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Horror comics arecomic books,graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, andmanga focusing onhorror fiction. In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorshipComics Code Authority contributed to the demise of many titles and the toning down of others. Black-and-white horror-comics magazines, which did not fall under the Code, flourished from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s from a variety of publishers. Mainstream American color comic books experienced a horror resurgence in the 1970s, following a loosening of the Code. While the genre has had greater and lesser periods of popularity, it occupies a firm niche in comics as of the 2010s.
Precursors to horror comics include detective and crime comics that incorporated horror motifs into their graphics, and early superhero stories that sometimes included the likes of ghouls and vampires. Individual horror stories appeared as early as 1940. The first dedicated horror comic books appear to beGilberton Publications'Classic Comics #13 (August 1943), with its full-length adaptation ofRobert Louis Stevenson'sStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, andAvon Publications' anthologyEerie #1 (January 1947), the first horror comic with original content. The first horror-comics series is the anthologyAdventures into the Unknown, premiering in 1948 fromAmerican Comics Group, initially under the imprint B&I Publishing.
Thehorror tradition in sequential-art narrative traces back to at least the 12th-centuryHeian period Japanesescroll "Gaki Zoshi", or the scroll ofhungry ghosts (紙本著色餓鬼草紙)[1][2][3] and the 16th-centuryMixtec codices.[3]
In the early 20th-century,pulp magazines developed the horrorsubgenre "weird menace", which featuredsadistic villains and graphic scenes oftorture and brutality. The first such title, Popular Publications'Dime Mystery, began as a straightcrime fiction magazine but evolved by 1933 under the influence ofGrand Guignol theater.[4] Other publishers eventually joined in, though Popular dominated the field withDime Mystery,Horror Stories, andTerror Tales. While most weird-menace stories were resolved with rational explanations, some involved the supernatural.
After the fledgling medium of comic books became established by the late 1930s, horror-fiction elements began appearing insuperhero stories, with vampires, misshapen creatures, mad scientists and other tropes that bore the influence of theUniversalhorror films of the 1930s and other sources.[5]
In 1935,National Periodicals published the first story ofDoctor Occult byJerry Siegel (script) andJoe Shuster (Art) inNew Fun Comics # 6, where he confronts Vampire Master. InDetective Comics # 31–32,Batman fights a vampire.[6]
By the mid-1940s, some detective and crime comics had incorporated horror motifs such as spiders and eyeballs into their graphics, and occasionally featured stories adapted from the literary horror tales ofEdgar Allan Poe or other writers, or stories from the pulps and radio programs.[7][a] The single-issueHarvey Comics anthologiesFront Page Comic Book (1945), bearing a cover with a knife-wielding, skeletal ghoul,[8] andStrange Story (July 1946),[9] introduced writer-artistBob Powell's character the Man in Black, an early comic-book example of the type ofomniscient-observer host used in such contemporarysupernatural and suspenseradio dramas asInner Sanctum,Suspense, andThe Whistler.[10]
As cultural historianDavid Hajdu notes, comic-book horror:
...had its roots in the pulps, where narratives of young women assaulted by 'weird menaces' ... had filled magazines such asTerror Tales andHorror Stories for years. Variations on gothic fright had also appeared in several comics—Suspense Comics (which began in 1943),Yellowjacket (which included eight horror stories, billed as "Tales of Terror", in its run of ten issues, beginning in 1944), andEerie (which had one issue published in 1947).[11]
Issue #7 (December 1940) of publisherPrize Comics' flagship title,Prize Comics, introduced writer-artistDick Briefer's eight-page feature "New Adventures of Frankenstein", an updated version of novelistMary Shelley's much-adaptedFrankenstein monster.[12] Called "America's first ongoing comic book series to fall squarely within thehorror genre" by historianDon Markstein,[13] and "[t]he first real horror series" by horror-comics historian Lawrence Watt-Evans,[14] the feature ran throughPrize Comics #52 (April 1945)[15] before becoming a humor series and then being revived in horrific form in the seriesFrankenstein #18-33 (March 1952 - November 1954).
