SFCT Halloween Special Suppliment

Happy Halloween Comic Readers!

So, in supplementation with Super Comic Fun Time's "As Spectacular As It Gets" Halloween Special we look at some horror comics! Or, at least, what we hoped would be horror comics:

First up is True Blood #1 from IDW written by Ann Nocenti and Michael McMillian. True Blood was a TV series that ran on HBO from 2008 - 2014 based on a series of novels known as the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries.

A competent comic but the world is a little obvious. More groan-worthy than fun.

In this world, a synthetic blood is created and the vampires come out of their coffins. There are no subtle allusions going on here, it is all in your face. Vampires are just like us, except if it weren't for a synthetic blood product known as True Blood, then the vampires would be preying on us.

This story is set on the vampire holiday of Coffin Night when vampires celebrate their liberation by burning their coffins.

Sookie is a waitress and she is late because she has run into a band of celebrating vampires.

When she finally gets to work, she tells her boss she needs to work as many shifts as possible that week because her roof is leaking and blah, blah, blah. A man named Chow tells her the owner of the local vampire club needs extra staff since it is coffin night and he is willing to pay a bonus. At first she is reluctant but then decides vampire money is green too.

While Sookie is working at the vampire club, she reminisces with another waitress about whether or not she was afraid on the night vampire liberation was announced. The other waitress who is probably a vampire says she was praying hard but her parents were ecstatic because they were hardline Christians and if the the Devil was real that mean God was real too and they thought Jesus was coming back soon.

Sookie was working as a waitress that night and her abusive ex-boyfriend showed up, made a scene, was forced to leave, and then accosted Sookie at the dumpster when she was taking out trash. Before anything can happen, Sookie somehow causes lightning to come down from a nearby streetlight surprising everyone. Oh yeah, did I mention Sookie has psychic powers but heretofore could only read minds.

Then we come back to the club and someone has murdered Chow and delivered his heart in a Chinese takeout box. 

Again, while most of recapitulating this is making me groan, I think if vampire liberation day and Coffin Night were more subtle it could be an interesting story.

Next up we have a book that isn't very Halloweeny at all but more of a space/cosmic horror type thing called Tales of the Darkness #1 by Brian Haberlin and is a Top Cow title published by IDW. I'm not quite sure of what the relationship was here.

A Cosmic Horror Space Opera, not quite right for Halloween

The book itself is pretty good, it deals with a cargo ship seeking passage across the realm of a space god known as The Darkness. I giant spider-like thing inspects the ship and finds illegal weapons that produce light the intensity of a small sun, which I guess an entity like The Darkness isn't too fond of.

The entire crew is taken prisoner and the first mate gets an audience with The Darkness by claiming she can blow up the illegal cargo.

We also learn that The Darkness has been looking for a mate and only a woman who can defeat and kill him in battle is. Some time ago, a woman named Gilandria challenged The Darkness for the right to be his wife. She tosses a baby, The Darkness saves it but exposes himself to her blade. She demands her prize. The Darkness claims she cheated and kills her.

Well, it turns out the whole thing was a ruse. The ship was capture on purpose and First Made Sal is a spy for some organization we'll probably meet next issue. Also, her mother was Gilandria.

I skipped a lot here but I found the story interesting enough that I would like to know more. I did find the cover very misleading as it shows many dismembered parts floating in space and while The Darkness tortures the captain of the cargo ship, there is no dismemberment scene as depicted on the cover.

Finally the gem of this year's As Spectacular As it Gets Halloween special, The Blair Witch Chronicles #1 Jen Van Meter and Guy Davis. This book sticks to the conceit of the movie to a point, that is it admits the movie is a work of fiction but this guy's story is true.

The Best Halloween Comic This Round

The basic story is two brothers, Gary and Ken Kearney experience something in the woods around Burkittsville. One of the brothers had been dating a girl named Peg Loring who had dumped him in order to date a senior named Doug who is a real jerk. He keeps talking to Ken in order to get advice on how to get Peg to put out. Eventually, Doug things of taking her to a section of the Burkittsville woods and when a branch scrapes the car, Peg will be so scared she'll jump into his arms and let him have his way with her.

This really upsets Ken and with Gary they devise a plan to rig up a witch made of straw to hit the windshield. They imagine that Peg will demand to be taken home and when Doug refuses she'll decide to walk and Ken will be there to "rescue" her and take her home.

The boys set the trap but Doug and Peg never show up in their car. After waiting hours they see the two on foot and follow but when they catch up, they find Doug dead, hanging upside down in a trees while Peg is sitting on her knees leaning against the tree.

Something comes out and hits Gary in the eye. He wants to chase after it but Ken insists on helping Peg but as soon as Gary touches Peg's head, her hair comes off.

This was a very creepy story but believable. One of the best horror stories I can remember since I was a kid! 

What did you do to celebrate this Halloween? Have you read any of these books? Comment down below or at the video on YouTube.

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Happy Halloween from Super Comic Fun Time! And Keep Read Comic Books!