When we think of comic books, often the first thing that comes to mind are superheroes. Superheroes dominate comic book titles and storylines, but that doesn't mean that all comic books are about the battles that erupt between Superman and Lex Luthor, Batman and the Joker or the Avengers and Hydra.
Some comic books create the stuff of nightmares, with stories that offer everything horror buffs love: scares, blood, gore, shocks and thrills.
In the 1940s and 1950s, horror comics were extremely popular, including titles such as the first full-length horror comic story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in 1943. There were also a lot of great anthologies that kept kids reading under their bedcovers by flashlight at night, too, including titles like Eerie Comics and Adventures into the Unknown.
Today, horror comics remain a popular staple in comic book stores, sitting on the shelves beside superhero titles. Here's our guide to some of the best horror comics available now.
Death Head (Dark Horse)
We're starting our list off with a brand new title by Dark Horse Comics, a publisher that is no stranger to the world of horror comic books. If you've always found those medieval plague doctors creepy, then you'll want to pick this one up because it's about a couple who stumble upon an abandoned village, where they end up discovering a plague doctor-masked killer who ends up hunting them.
This is classic horror at its finest: the couple in the woods who wander into evil.
Constantine: The Hellblazer (DC)
You can't have horror without the con-man magician himself, John Constantine, who has spent so much time fighting evil that he's officially become something of a pop culture icon and has even inspired characters on other TV series (such as Supernatural's Castiel). Constantine even got his own short-lived TV series, so it's no surprise that the character is just as popular today as he was back in 1985, when he made his first appearance.
Constantine: The Hellblazer is still a new title, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have the same horror factor as previous incarnations of the character. Currently, Constantine finds himself hunting a serial killer, someone killing off his ghost friends. The first panel of Constantine: The Hellblazer #1 shows Constantine in a shop covered in blood, so if that doesn't hook you immediately, nothing will.
Harrow County (Dark Horse)
Dark Horse is only three issues into its new southern gothic horror tale Harrow County, but the title has become such a hit that the first issue sold out quickly, and Universal wants to turn it into a TV series. Harrow County has all the classic horror tropes: a dead vengeful witch, a young girl coming into her own supernatural powers and people who want to kill her before she goes nuts and kills everyone else. There are some truly horrifying images in the artwork, too, including that of a skinless boy who becomes a friend to the story's main character.
Harrow County is certainly bound to keep you up all night for fear that the "haints" might come for you if you fall asleep.
Wytches (Image)
You know you've got a great horror title if horror author Stephen King gives it a thumbs up. That's exactly the case with Wytches, which tells the tale of a family who moves to a remote town, hoping to start over after a traumatic event. Of course, things are never that easy, and there are ancient, scary things waiting in the woods. Wytches is often terrifying and always entertaining, and it may have you keeping the lights on while reading, just in case.
Haunted Horror (IDW)
Welcome back to the 1950s era of horror comics. Haunted Horror's team have done painstaking work in restoring some of the best horror comic stories of that time period, complete with their over-the-top art and crazy stories of the macabre. If you want to relive an era when horror comics were something of a guilty pleasure best hidden from your parents, this is a title you'll want to subscribe to.
The October Faction (IDW)
There's something about the month of October that always brings back our love for Halloween and all things spooky and scary. The October Faction brings those memories and scares to life, telling the story of a retired monster hunter who now teachers others about monsters in mythology. Of course, his family is anything but perfect and includes a "thrill-killer," a witch and a warlock. Imagine The Addams Family, but scarier.
Shadowman (Valiant)
Shadowman is actually a superhero, but what he fights is a lot more terrifying that the villains Batman ever goes up against. There are evil forces in the city of New Orleans, who have come through a portal from the "Deadside." It's up to Shadowman to defeat these forces and save the city from being invaded by monsters and prevent the Deadside taking over the world.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Archie Comics)
For most of us, our only exposure to Sabrina from Archie Comics was with the TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. However, in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the character is less hokey, a lot darker and often battles the truly horrifying things that go bump in the night. This comic is so far removed from that TV series that it's very nearly its opposite, but there is one similarity: there's a rule that witches cannot fall in love with mortals. In the first issue, though, the differences between the comic and TV show is immediately obvious: Sabrina often finds herself walking the thin line between good and evil and often makes morally ambiguous choices.
This is a modern dark retelling of Sabrina and her adventures, so if you're looking for the funny talking cat with all the punchlines — although a talking Salem does appear in the comic — this isn't the title for you.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
