Part sci-fi, part horror, GREY is the story of a small town cop who must go on the hunt for the alien that is terrorizing his town. Shot with live actors on set, GREY has the look of a comic combined with the cinematic feel of a movie.

We caught up with Jared Barel to talk about Grey.


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

Jared Barel: My writing partner (and brother), Jordan Barel, actually came up with the concept for GREY. He told me he wanted to tell a story about a small farming town with an alien problem. The concept was to make the horror element much like JAWS - instead of being afraid to go in the water, our characters were afraid to go in the fields. I fell in love with the concept instantly and ran back to my computer to start writing. The ideas just poured out of us.


Horror News Network: Who are the main characters in this book?

Jared Barel: Our central hero is Chief John Mack. Mack is a New York City cop who uprooted his family from the city for the quiet life in the country. On top of an extraterrestrial making a mess of his town, he's got another problem - he's dying of lung cancer. He's a family man first and foremost, but he's looking for one last shot to be a hero. 

Charlie Heller is a Ufologist - that's U.F.O.-ologist - who hears of the goings on of Bullard Valley and arrives in town to try and convince Chief Mack that the strange phenomena in town are indeed alien.

There's also Grey... he/she/it is an alien.

Horror News Network: The artwork in the book is much different than traditional artwork. Can you tell us about that and the process that goes into it?

Jared Barel: GREY is what we at Loaded Barrel Studios like to call a "live-action" graphic novel. We all come from backgrounds in film and so in creating a visual language for our studio we wanted to emulate that as much as possible. The first step is going out and shooting the images which will end up the panels in the book. That means putting a cast together, finding locations, props, costumes, and producing a shoot. Instead of shooting on film or video, however, we shoot on digital stills. From there it's a combination of photo manipulation, computer generated imaging, digital illustration, and ultimately traditional illustration to create the unique look of GREY and turn a couple photos of actors in a cornfield into the cinematic and illustrative world of Bullard Valley. 


Horror News Network: How long did it take you to complete this book?

Jared Barel: If I remember correctly, we came up with the concept around February of 2010. I actually wrote an early draft of a screenplay for a GREY film before working on the graphic novel. In summer of 2010, we adapted the screenplay for the book and went out and shot the images. So, from concept to completion about a year and half. 


Horror News Network: What can we expect in terms of creepiness from Grey?

Jared Barel: Much like the characters that live in Bullard Valley, we fear the unknown.... I can tell you there's a healthy balance of visual and psychological creepiness, but beyond that I'm going to have to keep you in the dark... though I wouldn't read it with the lights off. 


Horror News Network: Tell us a bit about this alien. His powers, etc.?

Jared Barel: In creating GREY we wanted to tell a story that felt real. We've all seen "documentaries" or T.V. shows on the Discovery Channel, etc. on alien abduction. Those stories always caught my interest, but they also had a knack for scaring the crap out of me - and that's what I wanted our alien to do to the characters in the book and to our readers. So our alien is what abduction theorists call a Grey - he's got rubbery grey skin and a large head with huge lifeless black eyes. To find out his powers, though, you're going to have to go on that adventure with Chief Mack!


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

Jared Barel: For more on GREY, including a cool little trailer I directed and a preview of the book go to www.loadedbarrelstudios.com

You can also stay abreast of news and updates by following us on facebook and twitter which you can access via our website. 

GREY is currently available through Diamond Previews, item number SEP111172 - so tell your local comic retailer that you want a copy of GREY! You can also purchase the book (and signed copies of the book) directly from our website or soon digitally via Comics+ from iVerse or Graphic.ly.

And of course you can meet us, pick up a copy of the book and get it signed by me and my partners at the New York Comic Con in October; just come by the Loaded Barrel Studios booth all weekend.

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

Jared Barel: Brendan Deneen, the writer of FLASH GORDON and PHOENIX, called GREY  "an intense, exciting, almost Hitchockian alien invasion story. This graphic novel has 'Soon to be a major motion picture' written all over it." What else can I say? 

Thanks to all the fans, past, present, and future! 

Horror News Network: Thanks for your time! Good luck with Grey. Comment on this interview here.