Hello, all! Today I share with you an interview with Nick Henry, creator of horror graphic novels called London Gothic. Nick is a busy business-man, ‘always juggling kittens’ as he said, so I am chuffed he took the time to chat with me… Here we go…
Nick Henry – Creator & Author
Born in Brixton, London during the 1970s, Nick spent most of his early childhood roaming the streets of London like a feral kid. He would explore much of old London’s historic places, encountering bomb sites still undeveloped from WW2, skylarking along the banks of the river Thames and walking the then remaining ancient cobbled streets which were surrounded by imposing, sinister looking derelict wharfs some dating back to as early as the 1700’s. These made for great investigations especially for inquisitive, unruly kids looking for adventure.
From an early age he was absolutely obsessed with Horror films, always to be found in front of an old black & white TV watching the late night Saturday horror double bill, totally enthralled and captivated with the whole horror genre. This started to shape the ideas for the story and characters of London Gothic® which took over 40 years to get down on paper with him becoming a writer quite late in life.
In the words of his wife “If you don’t get that bloody thing written soon, you’ll pop your clogs, and no one will know about it.” so during the covid outbreak and with spare time on his hands London Gothic® was created and written, the rest is history…
Nick has also written many other short stories and poems some of which have been published, all with his unique trademark sinister, creepy depiction of terror, horror and never one to take himself too seriously, a mild dose of dark comedy thrown in just for shits and giggles!
Nick is the owner of a print company where his actual day job is Managing Director, during 2018 he also had a stint as a co producer alongside Warwick Davies in a west end show called “Eugenius the Musical” based on a comic book creator with super powers.
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Hey Nick, thank you for finding the time in your crazy busy schedule for this interview. I shall only keep you for as long as this interview takes, ha, so let’s dive right in. For someone who doesn’t know anything about London Gothic, the graphic novel, tell us a little more. Who’s the ideal reader and what can they expect?
It’s definitely for adults, and more suited to readers who possess a twisted mind. It’s a kind of homage to old hammer horror but with modern day gore twist.
The story is about 2 rival factions (good and evil) that have been at war since the crucifixion of Christ, but that’s about as religious as it gets!
“The wrath of hell is upon us…”
A grusome tale of light vs dark, man vs monster. A battle against pure psychopathic evil with striking images and an original gripping storyline that will make you believe that all in this world is not what it seems.
The secret order of the Tuttori have protected the holy relics from the crucifixion of Christ for nearly 2,000 years and shielded humanity from the atrocities of the brotherhood of Sinistre; holy relics that in wicked hands would possess enough destructive power to create hell on earth!
Good and evil… What is it about the good versus evil that draws us in?! It’s one of these tropes that just keeps on giving and the opportunities are endless. Tell me more about the graphic novel side of it… Was this always the format that you set out for?
To be honest, it all started with a few characters that were rattling around in my head since I was a feral kid from London, during the 70s (yes I’m an old fart!😂) there were a lot of derelict buildings, disused land and a lot more cobbled streets than there is now with every inch being developed into skyscrapers. Because there was naff all to do we’d go on long walks to find these places, like mini adventures, and often go on the beaches of the Thames, I wasn’t a wuss like my mates so we’d venture into the old sewage tunnels that ran along the tidal beaches and I’d make stories up about the creatures that lived in them, scared my mates shitless so that’s when London Gothic started.
Now, I don’t consider myself a writer and couldn’t get it together in a paperback style so one of my sons who’s an avid graphic novel fan said: „Do it as a graphic novel so people can see the weird shit that goes in in your head and it’ll come to life.“ So that’s what happened. For years I’d make up more characters and scare my kids, and in 2015 started to put them into a story, it all came together during lock-down because that is when I actually pulled my finger out. I’d never written anything before but it just all came out and I’d written the entire 4 chapters in 4 months whilst also doing my day job. I always say the devil wrote it, I was just his typist.
Wow! It must be amazing for you to see the story and characters from your head come to life like that.
It’s absolutely brilliant and my illustrator and partner in crime Mike Burton is a fantastic talent, definitely on my wavelength and with a love of extreme horror and the Victorian era. A match made in hell.
