Written by (See Below)
Art by (See Below)
Cover Art by Doug Mahnke & Wil Quintana
SUMMARY:
DC Comics released this 168-page paperback compilation in 2019, from a pair of one-shots: 2017’s DC’s House of Horror # 1 followed by 2018’s Cursed Comics Cavalcade # 1. House of Horror’s eight stories occur in nightmarish alternate realities while Cursed Comics’ ten tales evidently exist in mainstream DC continuity. The eighteen tales are:
- Bump in The Night. Writer: Keith Giffen & Art by: Edward Lee, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi, & Rob Leigh. Smallville farming couple, Jonathan and Martha Kent, are prey for a demonic young refugee from planet Krypton.
- Man’s World. Writer: Keith Giffen & Art by: Mary Sangiovanni, Bilquis Evely, Mat Lopes, & Taylor Esposito. Channeling a psychotic Amazonian warrior’s spirit, a teenage girl commences a deadly rampage.
- Crazy for You. Writers: Keith Giffen, Bryan Smith, and Brian Keene, & Art by: Kyle Baker. Egged on by a ghostly Harley Quinn, an unhinged demolition crew member at Arkham Asylum lashes out on a killing spree.
- Last Laugh. Writer: Keith Giffen and Nick Cutter & Art by: Rags Morales, Lovern Kindzierski, & Wes Abbott. Inside a deranged Bruce Wayne’s mind, Batman and the Joker are split personalities destroying him.
- Blackest Day. Writers: Keith Giffen and Brian Keene & Art by: Scott Kolins, Romulo Fajardo, Jr., & Josh Reed. After consuming Earth, a vampire-like zombie virus infiltrates the JLA’s Watchtower base on the Moon.
- Stray Arrow. Writers: Keith Giffen and Ronald Malfi & Art by: Dale Eaglesham, Jordan Boyd, & Pat Brosseau. As the zombie-like Arrow Killer terrorizes Star City, there may be another predator lurking out there.
- Unmasked. Writers: Keith Giffen and Wrath James White & Art by: Tom Raney, Gina Going-Raney, & Sal Cipriano. While a gigantic, subterranean insect destroys Gotham City, Gotham’s District Attorney Harvey Dent pursues a serial killer whose trademark is ripping and slicing off the faces of innocent victims.
- The Possession of Billy Batson. Writers: Keith Giffen and Weston Ochse & Art by: Howard V. Chaykin & Wil Quintana. Goth teenage punk Billy Batson resists an ominous calling that threatens his girlfriend.
- The Spread. Writer: Tim Seeley & Art by: Kyle Hotz; Fco Plascencia; & Steve Wands. Swamp Thing /Dr. Alec Holland resorts to desperate measures to halt a mutant plague threatening Earth.
- Gorehound. Writer: Gary Dauberman & Art by: Riccardo Federici; Sunny Gho; & Steve Wands. On a dark and stormy Gotham night, Batman pursues an unexpected serial killer, whose murder sprees are reminiscent of gory slasher films.
- Siren Song. Writer: Vita Ayala & Art by: Victor Ibañez, Matthew Wilson, & Clayton Cowles. In Greece, Wonder Woman faces off underwater vs. a shape-shifting demon of legend.
- Life Sentence. Writers: Kenny Porter and Riley Rossmo & Art by: Ivan Plascencia & Tom Napolitano. In deep space, Green Lantern Guy Gardner’s off-world partying is interrupted by a distress call that pits himself against an unexpected foe.
- Yellow Jack. Writers: Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko & Art by: Gabriel Hardman, Trish Mulvhill, & Clayton Cowles. In 1853 New Orleans, Jason Blood’s escape from Etrigan’s curse inadvertently triggers a demonic serial killer.
- Strange Visitor. Writer: Mags Visaggio & Art by: Minkyu Jung, Jordie Bellaire, & Josh Reed. In Metropolis, Clark Kent and his wife, Lois Lane, are targeted in their sleep by a mysterious phantasm.
