Horror Comics?

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tfuhrman

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#1  Edited By tfuhrman

Hey Everyone,

I am new to comics, know almost nothing about them when it comes to genres. I just read the Bloodborne comics and I enjoyed them. Now I want more, specifically, horror comics. The only thing I'd like to exclude would be superhero-horror stuff.

Any Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

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TheMightySkullboy

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Welcome to comics! They're pretty neat!

For horror comics, you can't go wrong with anything by Junji Ito - particularly Uzumaki or any of his short story collections. Highly recommended.
Joe Hill has a whole new line of horror comics published by DC called Hill House Comics. I've only read one issue of The Plunge, but have been meaning to go back to it.
Image, Dark Horse, and other smaller publishers have pretty robust slates of horror books. I can't personally recommend these as I haven't actually checked them out, but I hear good things about books like Little Bird, Ice Cream Man, Wytches, or Something is Killing the Children. If you're not totally against superhero horror stuff, I'm a big fan of Hellboy's B.P.R.D. book. It's slightly superhero-ish, but mostly about how the world is gradually taken over by Lovecraftian horror.
And then there's all the classic EC stuff - Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Creepy, Eerie, ect. These are mostly anthologies, so the quality isn't consistent, and they're often pretty cheesy, but the art is usually fantastic. They're classics for a reason.

My favorite book these days is Zander Cannon's Kaijumax from Oni Press. It's a book about a high-security prison for giant monsters. It's kind of cartoony, but is a great mix of comedy and drama with a lot of references to popular giant monsters of every genre.

I hope you find more books that you'll love!

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Gyratyne

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It's not strictly horror, but I'm a big fan of Hellboy. The subject matter is paranormal and occult, but the tone is more pulpy and darkly humorous. I was initially attracted by Mike Mignola's art style, but over time the characters and lore kept me in as other artists started illustrating stories.

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Rich666

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#4  Edited By Rich666

If Manga counts, look up Junji Ito. Some of his art is genuinely disturbing. I'd start with Uzumaki or one of his short story collections like Shiver or Smashed.

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Forcen

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+1 on Junji Ito, that stuff is some of the creepiest stuff ive ever read.

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Nuttism

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I haven't read them myself, but I have heard very good things about the Locke and key comics. It might be what you are after as it deals with cosmic horror like Bloodborne.

As a more personal recommendation, I really enjoy the Stand Still, Stay Silent webcomic. It's somewhat of a post apocalyptic fantasy, but a lot of the "trolls" look seriously disturbing, and Minna has fantastic artwork. I recommend you at least look into it as it's all free.

Here is some mostly non-spoilery artwork from the first part

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stantongrouse

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Steve Niles has written some great horror comics, the original 30 Days of Night is pretty good and there's an omnibus of short one offs that I got really into.

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lobster_johnson

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You've had a couple of suggestions for Hellboy already, and I'll add to that.

But I would also really recommend another series Mike Mignola wrote (with Christopher Golden) called Baltimore. It's set during a sort of alternative history WW1, where a British Army Captain (Baltimore) inadvertently draws the ire of a powerful vampire. Between the vampires and the general bad vibes of this period of history, all manner of other horrors besides vampires - including the reformed inquisition - inflict themselves on the world. Mignola does not do the artwork, aside from the covers, and the series changes artist a couple of times. Ben Stenbeck, who draws the bulk of the series is excellent, though. It actually started as an illustrated novel, which I'd also recommend, but you don't need to read it to dive into the comic.

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Rigas

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The current run, Immortal Hulk. One of the best books going at the moment.

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Sessh

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#10  Edited By Sessh

Here are a couple suggestions. The sub genres vary a lot, so I'll provide some information, but most of that stuff you should really experience for yourself if you are at all interested in it.

Swamp Thing (Alan Moore run) - At the surface a simple story about a man turned into a weird swamp monster, in reality a psychological, surreal and intellectual (sometimes a bit pretentious) classic of comic book literature. It has very slight super hero tie-ins at the beginning, but those are quickly written out and non-important to the overall story.

Hellblazer (Original Series) - Another true classic are the stories featuring everyone's favourite magician and drunk, John Constantine. A very British series, with some amazing writing for the first 150 or so issues (neatly collected in 10 to 12 issue trades). There's a lot of occultism, witchcraft, serial killers and just generally shitty stuff going on, and Constantine is a great protagonist for it all, cursing, tricking and fucking his way throughout England and America.

Locke & Key - +1 from the previous suggestion. At its core a story about the loss of a parent, and young sibling coming together in a new (obviously spooky) house. The mystery surrounding the house and all the keys (magic keys, doing some very weird shit) is very well done, and most importantly, tied up well.

Harrow County - A story about a young girl who might or might not be a witch, with an evil twin, who again might or might not be a witch, set in a rural town featuring superstitious people and deep, dark woods. It's great and the artwork is top notch.

American Vampire - A great vampire story, if you are in the mood for one, following an outlaw cowboy, Skinner Sweet, turned vampire (and some of his "off-spring") throughout the decades. The historical American backdrops (1880, 1920, 1940 etc.) keep things fresh and fun throughout the entire run.

