When author and filmmaker Dan Murphy talks about storytelling, there’s an almost spell-like quality to his words, not unlike the whimsical energy of his latest children’s book, Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party. Published July 29 through Penguin Random House, the book marks the newest chapter in Murphy’s creative collaboration with longtime friend and creative partner Aubrey Plaza.
But before witches, parties, and enchanted storybooks, there was a kid who loved libraries, stage plays, and anything that blurred the line between the ordinary and the imagined.
Early Magic
“I think I was a creative kid right out of the gate,” Murphy said. “I was always asking my mom to take me to the library, and I actually wrote and recorded a story about a haunted house when I was four or five.”
Books were his first portal. He’d read Alice in Wonderland or Mary Poppins after watching their movie adaptations, eager to trace the roots of the magic on screen. By elementary school, Murphy was already staging original plays with his sister and neighborhood friends — though, he admits, the performances didn’t always make it past rehearsal.
“I loved coming up with ideas and writing dialogue,” he said, “but I was too shy to actually perform. My mom would try to get me into children’s theater, and I’d just freeze.”
That shyness didn’t stop him from pursuing the arts. After seeing Fiddler on the Roof in fifth grade, Murphy fell in love with musicals and joined his high school drama program. Yet, as much as he adored performing, he discovered his real passion lived behind the curtain. “I loved directing, I loved creating worlds,” he said. “Acting never felt right for me, but storytelling did.”
A Family of Artists
Murphy grew up surrounded by creative influences. His mother painted, his sister adored musicals, and now his young niece seems destined for the stage. “She’s five, she loves to dance, and she wants everyone to watch her,” he said, laughing. “It’s like seeing a smaller version of myself, except she’s braver.”
One of his earliest and most vivid memories is seeing The Nutcracker with his grandmother. “I must’ve been six,” he said. “The music, the costumes, the theater, it felt otherworldly. That’s probably when I realized how powerful stories could be.”
Meeting Aubrey Plaza: The Start of a Creative Spell
Years before they’d co-create children’s books and pitch animated series, Murphy and Plaza met through Delaware community theater. “We technically met during a one-act play festival,” he said. “Aubrey was supposed to act in a play I directed, but she dropped out before rehearsals started.”
The real spark happened later, when both ended up at NYU’s film school. “We recognized each other at orientation and said, ‘Okay, we’re the Delaware kids, we should stick together,’” Murphy recalled. “And that was it. We just started collaborating.”
From college projects to professional ventures, the two developed a creative shorthand rooted in shared humor and mutual respect. After graduation, Murphy worked as a casting intern on the 30 Rock pilot, where he helped connect Plaza to one of her earliest acting opportunities. “She got to play an NBC intern, which felt kind of perfect,” he said with a grin.
Writing the Witch Books
Years later, Plaza approached Murphy about producing a pilot in Vancouver, a reunion that reignited their creative partnership. Soon after, the two began brainstorming what would become The Christmas Witch series, inspired by European folklore and their love of holiday storytelling.
Their latest release, Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party, grew out of that same playful spirit. “Aubrey’s publisher wanted another witch story,” Murphy said. “We wanted it to feel like an invitation, something kids could read and then go make their own Halloween decorations or parties.”
The story follows Luna, a spirited girl who befriends a witch, leading to a night of spells, creativity, and spooky fun. “We wanted to challenge the idea that kids are too scared of Halloween,” Murphy said. “It’s about embracing the strange and making it joyful.”
Murphy describes their process as “ping-pong writing.” “We brainstorm together, outline, and then pass drafts back and forth,” he explained. “We’ll cut and reshape a lot, sometimes half the book, to make it flow for kids. But the best part is seeing it illustrated. That’s when it really becomes real again.”
Queerness as Creative Compass
As an LGBTQ+ storyteller, Murphy sees his identity as inseparable from his art. “I think queerness naturally seeps into everything I write,” he said. “It’s not always overt, sometimes it’s a tone, or a sense of difference. Being queer means seeing the world through color, humor, and sometimes mischief.”
That sense of queerness, he said, often emerges in how his characters embrace individuality. “A lot of my stories have characters who feel a little odd but are totally comfortable in it. There’s a pride in that. It’s something I learned from growing up queer, you find beauty in standing out.”
Looking Ahead: A Cat Named Kevin and Beyond
Murphy and Plaza are already deep into their next creative venture: Kevin, an animated comedy series set to debut on Amazon Prime Video in 2026. The show boasts a powerhouse voice cast, including Jason Schwartzman, Plaza, Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Aparna Nancherla, Gil Ozeri, and Amy Sedaris.
Inspired by a real-life breakup and the cat caught in the middle, Kevin follows Schwartzman’s titular feline as he navigates life in a Queens pet rescue surrounded by a lovable band of misfit animals. Plaza co-created the series with writer Joe Wengert (Big Mouth, The Great North), who also serves as showrunner. Murphy joins the team as executive producer alongside Chris Prynoski, Ben Kalina, Shannon Prynoski, and Antonio Canobbio, with Titmouse, Evil Hag Productions, and Amazon MGM Studios behind the project.
“It’s such a funny and heartfelt story,” Murphy said. “It’s about figuring out where you belong, and that’s a theme I keep coming back to, whether it’s a kid, a witch, or a cat.”
Still, Murphy’s dream project circles back to the holiday tales that started it all. “I’d love to adapt The Christmas Witch into a film,” he said. “Something with the magic and chaos of Hocus Pocus, but through our lens.”
For now, Murphy is content to keep making the kind of stories that light up a child’s imagination, and maybe a few adults’, too. “Kids’ stories are where magic still feels possible,” he said. “You can teach something, make them laugh, and remind them, and yourself, that imagination still matters.”
