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Small Bites: Stories of Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction

by Matthew Wilding

Seven short comic stories written by Matthew Wilding, all with different artists. Exploring a variety of complex and challenging worlds, this collection includes cameras that see into the future, a werewolf court procedural, human sacrifice in space, and man-eating squirrels.

For fans of: 1990s Vertigo, 1950s EC comics, and pulp horror, scifi and fantasy in the tradition of Weird Tales.

Shipping to US and Canada only for physical items. International supporters are still welcome to grab digital rewards.

$3,763

supported of $2,500

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EXPLORE OUR Rewards

$5

Small Bites Digital Edition

28 claimed

Get yourself a digital PDF copy of Small Bites: a comic collection of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by Matthew Wilding and a whole mess of artist collaborators. Seven stories, 44 pages.

$8

Small Bites Physical & Digital Editions

38 claimed

You want to hold this thing. I get it. Physical & Digital PDF copies of Small Bites: a comic collection of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by Matthew Wilding and a whole mess of artist collaborators. Seven stories, 44 pages.

$10

Small Bites: Signed in Blood [Ink, really]

17 claimed

You get Digital & Physical editions, with your hardcopy signed by writer Matthew Wilding in some very fun, very visible ink.

$25

Small Bites Dream Maker Tier

36 claimed

Let's be honest, here--You're out here supporting indie comics and helping creators like the ones in this book get stuff out there. We get that. You want to help? Do a little extra? Back this tier. You'll get signed Physical & Digital PDF editions, a thank you in the inner front cover of the book, and any assorted goodies I can sneak into your box (think pins, stickers, love notes, etc).

$60

Small Bites Retail Bundle

1 claimed

Want a bunch of physical copies? I'd love for you to have them! Get 20 physical copies for $60 plus shipping! That's only three bucks each! You don't need to be a retailer, either. Buy them to give out to friends, start a distro, use them for stocking stuffers for your sister's soon-to-be-very-damaged kids. Ball's in your court.

$7

Sequential Decay Digital 2-for-1

2 claimed

In addition to a Digital PDF of Small Bites, grab a Digital PDF of Nightmare Man, a 24 page psychological horror one-shot by Matthew Wilding & Matt Rowe, and an 8-page the folk horror story "Little Things" by the same team.

$12

Sequential Decay Physical 2-for-1

10 claimed

Physical (and what the hell, Digital, too) copies of Small Bites, and the limited edition version of Nightmare Man--Matthew Wilding's and Matt Rowe's psychological horror comic, which also includes the 8-page folk horror story "Little Things." Signed or unsigned. Your choice.

$10

Curious Creator Digital Bundle

1 claimed

Want to see how the sausage gets made? Get a Digital PDF of Small Bites, as well as the scripts for each story.

$100

Be a Hero: Small Bites Sponsorship

8 claimed

Oh, you really want to help out? You want to back this dream? You want me to owe you? Great. Here's the tier for you. Pledge $100 or more (and by all means, feel free to pledge more, and I'll thank you in very big letters, send you 1-5 Physical copies, a Digital PDF, and I'll send you a letterpress printed Small Bites Thank You card made by my wife on an early 20th century printing press limited to the amount of pledges this tier receives.

$75

Original Art: Matthew Manghi

0 / 1 claimed

Want to support this project and get your hands on some original art? Good news, friends--Matthew Mangi, who illustrated "Prelude to War in Our Proud Lands," has offered to illustrate the story's protagonist in a single, one-of-a-kind 6"x8" ink illustration. Backers will also receive digital and physical copies of Small Bites, and assorted other goodies.

$1

Tip Jar

669 claimed

If you want to add a little something extra for us hard workin' creators and administrators. You can increase in increments of $1 by simply pressing '+' in the quantity field during checkout until you reach your desired amount. Much appreciated!

ADD-ONS

Add ons are only available once you have selected at least one Primary Reward listed above.

$5

Extra physical copy of Small Bites

6 claimed

Take some extra bites. Nobody has to know. Only available with physical orders.

$5

Extra physical copy of Nightmare Man

5 claimed

Get a copy of the book that started it all. Also includes the horror short "Little Things." Only available with physical orders.

Stories

 

Written over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, writer Matthew Wilding (writer of Nightmare Man, which was successfully crowdfunded in 2020 and will be released by Source Point Press on May 25, 2022), teamed up with over a dozen up-and-coming artists from all over the world to tell short, unsettling, and often otherworldly stand-alone stories in the tradition of EC Comics, 2000 AD, and Heavy Metal. 

