Sacred Bones Records has announced Cathedral, a fully interlocking album and original graphic novel from director and musician John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing, In the Mouth of Madness). The graphic novel arrives in bookstores and online retailers on August 4, 2026, followed by the album on August 7, 2026.
Born from a dream Carpenter had in 2024, the Cathedral story unfolds in downtown Los Angeles: an abandoned cathedral, a gruesome murder, and a powerful supernatural entity lurking in the catacombs beneath the city. Designed as a unified experience, each of the album’s 14 tracks corresponds to a specific section of the book, with liner note prompts cueing listeners through the narrative. Together, the two works constitute something close to a new Carpenter film — just without the screen.
The graphic novel is co-written by Carpenter alongside his longtime collaborator Sandy King and writer Sean Sobczak, with art by Federico De Luca and Luis Guaragna, colors by Ryan Winn, and lettering by Marshall Dillon. Published by Storm King Comics, it marks Carpenter’s first original graphic novel.
Musically, Cathedral pushes harder than the synth-forward Lost Themes series. Daniel Davies’ soaring guitars anchor tracks like “Primeval,” “Elevator,” and the metal-driven “Lord of the Underground,” while Carpenter and Cody Carpenter’s synths dominate the ominous “Desolation in the Underworld” and the plaintive “Death of the Mapmaker.” “Put this thing on and imagine you’re watching a movie,” Carpenter said. “That’s what we want you to do.”
