Summer Is For Reading Scary Comics

Horror is an underrated, versatile genre. Its appeal is less about processing societal trauma than is written about by academics, though horror does hit on a basic commonality: Everyone gets scared, and there are plenty of things to be scared about if you aren't bound by reality.

Even "I hate being scared" people enjoy the occasional horror story for this reason, especially when consumed communally. It's no wonder two of the highest grossing of the year (Obsession, Backrooms) falling under the category of low budget indie horror.

In comics, everything is low budget and horror feels equal in gravitas to superheroes, despite getting a disproportionate share of attention. That's a shame because horror books are some of the best on the shelves right now, even recently influencing the House of Ideas to borrow a cup of scary sugar. Midnight Marvel is the followup to the sorta-concluded Ultimate Marvel universe, though it's anyone's guess if it'll deliver on the marketing.

After all, a signature theme of the genre is its lack of rules, especially in regard to what is considered obscene. Thus the horror stories testing that axiom often get branded as offensive or immoral, but frequently demonstrate enough humor to sit comfortably within comedy. And, they're surprisingly honest when done correctly. You can't fake fear.

And so it is with my great pleasure to share Weird City's Summer Comics Reading List: Scary Edition, including some gems you might have missed...

House of Blood is Blumhouse-style Horror Condensed Into a Comics Anthology

At times, reading House of Blood made me feel like someone stole all the storyboard pitches from Blumhouse Productions. Other times, I could swear I was reading the condensed, preview version of a bat shit insane Mad Cave series with a 5-issue arc attached. However, this collected edition anthology of short stories manages to deliver a satisfying, complete dose of horror within a limited number of pages.

Written, assembled, and stewarded by scribe Zach Chapman, the series features a diverse crop of talented artists with a range of different styles across 13 stories. One of the most memorable is its opener, Ghost Farm, by Rapha Lobosco and colorist Triona Tree Farrell. It follows a group of wealthy snobs as they tour the creepy old house headquarters of a business that specializes in selling cursed items to haunt or harm whoever possesses it. Everything from a ghost floating above a person's bedside to various totems with monkey's paw-like side effects. The dialog exchanged while the group learns about the full product feels authentic in ways that mirror real life – that someone of means would spend the money and effort to torture others on the basis of convenience or novelty is no longer a rarity. Though that's ignoring the obvious observation: Ghost Farm is a cool idea.