Gilberton Publications' 60-pageClassic Comics #12 (June 1943) adaptedWashington Irving'sshort story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as a backup feature to Irving's "Rip Van Winkle"[16] in a package titledRip Van Winkle and the Headless Horseman.[17] The next issue,Classic Comics #13 (August 1943), adaptedRobert Louis Stevenson's horrornovellaStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as the full-length storyDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, making it the earliest known dedicated horror comic book.[18]
HistorianRon Goulart, making no mention of those earlier literary adaptations, identifiesAvon Publications'Eerie #1, dated January 1947[19] and sold in late 1946, as "the first out-and-out horror comic book".[10] Its cover featured a red-eyed, pointy-eared fiend threatening arope-bound, beautiful young woman in a scanty red evening gown, set amid a moonlit ruin. The anthology offered six primarily occult stories involving the likes of a ghost and a zombie.[10] While all but one writer are unknown — Edward Bellin, who teamed with young artistJoe Kubert on the nine-page "The Man-Eating Lizards"[19] — the artists includeGeorge Roussos andFred Kida.[10] After this first issue, the title went dormant, but reappeared in 1951 asEerie, beginning with a new #1 and running 17 issues (1951 - September 1954).[20]
Goulart identifies the long-runningAdventures into the Unknown (Fall 1948 - August 1967), fromAmerican Comics Group, initially under the imprint B&I Publishing,[21] as "the first continuing-series horror comic".[22] The first two issues, which included art byFred Guardineer and others, featured horror stories of ghosts, werewolves, haunted houses, killer puppets and other supernatural beings and locales. The premiere included a seven-page, abridged adaptation ofHorace Walpole's seminalgothic novelThe Castle of Otranto, by an unknown writer and artistAl Ulmer.[21]
Following the postwarcrime comics vogue spearheaded by publisherLev Gleason'sCrime Does Not Pay, which by 1948 was selling over a million copies a month,[23] cameromance comics, which by 1949 outsold all other genres,[24] and horror comics. The same month in whichAdventures into the Unknown premiered, the comic-book companyEC, which would become the most prominent horror-comics publisher of the 1950s, published its first horror story, "Zombie Terror", by the then relatively unknown writer and artistJohnny Craig, in the superhero comicMoon Girl #5.[25][26] Almost simultaneously, Trans-World Publications issued its one-and-only comic, theone-shotMysterious Traveler Comics #1 (November 1948), based on theMutual Broadcasting Network'sradio show of that name and including amid its crime andscience-fiction stories a reprint of theEdgar Allan Poe adaptation "The Tell Tale Heart", reprinted fromCharlton Comics'Yellowjacket Comics #6.[26][27] Street and Smith also published two issues of "Ghost Breakers" in late 1948. (ibid GCDB)
The floodgates began to open the following year with the first horror comic from the 1950s' most prolific horror-comics publisher,Atlas Comics, the decade's forerunner ofMarvel Comics. While horror had been an element in 1940ssuperhero stories from the original predecessor company,Timely Comics, through the war years, "when zombies, vampires, werewolves, and even pythonmen were to be found working for theNazis and the Japanese",[22] the publisher entered the horror arena full-tilt withAmazing Mysteries #32 (May 1949), continuing the numbering of the defunct superhero seriesSub-Mariner Comics, followed by the superhero anthologyMarvel Mystery Comics becoming the horror seriesMarvel Tales with #93 (August 1949) and the final two issues ofCaptain America Comics becoming the mostly horror-fictionCaptain America's Weird Tales #74-75 (October 1949 & February 1950) — the latter of which did not contain Captain America at all.[28][29] Harvey Comics followed suit with its costumed-crimefighter comicBlack Cat by reformatting it as the horror comicBlack Cat Mystery with issue #30 (August 1951).[10][30]
Horror comics briefly flourished from this point until the industry's self-imposed censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, was instituted in late 1954. The most influential and enduring horror-comics anthologies of this period, beginning 1950, were the 91 issues ofEC Comics' three series:The Haunt of Fear,The Vault of Horror andThe Crypt of Terror, renamedTales from the Crypt.[31]
In 1947, publisherWilliam Gaines had inherited what was thenEducational Comics upon the death of his father,Maxwell Gaines. Three years later, Gaines and editorAl Feldstein introduced horror in two of the company'scrime comics to test the waters. Finding them successful, the publisher quickly turned them and aWestern series into EC's triumvirate of horror. Additionally, the superhero comicMoon Girl, which had become theromance comicA Moon...a Girl...Romance, became the primarilyscience fiction anthologyWeird Fantasy.[32] For the next four years, sardonic horror hosts theOld Witch, theVault Keeper andThe Crypt Keeper introduced stories drawn by such top artists and soon-to-be-famous newcomers asJohnny Craig,Reed Crandall,Jack Davis,Graham Ingels (who signed his work "Ghastly"),Jack Kamen,Bernard Krigstein,Harvey Kurtzman, andWally Wood.[33] Feldstein did most of the early scripting, writing a story a day withtwist endings and poetic justice taken to absurd extremes.
