Halloween Comics: Part TwooOOoo

Hello again, kiddies! Its only your old pal Lycanthropy Lee aka The Crypt Kipper here once again to raise your hairs and night your mares.

Previously, I unleashed the mighty Halloween Comics Blog Part One which was, like my scab collection, what I personally picked, but I also put a scream shout out on Twitter to see what my fellow fiends would recommend and like a zombie that hasn't had its brain destroyed here's what came shambling back...

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Lee Robson ‏@lee_robson

Last year, I re-read Judge Dredd: Necropolis, if that counts. I might do it again this year. Oddly, I do know of a horror based comic coming out soon-ish, called Babble. Maybe you've heard of it...?

Mike Hell Burns ‏@elblondino

I'll be reading the London Horror comics I got at Thought Bubble last year again. some great stuff in there. I'll also be re-reading the fantastic Lovecraft Anthology from @SelfMadeHero

Scary Jane Thompson ‏@SallyThompson

I think a reread of Vera Brosgol's Anya's Ghost is called for!

Luke Foster ‏@CartoonistLuke

Werewolf by Night!

P M Cannibuchan ‏@PMBuchan

Video Nasties by Chris Doherty. I called it my horror graphic novel of the year 2011 at SCREAM: The Horror Magazine!

Stacey Whittle ‏@stace_w

Damaged Goods! Anything at all by Cy Dethan. Gonna assume you've got Misty on there and the Lovecraft Anthologies?

Nicromancer W ‏@NicWilko

Uzumaki - the only comic ever to make me feel physically sick for days. Another horror comic suggestion Bullet Proof Coffin and BPC Disinterred by David Hine. Creepiest thing I've read all year! Not to forget Unbelievable by Simon Wyatt (not only for the lovely lettering!) Not full on horror - but monsters aplently - and X'd Out and Black Hole by Charles Burns. Ok, I'll stop now.

Ok just one more... Self Made Hero's Lovecraft Anthology. Must mention Blood: A Tale by JM Dematteis & Kent Williams as a vampire story with a difference. One of the first comics Cy showed me.

Cy Dethan ‏@CyDethan

Definitely recommend David Hine's Bulletproof Coffin and Bulletproof Coffin Disinterred for anyone's Halloween reading list! Exquisite Corpse from Dark Horse. 3-issue serial killer story. Can be read in any order for different reading experiences.

Corey Brotherson ‏@CoreyBrotherson

Have you already got Bayou Arcana? Plenty of horror over/undertones...

Maura McHugh ‏@splinister

Locke and Key. The Walking Dead. Róisín Dubh (cheeky, as that's mine!)

Andy Bloor ‏@andybloor

The Walking Dead, Locke and Key and Garth Ennis' Hellblazer.

Laura Sneddon ‏@thalestral

Rachel Rising, Ben Templesmith's Welcome To Hoxford, Blackgas, Pixu, The Drive-In, Johnny The Homicidal Maniac, The Last Christmas. Maybe Jesus Hates Zombies? Ooh, and Severed. Also Twisted Dark. And Uzumaki and anything by Steve Niles. Not that I have a lot of horror comics or anything, ahem

Happy Hallowynne ‏@davidwynne

Anything by Cy Dethan is an obvious choice. Other than that... hmm. ...er, From Hell, I guess? Richard Corben's Ragemoor? I'm so not a horror guy. Oh, just seen Cy recommend Bulletproof Coffin. I second that, strongly! Also, Strange Embrace.

Bloodless Noble ‏@douglasnoble

The Furry Trap by Josh Simmons is a pretty essential read when it comes to horror comics right now...

Matthew Craig ‏@TheMatthewCraig

Creator-owned but written by Jen Van Meter, I think, but The Blair Witch Project Comic (Oni). I could only read it once. *brr*

Andy DiGHOUL ‏@andydiggle

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing

Matt Gibbs ‏@matthewgibbs

I do like to read V for Vendetta on November 5th, but don't really earmark anything for Halloween. Guess if I was to pick Halloween comics, I'd go for Hellblazer, the Lovecraft Anthologies and Springheeled Jack. And for more child friendly, Bevis Musson's Dead Queen Detectives and The Graveyard Cats.

Phlegmily Scare-All ‏@emilyterrible

Here's one of my favourite Junji Ito comics, The Long Dream (reads right to left)

Vera Bones-Ghoul ‏@verabee

This one. Holy crap. The Enigma Of Amigara Fault

Becky ClooOOooOonan ‏@beckycloonan

If you can track down Hellboy: Heads, it's the creepiest Mike Mignola story I read. Floating heads! So good. [Heads can be found in Hellboy v4: The Right Hand Of Doom - Lycanthropy Lee] Also it's less comic & more world-building art book, but Al Columbia's Pim & Francie is super creepy.

Laura Trinder ‏@xbirdyblue

I'm reading Jill Thompson's Scary Godmother and it's making me super Halloweenified!!