Mike Burton – Penciller, Inker, Colourist, Letterer & Character Design
Raised in Derbyshire on a variety of comic books & graphic novels, Mike left school with A* in Fine Art and won the Derbyshire award for best work in Art at GCSE.
His fascination in his early years of reading and drawing characters from famous comics paved the way for him to develop his own style of illustration. His father was a huge influence on him, being an avid comic reader he supportively nurtured Mike and his talents, both with his great appreciation of comic book art and his own talents in story telling.
Mike’s experience in film making which began during his time at college has achieved great success to which he won the best picture at an international short film festival in the United States. Applying his varied skills developed from his time working in film, colour grading and visual effects lends a unique style to his work in the pages of London Gothic® and his cinematic eye for storytelling brings this depraved world to life.
In Mike’s words, “My fascination of Horror and all things surrounding the early Victorian era meant that joining the London Gothic® team was a no brainer and after reading the script, I just had to be part of this”.
Your childhood made me think how kids grow up so differently these days. I feel like they’re missing out on the absolute grit that gets the creative juices flowing. And also how the environments change these days… Modern, slick, clinical, sky-high… No damn character any more even in architecture.
Absolutely. It’s like all the imagination and adventure to be had has been eradicated, everything is digital now, no need to go out and explore. Such a shame because your childhood shapes you and it definitely has in my case with a warped horrific mind and sarcastic sense of humour.
What is it like working with an illustrator? I imagine there’s a lot of back and forth as you try to describe what you envisage in your head, and the illustrator transferring it into art. What is the process of creating a graphic novel like?
I found Mike among many others on the upwork website where I advertised for a horror illustrator, we immediately clicked. In the beginning it was tricky because I’d never written anything and taught myself to write in a comic script style, and I wasn’t the clearest in my descriptions, Mike steered me the right way and it wasn’t long before he was thinking the scenes the same way. If there was a scene I specifically wanted in a certain way we’d chat over webcam because he’s about 200 miles away! I give him total creative freedom and he just does the business.
I think your story in Chapter 1 and Mike’s illustrations paired together very nicely. I particularly liked how Mike created light in darkness – an open doorway, a window and the golden shine from it into the dark streets. It looked very real.
London Gothic is set in the Victorian era… Will your future works also be set in this part of history or will you explore other historical moments and/or great historical characters?
Great question and you must be psychic! Mike and myself have both discussed taking the London Gothic story into the 1970s, and we have had some great ideas of what way it’ll go but the storyline is all hush hush at the moment.
With graphic novel format, you can use very little text space. Is it difficult to condense the text part of it down? I always thought it’s more difficult to get a point across in less words. I imagine you really have to pick and choose the words to make sure the essence of the story will not go missing.
It’s basically the same as writing a screenplay, you have to write the scene as though you’re watching on TV as well as explain characters reactions and what they are saying. It’s then down to the illustrator to work their magic and make it come to life.
I have so much respect for novel writers because they have to correctly get across all that I’ve mentioned in words on a page and let the readers imagination take over. I’m so lucky to have my team mate Mike who does the really hard work of making my imagination come to life visually and knows exactly what is required, we’re both totally London Gothic’fied!
Are there tropes or cliches that you actively try to steer away from in your writing? Something that you don’t like to read, and write about even less?
Not really, I’m pretty open to writing about anything as long as it’s something I understand.
If you had an opportunity to co-author a book, would you do it? If yes, which author would you choose and why?
I don’t really have a favourite but I think myself and Steve Stark would probably put the world to rights and come up with something gruesome. I like the rawness in his writing style as he puts down exactly what pops into his noggin which is similar to me, and in the world of comics Lucifer Storm is a very creative writer in the same vein as myself and Steve.
I wouldn’t want to work with anyone who’s mega successful because after a while they lose that rawness, and in my opinion get a bit lazy or unimaginative, and try to please every reader which is impossible to do.
As a horror writer, do you find that you’re holding yourself back when making creative decisions for the sake of the audience, or do you let your freak fly?
When I set out to write London Gothic, I promised myself that however it formed in my strange brain, is how it would be written, so even though some scenes are quite disturbing to some people it’s exactly how it’s written and forms part of the ongoing story. There are no shocking moments for the sake of it, they are all meant to be and needed for the story to develop to it’s horrifying crescendo.
