Most people associate horror with the month of October; however, there are fantastic horror comics being released every day of the year. Here are a few fantastic indie titles that will creep you out in the best ways possible:
SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN from BOOM! Studios
Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Werther Dell’Edera
This one has been on a few "best of" lists already, and if you haven't checked it out yet, here's a quick synopsis to convince you why you should. When the children of the small, quiet town of Archer’s Peak mysteriously begin to go missing at an alarming rate, most never to return, the townspeople begin to despair. Panic ensues when the few children that do return tell tales of horrifying monsters that the adults cannot see, creatures of shadow capable of bloody destruction. They find that they must place their hope in the arrival of a mysterious and unconventional stranger named Erica Slaughter. She alone can see the monsters and she vows to kill them, because that’s what she does. However, things get even more complicated in Archer’s Peak when new information comes to light and the mysterious organization that Erica belongs to gets involved.
SLEEPING BEAUTIES from IDW
Based on the novel by Stephen King and Owen King
Adapted by Rio Youers
Art by Alison Sampson
Any comic adapted from a Stephen King novel is sure to be creepy, and Sleeping Beauties is no exception. Set in the small town of Dooling, a strange sleeping sickness dubbed Aurora begins to take ahold of the women in town. As the women fall asleep, they are enveloped in a thick cocoon-like web from which they cannot be awoken. Men begin to panic as one by one all of their wives, mothers, and daughters are found mysteriously swaddled and unconscious. Stranger still, a woman named Eve walks out of the forest and leaves a trail of destruction behind her that results in her apprehension and placement in the local women’s prison. While the other inmates fall to Aurora, Eve alone is observed to be able to sleep and awaken with no ill effects. Furthermore, she seems to know more about Aurora than she has said.
VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE from Vault Comics
Written by Tim Seeley, Tini Howard, and Blake Howard
Art by Dev Pramanik
Although this series is based on the cult-favorite tabletop game by the same name, readers don’t have to know anything about the game to enjoy the comic. Set in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the series actually tells two tales which take place at the same time and eventually conjoin. The first, titled “Winter’s Teeth,” is based around vampire and unlikely protagonist Cecily Bain. Working as an enforcer for the vampire Camarilla, she is known as the “dirty boot” of Prince Samantha Merrain and takes on the unsavory jobs that the rest of the Prince’s entourage feel are beneath them. While visiting her aging and dementia-ridden human sister, whom she keeps hidden from the rest of the Camarilla, Cecily encounters young fledging vampire Alejandra, whom has been abandoned by her sire. In an unexpected move, Cecily takes the girl in as her own childe and the two soon find that they are intended to be pawns in a dangerous power struggle for the very heart of the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, “The Anarch Tales,” follows a group of rag tag vampires as they struggle to survive outside the city. Made up of four vamps from different bloodlines and clans, they are tasked with solving a murder, a charge which seems to be leading them right into the heart of Cecily’s plight with the Camarilla.