East of West - An alternate history (the US gets separated into 7 different, huge states) story about the apocalypse, with lots of political intrigue, dark humour and gorgeous artwork. Death, on of the Four Riders of the Apocalypse finds love and ends up at odds with his fellow Riders. It's basically a political, Horror-Western.

The Walking Dead - You should know this one, so I'll not go into it too much. The tv show is shit, but the comics are amazing, even better than the first couple TellTale games. Get the first Omnibus Edition for cheap and read what is probably the best zombie story ever told.

Preacher - Very snarky, very dark, very funny and very bloody - that's Preacher in a nutshell. It's a story about a Priest, who heard the word of god, and doesn't like what he hears. He ends up wanting to confront god, traveling with his on/off girlfriend and an Irish vampire, while being antagonised by fictional religious groups, a boy called Arseface (because he shot his own face "off" with a shotgun and now looks like, well, you get the idea) and a ton of Hillbilly assholes. It's not for everyone, but if you do like it, you'll probably find it to be one of your favourites.

From Hell - One-off story about Jack the Ripper. Very text-heavy and interwoven with lots of real info (and speculation) about the actual case. Not action heavy at all, but if you are in the mood for something more complex, this is it.

Ice Cream Man - A newer anthology story, about loads of different stuff, held together by a recurring, weird Ice Cream Truck guy. This series goes places.

Nailbiter - A story about different serial killers, one being more fucked up than the other. There's even some "reformed" ones, that are now just killing and mutilating animals instead. Unsettling and very gory.

Hack/Slash - A horror comedy, about a "final girl" (basically the last surviving person in a slasher flick) who starts hunting down serial killers, along with here friend, Vlad (who gets mistaken with serial killers a lot, because of his deformed appearance). Those serial killers quickly turn out to be real monsters, not just human ones. It is campy and features appearances by characters like Chucky the Murder Doll and Ash from Evil Dead. Very fun, if you like slasher flicks and comedy stuff.

Uzumaki - +1 to the Junji Ito recommendation. His stiff is very unsettling and weird, and definitely worth a read.

Hommunculus - Another manga, another weird one. The basic premise is one guy, getting a whole drilled in his head (trepanation procedure), and suddenly being able to see demons, ghosts, and most importantly, "the true nature of humans". It has quite a lot of social themes/observations obviously, but mostly it's just real fucked up fun.

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tfuhrman

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Wow. Thanks everyone! There’s a lot here to look into and it should keep me reading for a while.

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BaddArt

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Sandman starts off as horror, and very effective horror at that, but it evolves into something else entirely. It kinda becomes a more philosophical thing about humanity and deriving meaning in life from connections with others. It might not be exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s excellent.

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MerxWorx01

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@tfuhrman:

There are a number of good recommendations here especially the Junji Ito horror mangas will provide lots of reading material. My one recommendation would be "A walk through hell". A one shot series that won't take long to read that feels a bit like the movie Seven and the show Millennium mixed together.

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Somitsvk

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Let me know some horror comics online, I also want to read some of them.

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clauDDD

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now I have a whole list of things to do on a cloudy day

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Pooch516

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Locke and Keye is great.

Also I really like the first two volumes of Gideon Falls that I've read. It's a bit slower, but definitely creepy and some great visuals.

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BonOrbitz

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For classic horror, I recommend 1960's EC Comics Tales from the Crypt and the Vault of Horror. Also Creepy magazine.

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Undeadpool

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#19  Edited By Undeadpool

"Manifest Destiny" is a kind of historical horror comic that supposes that all the myths of America being inhabited by strange, fantastical creatures (as well as normal, Native people) were true, and recasts Lewis and Clarke's expedition as one of survival against a truly hostile land.

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monkeyking1969

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If you have a local library and a library card, see if they have HOOPLA. Hoopla has comic books under nearly every genra and form most of the major and independent publish houses. So, what I'm saying is YOU MIGHT have free comics to read online if you just have a library card.

Penny Dreadful from Titan Comics

Locke & Key from IDW Publishing

Orphan Black: Deviations from IDW Publishing

Clive Barker's Nightbreed from BOOM! Studios

28 Days Later from BOOM! Studios

The Red Mother from BOOM! Studios

Swamp Thing from DC Comics

Redneck from Image Comics

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cristianbitnigh

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Well, I would definitely recommend "The Thing" Comic.

The story plot continues right after "The Thing" movie from J. Carpenter.

Pretty intense especially if you are a fan of the movie.

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bitbat

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I would also recommend From Hell, it is probably not as bombastic as other comics but it is a great, complex story accompanied by amazing and unique art. I have not read that many comic books so I dont know how common this is but it also comes as one enormous book which is handy.

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Sylinder

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For some classic horror, I recommend just about anyting written by one of my all-time favorites. Richard Corben.

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norm9

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Already mentioned but old Tales From the Crypt comics are the best.