John Carpenter Releases Cathedral Novel and Album
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- John Carpenter released "Cathedral," a graphic novel paired with a soundtrack album, both based on a vivid dream about descending through infernos beneath a church to battle a demon.
- The graphic novel, published by Storm King Comics (the imprint run by Carpenter's wife Sandy King), follows a woman named Christine avenging her father's death by the demon.
- Carpenter, who hasn't directed a film since 2010's "The Ward," considered developing "Cathedral" as a movie but said the project would cost "way over a hundred million" and he didn't want to work that hard at his age.
- The "Cathedral" album continues Carpenter's synth-driven sound but adds more heavy metal influence — more guitar, drums, and church organ — than his previous "Lost Themes" records (2015, 2016, 2021, 2024).
- Carpenter's band — himself, son Cody Carpenter, and godson Daniel Davies — scored David Gordon Green's 2018 "Halloween" reboot and its sequels, plus Keith Thomas' 2022 "Firestarter" adaptation.
- Musicians including Run the Jewels' El-P, former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter, and horror novelist Joe Hill cite Carpenter's scores as formative influences on their own work.
- In 2016 in Athens, a fan chased Carpenter's car down a dark road in an autumn-red 1958 Plymouth Fury — the same model as the murderous vehicle from his 1982 film "Christine."
Why it matters: Carpenter's pivot from $100 million-plus film budgets to a graphic-novel-plus-album release lets the 78-year-old creator keep producing work affordably with his family band, while reinforcing his influence on a new generation of electronic and hip-hop musicians from Daft Punk to Run the Jewels.
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