Horror Comic Recommendations.

Some recommendations for the spooky season.

With October officially here, I wanted to do a series of posts that were appropriate for the spooky season. Today I’ll be recommending some horror comics that I think everyone should read. 

  For my selection today I chose to purposely omit some of my all-time favorites like Harrow County or Wytches, as I plan on making a long-form post for both of those in the future since they are both responsible for making me the writer I am. 

  With that said, the ones I will be including today are comics that I feel aren’t nearly talked about enough, some “hidden gems” if you will. Alright, without further adieu , let’s get into this

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The Autumnal.

The Autumnal is a nine-issue series written by Daniel Kraus and drawn by Chris Sheehan. Published by Vault Comics.

After hearing the news that her estranged mother has died, Kat Somerville and her daughter Sybil move from Chicago to the small town of Comfort Notch. 

Comfort Notch is what I can best describe as uncanny. A small quaint town that clearly has an affinity with autumn and leaves, maybe too much. We learn this town may not be what it seems, and Kat and Sybil may have been dragged into this town's dark secrets. 

This read is a very interesting one to me specifically because of how it is written. Daniel Kraus is mostly known as a novelist, with works such as Whale Fall, Blood Sugar, The Living Dead, and his most recent release Pay The Piper, the latter two co-authored with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero, along with many more novels under his belt. 

Reading The Autumnal with the knowledge that he comes from the prose world and that this was his first forte into the comics medium it becomes apparent that this book was written all at once. Then, it was given to the artist as a fully developed story, instead of the more common way a comic series is created. 

This book definitely benefits from reading the trade paperback instead of the individual issues in my opinion. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but more of an interesting thing that I actually see a lot with prose writers who come into comics. 

 It is very clear to see that even though this was Kraus’ first time writing a comic book, he did lots of studying and ultimately understands the language of comics. With some masterful page turns within this book and amazing pacing that keeps you locked into this story until you finish. 

Chris Sheehan was the perfect pick for an artist for this story as their line work in this story is clean yet scratchy in the best sort of way. The colors from Jim Campbell also complement Chris’ line work so beautifully, seriously there are some panels where I just sat there in awe because of how great it looks. 

A story of small-town secrets, generational trauma, and a Stephen King-esque way of making you scared of the mundane. The Autumnal is an instant Halloween classic.

The Closet.

Now I know I said these were “hidden gems” and then I put a James Tynion IV book on the list. That may seem weird given Tynion has become one of the most popular names within the medium in the last decade. With widely regarded runs on comics like Batman or The Justice League Dark to his wildly successful independent comics such as Department of Truth or Something Is Killing The Children, it’s hard to find a Tynion book that’s not talked about. At least, you would think. 

The Closet for me is that book. It’s one of my favorite things he has written and one of my favorite horror comics period, and it’s never thrown in the ring with any of his other books.

The Closet is a three-issue mini-series written by James Tynion IV with art by Gavin Fullerton, colors by Chris O’Halloran, with Tom Napolitano on letters. Originally published through his Substack Tiny Onion then released by Image Comics, The Closet is what James describes as a horror novella in three parts. 

 “This isn't as sprawling. It's not quite a one-shot short story, it's something more robust than that. Novella feels like the perfect word.” -Said James in a Tiny Onion Newsletter.

A young boy named Jamie fears the monster in his closet. Then again, didn’t we all at that age? Lucky for us, those monsters weren’t real. But for Jamie, things may be very different. 

We follow Jamie and his father, Thom, as they venture on a cross-country road trip from their old apartment and into a new house. Jamie is scared that the monster may follow them and finds himself worried about what will happen with his new room, but Thom keeps reassuring him that if they move houses the monster will stay in the old one. It will leave him alone. 

Thom is a character that we aren’t supposed to like by any means. He yells at his four-year-old son for being scared and constantly complains to others about Jamie.  He is a self-centered jerk who would rather talk about his problems rather than solve them. If there’s anyone in this story who is in the wrong, it’s Thom. 

 Honestly, this book mainly consists of characters having conversations rather than a crazy scary monster story. But, in my opinion, it is a master class in horror, suspense, and pacing. Tynion and company craft a story that mostly plays with your emotions, making the true reveal of the monster so much more powerful than any other one I’ve seen in comics. 

This is one of those comics that I read years ago and yet, it still scares me to this day. The Closet is a truly haunting tale of trauma, perception, and the effects we have on our children. If there is any comic on this list I recommend the most it’s this one. 

Basketful of Heads.

Written by Joe Hill with art by Leomacs, colors by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Deron Bennett. Basketful Of Heads is a seven-issue mini-series and the first series the Hill House Comics imprint over at DC Comics. An imprint curated by the one and only Joe Hill.

