Keith Arem (Call of Duty) and Christopher Shy (Dead Space), The Creative Team Behind Image Comics’ Award-Winning Title AscendHave Again Come Together for Their Latest Project, Frost Road, To Psychological Survival Thriller! Partnering with The Massive YouTube Channel Dead Meat, This Duo Is Doing Eventhing Possible to Bring This Project To Life.
The Beat Caught Up With Them Over Email To Learn More About Their Project and What They Hope To Achieve!
This interview haen edited for content and length.
Diego Higuera: Frost Road Blends Elements Of The Last of Us, A Quet Placeand Silent Hill. What Makes The Story Unique Within The Apocalyptic Horror Genre?
Christopher Shy: I Think for Me, Living in the Midwest, It’s Easy To Want to Explore This Frame in A Bit More of An Isolated America Gothic Mood – Very Cold, Blues and Grays, and Lots of Snow. I like the idea of dropping the reader into a story in progress, where you It Heightens The Tension, It Builds. I like the details; A Story’s Textural Feeling Appeals to Me.
Keith Arem: I Think What Sets Frost Road Apart is ITS ATMOSPHERE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR. Our Story isn´t Only About Survival, It’s About Uncovering to Secret Hidden Beneath the Town. The Last of Us and A Quet Place Focus on Survival Through Family and Relationships, or Silent Hill Leans into surreal horror. However, Frost Road Drops you into a World Where Invisible Subvisible is driving People Bananas and No One Knows Why. The Story Follows A Man Who Wakes Up With No Memory of How He Got There, and as Discors What Happened to Frost Road, I have done the horror isn’t just around him –it’s inside him. The Town Itself is a Character, Shaped by a Subsonic Force That Tears People Apart from Within. It’s a blend of psychological terror, isolation, and distrust that makes Frost Road Feel Unsettling.
Higuera: The Novel Is Already Completed – Why Choose Kickstarter For Funding, and What Does Backer Support Help Achieve?
Shy: I Like Kickstarter Becouse It’s a Personal Connection with the Fans. There’s Always A Risk, Of Course, But Building That Bridge To The Folks Who Have Always Supported You have Meaning Outside of Simply Funding a Project; IT lays Groundwork for the Future.
AREM: We Wanted To Bring Frost Road Directly To Fans in The Best Way Possible, and Kickstarter Gives US That Opportunity. Since Our Book is Fully Finished, Our Campaign Focuses on Funding High-Qualy Printing and Fulfillment, Reninging Backers get their copys this Summer. Plus, Kickstarter ISN’t Only About Raising Funds and Building A Community. Our Backer Support Helps Us Expand Frost Road Beyond the Book – Unlocking Stretch Goals Like A Motion Comic, An Audio Drama, and Exclusive Industry Workshops to Give Back To Fans and Aspiring Creators. We Felt This is a lot of about the Experience as it is about the book itself.
Higuera: Keith, your background in gaming (Call of Duty, Titanfall) Involves Immersive Storytelling. How did that influence the way you approached frost road?
AREM: I’ve Always Been Drawn To Immersive Storytelling, Whether it’s in Games, Film, Or Comics – So With Frost RoadI Wted to create a World That Pulls The Audience in and Doesn’t Let Up. In Games Like Call of Duty and TitanfallWHERE I WAS Responsible for Guonding the Performances, The Audience is not just Watching a story -They are experiencing it This the tension, The Atmosphere, and The Stakes. That Same Philosophy Helped Shape Frost Road. We Built This Story to Feel Cinematic and Visceral, where Event Panez You Deeper Into The Mystery. Chris’s haunting artwork really amplified that sense of weight and immersion.
Higuera: Christopher, your artwork ha a haunting, Cinematic Quality. What Techniques Did You Use To Create The Eerie Atmosphere Of Frost Road?
Shy: I use EveryTHING. I BUILT MY Style in The Footsteps of The Greats Like John Vanfleet, Scott Hamptonand Many Epic Artists of the ’80s and’ 90s. It’s Mixed Subtimes. We Cast Characters Like You Would in a film. It’s a Collaborative Process with Keith, Which I Really Enjoy.
Higuera: The Story Explores an Invisible Force That Drives People to Madness. What Inspired This Concept, and Does It has any real -world parallels?
Shy: Well, I Think We’ve Been Living Through Sub Real-World Parallels, Although We Started The Journey of This Story Even Before Covid-19. I Don’s Think it’s a Stretch to imagine submiss Far Worse in an isolated region, on Smaller Scale.
AREM: As an Engineer, i’ve Always Been Fascinated by The Idea of Science and Unseen Forces Shaping Our reality – Whether It’s Sound, Waves, or Psychological Triggers We Don’t Fully Understand. Collaboating with My Good Friend Brandon Humphreys, Frost was inspired by current low-frequency signals that can cause anxiety, hallucinations, Even Paranoia. There Have Been Current Reports of Mass Ocean Beachings, or Events Where People Suddenly Control, usually close to sixmic or Communication Testing, and That Type of Real-World Horror-That You Can’t see butt Still Feel-was The Basis of the Concept. This isn’t a Monster You Can Fight; it gets inside your head, and to me, that’s way more terrifying.
Higuera: With Such A Talented Creative Team, How Did You Ensure Unified Vision Thourhout The Project?
Shy: Beginning with AscendKeith and I Have Worked Together for Over Twenty Years. AT This Point, He’s More than a Creative Partner; He’s a Brother, So We have been on the Same Page About Creativity for A Vary Long Time.
AREM: Bringing Together A Team That is This Talented Is Incredible, But Honestly, Keeping to Unified Vision Comes Down To Trust and Collaboration. From the Start, Brandon Humphreys and I Built the Foundation of Frost Road‘S Story, and Artists Like Christopher and Trevor Goring Bought it to a whole other Level Visually. RJ Cooper and Our Entire PCB Team Helped Develop and Finish The Project, and Now With Chris Yates Onboard, We’re Building Even Stronger Relationships with the Industry and Our Community. Bringing in James and Chelsea from Dead Meat Has Been Amazing – They Share Our Passion for Horror and Storytelling, and Their Involvement Pushes Our Project Even Further. But Honestly, None of This Would Be Possible Without The Support of My Wife Valerie and My Family, Who Have To Put Up with My Nictop Madness.
FIG TREE: Frost Road‘S Visuals Feel Deeply Immersive and Atmospheric. How Did You Approach Designing The Town’s Look and Feel and Eerie Environment?
Shy: Keith and I Discussed What We Wanted To Convey Ahead of Time, Exchange Influences and Things We Liked. We Wanted It Toel Cold and OPPRESSIVE.
AREM: Chris’s Art Haunting, Dreamlike Quality That is perfect for Frost Road. After Working Together On Ascend, I KNew His Style was perfect, and he could Bring the Oppressive, Desolate Atmosphere We Wanthed. We Took it A Step Further by Incorpoating Photo References Of Yuri Lowenthal, Chris Jai Alexand Ed O’Ross To add a photo-real element to the Characters. That Mix of Hyper-Detailed Realism and Chris’s Signature Painterly Style Helps Bring Us into the World, as If We’re Trapped in the Town With Them.
If you want to know more, check out the project Here!
