Writer Steve Niles Talks About 'Paradise Lost,' 'The Thing,' and More

I had the opportunity of chatting with comic book writer and novelist Steve Niles about his involvement in some pretty big projects. He was just announced as the writer for the comic book adaptation of Legendary Pictures' "Paradise Lost." He also reflects on his work for the comic book prequel to the recent "The Thing" movie and the "30 Days of Night" monthly series.

You're writing the comic version of "Paradise Lost." What's going on with that?

I'm working with illustrator Mike Kaluta. This will be for Legendary Comics. I'm really excited about it. I'm very lucky because I'm working from a screenplay and not from the original poem. That would take me the rest of my life most likely. I'm actually very excited about it.

You've also been continuing your work on a "30 Days of Night" monthly series. Talk about that a bit.

I've written up to issue six. We only have Sam Keith for four issues. We haven't announced it yet, but we do have a new permanent artist. I'm going to keep this thing going as long as I can. An ongoing monthly series is the one thing I've never been able to do. I'm really enjoying the process.

Why hadn't you done one before this?

It was just the way I wrote stories. Most of my stories were like "30 Days of Night" or "Wake the Dead." I would do these four issue sort of movies. I had the beginning, middle, and end. I didn't have these open ended stories. The closest that I could really get to an ongoing is "Criminal Macabre." Even though they've been broken down into little miniseries, I've been writing that character since the mid-1980s. I've done it in that way. I just haven't had that successive numbering. "Simon Dark" got up to issue 18. That's the most I've done. It's more of a technicality than anything.

Talk to us a bit about your prequel to the new "The Thing" movie.

I had total freedom because I didn't have to connect it to the movie they did. That's why I was able to go off in another area and not have to worry about it at all. I was trying to think of time periods in history that also had to coincide with really bad cold and freezing. That's just a fun mainstay of the thing. I went to the other pole and explored the Vikings trying to colonize Greenland. It's just a great and frightening prospect. Talk about being cut off.

You seem to take criticism and reviews well. What's your secret?

Well you have to. That's the whole thing. I've been dealing with 30 years of this. I lived through a time period where I really let reviews affect my work. A bad review would upset me and it would cost me a day's work. After a while you just begin to realize reviews are just reviews. They're just the opinion of that one person.

I just bought a copy of "Gargoyles." It's a TV movie I'm absolutely positive was shredded by the reviewers at the time. Here I am 30 or more years later buying a copy and loving it. That's what I really care about. I was one of those kids at home flipping channels looking for horror movies. Those are the people that matter. People out there that are looking to be entertained and enjoy a movie.

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

30 Days of Night: Dark Days Blu-ray and DVD Review
Interview with Swamp Thing Creator and Comic Book Artist Bernie Wrightson
Walking Distance Movie Review

Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.