M ‏@dreadnaut

I Luv Halloween is so wrong in the right ways.

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There you go, kiddies, more than enough bleeding reading material to see you through the witching hours. Sincere fangs thanks to everyone who made an improper suggestion. If you have any fangtastic comics you want to recommend or review for us just eek-mail us or stalk us on Twitter. Until next time... night night, kiddies, don't let the buggers bite you!

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Halloween Comics: (Severed) Part One

Portrait c/o Valia Kapadai
& White Knuckle

Hello kiddies! Its your old pal Lycanthropy Lee aka The Creepy Crapper here once again to spine your tingle and goose your bumps. 

Its that time of year when a young ghoul's thoughts turn to all things frightful and gruesome - yes, its time for my annual bath *shriieeek!* - but fear not for it is also Halloween, so I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite spooky comics. They may chill you. They may shock you. They may even terrify you. But remember never, ever to read them in the dark.... because you won't be able to see the pages. That would be stupid, what are you some kind of nitwit....?

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THE UPTURNED STONE / PIGEONS FROM HELL

These are two comics by Scott Hampton that I read every Halloween as a personal tradition. The Upturned Stone is an original story written by Hampton himself; a nostalgic, Stephen King-ish tale of four boys who find themselves sharing dreams of a child murderer and the vengeful spirit that consumes them. Pigeons From Hell is an adaptation of Robert E Howard's classic haunted house/zombie story. Both comics are beautifully painted in such dark earthy tones that you can almost smell the dewy soil and dusty floorboards - and both instil genuine feelings of creepy unease.

Both stories have been published in several editions including Hampton's 2-volume Spookhouse anthology, the Sept 1993 issue of Heavy Metal (Upturned Stone) and The Mammoth Book Of Zombie Comics (Pigeons From Hell). We reviewed both these more fully in SPBM ep12

WOLVES / THE MIRE 

Becky Cloonan's two brilliant mini-comics of medieval horror are both now on my Must Read Every Halloween list. Her writing evokes the classic ghost stories of MR James and Edgar Allan Poe combined with the grime-spattered fantasy of George RR Martin and her stunning black and white artwork delivers a chill on every page.

You can buy both comics from Cloonan's website. You won't regret it. (By the way, for the next couple of days you can get 20% discount of all her prints in her online store if you use the password MADNESS.) We reviewed Wolves more fully in ep32 and The Mire in ep40.

HIS FACE ALL RED / MARGOT'S ROOM

I personally can't imagine anything less atmospheric than reading ghost stories on a flicking laptop screen, but I'm obviously a stupid stupid fool of an idiot because Emily Carroll uses the webcomic form to create the cleverest and creepiest comics you are ever likely to read. Genuinely unnerving, genuinely enthralling and genuinely innovative.

You can read both of these stories (and others) on Carroll's website HERE free, gratis and for nothing. How's that for a treat? We reviewed His Face All Red fully in ep26 and Margot's Room in ep34.

DAMAGED GOODS

Reading this horror anthology by Rich McAuliffe & Mark Chilcott is about as comfortable as feeling someone lick your brain from the inside of your skull while Leatherface bends you over for a prostate exam. If you like horror that burrows into your subconscious and shits in your dreams then I urge you to buy this book.

CREEPY PRESENTS BERNIE WRIGHTSON / FRANKENSTEIN ALIVE! ALIVE!

If comics art has a Master Of Horror then it must surely be Bernie Wrightson and here are two prime examples of why, which almost bracket his career. Firstly we have a lush hardcover collection of all his early horror strips from legendary 70s magazines Creepy and Eerie, including eyemelting classics such as The Black Cat, Jenifer and The Pepper Lake Monster. Then we're bang up-to-date with Wrightson's current in-progress project which revisits the tour de force that was his 1983 illustrated version of Frankenstein. This time done in comics form ably abetted by partner-in-crime Steve Niles. Speaking of whom...

30 DAYS OF NIGHT

...if comics writing has a Master Of Horror then Steve Niles must surely be the leading contender for the bloody crown, and this original modern classic telling of an Arctic vampire siege must surely be the jewel in that crown. I have a few quibbles with Ben Templesmith's art, but what he lacks in clarity of character and storytelling he more than makes up in style, atmosphere and sheer visceral impact. 

BAYOU ARCANA

Loyal SPBMers will need no introduction to this anthology of swamp horror as we championed it almost from conception. What was most gratifying is that the final book was even better than I expected with an almost perfect blend of horror and soul, which you can experience for yourself by purchasing it HERE.

HELLBOY: THE WOLVES OF SAINT AUGUST

Mike Mignola's big red creation is a stranger to no-one reading this I'm sure, and if you've never read Hellboy you really should, I mean seriously what the fuck have you been doing with your life?? Anyhoo, its all brilliant beautiful stuff, but this lycanthropic novella is a personal favourite. It can be found in Hellboy v3: The Chained Coffin And Other Stories along with other excellent shorts like The Corpse, The Iron Shoes and A Christmas Underground.