 

Small Bites, the first of what will be an annual project, includes art from:

 

  • Among Primitives - art by Matt Rowe (Canada)

 

Squirrel Park - 4 pages, art by J. Schiek (US)

 

The Lapse - 4 pages, art by C. Hess (UK)

 

  • Advance Notice - 8 pages, art by Flavio Giron (Argentina)

 

  • Prelude to War of Our Proud Lands - 4 pages, art by Matthew Manghi (US)

Lucky That Way - 4 pages, art by Raymond Lolacher (Canada)

 

  • Children of the Ark - art by Domenico Pagano 

 

  • Cover by Miguel Mora (Mexico)

 

With the help of supporters like you, we can get this thing sent to the printers the day this campaign ends! Digital editions will go out in April, and Physical editions will (printer gods permitting) be in your hands by May. So what are you waiting for? Do this thing! There’s a story in here for you!

Testimonials

What people said about Wilding’s last work, Nightmare Man:

 

"The real terror of Nightmare Man are its casual, cruel truths: we exist only to serve hungry, looming shadows, and we can never escape the devils that gleefully torture our darkest hours. And that our worst fears rock a killer stache."

-D.G. Chichester, Daredevil, Nightstalkers, Nick Fury

 

“Darkly funny and genuinely unnerving, NIGHTMARE MAN is a bad dream that I hoped would never end."

-Frankee White, 20 Fists and Eat My Flesh, Drink My Blood

 

"Nightmare Man is an absolutely spooky delight and Matthew Wilding is the future of comics. Keep an eye on him, he’s due for some awesome things."

-Steve Urena, Slow Pokes

Stretch Goals

$3500 - Small Bites stickers with every physical order

 

$4500 - Small Bites 1” button with every physical order

 

$5500 - We’ll add a story to the collection

 

$6666 - Special alternative cover option

Timeline

Art for all but one story is completed. Coloring and lettering are in process for three others. This whole project will be completed and ready to send to the printers, with digital assets going out the day after the campaign is over.

updates

7 months ago

WE DID IT, FOLKS!

Matthew
Well, after a month of constantly posting and talking about it, the campaign to fund SMALL BITES is over, and thanks to you it was a resounding success. 
 
Over the next few days, Zoop is going to be collecting pledges and will then pass all your pledge info to me. Then I will get the names of everyone who is supposed to be thanked in the covers, and then I'll send this baby out to the printers.
 
I *anticipate* this being printed and sent out to backers by the first week in June, but I do want to mention that there is an ongoing paper shortage which may cause fulfillment delays on physical copies. That said, the printer is still reporting turnaround time of just a few weeks, so I'm hopeful! Regardless, digital rewards will be going out by early May.
 
I'll also be making an announcement soon regarding my next project, the long-awaited first issue of my and Matt Rowe's pirate adventure book, FREE HANDS. When we make the detailed announcement, you'll all be the first to know.
 
I want to thank everyone who supported this campaign, whether with their dollars or just helping to spread the word. Big thanks to Zoop and to the creative team, who all did great work. The collection will be in your hands soon! I can't wait to hear what you think!
 
Best,
Matthew Wilding
7 months ago

Final 24 Hours!

Zoop

We're coming into the homestretch. One Stretch Goal (stickers with every physical order) has gone down -- can we make it two??

7 months ago

8 Days to Go

Matthew
We're in the last stretch for this crowdfunding campaign, and it's been a big success in large part to those of you who are backing, sharing, and spreading the word. We're very close to our first stretch goal of $3500, which will earn stickers for all physical backers.
 
We've also gotten some early reviews in that I wanted to share: 
 
 
 
 
We've also received the final pages for the collection fully colored and lettered, thanks to Sean Baggs and Toben Racicot respectively. As soon as the campaign is over, I'll be compiling the thank you page and then it'll be off to the printers without delay!
 
Thanks for supporting this. 
-Matthew Wilding
8 months ago

Thank You!

Matt
Wow. We got over the top in less than 5 days! That's pretty spectacular. 
 
I want to thank everyone for your support so far. I'm genuinely shocked and thrilled about it. Using a new platform like Zoop, I was really concerned that it would be hard to convert, but you've shown me yet again that there's a good number of folks out there who have faith in the work of my collaborators and me. 
 
I wanted to show some more art as well! Here are the first 4 (of 8) pages from Advance Notice by me and Flavio Giron. 
 
 
 
I'm revealing more art on Twitter an Instagram, so make sure to follow to keep up, and I'm hoping that we can get to 100 backers in the next few days, at which point I'll reveal the rest of this story. 
 
I've also got more art in from Nathan Ooten, more colors from Aaron Baggs, and more letters from Tobin Racicot. All art and lettering will be 100% completed before the campaign is over on April 14, and after I collect backer info for credits, I will send it to the printer immediately, and fulfill digital orders. 

I am really thankful for all of the support I've received so far. Thanks to the backers, to Zoop, and to everyone who's working on the project. If you would be so kind as to share this page with friends who might be interested, I'd genuinely appreciate it. 
8 months ago

Welcome!

Matt

24 hours in and we're already over 30% to goal! Thanks so much to all of you for supporting this project. 

