Horror comics which will give you a good spook

If you love comics and are fans of horror, then get your hands on these quick reads now.

The Dark & Bloody

Writer: Shawn Aldridge

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Publisher: Vertigo/ DC Comics

Shawn Aldridge and Scott Godlewski’s backwoods chiller The Dark and Bloodyis as concerned with real horror as it is with the demonic creature looming just beyond the trees. Iris Gentry is an Iraq War vet, returned to his Kentucky holler and running a moonshine operation out of his garage to provide for his family. When a figure from his past shows up in a threatening new form, Iris is once more thrust into battle to defend his seemingly diminished life.

Delphine

Writer/Artist: Richard Sala

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Aside from historians, few parties acknowledge that the Brothers Grimm curated some sick, sick, nihilistic folk tales. Predating Disney by 200 years plus, parents cried afoul, pressuring the folklorists into punctuating their tales with far more optimism and happy endings. (For those who disagree, Google “Bluebeard.”) Richard Sala attempts to exceed Jacob and Wilhelm’s Old World gloom in Delphine, the tale of a young man who pursues a beautiful ingénue with a nasty matron looking over her shoulder. Sala’s hatched, angular linework veers from cartoon innocence to black-hole despair within the same page, and any hint of catharsis swirls out of grasp as our “hero” blunders into unfathomable peril. This is a horrific, seductive rendition of Snow White for sadists, with an ending as unflinchingly cold as the frigid landscapes Sala renders.

Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural

Writer: Rick Remender

Artist: Jefte Palo

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Written by a nascent Rick Remender (whose brief stint with a patchwork Punisher in Franken-Castle also makes for a fun Halloween romp) and drawn by Jefte Palo, Doctor Voodoo gave a tantalizing look at the potential of the Marvel U.’s mystical side before being snuffed out at issue #5. Former Brother Voodoo and borderline racist running joke Jericho Drumm isn’t a magic-slinging rookie, but his new role as the Sorcerer Supreme tests him in significant ways. Palo’s rendering of classic Marvel demonic forces like Dormammu and Nightmare bring a new level of intimidation and fear to characters frequently underused by other creators. Voodoo never got a fair shake at owning his new role, but crappy sales and a quick cancellation can’t erase the quality paranormal action of this self-contained story arc. —Steve Foxe

For plenty more horror, check out www.vidicus.com.