Halloween Reads: Your Guide To Creepy Comics This Holiday

Like a lot of you, I love Halloween and while many of my chums here in the Disunited Kingdom claimed it’s become too Americanised (failing to realise it was us Europeans who brought it over to you in the first place), that for me isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this instance. Not if it means a plethora of seasonally scary comics to mark the occasion. To help you with consider you’re Halloween reads, we’ve compiled this spooky selection of creepy comics and gruesome graphic novels below, in no particular order.

Anno Dracula: 1895: Seven Days In Mayhem (Titan Comics)
From the best selling world of Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula comes this all-new comic book sequel to his best selling novel, Anno Dracula. Following the further exploits of Count Dracula, now the Prince Regent of Queen Victoria and ruler of the British Empire. Written by Kim Newman with art provided by Paul McCaffrey. It’s bloody good! One of my favourite mini-series of the year too.

Halloween Tales (Humanoids)
In Halloween, immerse yourself in the great book of the night. And if, at a street corner, you meet a ghost, take a walk with him. You may just recognize him — and if melancholy torments you — he could be the one to make you smile again.
Then, in The Book of Jack, braving a haunted house, young Jack discovers a mysterious book, a book that tells the story of his life. But what dark twists could others write into the blank pages that remain?
Finally, in The Story of Joe, a solitary boy finds refuge with the creatures of the night. But consumed by his imagination, he loses touch with reality and undergoes a strange transformation…
Follow these young characters in stories that span from the dusk of childhood to the dawn of adolescence, as they explore the darkness and light in us all.

Ghost Stories of Antiquity Vol.2 (Self Made Hero)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, Volume 2 collects graphic retellings of four uncanny tales by the renowned medievalist and writer. At once true to their source and powerfully reimagined for a visual medium, Leah Moore and John Reppion’s subtly crafted adaptations give a new lease of life to these classic stories of watchful guardians, architectural puzzles and ill-advised academic exploration.

The Scream! & Misty Special (2000AD/Rebellion)
Two of Britain’s best-loved supernatural comics have been resurrected this Halloween and merged into one terrifying tome featuring all-new stories! Max the crazy computer makes a welcome return in The Thirteenth Floor by Guy Adams, John Stokes and Frazer Irving; the fangs are out in The Dracula File by Grainne McEntee and Tristan Jones; weirdos, warriors and weasels plucked from the pages of various 70s and 80s British comics congregate in Death-Man: The Gatheringby Henry Flint; Kek-W and Simon Coleby collaborate on Black Max, the German World War One fighter pilot that’s descended from a race of bat-people; the high-rise horrors of Birdwood are back in Return of the Sentinels by Hannah Berry and Ben Willsher; and fairies can be frightening in Fate of the Fairy Hunter by Alec Worley and DaNi.

Night Force By Mark Wolfman: The Complete Series (DC Comics)
The creative team behind Tomb of Dracula reunited in 1982 for DC’s NIGHT FORCE! The series begins as the mysterious sorcerer Baron Winter assembles a team to take on an occult evil. But can the granddaughter of Dracula’s greatest foe, a powerful parapsychologist, and a timelost warrior from the court of King David tackle these threats? Collecting all 14 issues of the original series for the first time, plus a story from NEW TEEN TITANS #21!  Art provided by incomparable Gene Colon and others.

DC House of Horrors #1 (DC Comics)
An all-new, all-creepy one-shot set in the DC Universe—just in time for Halloween! Martha Kent fights for her life against a creature from a spacecraft that lands in front of her farmhouse. A young woman is possessed by the spirit of a murderous Amazon warrior. The last surviving member of the Justice League faces down a horror beyond imagining. All these and more are what happens when the most exciting new voices in contemporary horror fiction are paired with the talents of some of the greatest artists in the DC firmament! And if that isn’t enough to scare you, there’s Keith Giffen, too. All wrapped up in a Michael William Kaluta cover! Worth the admission price alone for the cover art!

Sherlock Frankenstein & The Legion of Evil #1 (Dark Horse)
Not strictly speaking a comic released for Halloween, but it’s close enough for me to be included in this list.
Lucy Weber, daughter of the Black Hammer, grew up to become an investigative reporter for the Global Planet. Now she’s on the hunt for the true story about what happened to Spiral City’s superheroes after they defeated Anti-God and saved the world. All answers seem to lie with the dangerous super villain tenants of Spiral City’s infamous asylum. As she gets closer to the truth she uncovers the dark origin stories of some of her father’s greatest foes, and learns how they tie into the puzzle of what happened to Spiral City’s greatest hero. Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by David Rubin.

Goosebumps: Monsters At Midnight (IDW Publishing)
The first Goosebumps storyline, “Monsters at Midnight,” will kick off with writer Jeremy Lambert (Attack on Titan Anthology) and artist Chris Fenoglio (X-Files: Origins), who will transport readers to a hauntingly familiar setting called Horrorland—a world of terrifying possibilities originally introduced in the Goosebumps novels. Mia and Ginny were planning on spending a thoroughly dull summer at Grandma’s house with nothing but mothballs to entertain them. Enter a spooky, old bookshop and a door left slightly ajar, and soon these sisters find themselves trapped in a Horrorland drastically different from the sleepy, suburban town they left behind.

Ghostbusters: Answer The Call #1 (IDW Publishing)
In the exciting series debut, “What Dreams May Come, Part 1!,” while on a routine house call to dispose of a simple Class III spook, Abby, Patty, Erin, and Holtzmann encounter a truly terrifying Class VII that appears to be feeding on fear. Able to create illusions that prey on their greatest fears and with designs on turning the world into its own nightmare dimension (‘natch!), our ladies may have finally met their match! Written by Kelly Thompson (Hawkeye, Ghostbusters: Deviations) and illustrated by Corin Howell (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ghostbusters: International).
And last, but not least…

Jughead: The Hunger #1 (Archie Comics)
Jughead Jones is a werewolf, and Reggie Mantle has fallen victim to Jughead’s monstrous ways. Now Betty Cooper: Werewolf Hunter along with Archie Andrews are hot on the trail of Jughead.
That’s 10 titles to keep you busy and off the streets this Halloween, but there are far more out there should you wish to track them down and grab them for yourselves.
Happy Halloween everyone from your own personal Crypt Keeper, ‘Orrible Olly!