What do you enjoy most about being a writer? And what do you enjoy the least?
I love it when fans really get my style, like the comedic content, and the effect it has on them when I can bring them up and drop them from a height or vice versa as a scene progresses. It’s amazing when the emotion and excitement that’s in my head, which I get down on paper, is felt by the readers and that’s fabulous satisfaction for any author, or storyteller as I class myself.
The only downside is social media within the comics industry, it’s full of people with different opinions who don’t seem to get on, I don’t enjoy seeing this as I believe if everyone pulled together it could make comics a success again. We don’t engage in any of this and don’t pick sides or go out of our way to piss anyone off. My view has always been that if you don’t like something, don’t read it, but there’s no need to tell the world why and put someone else’s dreams down.
Who is your favourite ever character and why?
I have a few actually, mainly horror, there’s a surprise! Absolutely love Vincent Price and when I was about 8, I actually met him. It’s a long story but he was an absolute gent and spent quite a while chatting to me about horror.
Now, dear reader, halt! I absolutely implore you to make time to watch Nick and William from Terrier Comics chat. Among other interesting stuff, you will find out how Nick met Vincent Price! There may have been a Ginger involved!
I imagine you read a bit as well?
I don’t read very often to be totally honest, I suffer with bad concentration when reading and my eyes flick through words often missing out paragraphs, not sure if it’s a kind of dyslexia as never been tested!
When I do read, it has to be quiet around me which is unfortunately not very often. I like anything set within a serial killer world, monsters or demons…. I bloody love demons!
You have to have a favourite type of demon then… I am sure there are different kind, up to no good… If you could be a demon for a day, what all havoc would you wreak?
A really ugly, long fingered and hairy demon (hold on, that’s actually me!) would definitely wreak havoc on the extremely nasty people in society. I’d cut off their feet, give them a huge shopping list, send them to the supermarket with their stumps dripping blood and then pickle them in vinegar in a big jar and put on my shelf as an ornament, then invite other demons round for tea to look at my collection!
Um. Okay then, wow… That’s a bit of a roller-coaster.
See? I told you I’m warped.
Warped, but with a heart in the right place. Ugly? Eye of the beholder and all that. Long fingered? Heck, you could learn the piano! Hairy? In fashion these days! Pop a man-bun in place and you could be hipster-demon! Image rebranding complete!
Brilliant. Your hired as my stylist when I hit the big time.
Sounds like a plan! In the meanwhile, I’ll spread the word about London Gothic and brush up on Vincent Price movies. Thank you again, Nick, for finding time to chat with me! By the way… when can readers expect Chapter 3 and 4?
Chapter 3 is due this autumn and the final chapter 4 autumn 2025.
How exciting. I have read Chapter 1, and I think I would like to see Jellico appear until the end! That said, if anyone wants to start their journey into the Victorian era to witness 2 great opponents, Good and Evil, face off, then let me point you to where you can make a start. You can find Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of London Gothic on the online store here as well as other cool stuff. Go crazy!
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Folks… You can get up close and personal with London Gothic at The Alternative Convention taking place at Brighton Racecourse, on Sunday the 23rd of June. Find event details here!
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If you like to read, if you like to seek, step into our world, and take a peek.
An enthralling adventure that twists and turns like the ancient sewer system below London where darkness prevails and evil lurks, though not all evil lurks in the darkness but also amongst the shadows that crawl the walls of the repellent foggy cobbled alleyways in Gothic London.
Where the wealthier streets of London entwine with areas of depravation and crime allowing evil to circumvent unseen. A time of a terrifying London long past where your worst nightmares become reality.
This is a tale of the brave, the heroic, the shields against evil, followers of the light who fight for the weak and where rich and impoverished citizens put differences aside and join together in conflict to battle against pure psychopathic evil in a conclusion to contest the future of mankind.
Cover to Cover 
I love that he mentioned “understanding” the things he writes about. People writing about elements they don’t understand seems to be pretty common nowadays. It makes me sad. There are too many people out there with no real life experience. We need more authors with Henry’s mindset. Thanks for sharing his interview. ⋇
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