EC's success immediately spawned a host of imitators, such asZiff-Davis' and P.L. Publishing'sWeird Adventures,[34]St. John Publications'Weird Horrors,[35]Key Publications'Weird Chills,[36]Weird Mysteries[37] andWeird Tales of the Future,[38]Comic Media'sWeird Terror,[39] Ziff-Davis'Weird Thrillers,[40] andStar Publications'Ghostly Weird Stories.[41] Others includedQuality Comics'Web of Evil,[42]Ace Comics'Web of Mystery,[43]Premier Magazines'Horror from the Tomb[44]Harvey Comics'Tomb of Terror,Witches Tales, andChamber of Chills Magazine,[45]Avon Comics',Witchcraft,[46]Ajax-Farrell Publications'Fantastic Fears,[47]Fawcett Publications'Worlds of Fear andThis Magazine Is Haunted,[48]Charlton Comics'The Thing,[49] and a slew fromAtlas Comics, includingAdventures into Weird Worlds,[50]Adventures into Terror,[51]Menace,Journey into Mystery, andStrange Tales. Indeed, from 1949 through comicscover-dated March 1955, Atlas released 399 issues of 18 horror titles,ACG released 123 issues of five horror titles, and Ace Comics, 98 issues of five titles — each more than EC's output.[31]
In the late 1940s, comic books – particularlycrime comics[52] – had become the target of mounting public criticism for their content and their potentially harmful effects on children, with "accusations from several fronts [that] charged comic books with contributing to the rising rates ofjuvenile delinquency."[53] Many city and county ordinances had banned some publications,[54] though these were effectively overturned with a March 29, 1948,United States Supreme Court ruling that a 64-year-oldNew York State law outlawing publications with "pictures and stories of deeds of bloodshed, lust or crime" was unconstitutional.[55] Regardless, the uproar increased upon the publication of two articles: "Horror in the Nursery" byJudith Crist, in the March 25, 1948, issueCollier's Weekly,[53] based upon the symposium "Psychopathology of Comic Books" held a week earlier[53] bypsychiatrist[56]Fredric Wertham; and Wertham's own features "The Comics ... Very Funny!" in the May 29, 1948, issue ofThe Saturday Review of Literature,[57] and a March 19, 1948 symposium called "Psychopathology of Comic Books" which stated that comic books were "abnormally sexually aggressive" and led to crime.[58]
In response to public pressure and bad press, anindustry trade group, theAssociation of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) was formed with the intent of prodding the industry to police itself. The Association proved ineffective as few publishers joined and those who did exercised little restraint over the content of their titles.[59]
In 1954, Dr. Fredric Wertham publishedSeduction of the Innocent, a tome that claimed horror, crime and other comics were a direct cause ofjuvenile delinquency. Wertham asserted, largely based on undocumented anecdotes, that reading violent comic books encouraged violent behavior in children.[59] Wertham painted a picture of a large and pervasive industry, shrouded in secrecy and masterminded by a few, that operated upon the innocent and defenseless minds of the young. He further suggested the industry strong-armed vendors into accepting their publications and forced artists and writers into producing the content against their will.[60]
Wertham alleged comics stimulated deviant sexual behavior. He noted female breasts in comics protruded in a provocative way and special attention was lavished upon the female genital region.[60] A cover byMatt Baker fromPhantom Lady was reprinted in the book with the caption, "Sexual stimulation by combining 'headlights' with thesadist's dream of tying up a woman".[59] Boys interviewed by Wertham said they used comic book images for masturbation purposes, and one young comics reader confessed he wanted to be a sex maniac. Wertham contended comics promotedhomosexuality by pointing to the Batman–Robin relationship and calling it a homosexual wish dream of two men living together. He observed that Robin was often pictured standing with his legs spread and the genital region evident.[60]
Most alarmingly, Wertham contended that comic books fostered deceitfulness in children, who might read funny animal comics in front of their parents but then turn to horror comics the moment their parents left the room. Wertham warned of suspicious stores and their clandestine back rooms where second hand comics of the worst sort were peddled to children. The language used evoked images of children prowling about gambling dens and whorehouses, and anxious parents felt helpless in the face of such a powerful force as the comics industry. Excerpts from the book were published inLadies' Home Journal andReader's Digest, lending respectability and credibility to Wertham's arguments.[60]
A 14-page portfolio of panels and covers from across the entire comic book industry displayed murder, torture and sexual titillation for the reader's consideration. The most widely discussed art was that from "Foul Play", a horror story from EC about a dishonest baseball player whose head and intestines are used by his teammates in a game.Seduction of the Innocent sparked a firestorm of controversy and created alarm in parents, teachers and others interested in the welfare of children; the concerned were galvanized into campaigning for censorship.[59]
Public criticism brought matters to a head. In 1954, anti-crime crusaderEstes Kefauver led theSenate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Dr. Wertham insisted upon appearing before the committee. He first presented a long list of his credentials, and then, in his clipped German accent, spoke with authority on the pernicious influence of comic books upon children. His passionate testimony at the hearings impressed the gathering. Kefauver suggested crime comics indoctrinated children in a way similar to Nazi propaganda. Wertham noted Hitler was a beginner compared to the comics industry.[60]
Publisher William Gaines appeared before the committee and vigorously defended his product and the industry. He took full responsibility for the horror genre, claiming he was the first to publish such comics. He insisted that delinquency was the result of the real environment and not fictional reading materials. His defiant demeanor left the committee (which felt the industry was indefensible), astonished.[60] He had prepared a statement that read in part, "It would be just as difficult to explain the harmless thrill of a horror story to Dr. Wertham as it would be to explain the sublimity of love to a frigid old maid."[59]