 

We've got more art coming in that I'll be sharing as the campaign goes on, and we're starting to get endorsements from other creators who have received previews. The first comes from comics legend  D.G. Chichester, who wrote a classic run of  Daredevil, as well as  Nightstalkers, Terror, Inc, and  Clive Barker's Hellraiser:
 
"Matt Wilding and his collaborators have served up an enjoyable taste of midnight with these short, sinister tales of supernatural and existential shudders. Some are the comfort food of established terror-tory. Some hit particularly hard with smart, sharp-toothed metaphors of real world monsters. Some are too quick to subjugate humanity to rodents.
If I have a complaint, it’s that some end abruptly: I want another beat to appreciate the dread — or even another fistful of pages in the twisted world building. If I have a worry, it’s that there are many moments of menace delivered with a fair bit of grisly authority. Maybe too much to account for talent alone. Which means they’re probably channeling things from some horrific “other place.” Which means we should all be very, very worried…"
 

More to come, but thank you all for backing, sharing, liking, etc. Support from you folks is what gets projects like this off the ground and in the world. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does Zoop save my credit card info?

Zoop does not store or keep your credit card info. Stripe simply holds the credit card info until the end of a successful campaign and then charges it. It is strictly for this one time use and won't charge it ever again.

What does Zoop use for checkout and when would my credit card be charged?

We use Stripe for checkout because it is VERY secure. They exceed industry security standards and are trusted by thousands of companies, including Amazon, Lyft, Slack, Shopify, and Airbnb, who use Stripe's software tools to accept payments. Their interface is pre-made by them and we don't have the ability to augment it in any way. Once there, you have 15 minutes to complete the transaction by hitting the 'SAVE CARD' button. Stripe then holds the credit card info until the end of the campaign. You won’t actually be charged unless the campaign reaches the funding goal. The pre-order amount will show as 'pending' on your credit card statement until that date.

 

If the campaign doesn't fund, your pre-order will be canceled, and the pending charge will disappear. You'll get an email confirmation with a summary of rewards and charges both after the initial pledge and after the actual charging of the card (try looking in your spam folder if you don't happen to see it in your inbox). 

How do I cancel a transaction?

You can either access the transaction through your account and click the cancel button, or contact us at hello@wearezoop.com and we'll cancel it for you and send back a confirmation email.
 
 
Cancellations of rewards or add-ons of $500 or more must be made before there are 72 hours left in the campaign. The reason for this is it can have a negative effect on the tally of the campaign. If it is a limited reward or add-on, there may not be sufficient time for someone else to purchase it, leaving the campaign possibly not funded. We ask for your courtesy of the people running the campaign when making these decisions.

Any other questions/ comments?

Please e-mail us at hello@wearezoop.com and we'll get right back to you!

If I got a reward that requires some feedback from me, how do I let you know my request?

You could e-mail us at hello@wearezoop.com with that info during the campaign if you'd like to get it out of the way. Otherwise, we'll be reaching out to all supporters of rewards that require feedback shortly after the campaign is over.

Do you ship to my country?

Our campaigns are for a worldwide audience unless stated otherwise in the campaign. All international orders are sold with the terms DAP (Delivered At Place). You are responsible for any duties and taxes required for the shipment's entry into your country. Our carriers may require you to pay taxes and fees related to importation and customs brokerage of your shipment -- but if your item is really low in value, it may fall under the customs de minimis of most countries. For more information, please contact USPS

Where can I find your shipping rates?

Since we have an a la carte rewards system, shipping rates will vary from supporter to supporter. We use a weight-based calculation system in your checkout cart, though, so, after you enter your country, you'll be able to see it calculated in real time with each item you add.

If I purchase rewards and then want to make changes to that purchase later on in the campaign, what is the process?

If you want to make changes, you should first cancel your original order and then start over with a new one. If you don't do that and simply process an additional order, the way our system is currently set up you may end up being overcharged for shipping -- which we could remedy for you, but it just takes that extra step of catching it and crediting you back the extra shipping, so please try the prior way first.

Will there be a post-campaign period where you can make changes and get add-ons through a 'pledge manager'?

No - this is it! We're essentially your in-campaign pledge manager. If you are interested in supporting these creators, this is the time to do it!  And it's the exact reason we allow you to purchase as many rewards as you want during the campaign!

What's the idea behind the Rewards and Add-Ons? Can I get both?

Rewards are the priority items that the creators have chosen for the campaign. Add-Ons are meant to be secondary items that are 'unlocked' after you buy something from the Reward level. There are no restrictions on buying Rewards, but you can only buy Add-Ons if you've bought a Reward. Zoop sets this up under the direction of the creators. Some may choose to only have Rewards, some may choose an even balance of Rewards and Add-Ons, and others may choose to only have one or two Rewards with the rest of the items being Add-Ons.

Can I get more than 1 item?

YES!  We encourage you to get more than 1 item! That could be multiple copies of the same reward, or you can mix and match rewards! There is no limit, unless otherwise stated in the reward description.

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