10 best current horror comics you should read
Horror comics have been a big part of the medium for decades, and right now, horror-focused comics are some of the best on store shelves. Readers also have a wide variety of choices. They range from independent titles like Something is killing the children to the Marvel superhero series like the one that just ended The Immortal Hulk.
The allure of horror comics extends far beyond the Halloween season, with unsettling yet thought-provoking stories that explore horror themes far beyond mere gore. Some of the more interesting horror comics may not be horrific in nature at all, but nonetheless ask major questions about life, death, and the agency.
ten X-Men Comics
From the start of the Dawn of X X-Men comic book era in 2019, there is a disturbing feeling that something is wrong. Some of the best X-Men issues of the 2010s heralded a new era for mutants on Krakoa, but ending death through resurrection protocols also seems to be the start of questions about what it means to be alive, and even what it means to be the person you thought you were.
While not blatantly horror in nature, the themes explored over the past two years of X-comics are no different from those of Frankenstein. Professor X presides over this experience with frightening detachment, with subtle and disturbing hints that something is wrong with Krakoa.
9 red room
red room by writer and artist Ed Piskor could be the obviously horror-themed comic book on shelves today. A bloody exploration of a secret internet sub-world devoted to killing people live, the comic resembles an Eli Roth movie from the early 2000s.
It introduces many scary characters like Poker Face which have a very disturbing impact. A big draw in comics is art, which uses a lot of comic book techniques like Duo-Tone to create a raw, raw feel that’s perfect for the brutal nature of the story.
8 Nocterra
Nocterra is a new comic book in progress from famous writer Scott Snyder, responsible for some of the best Batman comic book numbers from the 2010s, and artist Tony S. Daniel.
The comic has a great 30 days of night atmosphere with lots of action and suspense. The whole world has been plunged into eternal night, and society has been destroyed by frightening creatures that roam the dark. Val is a woman who transports survivors from the wasteland to one of the few outposts of civilization.
7 Low woods, low
Down, Down, Wood is a disturbing comic book set in rural Pennsylvania (set in the aptly named Shudder-To-Think), where endless fires at abandoned coal mines have created a strange and spooky landscape. Rabbits have human eyes and teenagers lose their memories and more.
The comic is written by Carmen Maria Machado, with Dani’s gritty art that really makes it feel like everything is covered in the soot of the fire. It comes from Hill House, the DC Comics imprint overseen by author Joe Hill, son of Stephen King.
6 Still water
Similar to the X-Men comics and even The Immortal Hulk, Still water discusses the concept of what it means to be unable to die. Immortality is not what it is claimed to be in this remote city. One consequence of not dying is that no one gets old and everything atrophies somehow for the residents.
Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Ramón K. Perez, the story revolves primarily around the character of Thomas, whose mother smuggled him out of town as a baby. He returns as an adult adult to face a dark past that remains exactly as it was decades ago.
5 New York Maniac
New York Maniac takes the slasher genre embodied in movies like Friday 13 at truly outrageous levels, but he never goes for comedy. This is despite being written by Elliot Kalan, who has been a writer on The daily show and Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The comic follows a single serial killer on a truly epic adventure across New York City, and no one is able to stop him. It’s sort of a commentary on the seemingly absurd nature of slasher movies, even though it reflects a deep and real fear people have of such things.
4 Gideon Falls
Gideon Falls is one of the most visually striking and inventive comics in all of comics today, with some crazy Andrea Sorrentino art that portrays the surreal reality inside of a place called The Black Barn. Reality crumbles inside the barn, as does the spirit of anyone who enters it.
Writer Jeff Lemire, who also created Sweet tooth, the comic from which the recent Netflix series was adapted, creates a story that takes full advantage of the comic book medium. Panels become portals and what is and is not real loses all sense of certainty.
3 Monster
Monster At first glance, it looks like an epic fantasy, but it also contains some horror elements that might make it appealing to readers. Written by Marjorie Liu and drawn by Sana Takeda, this award-winning Image Comics series tells the story of Marika Halfwolf, who is psychically linked to a demon-like monster who can manifest from her amputated arm.
Marika has shades of Magik from The new mutants, but the story is a fantastic and original fusion of magic and kaiju, with wizards fighting monsters and Marika fighting all over the place.
2 The Immortal Hulk
The Immortal Hulk, written by Al Ewing, recently concluded its fifty issue series. Now that the series is over, readers can follow the series from start to finish as they explore David Cronenberg’s levels of body horror.
The series explores the Hulk in a completely new way, with the hero never being able to die thanks to his gamma radiation powers. He regenerates from body parts and discovers other creatures and cosmic entities beyond himself, such as The One Below All, which makes the Marvel Universe a more terrifying place than it was.
1 Something is killing the children
Something is killing the children features a great protagonist in the form of Erica Slaughter, who has Buffy Summers echoes in the way she slashes monsters. She arrives in a town where all the children are gone, leading to a mysterious, bloody story with some truly creepy monsters at heart.
Writer James Tynion IV and artist Werther Dell’Edera are creating a must-see series with many twists and turns that have made it very popular as a comic, and it is well on its way to becoming a Netflix streaming series by Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan.
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