Crime Suspenstories, issue 22, April/May 1954, was entered into evidence. The exchange between Gaines and Kefauver led to a front-page story inThe New York Times:
He was asked by Senator Estes Kefauver, Democrat of Tennessee, if he considered in "good taste" the cover of hisShock SuspenStories,[b] which depicted an axe-wielding man holding aloft the severed head of a blond woman. Mr. Gaines replied: 'Yes, I do—for the cover of a horror comic.'[61]
Though the committee's final report did not blame comics for crime, it recommended that the comics industry tone down its content voluntarily.[62]
By 1953, nearly a quarter of all comic books published were horror titles.[63] In the hearings' immediate aftermath, several publishers revamped their schedules and drastically censored or cancelled many long-running comic series.[59]
In September 1954, theComics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and itsComics Code Authority (CCA) was formed. The Code had many stipulations that made it difficult for horror comics to continue publication, since any that didn't adhere to the Code's guidelines would likely not find distribution. The Code forbade the explicit presentation of "unique details and methods of crime...Scenes of excessive violence...brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gun play, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime...all scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust,sadism, masochism...Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, or torture".[59]
As a result of the Congressional hearings,DC Comics shifted its ongoing horror titles,House of Mystery (1951–1987) andHouse of Secrets (1956–1966), toward the suspense and mystery genres, often with a science fiction bent. In fact, from 1964 to 1968,House of Mystery became a mostly superhero title, featuringJ'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars and, later,Dial H for Hero. Similarly, during this periodMarvel Comics produced the titlesStrange Tales (1951–1968) andJourney into Mystery (1952–1966). Each company gradually changed from suspense stories toward fantasy, science fiction and monster stories, and then to related superhero characters during the years after the code came into effect. Charlton Comics' suspense titles, such as Unusual Tales, persisted to the mid-1960s. ACG titles Adventures into the Unknown and Unknown Worlds thrived during this Silver Age period until the company folded in 1967.
The publishersGilberton,Dell Comics, andGold Key Comics did not become signatories to the Comics Code, relying on their reputations as publishers of wholesome comic books.[64]Classics Illustrated had adapted such horror novels asFrankenstein andDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in comic book form, and quickly issued reprints with new, less gruesome covers. Dell began publishing the licensedTV series comic bookTwilight Zone in 1961 and publishing aDracula title in 1962 (though only the first issue was horror related; the subsequent issues were part of the super-hero genre revival), followed in 1963 by the new series "Ghost Stories." Gold Key, in addition to releasingBoris KarloffThriller, based on the TV seriesThriller (and retitledBoris Karloff Tales of Mystery after the show went off the air), bought theTwilight Zone license from Dell in 1962.[64]
In 1965 Gold Key put out three licensed horror-themed comics, two based on the TV horror-comediesThe Addams Family andThe Munsters, and the other titledRipley's Believe it or Not!, which had three different subtitles: "True Ghost Stories," "True War Stories" (#1 and #5), and "True Demons & Monsters" (#7, #10, #19, #22, #25, #26, and #29).
Warren Publishing continued the horror tradition in the mid-1960s, bypassing the Comics Code Authority restrictions by publishing magazine-sized black-and-white horror comics.[65] Under the direction of line editorArchie Goodwin, Warren debuted the horror anthologiesCreepy (1964–1983) andEerie (1966–1983), followed byVampirella, an anthology with a lead feature starring a sexy young female vampire.
The low-rent Warren imitatorEerie Publications also jumped into the black-and-white horror magazine business, mixing new material with reprints from pre-Comics Code horror comics, most notably in its flagship titleWeird (1966–1981), as well as the magazinesTales of Voodoo (1968–1974),Horror Tales (1969–1979),Tales from the Tomb (1969–1975), andTerror Tales (1969–1979).Stanley Publications also published a line of black-and-white horror magazines from 1966 to 1971, including the titlesShock andChilling Tales of Horror.
A number of supernatural mystery / suspense titles were introduced in the latter half of the 1960s, includingCharlton Comics'Ghostly Tales,The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves, andGhost Manor; andMarvel Comics'Chamber of Darkness/Monsters on the Prowl andTower of Shadows/Creatures on the Loose. AtDC Comics, newHouse of Mystery editorJoe Orlando returned the title to its horror roots with issue #175 (July/August 1968); a similar transformation was made toHouse of Secrets andThe Unexpected (formerly "Tales of the Unexpected"), with the company debuting a new title,The Witching Hour.
In 1971, the Comics Code Authority relaxed some of its longstanding rules regarding horror comics, which opened the door to more possibilities in the genre:
Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with, walking dead or torture shall not be used. Vampires, ghouls and werewolves shall be permitted to be used when handled in the classic tradition such asFrankenstein,Dracula, and other high-caliber literary works written byEdgar Allan Poe,Saki,Conan Doyle, and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world.[66]
Following this, Marvel returned to publishing true horror by first introducing a scientifically created, vampire-like character,Morbius, the Living Vampire,[67] followed by the introduction ofDracula inTomb of Dracula. This opened the floodgates for more horror titles, such as the anthologySupernatural Thrillers,Werewolf by Night, and two series in whichSatan or a Satan-like lord ofHell figured,Ghost Rider and the feature "Son of Satan." In addition, followingWarren Publishing's longtime lead, Marvel's parent company in1971 began a black-and-white magazine imprint, which published a number of horror titles, includingDracula Lives!,Monsters Unleashed,Vampire Tales,Tales of the Zombie,Haunt of Horror, andMasters of Terror. Additionally,Skywald Publications offered the black-and-white horror-comics magazinesNightmare,Psycho, andScream.