- The Monster in Me. Writer: Michael Moreci & Art by: Felipe Watanabe, Jonas Trindade, Rumolo Fajardo, Jr., & Andworld Design. In Seattle, an exhausted Green Arrow hides from Black Canary that a personal demon has literally surfaced in his mind.
- Mercy Killing. Writer: Bryan Hill & Art by: Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini; & Carlos M. Mangual. In a secluded Japanese village, amidst snowfall, Katana & Black Lightning safeguard a sleeping young girl from a ghostly demon preying upon her.
- The Devil You Know. Writer: Dave Wielgosz & Art by: Christian Duce, Rumolo Fajardo, Jr., & Tom Napolitano. On a Gotham night, Damian Wayne’s Robin teams up with Solomon Grundy on a dire mission of mercy.
- Halloween Hayride. Writer: James Tynion IV & Art by: Mark Buckingham, Andrew Pepoy, & Jordie Bellaire. After finishing their magic show in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Zatara inspires his 19-year old daughter, Zatanna, to go out and experience the true spirit of Halloween. In part, she opts to protect a little girl from a wicked prank that her teenage brother has in mind.
REVIEW:
A Very DC Halloween’s appalling first half often lives down to another reprehensible DC collection: Joker’s Asylum. No matter how good the production values really are, high-caliber visual styles don’t disguise ghastly shock value. This initial content hovers between Tales from the Crypt and the kind of vile, misogynistic trash that EC Comics peddled in the 1950’s. In a slightly different context, one may deem this Halloween collection as being written in the spirit of DC’s Blackest Night saga, including its worst extremes.
Suffice to say, it’s hard to fathom legitimate entertainment value in the first eight stories. An odd exception is the Shazam! tale, which just abruptly ends. Readers don’t see what this goth Billy’s Shazam looks like (let alone what he’s supposed to do –is now he’s the World’s Mightiest Vampire?). Otherwise, there’s no practical reason for analyzing these debauched House of Horror tales. Re: why DC Comics doesn’t include a parental advisory label, perhaps one is inclined to ask impressionable kids, who merely see Batman on the cover.
What’s in Cursed Comics Cavalcade # 1, however, is another matter. Again, the visual styles are duly impressive, especially the gothic aura of “Yellow Jack.” These remaining ten tales are macabre to varying degrees without excessive gore – that is, with one exception. There’s a grisly (and unnecessary) close-up in “Gorehound” spelling out this reviewer’s contention that glorifying cannibalism for entertainment’s sake is inexcusable.
Incorporating its plot twist, “Gorehound” is almost a complete story. What missing is a convincing glimpse of Batman’s deductive reasoning in play to give this Bat-tale more credibility. The same applies to “The Monster in Me,” as writer Michael Moreci teases far more than he actually delivers. Specifically, Moreci leaves readers hanging re: the truth of the demonic taunts. The only fair inference is that Ollie’s broken bow evidently signifies that the hallucinatory spell, too is now broken, too.
Aside from these instances, the remaining stories are solidly conveyed as is. Among them, Zatanna’s innocuous hayride is a surprisingly PG-friendly finish for this nightmarish compilation. In that sense, if these eighteen tales had all deployed the tamer style of Cursed Comics Cavalcade, a Very DC Halloween might have merited 8 to 9 Stars. Due to the House of Horror’s icky contributions chalking up a total zero, this reviewer is compelled to split the difference.
Note: Curiously, the back cover’s hype for Zatanna might imply that her story is Paul Dini & Dustin Nguyen’s well-regarded “kcirT Ro taerT.” Though “Halloween Hayride” is a good read (with excellent visuals), the sinister Dini-Nguyen tale would have been ideal for inclusion in this particular collection.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Both covers are reprinted in full-page color. Michael Wm. Kaluta & Lovern Kindzierski provide the cover for DC House of Horror # 1. Mahnke & Quintana created the cover for Cursed Comics Cavalcade # 1.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5 Stars
