and he's found his writing still influenced by Barker's works.

"You can see it in the world building I do in Witch Doctor," Seifert says. "I really litter that book with weird names and concepts — that's something I learned from reading Clive."

Seifert often gets asked by fans what it's like to work with his idol, but so far he hasn't had any direct contact with the busy, reclusive horror master. However, he gets story notes from Barker's production company Seraphim, and Barker is cool with him going with his instincts.

"It's really nice to work with someone who trusts my judgment on my writing," Seifert says. "But it's also really nice to know that Clive is there, reading everything I turn in and making sure it's 'on target' for where he wants to take Hellraiser these days."