Found within the tome of this new collection of horror stories, you’ll find Richard Corben spinning tales inspired by the likes of old EC series like The Vault of Horror or Tales from the Crypt. Calling it a tome is a bit hyperbolic, but this is thirty-some pages of a fun throwback to when horror was far more innocent.

Mag the Hag is our storyteller, and much like the Cryptkeeper, he introduces us to all the stories and has a clever turn of phrase at the end of each. In one story, two puppets are actually tiny, little creatures. In another, two people are stranded on an island after a plane crash and run across horrific roots. In the third, a wife unintentionally finds a way around ’till death do us part, and the final tale is an ancient story about gods and a man who has great strength that will continue in issue two.

The stories are a fun romp. I can’t say anything scared me or gave me chills, but I did smile with fondness whenever our protagonists stumbled unknowingly towards their wretched fates.

The thing that makes this most worthwhile is the simply stunning black-and-white art from Corben himself. He’s a master of bringing life to the absurd, weird, and horrific, and he gives himself plenty of opportunity to do so in this first issue. His work as an artist is epic and surreal through his characters’ long faces and eyes that seem to come to life. It’s a haunting landscape, because the humans are warped ever so slightly, almost as if they were mocking the reader with how closely they resemble us.

Is this comic going to be worth it for just anyone to pick up and buy? Most likely not, but if you’re a horror fan or a fan of Corben, you really can’t go wrong.