When she was growing up in her native Ireland, Hannah Rose May was told that in order to make it as an actress, she had to move to Hollywood.
So May did just that, packing up her bags and moving to Los Angeles in the late 2010s.
But as any person chasing the Hollywood dream knows, success is never what you imagine it to be. And two things happened while she was in the City of Angels. One, Ireland became a go-to Hollywood production location and also saw its own screen industry rise.
And, two, May, after finding some work acting in comedy, has conjured and cut a career in writing horror … in the comic book field.
“I’m definitely surprised it’s turned into a full-time career,” she says. “The horror part is interesting because I didn’t consciously set out to be a horror writer, but naturally the stories I’m drawn to have horrifying themes and undertones.”
Following the breakout indie success of her acclaimed, “Exorcism At” universe, which includesThe Exorcism at 1600 PennandThe Exorcism at Buckingham Palace, May is now back with a new original series, titled Fatal Fest, which will be published by IDW’s horror imprint, IDW Dark.
Andrea Scalmazzi is the artist on the series that will debut later this year as a five-issue mini-series. If successful, more stories could follow.
May says the book taps into her time in Hollywood, combining horror, the entertainment industry and the insatiable quest for IP. “It’s Saw and Squid Game twisted together in a Hollywood setting,” she says.
The story concerns six emerging horror filmmakers who are invited to compete at Fatal Fest, the mysterious festival run by reclusive horror maestro Frank Finch and his legendary production empire, Fatal Films. They soon discover this is no ordinary film festival. Finch has one simple rule: to create true fear, you must experience it. If these filmmakers want to win the Fatal Fest, they need to be willing to kill for it.
“A common denominator in my work is people trying to survive systems trying to consume them,” she says. “Hollywood is one of those systems that consumes a lot of people.”
She also said the horror producer is not based on any one person (sorry, Jason Blum), but if any one person did rise to the comparison, it would be Wes Craven, the filmmaker behind A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, among other classics.
“Hannah and Andrea have created a world that feels equal parts Hollywood Horror satire, psychological thriller and pure nightmare fuel,” said IDW senior group editor Heather Antos in a statement to THR describing the book. “It’s bold, bloody, incredibly clever, and completely unapologetic in its vision.”
May found work on comedies such as Ballers and Ghosts but it was during the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that she turned to writing as serious endeavor.
“I was left with my own thoughts,” she recalls. “It was either I download TikTok or save my sanity and do something I had always wanted but had been afraid.” And as an actor, she knew well the finicky nature of being at the disposal of the desires of producers or filmmakers of companies. This was a way to try to exert a measure of control.
Her first title was Rogues Gallery, a miniseries published by Image Comics in 2022 that looked at toxic fandom. But it was Exorcism at 1600 Penn, a supernatural thriller set in the White House,which became an unexpected but instant bestseller upon release in 2024 that proved to her she was on the right path. A feature adaptation, naturally, is currently in development at horror house Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.
Other comic titles and work followed, including a Harley Quinn story for DC and Smile: For the Camera, a comic based on Parker Finn’s Smile horror movies that is currently on stands.
Ironically, May believes that her work as an actress makes her a better writer as gives her approach a more character-based understanding. And conversely, she thinks her acting has benefited from her writing as it has deepened her understanding of storytelling.
IDW Dark and May plan on unveiling more details about Fatal Fest at San Diego Comic Con in July, where May is due to be on several panels including, natch, one on actors turned comic book writers.
Check out the cover for the comic’s first issue below.
Fatal Fest
Courtesy of IDW