Greetings ghosts and ghoulies and welcome to The Theatre of Terror the home of horror comic news, reviews, classic comic scans and creepy art from around the world. Just remember, it's not for the nervous!
Dark Horse Comics has released an Ex Sanguine teaser. Tim Seeley and Josh Emmons’s new title was teased under the strapline: “Dark Horse horror gets under your skin.” The series was first unveiled at Chicago’s C2E2 convention in April.
“It started off as our take on the vampire romance genre, which obviously is very popular, very prevalent,” Seeley said of the projects origins. “We were talking about the kind of people these stories, it’s usually the mopey sad girl finding eternal love with the supportive immortal guy. We thought that relationship would go very differently. If you were someone who spent his entire long existence killing people, you would 1.) get bored, and 2.) you’d be looking for someone to make it exciting and you wouldn’t be able to relate to normal people. The longer we talked about it, we realized the perfect romance would be between a vampire and a serial killer.
“That’s the high concept: it’s a romance between a vampire and a serial killer. But it’s lots of other things,” Seeley continued. “It’s kind of a detective story. And the vampire and the serial killer kind of try to set each other up for a series of murders. But in the meantime, they’re having this twisted romance. Kind of ‘Dexter’ meets ‘True Blood,’ that’s the Hollywood pitch.”
The writer is best known as the creator of Hack/Slash. He is currently working on Witchblade and Revival.
A Hack/Slash movie adaptation is currently in development.
Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows’s Neonomicon has been withdrawn from a public library in the US following a complaint over its sexual content.
Some dippy bitch didn’t realise quite what they were getting themselves in for when they selected a comic from Greenville County Library in South Carolina, despite the fact that the GN was in the adults section.
The library pulled two copies of the anthology from its shelves after Carrie Gaske filed an official challenge against it. Check out the full news story below.
GREENVILLE, S.C. —
It doesn’t take much to get 14 year old Jennifer Gaske hooked on a new book. “Just as long as it has somethign good in it,” says the rising 8th grader. Gaske and her mother, Carrie, frequently go to the Anderson Road branch of the Greenville County library system to check out books. Recently, the teen found the book, “Neonomicon”, in the library’s adult section and thought it would be a real page turner. Kids above the age of 13 can check out books in the adult section, if they have their parents’ permission. “It looked like a murder mystery comic book to me,” recalls Carrie Gaske. “It looked like a child’s book. I flipped through it, and thought it was ok for her to check out.”
After a few chapters, though, Gaske got a shock. “It was good at first,” says Jennifer. “Then it got nasty.” Her mother says, “She came into my living room and asked me what a certain word meant and I said honey where did you hear that word? I said that’s a nasty word we don’t use that in the house.”
Inside the book, Gaske found graphic sexual content and pictures of nude men and women engaging in sexual activity. Seven on Your Side cannot show much of that content because it is so explicit. “The more into I got the more shocked I was, I really had no idea this type of material was allowed at a public library,” says Carrie Gaske. “I feel that has the same content of Hustler or Playboy or things like that,” she says. “Maybe even worse.”
The library system’s executive director, Beverly James, says although the book was placed in the library’s adult section, teens with a “juvenile adult” library card are allowed to check out books in that section. Gaske still believes such books should have a warning label for parents as well. “I really think if they’re going to carry this type of material there needs to be a rating on it,” Gaske says. “There’s ratings on movies, music, video games. My daughter cannot go to the video game store and get a mature video game without me there.”
James says the library system has never used a rating system, and it’s up to each parent to read between the lines, and decide what’s appropriate for their child. Gaske has filed an official challenge to the book. For now, the system’s two copies in circulation have been pulled from the shelves while a committee reviews the content. “I’m definitely going to have to review every book they read more from now on,” says Gaske.
Also of note, back in 2010 this same graphic novel was banned from Secret Headquarters comic store in Florida, due to “the pornographic content”. I don’t know about you but this just makes me want to read it even more.
