the classic pulp magazines that first published Lovecraft’s work. AS
questered himself in an all-night diner and proceeds to torture the clientele mentally and physically, culminating with a young girl stabbing her own eyes out, before he finally puts them all out of their misery. Easily Gaiman’s most haunting and despairing work. PC
Squirrel Machine Not your standard spookshow, but rather a surreal, grotesque Victorian creep-out, Hans Rickheit’s 2009 Squirrel Machine (RM#96) introduces us to the world of William and Edward Topor, brothers with a penchant for exploring the otherworldly bowels of their disturbing, maze-like mansion, when not making musical instruments and other devices out of animal parts. Rickheit’s detailed black and while il- lustrations provide the unforgettable backdrop to his ultimately tragic and gruesome tale. DA
Steve Niles When the Alaska-set vampire yarn 30 Days of Night hit comic stores in 2002, its effect was profound; it not
only launched Steve Niles’ burgeon- ing career into the genre comics stratosphere, but it is also widely cred- ited for reinvigorating horror comics in general. Since then, 30 Days of Night has leaped from the page to the big screen and Niles has launched a num- ber of other well-received horror comics titles, including Wake the Dead, Aleister Arcane, Mystery Society, Dead, She Said (with Bernie Wrightson) and Criminal Macabre, a supernatural de- tective series that also spawned an an- thology of short stories penned by Niles himself. MSK
Lovecraft Image’s four-issue miniseries drops the troubled writer into one of his own cosmic horror tales, where he must contend with nasty books, el- dritch gods and, of course, loads of tentacles. The skillful art recalls the visuals of a Hitchcock film, and each issue’s digitally aged cover evokes
The Strange Adventures of H.P.
The Goon Eric Powell’s rough-and-tumble pastiche of classic horror, Depression-
era gangster melodrama and old-school pulp adventure is anything but predictable. Since the first self-published issues caught the attention of Dark Horse in 2003, the giddy, bawdy mood of the early storylines has given way to heartrending melancholy such as 2007’s “Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker.” According to Powell, that evolution in tone is no accident. “[The tone] will continue to change,” says the writer/artist. “I never
want The Goon to be predictable, become stale. I created the book so I would be able to tell whatever type of story I felt like telling. No boundaries.” To that end, Powell is hesitant to even label The
Goon a horror comic, often referring to it as a “dark comic” instead. “It has horror elements, but it’s got so many other things going on that I’m not sure you can label it as just a horror comic. Horror, noir, sci-fi, com- edy? What genre do you put that in? It has monsters, so we’ll put it in horror.”
Swamp Thing DC’s Swamp Thing has the distinction of revolutionizing horror comics not once, but twice. Len Wein’s and Bernie Wrightson’s original ten-issue run in 1972 was filled with Frankenstein’s monster-like creatures, werewolves, black magic, zombies, voodoo and plenty of Lovecraftian monstrosities, to push the medium’s envelope. Ten years later, Alan Moore took over the flagging reins of Swamp Thing’s sec- ond series. He filled his stories with typical horror imagery, but also intro- duced a number of mature and unset- tling themes, such as incest, rape, masturbation, racism, religious bigotry and eco-politics, leading DC to bypass the Code altogether and ultimately create Vertigo. And it all started with Swampy. PC
The Tomb
of Dracula When the Comics Code Authority fi- nally unwadded its panties in 1971, Marvel went monster
crazy. Some beasties got their own books (Werewolf by Night, The Monster of Frankenstein), while
His influences, though, are a little
more telling. Besides horror comic leg- ends Jack Davis, Wally Wood and Bernie Wrightson, Powell says he grew up on classic Universal horror films and episodes of The Twilight Zone, noting, “I just kind of throw everything I like down on paper.” Besides headlining his own bi-
monthly series, the Goon and his eye- stabbing sidekick, Frankie, are currently starring in a backup feature in Powell and Kyle Hotz’s Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of
London. Powell also recently wrapped a three-issue miniseries featuring The Goon’s undead western-themed hero Buzzard. “I think it’s a good time for horror
comics,” says the multiple Eisner Award winner. “I don’t think the best horror comics are being produced, but I think it’s a time when publishers are more open to doing them.” More than eleven years into the se-
ries, and with a David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac)-directed Goon animated fea- ture film slated for release next year, Powell still seems surprised at his creation’s success. “I never dreamed that it would become as popular as it has,” he says. “I feel like a pretty lucky guy.” AS
mummies and ghouls popped up in ti- tles such as Dead of Night and Super- natural Thrillers. The best of the batch, though, was The Tomb of Dracula, a gothic-pulp horror/adventure comic that ran for 70 issues from 1972 until 1979. Besides being the most suc- cessful series to ever feature a villain as its main character, the title also saw the first appearance of badass vampire hunter Blade. AS
“The Upturned Stone” Scott Hampton’s two-volume Spook- house (IDW, 2004), features stunningly creepy artwork, and tales by Clive Barker and Robert E. Howard. But the highlight is Hampton’s original “The Upturned Stone,” a Stand by Me-like story in which a group of boys discov- ers a giant pumpkin in a cemetery that leads them to avenge a murdered boy’s death. Gorgeous and absolutely terrifying. DA
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