3 Terrifyingly Good Storytelling Tricks

Treat yo'self to all three

Oct 31, 2025

Hey Spooky Comics People,

Are you eager to sink your teeth into some (totally real!) halloween-themed storytelling tricks?

Good. You came to the right place, and we’ll get to that in a minute. The only thing I’ll tell ya right from jump is that these 3 tricks are definitely legit... a real treat. But first, let’s acknowledge that at the time of this posting, it’s hallow freakin ween. So I’m shuffling the deck a bit and sharing some fitting tales for the season.

First up? I’d like to introduce you to some proper indie scuzz:

Packs of the Lowcountry is a 200 page horror-fueled tomb, made by myself and Don Cardenas from 2013 - 2018. Five years of makin’ comics. Quite the commitment, if you asked me..

I mean… I’d say that because it absolutely was. A commitment, I mean. That this book exists is a miracle built of dogged willpower the likes of which only other fellow comic makers could understand. To be clear, for the most part, such persistence is no different than the unstoppable drive to create other forms of storytelling, or any of a variety of artistic expressions which require time and patience to craft. It’s just that making comics is a concept that simply won’t resonate with folks who aren’t engaged with the hobby; heck, some will even make an intentional effort to NOT read comics. There’s nothing wrong with that, nothing at all, even if you and I know that they’re missing out!

This is all to say that, making comics will be perceived as a nonsensical thing to do by a sizable % of the ‘normals’. So you’ll have to just ignore that fact and chart ahead. But deciding to jump all the way in and just make a 200 page OGN (ie - ‘original graphic novel’) like Don and me? That was big-league (and wild) swinging.

If you’re making comics, curious to dive in, or just curious how most folks get started, I want to be clear that it’s not necessary to commit to such a huge endeavor. Usually not recommended, actually. Don and I had each made a few short comics prior to Packs. In fact, a couple of mine have already been shared in previous Making Comics posts; and to be sure, the wisest path into making comics is to commit to making a ton of shorts and collaborating on anthology projects and the like. Because the more comics projects you can actually FINISH, the better.

It’s the most broken record in the entire Making Comics record collection:

Finish what you start.

Short comic projects and bite sized efforts are the best way to get a strong feel for the holistic process of making a dang comic. Shorts will allow you to hone your craft and engage with / learn from tons of other comics makers. On the other hand…

Overthinking whether or not you SHOULD make your comic is the surefire way to ensure your comics project will never happen.

So just make the damn thing.

You hear me?

I’ll continue to throw out a lot of words here (just wait till next week!). There will be some good stuff in the mix, I hope. But if you’re debating the validity of your work, the best advice I’ll ever give, and which has been given to me by a great many folks I trust and admire, is to worry less about what others might think about your story and to make it for yourself (and to only compromise with your collaborators’ muses a bit, if anyone at all).

‘Audience’ is a fickle thing. But you know what you like. So if there’s a comic you want to make, make THAT comic. I can honestly say that that’s exactly what Don and I did with Packs, and to my eyes, it’s a gem.

Check out the preview video I made way back when, featuring rad (Carpenter-esque!) original music by co-creator and series artist Don Cardenas. The entire soundtrack for the book is available here.

Click below for A+ halloween listening:

Real talk? In revisiting this video some of the pull quotes kinda shocked me. I’d forgotten about ‘em. Packs received a fair bit of praise (for an indie book), including some that was glowing, but my favorite description of the work will always be the most straight forward, that it is: ‘indie scuzz’.

Because I’m proud of the indie scuzz we made. If you choose to dive in, I hope you dig it, and I hope you’ll do so with Don’s shredding atmospheric soundscape. To reiterate, it’s available to listen to right here (or click the image):

Keen observers of this space might have noted that I’m referencing past posts a fair bit. The idea behind these callbacks is to use examples from short comics that had already been shared so that when elements from within those comics might become relevant or illustrative of topics discussed in the future? Well… this is all to say that it’s a shame that last week’s post on lettering and SFX (link) came out before I had a chance to share some of Don’s work on Packs. Because Mr. Cardenas did some seriously fun SFX work on that book…

You can see a fair bit of those SFX is this next video. This is one that I produced but never used back when. I’m not exactly in love with my video editing ‘skills’. But check out the SFX in many of these panels. Also, as it happens, the accompanying track from Don’s POTL soundtrack is ON POINT for the halloween season. Definitely add this one onto your spooky season / atmosphere mix:

Okay… I’m REALLY gonna have to lay off the self promotion for a few weeks after this. But if you’re still with me here, check out just one more thing: here’s another video I never used during the promotion of the project. I’m making it available now as it describes the creation of POTL, including some process bits that are perfectly relevant to, ya know ‘making comics’:

And if you want to read the book?

Well…

This one ain’t free. But boy do I have a great deal for ya!

Don has a kickstarter running right now for PATERFAMILIAS, another story that’s all-too fitting for the season.

Back that project. It’s going to be scary good!!!

And guess what? It includes a $7 add on for the FULL 200 digital edition of POTL. Click on the image to dive in:

Now onto those 3 terrifying storytelling tricks… appropriately buried down here, just like they do on those recipe websites. You ever come across those? The recipe websites that bury the lead… Like, they’ll tell you the history of potatoes and regale you with the recipe-writer’s anecdotes about digging for potatoes with grandpa, so that you have to scroll down for ‘bout 10 minutes (and endure 5 or 6 push notifications) before you can get to the actual ‘Lightening Quick Recipe for Baked Potatoes!’

So yeah…

Anyways, you’ve almost made it to the three tricks!

Are you excited? Because this actually reminds me of a story…

1,100+ Farmer With Grandson In Field Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

Nevermind.

You’re just one paragraph away from those three terrifyingly good (and terrifyingly REAL!) storytelling tricks…

Next week I’m going to properly dive into some across-the-board helpful tests for improving a story. I still have a ton to learn myself, tons of tons… but these are great tools that, once applied, have helped me to feel a bit more confident in my own storytelling. I’ve got a lot to share on this subject, so I’ve actually broken it down into two posts starting next week. But worry not. Because, as promised, I have some even more straight forward tips for today. Here we go…