Nominations for the 2012 Ghastly Awards are now open over on ghastlys.blogspot.co.uk These awards recognise the outstanding achievements within the field of horror comics. Visit today and vote for your fave.
Massive 30 Days of Night sale over on Comixology. Prices have been slashed! Only 2 more days left. Move, now. Now godammit, before it’s too late…aaaarrghhhh
Publishing house Dark Horse are set to release a selection of pre-code golden oldies updated with accurate color restoration, uncoated off-white paper, and an impressive roster of foreword writers.
Amongst this selection stands the amazing Adventures into the Unknown. The title was released in the fall of 1948 by B&I Publishing (later known as American Comics Group) and enjoyed a run of 174 issues for nearly two decades, ceasing publication in August 1967. Though not the first horror comic published (one-shot Eerie Comics of January 1947 holds the distinction), Adventures Into the Unknown was the first horror comic to enjoy regularly scheduled publication.
The comic will feature a series of essays by Bruce Jones, focusing on the long-running horror anthology and the climate that led to the Comics Code Authority. Adventures into the Unknown managed to dodge the mass cull of the 1954 Comics Code Authority due to a focus on ghost stories and spooky goings on rather than rampant canabilism and sexy ladies.
The pre-Code delights found in this anthology include exciting tales such as “The Living Ghost,” “Kill, Puppets, Kill,” “The Affair of Room 1313,” and the ongoing “True Ghosts of History” feature—and contributions from Golden Age greats Fred Guardineer, Al Feldstein, Leonard Starr, Edvard Moritz, and others!
Check out the preview…
Also available in this range: Silver Streak, Crime Does Not Pay, and Forbidden Worlds.
The comics found in these collections are incredibly hard to find, expensive, and full of freewheeling, pre-Code fun (and sometimes viscera). It’s a joy to be able to handle these comics and work on these collections—but a bigger joy comes from being able to bring these stories to new readers and to finally assign credits to some creators who have been uncredited for decades!
said Dark Horse editor Philip Simon.
The comics in these anthologies are seen as revered and influential—but they’ve been impossible to find. Now Dark Horse is making these gems available in affordable collections for discussion, dissection, and inspiration!
Adventures into the Unknown Archives Volume 1 is on sale May 30, 2012.
Silver Streak Archives Featuring the Original Daredevil Volume 1 is on sale June 27, 2012.
Crime Does Not Pay Archives Volume 2 is on sale July 11, 2012.
Forbidden Worlds Archives Volume 1 is on sale December 12, 2012.
This coming August, Vampirella and Barnabas Collins meet for the first time EVER in Dark Shadows/Vampirella #1! Written by the acclaimed Marc (Manhunter) Andreyko and drawn by Patrick Berkenkotter, with a cover by Fabiano Neves, this will be a cross-over to remember! Be sure to pick up Dark Shadows/Vampirella #1 this coming August!
In Dark Shadows/Vampirella #1, when the disappearance of a family friend brings Barnabas Collins to New York, he is ill-prepared for the seedy underworld of clubs that awaits him! And Vampirella’s quest to find the “Big Apple Butcher” sends her on a collision course with the vampire of Collinsport! Will Vampirella and Barnabas uncover the shocking identity of this madman before they kill each another?
“Barnabas Collins and Vampirella are two classic characters in vampire lore, so getting the chance to pen their first meeting is a blast,” says writer Marc Andreyko. “I remember watching Dark Shadows reruns and sneaking peeks at the Vampirella magazines when I was just a wee lad, so getting to do this book seems like fate! And I’m not going easy on Barnabas or Vampi in this series, either! They are going to be put through a gauntlet of terror before this book is through!”
Jim Pierson, spokesman for Dark Shadows rights owner Dan Curtis Productions, adds, “It’s fun to further expand the reach of Dark Shadows and hopefully expose the classic characters to new fans who might just be discovering Barnabas with the new Johnny Depp movie.”