DC during this time continued to publish its existing supernatural fiction and added new horror series such asGhosts,The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love (later titledForbidden Tales of Dark Mansion),Secrets of Haunted House,Secrets of Sinister House,Swamp Thing,Weird Mystery Tales,Weird War Tales, andTales of Ghost Castle. Charlton continued in this vein as well, withGhostly Haunts,Haunted,Midnight Tales,Haunted Love, andScary Tales.
Underground cartoonists, many of them strongly influenced by 1950sEC Comics likeTales from the Crypt,[68] also tried their hands at horror. Titles likeSkull (Rip Off Press/Last Gasp, 1970–1972),Bogeyman (Company & Sons/San Francisco Comic Book Company, 1969),Fantagor (Richard Corben, 1970),Insect Fear (Print Mint, 1970),Up From The Deep (Rip Off Press, 1971),Death Rattle (Kitchen Sink Press, 1972),Gory Stories (Shroud, 1972),Deviant Slice (Print Mint, 1972) andTwo-Fisted Zombies (Last Gasp, 1973) appeared in the early 1970s.
By the mid-1970s, the horror comics boomlet slowed and various titles were cancelled. Only a few of the DC titles persevered by the end of the decade, the long-running Gold Key mystery comic series ceased during the early 1980s, and some predominantly-reprint Charlton series managed to survive to the mid-1980s. DC's traditional titles sputtered out during the early 1980s, and its transformed anthology "Elvira's House of Mystery" was the final code-approved traditional anthology title to be produced, lasting only a dozen issues around 1987. As these and Warren publications disappeared, new titles from the 1980s onward would all be in new formats (i.e. glossy paper, not code-approved) or sporadically produced by small independent companies.
Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, independent publishers produced a number of successful horror comics franchises.FantaCo Enterprises andMillennium Publications boasted lineups almost exclusively devoted to horror, vampire, and zombie comics. For instance, 1985 saw the revival of Kitchen Sink'sDeath Rattle, followed a year later by the debut of FantaCo's horror anthologyGore Shriek, edited byStephen R. Bissette, who also contributed stories to each issue. Bissette also edited the acclaimed anthologyTaboo, which ran from 1988 to 1995.
In 1982,Pacific Comics produced two series that, while admittedly inspired by theEC Comics of the 1950s, foresaw the form that horror comics would take in the coming decades. Printed in color on high-quality paper stock despite a higher cover price, the seriesTwisted Tales andAlien Worlds were short-lived and hard-pressed to keep to a regular production schedule, but offered some of the most explicitly brutal and sexual stories yet to be widely distributed in a mainstream ("non-underground") format. Both series eventually moved toEclipse Comics, which also produced similar titles such asThe Twisted Tales ofBruce Jones andAlien Encounters (which they inherited from Fantaco). Later horror titles from DC'sVertigo line had more in common with these Pacific/Eclipse efforts, and more success, than DC's sporadic efforts to revive or maintain the traditional horror comic title (e.g.Elvira's House of Mystery).Wasteland (DC Comics) was a pre-vertigo, non-Code horror series from DC in the late 1980s.
In 1982, DC Comics revived theSwamp Thing series, attempting to capitalize on the summer 1982 release of theWes Cravenfilm of the same name. In 1984, BritonAlan Moore took over the writing chores on the title, and whenKaren Berger became editor, she gave Moore free rein to revamp the title and the character as he saw fit. Moore reconfigured Swamp Thing's origin to make him a true monster as opposed to a human transformed into a monster. Moore's (and artistsStephen R. Bissette andJohn Totleben's)Swamp Thing was a critical and commercial success, and in 1988 spun off the ongoing seriesHellblazer, starringoccult detectiveJohn Constantine.
In 1993, DC introduced its mature-readersVertigo line, which folded in a number of popular horror titles, includingHellblazer andSwamp Thing. One of Vertigo's early successes wasNeil Gaiman'sSandman, which reworked a number of DC's old horror characters and added fantasy to the mix. A number of other horror titles carried on at Vertigo, likeDeadman,House of Mystery andHaunted Tank, or were given a horror spin or an update likeKid Eternity andJonah Hex.
In the mid-1990sHarris Publications also revivedVampirella, and Marvel, after mostly taking the 1980s off, published its "Midnight Sons" line of horror comics that included such series as a revivedGhost Rider,Nightstalkers,Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins andMidnight Sons Unlimited.
In addition to its long-running titles carried over from the 1990s, Vertigo published more conventional horror, like vampires inBite Club (beginning in 2004),[69] andVamps. In addition, from 1999 to 2001 they published their own horroranthology,Flinch.
