The unlikely couple of Nancy and Lucifer are back! After escaping from Hell, the chainsaw-wielding hottie finds that the Gates of Hades remained open, and all kind of demons are pouring out on Earth. Our world is the newest infernal region, and nobody will help the humans...not even the angels from Heaven!

We caught up with writer, El Torres to talk about his love for writing horror and Nancy in Hell.

Horror News Network: Can you talk a bit about your love for horror? With books like Nancy in Hell, Drums, The Veil and Suicide Forest, there is no shortage of hit horror books that you wrote. What do you think makes you such a success at a genre where so many other writers fail?

El Torres: Thanks for your words, but I don't believe I'm a success. I'm just a newcomer with a deep love for the genre. I always loved horror stories, since I was a little kid and read Wolfman and Colan's "The Tomb of Dracula", and had my share of night terrors.

In these books I learned the importance of atmosphere in horror. The fog in the moors, the dark cities, that shadow from the corner of the eye... And then I discovered Stephen King and other writers, and found how important the characters and their relationships are in telling my story.

Obviously there’s more than one way to tell a horror story. We can tell funny horror stories, using the horror as a metaphor for real things. Reality is always scarier than any ghost or monster we can create. But we use these monsters, that horror, to create a world where the horror is under our control. For example, in "The Suicide Forest", I tried to speak about loneliness, broken relationships and how pain perpetuates itself. Hence, ghosts are conjured. Then you finish reading and that horror is gone, and you’re back to the real world. Catharsis.

But you don't have to dive deep always. You can just have fun with disgusting things with tentacles and flying guts. That doesn't mean you don't have to write a plot, but in that case, the story is subdued to the graphic exposure of internal organs. And that's a lot of fun. Because isn't real, of course.

Horror News Network: What are you working on next, after your current solicited book, Nancy in Hell on Earth?

El Torres: Another horror story, of course (laughs). I'm writing "The Westwood Witches". It's about a neighborhood, and some witches living in there. But I'm also writing a fantasy series I created with Juan José Ryp here in Spain time ago. I love these characters, so I'm trying to rescue them.

And I'll probably develop a sequel soon of another of my horror series.

Horror News Network: Speaking of Nancy in Hell on Earth, for those that may not have picked up the first series, can you fill in readers on what they missed?

El Torres: Nancy is your usual “final girl” that survives to the end of the slasher movie. But that wasn't the case in her story. The slasher got her, and she awakes in Hell. An interesting place to be, because Hell is like a living organism that digests the souls there. As long as you can keep yourself together, you can live there, and the memories of the things you need are there to protect you. Guns. Booze. Chainsaws. Some people unconsciously create demons using their memories. Some people become demons. One of them is Pytho, also known as Mr. Macabre.

Anyway, Nancy tries to escape from that place. And then she meets Lucifer, who isn't your usual Lord of the Darkness. He's still an innocent angel. And together, they escape from Hell -finally! But something odd happened, because Hell is now unleashed on Earth.

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

El Torres: Nancy was created by Juan José Ryp and me for a Spanish magazine back in 2000. We wanted to create a B-movie homage. So the chainsaw and a gorgeous girl was essential. The living dead were there, too. In that moment, zombies weren't so popular. Juanjo did some sketches, and voilá! Nancy was born. The thing is, her first name was Barbie, as in "Barbie in Hell". But we discarded it, so as not to have any issues with some toy company.

Horror News Network: Nancy makes her return in the upcoming four issue mini-series, Nancy in Hell on Earth. This time she is back on earth with Lucifer. Can you talk about the relationship between those two characters?

El Torres: Nancy wasn't a "good girl trapped in Hell", despite of what she constantly said. Finally, she feels something akin to love for Lucifer. Perhaps it could become romantic love, but she's too hardened. Obviously, Lucifer isn't aware of this. He loves everybody! For him, to feel love is the natural thing.

Horror News Network: What can we expect from Nancy in Hell on Earth in terms of blood and guts?

El Torres: As the rules of the genre dictates, A sequel must have more blood, more guts, more gore. But I couldn't imagine that Enrique Lorenzana, the artist, would be as good as he is doing the gory stuff. He improvises some details that aren't in the script and makes it much better. And her girls are sexy, sensual and provocative, as it must be in a miniseries like this. And Enrique is very, very good drawing blood spatter.

Our monsters, this time, are different. Yes, we have Godzilla-size monsters and small monsters. You'll see them. Our type of zombies, the braindead, we displaced them to the background. See, there’s way too much zombie stuff around nowadays. Hell on Earth would be a zombie invasion, of course. But there are dozens of books about that. As much as I enjoy zombies, there aren't living dead in this mini. We have worse things.

"Nancy in Hell" is conceived to be a fun book. It isn't like my other books, like "The Veil", "Drums" or "The Suicide Forest". These used the genre to think a little about other things. Nancy is just fun for the sake of it. But I am what I am, so there are thoughts about God, and what you think when you believe that God is forsaken you... and you have a chainsaw.

Horror News Network: Can you talk a bit about the rest of the creative team that is joining you on this mini-series?

El Torres: I'm really happy Enrique Lorenzana has joined the venture of drawing this sequel. If you believed that Ryp is crazy-detail, then you'll enjoy Enrique. Ryp, Enrique and me worked together in the same Spanish magazines a long time ago. And I love his depiction of Nancy, and how carefully he depicts the environment. In the first miniseries we just had hellish landscapes, now we have San Diego as a warzone.

Fran Gamboa does the coloring again, as he did in the first miniseries. I can't think of anyone more qualified to do it. I wanted a different atmosphere in this miniseries (we're back on Earth), and he nailed it. But coloring all these details can drive anyone crazy, so he's being assisted by Carmelo González and Sergio R. Ceron.

And then, there is Image Comics. They care about their comics, and they follow an approach to business that benefits creators. "Nancy in Hell" would be just another book in the bottom drawer if it weren't for them.

Horror News Network: Has there been any interest as of yet in the Nancy in Hell franchise in any other type of media? (movies, games, etc.)

El Torres: Well, there were a couple of calls. But, to be honest, I believe Nancy is not very adaptable to any other media. We try to capture the feeling of movies and videogames, but a comic book can tell a story like no other media can.

Horror News Network: Where can our readers find out more about Nancy in Hell on Earth?

El Torres: I have a little blog at www.el-torres.com. And Image soon will release press notes and stuff like that.

Horror News Network: In closing, what would you like to say about Nancy in Hell on Earth?

El Torres: We put forth our best efforts in creator-owned books. Buy it, read it, share your thoughts about it with us. Readers' support makes us better storytellers.

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