“Cross-overs get a bad rap when they’re not done right, or they feel forced,” adds Dynamite editor Joe Rybandt. “But this one felt like a natural the moment we had the idea. The setting, the characters, the bad guys…the whole thing has come together so naturally, and Marc and Patrick are the perfect pair to make it happen.”
Viper Comics is proud to announce its Digital 1st comic series which is being launched today, “Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter”. Get your digital copy for only .99 cents at Graphicly, iVerse, Comixology, iBooks and Amazon.
The series launched with the release of Issue #1 in March. Issue #2 followed on April 18th. Issue #3 is released on May 16 and Issue #4 releases on June 13. The trade comes out on July 11th. Just in time for Comic-Con 2012.
Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter
Written by Russell Nohelty | Art by Renzo Podesta
Ichabod Jones is a deranged, mentally unstable psychopath. He’s also on a mission to save the world. At least that’s what the bossy voice in his head tells him. The same voice that led him to be interred in a maximum security mental asylum in the first place. Now, he must escape from the asylum and rid the world of monsters in the midst of the Apocalypse. Of course he’s a psychopath, so who knows if anything going on in his head is real in the first place.
I love comic book trailers, take a look at this one below.
Back from the Depths and The Theatre of Terror are delighted to announce a new member of the team for 2012.
Starting this week, Decapitated Dan, aka Dan Royer, the horror comic journalist, blogger, podcaster, and THE head of horror heads, will be providing horror comic reviews and news here on this site!
Dan is a horror comic journalist living in Illinois. He has been covering horror comics since 2009. He hosts two podcasts; Discussions with Decapitated Dan and Tales From the Water Cooler. Dan is also the founder of Dan Con, a local comic book convention in Chicago, IL. He is also the founder of the Ghastly Awards, awards that honor excellence in horror comics.
We’d like to welcome Dan to the team and we hope you’ll enjoy his horror comic reviews as much as we do.
Tim Daniel and Mehdi Cheggour’s upcoming Image Comics/Shadowline one-shot Enormous looks like the sort of GN we could really get our teeth in to. It’s an apocalyptic tale concerning the rise of of huge creatures, dubbed ‘The Enormous’, all hell-bent on wiping out humanity, following an man-made ecological event gone wrong.
You are the bottom of the food chain. A fading point of light in the course of evolutionary history. A dying species. You are human. You are a child – and Ellen Grace is coming to collect you. The ‘Enormous’ have ravaged the planet. In their wake of destruction, mankind has fallen. The race to stave off extinction has begun.
This 64 page one-shot is described as being suitable for fans of:
Genre-based survivalist fiction like The Passage, The Terror, On The Beach, Alas Babylon, The Walking Dead, World War Z, The Mist, Monsters, Troll Hunter, Cloverfield, The Host, Giant Monsters, Kaiju, Godzilla, THEM!, The Blob, Universal Monsters, Hammer Films, Ray Harryhausen and more!
It’s clear from this list that writer, Tim Daniel, has a certain fondness for monsters and the apocalypse, so we know what to expect from Enormous, yet we can see that he is also treading new ground.
Check out this preview gallery below:
What really stands out about this project is their lovely looking website which has been slowly expanding in content over the last year. The Enormous team have been enlisting the help of artist to create teasers and pin-ups, running art competitions on forums and posting little bits of info on their website since April 2011. This new approach to slowly and organically growing interest in their project has helped to accrue a fan base prior to the launch.
This approach is a fantastic idea and should definitely be a part of every comic creators marketing scheme. If you’re putting together a comic you need a website as a point of interest for potential fans or distributors. Why not make it a great site? It can only help to increase excitement in your project and foster a connection with your audience.
Enourmous will be available July 2012. In the mean time take a trip to their feature-filled Enormous website for more on this exciting new comic.
Following the success of their debut event in October-November 2011, the UK’s festival of horror in the performing arts will be returning this Halloween for three weeks of macabre entertainment.