AtImage Comics,Robert Kirkman has createdThe Walking Dead.Steve Niles predominantly writes horror comics, and his30 Days of Night has spawned a range of mini-series released byIDW Publishing.[70] AtDark Horse,Mike Mignola has been working onHellboy, and has created a largefictional universe with spin-off titles likeBPRD andLobster Johnson.[71]
There had been also superhero horror comics like with Spawn, Venom, and Ghost Rider.
In the 2000s and 2010s, Marvel producedBlade and theMarvel Zombies franchise. Marvel's adult imprintMAX, introduced in 2001, has also provided a venue for reinterpretations of Marvel horror characters where more violence can be used, leading to theDead of Night miniseries based onDevil-Slayer,[72][73]Werewolf by Night[74] andMan-Thing,[75] as well as a reworking ofZombie[76] andHellstorm: Son of Satan.[77][78]Richard Corben has also been writingHaunt of Horror, a number of series based on the work ofEdgar Allan Poe andH.P. Lovecraft.[79]
In the post-World War II period, horror comics arrived in Britain, largely based on reprints of American material. This led to protests similar to those in the States. In 1955, theChildren and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act was introduced, which led to the horror reprints disappearing fromnews agents' shelves.[80]
In the early 1970s there were a couple of horror comics —IPC'sShiver and Shake andMonster Fun — but these were also humour titles pitched at younger children. It was only during the boom inBritish comics in the late 1970s and early 1980s that there were horror comics pitched at older boys and girls —IPC/Fleetway'sScream! andMisty, respectively. Whether it was because of fears over the content, or the difficult financial times in the mid-1980s,Scream! stopped publishing in 1985, with only two of its stories being merged with theEagle.[81]Lord Horror also was published.
After thecomic industry bust in the mid-1990s, the only mainstream venue was2000 AD, which featured stories likeChiaroscuro andCradlegrave, as well as those drawing on theCthulhu Mythos, likeNecronauts andCaballistics, Inc..
TheBritish small press also publishes horror comics, like theanthologySomething Wicked.
In 2008, theLondon Horror Comic launched, becoming the first full-colour UK horror comic to be shipped worldwide throughDiamond Comic Distributors.[82]
Starting from the 1960s, up until the early 1980s Italy also saw a number of erotic-horror publications usually featuring female characters. One of the first, in 1964, wasSatanik, byMax Bunker andMagnus, which belonged to the first wave of the so-called"fumetto nero" characters, alongsideDiabolik andKriminal (also by Bunker and Magnus). Satanik was quickly followed by a flurry of other horror heroines, such asJacula,Sukia,Yra,Zora (all vampiresses),Ulula (a werewoman), and others. These erotic-horror comics were mostly published by Ediperiodici andEdifumetto, helmed by publishers/writersGiorgio Cavedon andRenzo Barbieri, respectively, and were part of the "pocket erotici" editorial craze, also known as "fumetti sexy". These cheap publications featured the talents of both established and buddying Italian comics artists, such as a youngMilo Manara (onZordon), and featured colourful, gruesome and very effective covers created by commercial illustrators and painters such asAlessandro Biffignandi,Fernando Carcupino, Averardo Ciriello,Pino D'Angelico,Ferdinando Tacconi andEmanuele Taglietti, among others. Some of these publications, likeWallestein the Monster, were briefly published in English and the British publisherKorero Press has collected many of the original covers in its ongoingSex and Horror artbook series.[83][84][85][86]
Since 2018 Annexia has been publishing one-shots, featuring brand new adventures ofUlula,Jakula,Sukia andZora, among others, and in 2020 Editoriale Cosmo has reprinted some of the original stories in their "Classics of Italian Erotica" series.[87]
In the late 1980s, the genre became again popular, spearheaded by the Italian horror comic seriesDylan Dog, created by veteran comic-writerTiziano Sclavi, visually defined by cover artistClaudio Villa and published bySergio Bonelli. It has achieved great success, both in its homeland and abroad, with translations in the US (byDark Horse Comics, with brand new covers byMike Mignola), Germany, Spain, Serbia, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, Turkey and India. In the early 1990s, other publishers tried to emulate the success ofDylan Dog. Among them was ACME, which published two monthly horror anthologies titledSplatter andMostri, which featured both original stories by promising young Italian artists (such asBruno Brindisi,Roberto De Angelis and Luigi Siniscalchi, who later went to work for Bonelli, some of them even on Dylan Dog) and translated material. A selection of stories from the Splatter anthology has been collected and reprinted in two volumes, published in 2017 and 2018 by Editoriale Cosmo.[88][89]
Among the most recent and noteworthy original horror comics series areThe Cannibal Family, created in 2013 by writer Stefano Fantelli and artist Stefano Piccioni and published by Edizioni Inkiostro, and the anthologyMostri, published since 2015 by Bugs Comics, featuring work by young artists and later also established ones, such as Elena Casagrande.[90]
The term "horror" as a genre, only began circulating in Japan in the 1960s in press and everyday language. Prior to this, horror fiction as it may be known was referred to with terms like "mystery", "terror", and "dread".[91]
