What the Funko? Curtis Fulster Selling His Collection to Fund a Horror Film

When Denver author Curtis Fulster released his horror novel Martha's Notebook: A Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy in October 2024, he was really just trying something new. An accomplished kid-lit writer with sixteen children's books under his belt (written under the pen name C. Fulsty), he had an idea for a new twist on the zombie genre; he'd already become a fan, from both video games (The Last of Us) and TV (Walking Dead).

The novel did well, earning him an International Impact Book Award (he's now in the running for Author of the Year), an Independent Press Award and a five-star review by Reader's Favorite.

Now, Fulster wants to take that book and turn it into a movie, and he's putting his own collection on the line in order to help fund it. To that end, he's offering up his entire collection of Funko Pop figures on eBay: 302 separate pieces based on properties that range from Disney to Marvel to Star Wars to The Big Bang Theory and a whole lot more. A complete list of the figures — and what the money they'll hopefully garner will go to — can be seen on his eBay listing, which ends Monday, June 9.

"When the book came out, I went on a lot of zombie podcasts, and a lot of those people were saying it reads like a movie," Fulster says. "So I was thinking maybe I could do a proof-of-concept short film? I threw the idea out there to see if there was any interest, and a number of Colorado creatives came in and said they wanted to be involved."

With interest in the project established, Fulster started a Seed & Spark crowdfunding campaign (which runs through June 21); Fulster says that based on that campaign, the president of Scriptapalooza got in touch with him and offered to be part of the project, even if he didn't get a paycheck from it. Other professionals expressed a desire to be a part of it, including a sound designer who'd worked for Marvel as well as several performers. "It just kept growing," says Fulster.

Writing isn't even Fulster's full-time gig. By day, he's an electrician, husband and new father. "I never set out to be a writer," he says. "Through middle school and high school, English was my least favorite and worst subject." But he got into it through a Learn-to-Play Hockey class he ran for kids.

"I taught that for six or seven years, and got to know the kids pretty well, and their parents, too," he recalls. "One day I was talking with a dad, and he was telling me how his son hated reading and thought that Dr. Seuss was too old and boring." That inspired Fulster to write a book of his own — and then two, and then three.

Westword talked to Fulster back in 2019 about one of his books, a tribute and fundraiser for the family that punk musician Tony Sly left behind when he died of an overdose at 41. 

Martha's Notebook is most definitely a departure for Fulster; it's not a kids' book in the least. Rather, it's a horror yarn that takes a classic concept — zombies — and combines it with something cutting edge: Artificial Intelligence. In the novel, the zombies are called "chippers," and they come about through the sinister machinations of an AI gone rogue. "It's not so much about how AI is terrible," Fulster points out. "It's more about how it's used. I look at AI as a tool. It can be good, it can be bad."

Currently, only the first book in the promised trilogy is available. Fulster says he'd originally planned to release the second book in October, but given the work he's doing on the short film, that will probably be released in January now, with the third installment coming the following year. "And there's more," Fulster promises. "I have ideas to take the story even further than that."

Fans of the novel can rest assured that the short film isn't just a rehash of the story they've already read; rather, it's a sort of "bonus material" approach that Fulster wants to take. The script centers on two characters that show up in the novel — Samuel and Jordan — and the backstory that brings them up to the point where they enter the narrative world of the book. "I wanted fans of the novel to have a reason to support the film too," Fulster says. "Give them a little extra."

To help pay for the film costs, Fulster is putting his beloved collection of Funko Pops up for sale. He says the 302 figures he's collected over the past six or seven years are valued at well over $10,000, but he has them all listed for $9,000 as a Funko Pop mega-lot. He's keeping only a couple, one of which is the Funko that his wife had custom-made of him. "Can't sell that," Fulster laughs.

Fulster hopes that a Funko fan will keep the collection together. But for now, becoming part of the Martha's Notebook horror legacy is just as important. "We want everyone to join us in redefining the future of zombie horror. It's more than just a film," he says. "It's the start of something big."

The eBay auction for the Funko Pops ends at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 9; for more information, go to Fulster's website.