When four criminals who have escaped from Shawshank prison decide to execute a violent home invasion, June Branch and her boyfriend Liam are the victims. Liam is kidnapped, but June is no victim. With nothing but an eighth-century axe to defend herself, June is forced to decapitate the criminals. 

This axe doesn’t result in death, no, instead it brings life, leaving each of the decapitated criminals' heads alive and fully functioning. Spiraling June into many twists and turns throughout this story, all with the company of a basket full of heads, who talk their way through the story. 

Contrary to the title, BasketFul of Heads is an extremely fun horror story. It’s funny, violent, and it really feels like a classic eighties horror film. 

Joe Hill is a fantastic writer that many may know through his other comic work such as Locke and Key, or his prose work like 20th Century Ghost, or Strange Weather, but personally BasketFul Of Heads is one of my favorites from him. Though honestly, Leomacs and Dave Stewart stole the show for me. Dave Stewart’s colors over Leomacs line work is nothing short of incredible. Seriously, it's so good! 

 If you’re in the mood for a fun and “campy” horror comic, Basketful of Heads is definitely the right choice. 

Razorblades: The Horror Magazine.

Co-created and curated by Steve Foxe and James Tynion IV, Razorblades is a five-issue horror anthology magazine. This series has it all, from haunting comics, to downright creepy prose stories, and even some interviews with some of my favorite creators such as Scott Snyder and Trevor Henderson. 

The contributors in this project are some of the best in their respective fields and some of my personal favorite creators. Seriously, we have James Tynion himself writing a story within every issue, Micheal Walsh, Matthew Rosenberg, Ram V, Becky Cloonan, Tini Howard, Adam Cesare, Dan Watters, Tillie Walden, and so many more. There are too many amazing creators to name them all. 

I love Razorblades because it is the epitome of what I love within horror. At the end of the day, it’s just a group of people making scary things and having fun above all else.

“More than anything, I saw it as an excuse to reach out to friends and creators I knew I wasn't likely to see this year and ask them to make some genuinely cool, and scary stuff.” Says Tynion.

 Each issue is great in its own right, but they each have some real standout stories and segments that I would highly recommend. 

So starting with Issue One some standouts are Local Heroes by Marguerite Bennett and Werther Dell’Edera with colors by Emilio Lecce and letters By Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Excerpt From Sleep Stories by Michael Walsh is also a great one that you’ll see appear more within this collection. 

From Issue Two I really loved Somewhere To Keep My Things by Tyler Boss and Matthew Rosenberg, colored by Micheal Garland. 

For Issue Three, One More Night by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, (in just these few pages you can really see James planting the seeds for a story that would eventually become The Closet). Learn To Swim by Ram V and John J. Pearson with letters by Aditya Bidikar.

Two that stand out in Issue Four are White Out by James Tynion IV and Fernando Blanco with letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and The Dogs In My Neighborhood, a prose story by Adam Cesare with illustrations from Aaron Campbell. 

Issue five is where we get more than one Excerpt From Sleep Stories from Micheal Walsh, which I love. We also had a wonderful discussion with the legendary Trevor Henderson on his Creature Designs in the segment Trevor Henderson Makes Monsters. 

Don’t worry there are still so many great comics, prose, interviews, and illustrations that are absolutely worth the read within this book. So, if you want some good anthology fun, something scary, something small that cuts deep, Razorblades has you covered. 

Bonus

Before I sign off here I want to add a fun little bonus one. If you haven’t seen it, a new graphic novel was recently released by Scholastic Canada. Haunted Canada The Graphic Novel, Volume One written by Joel A. Sutherland is a collection of four spooky Canadian tales adapted into graphic novellas. Now I’m not Canadian, granted I don’t live too far, but my good friend Matt Salisbury is. Matt is not only a great friend of mine but an amazing artist and writer in his own right, and if you’ve read my substack since the beginning you’d know I have an interview with him which can be found here. Well, Matt was chosen to draw one of these stories, and I couldn’t be happier for my pal. I mean he got to draw a story that was included in a book published by Scholastic, that’s awesome!! So go pick up Haunted Canada The Graphic Novel, Volume One, and see some great stuff. While you’re at it give Matt some love in the comments, and follow him on Instagram here. Congratulations buddy.

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Alright, everyone, those are some of my horror comics recommendations. Don’t worry, I will definitely be posting more recommendations like this in the future, but for now I wanted to keep it to only a few comics. If anyone goes out and reads them or has read them please share in the comments. I love talking with everyone. Thank you so very much for reading and I hope everyone has a great October.