Top 5 Fridays: Team Weird Science's Favorite Horror/Creepy Comics

Welcome to a very special Top 5 Fridays! Tomorrow is Halloween; a night full of candy, costumes, and scares. Most adults commemorate the event by either trick or treating with their kids, or watch a good old fashioned scary movie. While this blog may not cover movies, we do cover comics! Thats why this week I asked members of the WeirdScience Team to chime in to tell what their favorite Horror/Creepy comics are. As always this is WeirdScience's list, so if you don't see a horror comic you like, we apologize. ALSO the covers can be considered nightmarish, so be warned of some of the images you are about to see. ENOUGH TALK! Lets get the spook fest started...

Eric

Nightbreed

Published by Epic Comics in 1990

I loved Clive Barker's Nightbreed movie so much as a kid that when I discovered that it had a tie-in comic that told a more complete story than the movie and actually continued the adventure of the Tribes of the Moon....... well, I found myself going around to comic shops, flea markets and even buying some off a friend's older brother to complete my collection.  I read these books over and over again and because of my love, I even started my first website on Geocities as a Nightbreed fan page.  If you've never checked out the movie or the comic, open up your mind a little and go check out Midian because as we all know, Midian is where the monsters go.

Reggie

Saga of the Swamp Thing #21: The Anatomy Lesson

Imagine a world where Satanic horrors lurked around every corner: secretly implied in the most innocuous films and television shows, tucked away on inaudible or reversible sections of popular music. The second comic written by Alan Moore in what would almost inarguably be the best run on Swamp Thing, this is the one that changed the very nature of Swamp Thing’s being and set the character on a path that would leave him virtually omnipotent and invulnerable. But individually, it’s just a creepy comic book, evoking the same kind of techno-claustrophobia as the movie Alien and carefully-paced to heighten the story’s tension. Frankly, I was sort of on the fence about superhero comic books until I read this issue, and today I would definitely say that Swamp Thing is my favorite character in comics. Here’s the shivers-giving comic that started it all!



Jim

Swamp Thing #23.1 Arcane

This issue was part of DC Comics big Villain's Month Event and not only did it creep me the hell out, it convinced me that Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz were freaking brilliant.  Arcane is stuck in his own private hell, one without any Rot.  While that's a cool concept, it's how Soule shows it that stuck with me.  He keeps trying (unsuccessfully) to kill a little bunny rabbit.  But, No Rot = No Permanent Death = a very depressed Arcane.  I'm sure you didn't expect math in my segment, did you?

That is only the tip of the disgusting iceberg as Soule also gives the reader a disgusting origin story and one of the creepiest rebirths I've ever seen in comics.  While most of the Villain's Month stories seemed to be aimed at making the reader feel sorry for the title characters, Charles Soule made me despise and loathe Arcane...and I'm still hoping to see him again.  On a side note, this issue was so good, it actually convinced me to start reading and reviewing  Swamp Thing on a regular basis.

Brightest Daycare

If you want a little more Daycare, click HERE

Nailbiter

When it comes to modern horror comics, there aren’t many out there that I hold up quite as high as Nailbiter; maybe it is because the series seems to scratch the itch that Dexter left behind, or maybe it is just truly off-putting and creepy in a way many other comics aren’t. Written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Mike Henderson, this book really does quite a lot to ramp up the creep-factor.

The book centers on a small Oregon town, and the fact that every serial killer in modern history was born in this one town. The artwork on the book only serves to deepen the eerie nature of the story, giving it a realistic feeling while having the ability to delve deep into the over-the-top sequences that are often commonplace in horror films. 

Jody

Arkham Asylum: 

A Serious House on Serious Earth

I may not be a horror fanatic, in fact it usually scares me away. However there is one story that I often look to as one of my favorites, and it is pretty much a horror book. 

Grant Morrison is probably a master of twisting the reader's minds with his mesmerizing and thought provoking stories, and this one is no exception. As Batman dives deeper and deeper into the Asylum, the more he and the reader is exposed to creepy and disturbing characters that give the already creepy asylum more scares.

The only thing better than the story would have to be Dave McKean's art. The art in this really brings out the horror elements, combining drawing, painting, and even photography into probably one of the most disturbing versions of not just Arkham but the inmates. The Joker in this still haunts my dreams from time to time.

It's a mind bending tale, perfect for a dark Halloween night!

That's it for the Halloween edition of Top 5 Fridays! What horror comics would you be reading on Halloween? Leave a comment and from all of us at Weird Science...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!