First paragraph: Comic books of the 1950s and 1960s made a point of their potential to terrify, with anthologies from Entertaining Comics, such as Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, and Tales of the Crypt, boasting covers with straplines such as “Within these pages dwell creatures from the terrifying beyond!” The House of Mystery series from rival DC Comics asks: “Dare you enter the house of mystery?” – and cover art often depicts children or young adults on the cusp of discovering what lies within. This teasing investigation and revelation of horror has always been a key trope in horror comics – from their earliest days to the resurgence of interest in the format in recent decades. As darkness descends around Halloween, here are some of the most chilling reads the graphic novel medium has to offer.https://theconversation.com/six-of-the-scariest-horror-comics-10562

Lindsay, Stuart Logan

English

First paragraph: Comic books of the 1950s and 1960s made a point of their potential to terrify, with anthologies from Entertaining Comics, such as Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, and Tales of the Crypt, boasting covers with straplines such as “Within these pages dwell creatures from the terrifying beyond!” The House of Mystery series from rival DC Comics asks: “Dare you enter the house of mystery?” – and cover art often depicts children or young adults on the cusp of discovering what lies within. This teasing investigation and revelation of horror has always been a key trope in horror comics – from their earliest days to the resurgence of interest in the format in recent decades. As darkness descends around Halloween, here are some of the most chilling reads the graphic novel medium has to offer