The Etcetera Theatre, Camden will play host to this year’s Festival, which welcomes a broad range of horror theatre, comedy, magic and performance art, from psychological spine-chillers to all-out splatter, improvised ghost stories to grotesque stand-up and séance magic to body horror, and almost anything else imaginable. The purpose is to foster new talent as well as nurturing the already burgeoning live horror scene within the UK.
Applications are now open for this year’s festival, and they’re happy to accept submissions from performers or companies regardless of whether they have explored the horror genre before. If you like a bit of performing arts then they’re looking for exciting and committed groups looking to push the boundaries of live entertainment.
It’s not like we’ve ever needed an extra reason to look at men’s mag Playboy but this month issue features an origin story of fan’s favourite Michonne written and drawn by series creator Robert Kirkman and art regular Charlie Adlard.
There’s only 4 days left to get your votes in for the 10th annual Rondo Hatton Awards. Since 2002 the Rondos have been fandom’s only true classic horror award. They are decided by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee has been recognized for a significant achievement in the genre during the year of 2011. This year’s nominees for best horror comic are:
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S TALES OF MYSTERY (Graphic Classics). Includes Murders in the Rue Morgue.
FLESH AND BLOOD: BOOK ONE (Monsterverse). The Hammer film that never was, by Robert Tinnell and Neil Vokes.
GODZILLA: KINGDOM OF MONSTERS (IDW). Eric Powell tells a human story amidst the monster rallies.
BOB HOWARD: Plumber of the Unknown by Rafael Nieves and Dan Dougherty. Ordinary jobs don’t stop this monster hunter.
HELLBOY: THE FURY (Dark Horse). Can this really be the end? Mike Mignola surprises everyone.
MONSTERS AMONG US (monsters-among-us.com). Celebrating the four-color fun of monstrosities.
PLANET OF THE APES (Boom!) Daryl Gregory and Carlos Magno pick up the story from Battle.
THE STRANGE CASE OF MR. HYDE (Dark Horse). Jekyll is dead. Then who…? By Cole Haddon and M.S. Corley.
30 DAYS OF NIGHT (IDW). Steve Niles and Sam Kieth revive the true world of vampires.
THE WALKING DEAD (Image) Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard go far beyond the TV series.
XOMBI (DC). John Rozum and Fraser Irving resurrect David Kim in this dark tale of snow angels and mummies.
There are plenty of other horror categories all competing for the coveted awards so get yourself over to the website and vote quickly, before something terrible happens!
Do you want to join the Scream team? We're looking for enthusiastic people to contribute articles on horror or comics here on The Theatre of Terror. Contact me for more info.
Dark Horse Comics has released an Ex Sanguine teaser. Tim Seeley and Josh Emmons’s new title was teased under the strapline: “Dark Horse horror gets under your skin.” The series was first unveiled at Chicago’s C2E2 convention in April.
“That’s the high concept: it’s a romance between a vampire and a serial killer. But it’s lots of other things,” Seeley continued. “It’s kind of a detective story. And the vampire and the serial killer kind of try to set each other up for a series of murders. But in the meantime, they’re having this twisted romance. Kind of ‘Dexter’ meets ‘True Blood,’ that’s the Hollywood pitch.”
Publishing house Dark Horse are set to release a selection of pre-code golden oldies updated with accurate color restoration, uncoated off-white paper, and an impressive roster of foreword writers.
Back from the Depths and The Theatre of Terror are delighted to announce a new member of the team for 2012. 
Following the success of their debut event in October-November 2011, the UK’s festival of horror in the performing arts will be returning this Halloween for three weeks of macabre entertainment.
There’s only 4 days left to get your votes in for the 10th annual Rondo Hatton Awards. Since 2002 the Rondos have been fandom’s only true classic horror award. They are decided by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee has been recognized for a significant achievement in the genre during the year of 2011. This year’s nominees for best horror comic are:
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