According tomanga author and criticYoshihiro Yonezawa, the first boom of horror manga with the success of theKaiki Shōsetsu Zenshū' and the success of theBritish horror films fromHammer Films which began circulating in Japan and gaining popularity.[92] In 1958, the first magazine devoted exclusively to horror and mystery wasKaidan which appeared atKashi-hon (lending libraries), which had 101 issues published by Tsubame until 1968.[91] A sister publication to it, titledŌru kaidan also began and lasted 84 volumes. Among the authors to these stories were Shinichi Koga, Hama Shinji,Sanpei Shirato,Goseki Kojima,Kazuo Umezu and Miki Ibara.[93] Due to the circulation of these magazines, a growing interest in the supernatural developed, inspired by traditional Japanese ghost stories (kaidan) such asYotsuya Kaidan as well as classical Japanese woodcut prints with themes of Japanese ghosts.[94][95] The stories within these publications fall into two stories set in theTokugawa era and those set in the a Tokyo filled with skyscrapers, amidst murders and eerire demonic presences. These stories began circulating with themes of vengesful spirits or ghosts, storied linked to tragic karmic fate, and both original and retelling of ancient ghost stories.[92] Stories from around the world began influencing the stories, with narratives being set in the United States and France, as well the appearing of other horrific-traits such as bats, lizard-men,Frankenstein's monster-like creatures. American writers such asH.P. Lovecraft was repedeatly paid homage to by Japanese manga authors.[96]
Following the birth and the weekly magazines, and a new style known as bothkyōfu (恐怖) andkowai (怖い) manga (terror and scary respectively) began appearing that attracted a younger audience thanKaidan (怪談) andOru kaidan (オール怪談) which appealed to teenagers. These included long series such asHakaba Kitarō byShigeru Mizuki where characters from Japanese folklore coexist with the themes from teenage manga from the period. The popularity of these stories led to similarly styledanime seriesHumanoid Monster Bem (1968).[97] Throughou the 1960s and 1970s, different publishers continued horror titles in mainstream magazines, without devoting specific publication to them, with titles likeDevilman (1972). Smaller publishers released Hibari Hit series allowed their authors to complete freedom, in whichHideshi Hino got his start.[98] The influence of these smaller published was felt in late 1980s published magazines such asHalloween published from 1986-1995,Suspiria (1987-2012), and the 1990s withHorror M. As it had in the 1960s and 1970s, the genre returned in magazines aimed at women with young women, with some authors such as Hino and Jiro returning along with newcomers likeNarumi Kakinouchi andKanako Inuki.[99]
In the 21st century, series based around zombies and the undead appeared with titles likeHighschool of the Dead andJunji Ito'sGyo.[100]
Material in these stories are often drawn from Japanese folklore figures likeyokai.[101] This includes several stories involving cats with supernatural powers, cat with metamorphic abilities calledbakeneko. Cat in these comics are often black, and have appeared in several stories through decades such asKin'iro hitomi (1960),Neko to watashi to haha to buta (1968) andBakeneko shojo (1982).[101] Like thebakeneko, transformation is another key topic, with many stories of foxes, snakes, or cranes that transofmr into beautiful women for either revenge or to ensnare a man and bring him to ruin. Often, the main character also undergoes inexplicable transformation into an animal or monstrous or hybrid creatures. These traits are key in the manga of Kazuo Umezu, which often cycle among the fear that any human being will stop being themselves and turn into something else, such asReptilia or often a child will transform into an adult, ill and lacking freedom or autonomy.[95]
Among the sub-genres of comics is theguro, meaning grotesque, bizarre, horrific. Horror manga sometimes dedicated an entire page or two to aguro scene, as unlike films which can have music to play to enhance a narrative, horror manga often had these pages to shock the reader at the exact moment of turning a page.[102] Among the majorero-guro (erotic grotesque) manga creators wasSuehiro Maruo, described byThierry Groensteen as "theDe Sade of contemporary manga."[102]
Horror comics are also published on the web, with horror webcomics that include the pioneering work ofEric Monster Millikin, an anthologywebtoon,Tales of the Unusual and Zuda comicsHigh Moon.
Comics have formed part of themedia franchise for popularhorror movies likeTexas Chainsaw Massacre,Friday the 13th,Halloween andArmy of Darkness. They have also been adapted fromhorror video games, likeSilent Hill.
Horror comics have also been sources for horror films, such as30 Days of Night,Hellboy andBlade, and, from horror manga, such films asUzumaki (2000),Z ~Zed~ (2014)[103] and two 1980s movies directed by comics creatorHideshi Hino adapted from his mangaGuinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood andGuinea Pig: Mermaid in a Manhole.Robert Kirkman's comic-book seriesThe Walking Dead was adapted in 2010 intoan ongoing TV series on the AMC cable network.
Some horror films and television programs have had comic-book sequels, such asBuffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, as well asprequels or interstitial stories, such asSaw: Rebirth and28 Days Later: The Aftermath, respectively.
