All across America, unexplained phenomena occur every night. Hauntings. UFO reports. Elvis sightings…The one person best suited to solve these mysteries is a highly intelligent teenager with a penchant for purple trench coats. If Scully from the X-Files made a baby with Tim Burton, you’d have the punk-goth paranormal investigating force that is Tara Normal. Guided by her mysterious spectral friend, the Shadowman, and encouraged by her adoptive father, magic storeowner Abe Normal, Tara’s ultimate quest is for the truth.

We caught up with creator, Howie Noeldechen, to talk about Tara Normal.

Horror News Network: How did you come up with the concept for this book?

Howie Noeldechen: I've always wanted to do a book that focused on aspects of the paranormal that have always interested me: Ghosts, aliens, UFO's, zombies. Plus, I'm a fan of creating strong female characters so I combined those interests into one project: Tara Normal. When I get an idea for a story, it just seems to appear in a rough outline in my mind so I have to work at figuring out how each piece fits into a story. I've been asked to make a physical book out of Tara's stories so now seemed like the perfect time. I also wanted to make sure the book had something unique in it and that's why I decided to have it begin with a brand-new origin story of Tara.



Horror News Network: Can you tell us a bit about each of the main characters?

Howie Noeldechen: Sure! Tara Normal is the lead character and she is 19 year-old paranormal investigator. She has a quick wit and an even quicker fist. She not hunts ghosts and aliens, she kicks the crap out of them. When she was younger, she was adopted by Abe and Sarah Normal and ever since then she's been trying to solve the mysteries about her past. A lot of her past will be explained the first ever trade paperback book of Tara Normal that I'm publishing in August. She's always been natuarally drawn to the paranormal and has a special gift for locating ghosts and communicating with them. She is also extreamely badass. Tara investigates a farm in Evans City, PA that has been visited by corpse-stealing aliens. She discovers the plot also involves a zombie outbreak that she must stop.

The Man In Black AKA Agent Scar is the central villian in the story. He is a mysterious agent with the FBI and not much is known about him. He has it out for Tara and his whole backstory will be expanded upon as the online comic unfolds. He's really devoid of any redeeming qualities.

The Sheriff is a sheriff, naturally, in Pennsylvania. He works in Evans City, PA where Night of the Living Dead took place. The Sheriff is a skeptic and a great counter to Tara's role as believer. The Sheriff needs her help though because he's not used to dealing with zombies and aliens. He a good guy and he's in over his head.

Shadowman is an inter-dimensional traveler, not a ghost, and he's Tara's best friend. He looks like a living shadow and he's been sent to Earth to observe us but he's pretty terrible at it. He'd rather hang with Tara and eat his favorite snack, Oh Snap! Chips.


Horror News Network: How often is the web comic updated?

Howie Noeldechen: I post a new page every Wednesday at TaraNormal.com. While I've been going nuts finishing the last couple pages of the never-before-seen oriigin story, I have posted art samples from the new book as well!



Horror News Network: Is the book that ships this August collecting the online series?

Howie Noeldechen: The book in August collects the first storyline from the website but it also has an exclusive-to-print Origin Story of Tara Normal. It's a 20 page journey into Tara's childhool and it actually presents a whole new twist on the entire series. I'm really excited for people to read it! It holds some pretty crazy secrets.



Horror News Network: How did you hook up with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from Ghost Hunters?

Howie Noeldechen: I made a portrait of the TAPS team from Ghost Hunters and sent it to Jason back on myspace when it was actually a site I'd frequent. Jay really liked it a lot and I got invited to do one of their live events at the haunted Mt Washington Hotel. I made a poster of the art and it helped raise money for an awesome charity. Since then, I've helped raise thousands of dollars for different charites all through Beyond Reality Events. Jason and Grant are awesome friends- and I'm loving creating comics for their magazine TAPS Paramagazine. Tara Normal appears in every issue.



Horror News Network: Where can our readers find out more about Tara Normal?

Howie Noeldechen: There's a ton of info at my website http://www.taranormal.com. You can subscribe to the RSS feed so you never miss an update and you check out all of the character bios and interviews I've ever done.

Tara Normal also has an official Facebook page where I offer up exclusive art and updates on the comic. http://www.facebook.com/TaraNormalActivity

I also can followed on twitter!
@hcnoel and @Tara_Normal


Horror News Network: In closing, what would you like to say about Tara Normal?


Howie Noeldechen: First, thank you for the interview- it's great to be able to have an interview on a site I love! Now about my new comic: I think Tara Normal is a one-of-a-kind story that combines sci-fi and horror elements with my quirky sense of humor. Every page has something important in it. I believe my art has improved greatly working in the this series so I hope that as many people as possible check it out. It's a unique form of storytelling that isn't happening anywhere else in comics. When zombies show up in my comic, you can bet one of them is Bernie from Weekend at Bernie's. That's how Tara Normal rolls.

Horror News Network: Thank you for your time, Howie. Comment on this interview here.