A brilliantly reinterpreted horror story brings a demon to the White House

Every horror fan knows the kind of drama, terror and despair that characterizes a good demonic possession story. But how does that story change when the “haunted house” is the White House… and the tormented family belongs to the President of the United States? The answer is The Exorcism at 1600 Pennthe next comic to be added to every horror fan’s must-read list.

The new book from IDW is released just in time for Halloween, with The Exorcism at 1600 Penn #1 The launch is scheduled for October 16, 2024. But for those horror fans who want to know more about this inspired nightmare, Screen Rant had the opportunity to speak with author Hannah Rose May (Curb your enthusiasm, HarleyQuinn) about the inspiration for the series, the new First Family twist on a classic horror trope, the outstanding work of Vanesa Del Rey (Constantine: The Hellblazer) and more. Read the full interview below.

Screen Rant: Now that the news is officially out, the secrecy surrounding THE EXORCISM AT 1600 PENN makes perfect sense! Explain the premise? “Brilliant, I’m in.” Show the first cover by Vanesa Del Rey? “Take my money now.” Was the original idea for this story also so direct and spontaneous or did it take some time to develop?

Hannah Rose May: Vanesa Del Rey has been my dream from the beginning and I truly believe she does her best work in this series. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better! When I first saw the cover, I literally gasped because that’s the exact image I’ve had in my head since the first idea.

The idea kind of came out of nowhere to be honest. It was back when Biden was elected and Ireland was very excited to have an Irish Catholic in the White House. That just shows how my mind works, but as soon as I think of Catholicism, I think of exorcisms. Then I came up with the title and it all started to fall into place from there. I love using storytelling to put women in roles and places we’ve never seen them before, so it quickly became about the first female President and the First Family and what would happen if they had to perform an exorcism in the White House. After that, it took a little bit of fleshing out the rest of the world, tone and story, but the core concept was pretty much done from the start.

SR: Before I get into the specifics of that story, you described EXORCISM as “absolute horror” – is that your kind of horror? How grueling is it for a horror fan to have to write horror on their own terms?

HRM: Horror and thrillers are definitely my favorite genres and I knew I wanted to write a horror story as my next original series. I’ve always been drawn to horror that earns its scares through slow character development rather than relying on jump scares and gore. That’s why The Exorcist has served as the stuff of nightmares for decades and is considered the gold standard of horror. It’s daunting to dive into the realm of horror, but as a fan I knew what I wanted to achieve with this story and used that as a guiding principle when writing the scripts. It’s hard to get a sense of terror when it’s just words on a page, but it wasn’t until Vanesa’s hauntingly beautiful pages appeared that I realized we had a real horror book on our hands!

SR: Most horror fans are familiar with the “cursed family” premise, but how much does the story change when it involves the First Family? How do you draw the line between horror and politics (if you do)?

HRM: Great question! I really wanted to consider the political implications of having a story set in the White House. I took a cue from Top Gun: Maverick, which brilliantly remains politically agnostic and never calls out the enemy country by name, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks. “The Exorcism at 1600 Penn” is clearly a horror story, and despite the setting, it is not a political one. With “The First Family,” I wanted to highlight what it must be like for the children of these politicians to have crushes or to deal with bullying when their mother is the most powerful person in the world. I also wanted to focus on the intensity of the 24/7 news cycle and the echo chambers created to further explore how the events of the book affect the First Family. Like “Rogues’ Gallery,” “The Exorcism at 1600 Penn” uses social media as a narrative tool to heighten the horror elements of the book by increasing suspense.

SR: The first issue does a great job of presenting the White House as a new house. Is that perspective only possible for a storyteller who wasn’t born in the United States? Was that something you grappled with during the development process?

HRM: Growing up outside of the United States, the White House is perceived as a beacon of hope and freedom rather than a building. I’ve long been obsessed with the White House, and as I learned more about it after moving to the US, I realized it’s both a house and a symbol. I liked the idea of ​​playing with that feeling of moving into a new house and still not feeling at home. It got me thinking about what a strange dichotomy that must be for the First Family, living in this iconic building that represents so much to the world, but is also the place where Mom and Dad still come in and kiss you goodnight or where you play Mario Kart on the Switch. Could you imagine playing Mario Kart in the White House?!

SR: This story is about a house and the family that lives in it, but its focus is Kelly Doyle: how can you describe her and the many roles she plays as we meet her in the story?

HRM: When we meet Kelly Doyle, she is about to be sworn in as the first female president. The world is on the brink of all-out war and the return of the mysterious Havana Syndrome has heightened tensions on the home front. Kelly is a woman of faith and a firm believer in the battle between good and evil. She sees her role as president as one of securing peace, but despite everything that is happening, she is struggling to control the warmongers who are using Havana Syndrome and the media to pressure her into an aggressive response. In addition to being Commander in Chief, she is also a mother to her teenage children, which is no easy task for any parent. It goes without saying that she has a lot on her plate, but what president doesn’t?

That’s something I wanted to play with in this series. Since there have only been male presidents so far, I wanted to explore the double standards towards women, who are often forced to choose between their careers and their children. In this series, we see Kelly actively fighting back against those preconceived notions, both on the world stage and at home. In a way, “The Exorcism at 1600 Penn” is a play on the Faustian Bargain, asking how much Kelly is willing to give up to break that hardest and highest glass ceiling. From there, our story really unfolds and readers will see that play out in Vanesa’s beautiful pages.

SR: When you announce a story that (given the location) could be considered “controversial” and then SOMNA wins the Eisner Award the next day, does that encourage a writer like you? Horror is a big genre, but this seems to send a BIG message to everyone in sight.

HRM: Somna deserves all the praise and love, kudos to Tula (Lotay) and Becky (Cloonan) for this well-deserved win! Such a beautiful book. As a writer, it confirms to me that audiences are hungrier than ever for these more avant-garde, female-led, female-written big-picture changes. I think as creatives, we have to constantly walk the line between stories that are considered commercially viable and the stories we actually want to tell. Sometimes those two things don’t line up (shock!) and in the comics business, you’re only as good as the sales numbers of the last series. But what we’re seeing now with Somna’s Eisner win and things like that is a desire for more stories that challenge the status quo and still find a large readership. I’m only in my second year as a professional writer in the comics industry, but I feel like there’s no better time to be creative in this space. Whether your story is about the Salem witch trials and a sexual awakening at the hands of the Shadow Man, or the first female president protecting her family from a hostile nation or supernatural entity, just go out there and write the story you’ve always wanted to tell! If you write it, they will come 🙂

The Exorcism at 1600 Penn #1 will be published on October 16 by IDW Publishing.