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10/31/2018 Six of the scariest horror comicshttps://theconversation.com/six-of-the-scariest-horror-comics-105629 1/4AuthorStuart Logan LindsayPost-doctoral Teaching Fellow in Literature& Languages, University of StirlingAcademic rigour, journalistic flairSix of the scariest horror comicsOctober 31, 2018 2.03pm GMTComic books of the 1950s and 1960s made a point of their potential to terrify, withanthologies from Entertaining Comics, such as Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, and Talesof the Crypt, boasting covers with straplines such as “Within these pages dwell creaturesfrom the terrifying beyond!”The House of Mystery series from rival DC Comics asks: “Dare you enter the house ofmystery?” – and cover art often depicts childrenor young adults on the cusp of discovering whatlies within.This teasing investigation and revelation of horror hasalways been a key trope in horror comics – from theirearliest days to the resurgence of interest in the format inrecent decades. As darkness descends around Halloween,here are some of the most chilling reads the graphic novelmedium has to offer.  1. Batman: The Long Halloween(DC Comics, 1996-7)Do you wish Halloween could last a whole year, rather than just a day? Not if you were a member ofGotham’s organised criminal underworld during the city’s Long Halloween.Written by Jeph Loeb, the series involves a mysterious serial killer who escalates the gang warbetween the city’s two most powerful mafia families, the Marconis and Falcones, by murdering[bastian.] via Flickr, CC BY-SAOctober 31, 2018 2.03pm GMTSix of the scariest horror comicsThe Haunt of Fear. Entertaining Comics10/31/2018 Six of the scariest horror comicshttps://theconversation.com/six-of-the-scariest-horror-comics-105629 2/4members of each on specific holidays, earning the nickname of the“Holiday Killer”.Owing as much to gangster films such as The Godfather as to classicBatman strips – the comic’s narrative begins in a dark room overlookinga mafia wedding from behind window blinds – The Long Halloweenfeatures the dark, film noir artwork of Tim Sale, perfectly capturing thetwisted and paranoid mood of Gotham.2. Aliens: Music of the Spears(Dark Horse Comics, 1996)This four-part series written by Chet Williamson takes the Aliens universe to some original and fascinating places. In a futuristic New YorkCity, lives Damon Eddington, an obscure and under-appreciated classicalmusic composer whose electronic symphonies have been made obsoleteby the punk rock of heavily-modified synthetic androids who are able tothrash out songs faster and of longer duration than is humanly possible.In response to his situation,Eddington sees the xenomorph as his perfect opera singer.With the help of his patron, the Synthsound corporation, hehas a captured alien brought to maturity in a confinedenvironment and then tortured in order produce the screamswhich Eddington records for his symphonies that he sees asrivals to Wagner.Among the themes common to the Alien series, such ascorporate espionage and biological weapons, Music of theSpears restores the xenomorph, originally drawn by Swissartist HR Giger, as an artistic object. The comic’s depiction ofthe harnessing of the creature as musical performer, coupledwith the extraction and sale of the Alien species’ “royal jelly”as a potent hallucinogenic street drug reverses the traditionalalien-human consumer and consumed relationship, if onlytemporarily. It is not long before the captured creaturebreaks free of the containment that Eddington has placed itin, and wreaks vengeance on New York’s music lovers at a nearby concert venue.3. The Dark Judges: Fall of Deadworld(2000 AD, 2017)Deadworld exists in a hellish parallel plane to the 22nd-century Earth of 2000 AD’s Judge Dreddseries, and The Fall of Deadworld, written by Kek-W (aka Nigel Long), narrates its descent into aBatman: The Long Halloween. DC ComicsAliens: Music of the Spears. Dark HorseComics10/31/2018 Six of the scariest horror comicshttps://theconversation.com/six-of-the-scariest-horror-comics-105629 3/4graveyard of bones and wandering spirits.The primary agent is Judge Death, Dredd’s deadliest foe and gothicemblem of what the law could become if taken to its ultimate extreme –“The Crime isss Life. The Sentence isss Death,” as Judge Death wouldsay.Mixing religious imagery with contemporary US politics, Fall ofDeadworld provides unprecedented detail on the twisted psyches of theDark Judges, and sympathetic portrayals of the resistance fighters, of anuninfected Judge, and of ordinary civilians caught up in the global crisis.4. Alan Moore’s The Courtyard(Avatar Press, 2003)The Courtyard is a comicadaptation of Alan Moore’sgraphic novel of the same name: his first, meticulously-researched interpretation of HP Lovecraft’s ever-popular cosmic horror cycle.Protagonist Aldo Sax, an FBI expert in “anomaly theory” – inwhich seemingly unrelated dead end cases are connected toreveal a bigger picture – is sent Brooklyn to investigate aseries of ritual murders. Sax, perhaps a personification ofLovecraft’s own sentiments, employs a prejudiced, outsider’sview of the world replete with racial slurs.The Courtyard also features some astonishingly vivid visualrepresentations of Lovecraft’s other worlds by artist Jacen Burroughs.5. Tomb of Dracula(Marvel Comics, 1972-79)Marvel’s take on the Dracula myth, Tomb of Dracula, is set in the modern day, where Frank Drake, adirect descendant of Count Dracula and stony broke, travels with his girlfriend, Jeanie, and hissomewhat untrustworthy associate, Clifton, to claim Castle Dracula as his inheritance.This reworks the focus on property of Bram Stoker’s famous Dracula novel, with Clifton convincingDrake to use this legacy to turn the castle into a museum or tourist hotspot. Inevitably, when thisaccidentally reawakens Dracula from his tomb, an ancient evil is unleashed on the present. Theoriginal 1970s Tomb of Dracula series is collected in the 2003 reprint, Essential Tomb of Dracula.The Dark Judges: Fall of Deadworld. 2000 ADAlan Moore’s The Courtyard. Avatar Press10/31/2018 Six of the scariest horror comicshttps://theconversation.com/six-of-the-scariest-horror-comics-105629 4/4Comics Halloween Horror DC Comics Graphic novels6. Hellboy: The Corpse(Dark Horse Comics, 1995)An excellent example of the Hellboy series, written and drawn by Mike Mignola.Set in Ireland in 1955, TheCorpse is a short comic centredaround Hellboy’s quest to burythe titular body at the behest of“the small folk” – sprites andfaeries adapted from Celticmythology – at one of four holyplaces in order that the smallfolk return an abducted baby toher parents.The Corpse works in elementsof folk gothic alongsideHellboy’s trademark humour:as Hellboy arrives at each grave site, he is told by the spiritsof the dead that there is no more room. The plot is structuredlike an Irish ballad, a hero’s magical undertaking. While partof a larger Hellboy story arc, The Corpse is also a standalone piece that is a good representative of thenarrative tone and art style of the rest.These six examples provide a varied cross section of the ability of the comics medium to intrigue, chillor scare. Enter their pages with caution, reader, and enjoy the terrors which lurk within.Facts matter. Your donation helps deliver fact-based journalism.Make a donation%>The Tomb of Dracula. Marvel ComicsHellboy: The Corpse. Dark Horse Comics 

Six of the scariest horror comics

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Six of the scariest horror comics

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