HACK/SLASH

If your taste in Halloween treats runs to the likes Freddie Kreuger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers then this is the comic for you - a kind of Buffy The Slasher Slayer - as Tim Seeley's creation Cassie Hack hunts down maniacs, slashers and serial killers of the knives, masks and chainsaws variety. Very pretty, pretty witty and bloody good fun, this long running comic has been collected into several meaty omnibus editions.

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Well kiddies, I'm spent. But join me after midnight when I reveal more revolting recommendations courtesy of a motley collection of internet fiends. See you then....

Episode 40 Prize Draw - The Winner Is....

Afternoon SPBMers! As you all know we ran a prize draw with Episode 40 - all you had to do to enter was post a comment on the episode blog - well today we programmed the mighty SPBMputer* to generate a random number and the number was 1 and the first person to comment  and therefore the winner of the Super Duper SPBM Prize Draw Goodie Bag is.....

SARA DUNKERTON!

Congratulations, Sara! Your prize will be winging its way from the SPBMansion to you via the astonishing SPBMessenger Service** faster than the human mind can comprehend.

* an internet random number generator website.

** the post.

Newsbites 22 yo

You jonesin' for another hit of news? Okay, just gimme a break dog I've been hitting up Breaking Bad season 2 pretty bad this week and its affected my brain yo. Get ready for the bongs, bro.

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Item! Paul Thompson tells us "We'll be doing a 24 Hour Comic this weekend - we'll be keeping our site updated at Newcastle24hrcomic"

Item! Davey Candlish will be launching a new horror anthology comic for Halloween in the style 80s comics Scream & Misty. They even have an exclusive interview and story-behind-the-scenes with Scream editor Ian Rimmer. Details can be found on the Aaiieee!!! Facebook page 

Item! Check out this Corporate Skull issue 6 teaser image (and start date) from Comedy Genius™ Jamie Smart.

Item! No More Heroes #3 - signed and limited - is out now and available to buy from the NMH website, where you can also read a preview. 

Item! The long and eagerly awaited Babble (ISBN 978-0-9832238-5-6) will be released in December from Com.X, priced £10.99 / $17.99. It's available for pre-order now (Previews order code: OCT120971). More info on the "Where To Buy" page of babblecomic.com. In other news Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle talked to Broken Frontier about Babble HERE.

Item! The Lovecraft Anthology Vol 2 is out now in the US. Perfect for Halloween, yo. 

We're big Strictly Come Dancing fans here at SPBM Towers as all good SPBMers know and Stacey is again blogging each week at Whittle Waffle. Have a look if you like that sort of thing.

Item! Stephen Downey tells us the game he co-developed Shaking Safari is now available for FREE on the Apple App Store: HERE … and HERE … Give it a go!

Item! Comicsy the online marketplace for British small press comics has launched. Check it out.

Item! Check out the cover to FutureQuake's Something Wicked 8 by Connor Boyle. Its an absolute corker!  …

Item! You can pre-order Jennie Gyllblad's Jenspiration issue 1 from here: HERE  And if you provide her with a pic of your face she will doodle you as a chibi in it. She has also re-stocked her Steampunk Tea prints, now in A4 size in her shop HERE  if you fancy a looksee.

Item! Sara Dunkerton has posted a DoctorWho Impossible Crossing update, with panels, photos and Geek Syndicate interviews! Materialise your eyes HERE …

Item! The nominees for the very first British Comic Awards have been announced. And there has been an interesting reaction to the nominees on the Forbidden Planet blog and on nominee Rob Davis's blog.

Item! The lovely, talented and quite possibly cybernetic Valia Kapadai & Pavlos Pavlidis have been interviewed on video at the Shapescapes blog where there is also a print interview in English for non-Greek speakers.

Item! ...speaking of The Valiant One there's a fabulous and intriguing 4 page preview of Unseen Shadows: The Immaculate Abortion Of Dina Leigh at the Unseen Shadows website HERE from the twisted talent behind White Knuckle - Cy Dethan, Valia and Nic Wilkinson.

Item! Here's a thing: ComiXology begins accepting self-published comics. Details at Venturebeat HERE

Item! Steve Sparke tells us "Kranburn just released issue 4...and it's awesome." Check it out HERE

David "He's a Winner" Wynne has collected all his genius Ideasman issues into one handy blog post HERE also he's taking of commissions again so pay him to draw stuff for you. Also he has a new T-shirt design in his shop his online shop.

Bevis Musson's Dead Queen Detectives Omnibus 2nd print run launches at Thoughtbubble next month. New colour cover, new extras, only £5. DQD gets the SPBM seal of fabulous, if you've not read it yet you really should or we will stop being your friend, yo.

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Right, that's all the news that gonna float. I'm off to cook. 

My dinner. 

Stew and dumplings. 

Yo.