Talking ‘Buried Long, Long Ago’ With Writer Anthony Cleveland (Exclusive)

Buried Long, Long Ago is a deeply chilling horror comic based on the true story of serial killer Belle Gunness. In this interview, writer Anthony Cleveland previews the upcoming comic, which was a real passion project for him.

Published by Mad Cave, Buried Long, Long Ago is written by Anthony Cleveland with art by Alex Cormack and lettering from Justin Birch. The five-issue miniseries is based on true events, from 1901-1908, where Belle Gunness lured men to her farm, only to savagely murder them and take their money. She was rumoured to be responsible for upwards of 40 murders. And yet, she never faced trial nor punishment for her evil acts.

We recently posted a hugely positive review of issue #1, praising the comic’s dark fairy-tale style, and how it covered the historical events through the perspective of Belle’s children. And now, ahead of its April release, we got the chance to chat with author Anthony Cleveland.

Check out our interview below!

What initially drew you to the Belle Gunness case? What aspects of the real Belle Gunness case intrigued you the most when writing this story?

I’m from Northwest Indiana & learned of the Belle Gunness case at an early age after a visit to a local museum. The Belle Gunness exhibit had items from her farm on display & a shed that was used as a morgue after her victims were found. At that young age (and even today!), it was all very visceral & haunting. The story stuck with me & a lot of what helped the story endure were all the unanswered questions surrounding the case.

What led you to choose the perspective of Belle Gunness’s three children for this retelling?

I’ve been tinkering with this case as a story since I first saw the exhibit. A lot of those early stories/scripts were all from Belle’s perspective & were as accurate as I could make them. I remember a script review session in college where an early Belle short was ripped to shreds. There are elements to the true story that just seem either too far out there or narratively too familiar.

Despite being accurate, I knew then I needed a new approach if I was going to go anywhere with a Belle Gunness story. A question many had about the case was “How much did the children know what was going on at the farm?”  I think that was enough to seed what was to later become Buried Long, Long Ago.

I love how you present the story as a dark fairy-tale. What made you want to approach your comic in this way?

That guiding star might’ve been Pan’s Labyrinth and similar films with children using fantasy to escape their dark realities. Going back over my research was the realization that I could easily lean into the parallels to classic fairy tales. A few examples: There’s an evil mother locking her daughters away at night. Her neighbors called her an Ogre. And the obvious similarities to the Blue Beard fairy tale that even the early newspapers caught as well.

How did you approach blending historical facts with dark fantasy elements in the narrative?

Because there’s so many unanswered questions here, the imagination comes into play regardless. All you can do is look at the remaining evidence and speculate what or why something happened here. With a lot of those mind-wanderings came most of the ideas here. The more I “dug” into the past, the more my imagination began to take over.

The history of the property before Belle’s arrival was particularly interesting & had its own dark life. That bit of research blossomed into questioning what could have been “Buried Long, Long Ago” here to attract so much evil.

Can you describe the collaborative process between you and Alex Cormack in bringing this story to life?

Alex & I found each other maybe a little bit before the COVID pandemic really hit. We had so many fumbles and false starts with this story. But Alex stuck by the whole time and always had some positivity to take the frustrations away. I remember one time we were abandoned by a publisher and Alex said, “That’s fine, now I have time to get even better with my art.” Optimism is damn hard to maintain in comics & having someone on the team like this is an immeasurable “X factor” to actually bring a book to life.

Do you see yourself returning to historical horror in future projects?

Something similar to this, absolutely. The few ideas I have stray more into fantasy horror, but they’re all period works. American Gothic, Folk horror, and fairy tales— that’s my sweet spot.

Do you have any other projects in the works? What can our readers expect to see from you in 2025?

Getting this book into as many hands as possible is my focus for 2025. I’ve been wanting to get this story out since the early 00s — so now the push to share it with folks is the last step for me. It feels like a “goodbye” that I’m both celebrating & doing a lot of reflection on. Overall, Alex & I are beyond excited to finally get it to readers.

We thank Anthony Cleveland for his time. Buried Long, Long Ago releases April 16, 2025 from Mad Cave Studios. You can pre-order issue 1 here. The complete graphic novel is available later this year, but it’s already available for pre-order on Amazon.