Radio drama horror and suspense anthology series devoted to horror and suspense plays, such as "The Sealed Book",Lights Out,Quiet, Please,The Whistler, andInner Sanctum Mysteries, which broadcast from the 1930s–1950s, had sinister "hosts" who introduced and wrapped up the stories. The tradition was introduced into horror comics, many of which were also anthology titles, with many stories in each issue.
EC Comics utilized the conceit of a character who "hosted" the book, often starring in a framing sequence at the beginning of each issue. The most notorious EC hosts were the "GhouLunatics":The Crypt Keeper, The Old Witch, andThe Vault-Keeper. In the 1960s, Warren came up with the hostsUncle Creepy andCousin Eerie, and DC followed suit with their hostsCain and Abel (as well as such minor hosts asEve,Destiny,Lucien, and theMad Mod Witch).[c] Charlton had a large cast of hosts for their horror/suspense titles. Marvel Comics for the most part did not, though the publisher briefly used the characters ofDigger and Headstone P. Gravely.
The following is a list of hosts from various horror comics titles from over the years.
| Title | Host | Publisher | Publication dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber of Darkness | Digger Headstone P. Gravely | Marvel | 1969–1971 (retitledMonsters on the Prowl without a host) |
| Creepy | Uncle Creepy | Warren | 1964–1983 |
| Dr. Spektor Presents Spine-Tingling Tales | Doctor Spektor | Gold Key | 1975–1976 |
| Eagle | The Collector | IPC Magazines | 1982–? |
| Eerie | Cousin Eerie | Warren | 1966–1983 |
| Elvira, Mistress of the Dark | Elvira, Mistress of the Dark | Claypool Comics | 1993–2007 |
| Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion | Charity (1972–1974) | DC | 1971–1974 |
| Ghosts | Squire Shade (1981–1982) | DC | 1971–1982 |
| Ghost Manor (2 vols.) | Old Witch (1968–1971) Mr. Bones (1971–1984) | Charlton | 1968–1971 (vol. 1, retitled asGhostly Haunts) 1971–1984 (vol. 2) |
| Ghostly Haunts | Winnie the Witch | Charlton | 1971–1978 |
| Ghostly Tales | Mr. L. Dedd/Mr. I.M. Dedd | Charlton | 1966–1984 |
| The Haunt of Fear | The Old Witch | EC | 1950–1954 |
| Haunted | Impy Baron Weirwulf (1975–1984) | Charlton | 1971–1984 |
| The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves | Dr. M.T. Graves | Charlton | 1967–1986 |
| House of Mystery | Cain (1968–1983) Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1986–1987) | DC | 1951–1983, 1986–1987 (titledElvira's House of Mystery), 2008–present |
| House of Secrets | Abel (1969–1978) | DC | 1956–1978, 1996–1999 |
| Midnight Tales | Professor Coffin (a.k.a. The Midnight Philosopher) Arachne Coffin | Charlton | 1972–1976 |
| Nightmare | Skywald Publications | 1974 | |
| Plop! | Cain Abel Eve | DC | 1973–1976 |
| Psycho | Skywald Publications | 1974-1975 | |
| Scary Tales | Countess R.H. Von Bludd | Charlton | 1975–1984 |
| Scream | Skywald Publications | 1974 | |
| Scream! | Ghastly McNasty The Leper The Night Comer (1986Scream! Summer Special) Ghoul (1989,Scream! Spinechillers Holiday Special) | IPC | 1984, various specials until 1989 |
| Secrets of Haunted House | Cain and Abel Eve Destiny (issues #1-7, 9, & 11–39) | DC | 1975–1982 |
| Secrets of Sinister House | Eve (issues #6–16) | DC | 1972–1974 |
| Strange Cases inJudge Dredd Megazine | Judge Strange[104] | Fleetway Publications | 1991–1992 |
| Tales from the Black Museum inJudge Dredd Megazine | Henry Dubble[105] | Rebellion Developments | 2006–present |
| Tales from the Crypt | The Crypt Keeper | EC | 1950–1955 |
| Tales of Ghost Castle | Lucien | DC | 1975 |
| The Thing! | The Thing | Charlton | 1952–1954 |
| This Magazine is Haunted | Dr. Death Dr. Haunt | Fawcett, Charlton | 1951–1958 |
| Tower of Shadows | Digger Headstone P. Gravely | Marvel | 1969–1971 (retitled asCreatures on the Loose, with no host) |
| The Unexpected | Abel The Three Witches Mad Mod Witch (1969–1974) | DC | 1968–1982 |
| Vampirella | Vampirella (1969–1970 as host; afterward as leading character) | Warren Harris Publications/Dynamite Entertainment | 1969–1983 1991–present |
| The Vault of Horror | The Vault-Keeper Drusilla (1952–1955) | EC | 1950–1955 |
| Weird Mystery Tales | Dr. E. Leopold Maas (1972) Destiny (1972–1974) Eve (1973–1975) | DC | 1972–1975 |
| Weird War Tales | Death | DC | 1971–1983 |
| The Witching Hour | The Three Witches | DC | 1969–1978 |
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