There’s collaboration, and then there’s art by committee.
Art by committee rarely works. The committee might have formed in order to pursue a common goal, but it’s typically made up of people with different agendas and different ideas on how to reach that goal. These individuals are often more interested in how this committee is going to elevate them to the next, more important committee than whether or not this committee achieves its goal.
Collaboration also involves individuals working together in pursuit of a common goal, but the difference lies in the approach. Collaborators blend their ideas and visions and voices in service of that goal. The idea isn’t to stand out, but to choose the right ingredients to achieve the best possible end result.
Silverwood: The Door is a collaboration…and a successful one, at that.
The collaborators responsible for Silverwood: The Door are showrunner Brian Keene leading writers Richard Chizmar, Stephen Kozeniewski, and the Sisters of Slaughter – Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason. Together, these writers have blended their distinct, disparate voices to create a multi-faceted piece of horror fiction.
The official synopsis of the series reads as follows:
Deep within the forest of Silverwood, California, a crack between dimensions has appeared. A dark force that lurks among the trees is growing stronger, determined to return home if it can only gather the strength to open the door — bad news for a Cub Scout troop and the employees of Hirsch Capital on a company retreat nearby. As their darkest fears and impulses power the mysterious force, their bonding exercises take a deadly turn. Will anyone be able to keep their minds long enough to close the door before our world is torn apart?
Keene does a great job of setting all of this up in the first episode. He introduces a multitude of characters, making sure there’s enough meat on their bones to give subsequent contributors something to dig in to. He also gives us our first glimpses of the “dark force” referenced above…and it’s a formidable presence, indeed.
The remaining writers pick up the reigns, rotating through several chapters before giving way to Keene again for the finale. If it weren’t for the byline at the beginning of each chapter, I would be hard-pressed to tell you who wrote what. Keene and his crew have done a fantastic job of bringing their individual strengths to the table while creating and maintaining a clear, unified voice. The characters are fully realized, the action is frenzied, the blood flows freely, and there’s even the occasional uncomfortable chuckle thrown in for good measure.
I came into Silverwood: The Door cold, deliberately avoiding the first season of Silverwood so I could gauge this season’s effectiveness as a stand-alone piece. I can say it works just fine on its own, although I do look forward to catching up on the previous series to see how it enriches The Door.
Overall, I think fans are going to enjoy this unique approach to storytelling. I was fortunate to have the entire story available to devour at once, but I think having it doled out to you in weekly installments will only enhance the experience. Silverwood: The Door is poised to provide readers with an exceptional weekly treat to carry them through the Halloween season.
How Serial Box Works:
Serial Box brings everything that’s awesome about TV (easily digestible episodes, team written, new content every week) to what was already cool about books (well-crafted stories, talented authors, enjoyable anywhere).
Like TV, they release a new episode of our serials every week and serials typically run for seasons of 10-16 weeks. Easy to pick up, episodes are enjoyable on their own but build over the course of the season to tell a bigger story. Each episode is available in ebook and audio and takes about 40 minutes to enjoy.
Silverwood: The Door debuts on October 3.
