The Headless Horseman has arrived just in time for Halloween. This Dark Horse Comics horror anthology features five tales presented by a Murderers’ Row of creators to give you the chills, presented by the Headless Horseman. Let’s dig in.
“Leech Lake,” written by Dave Dastmalchian and Leah Kilpatrick, tells of teenage Kay. She is still into trick-or-treating while her friends would rather go to Brad’s Halloween party to check out the guys. This year, Kay has a Halloween costume that will change the way people see her. Dastmalchian and Kilpatrick’s short is strong, and Sara Scalia and Mauro Gulma’s art and color combine to give a creepy atmosphere to the story.
“Feeder” is a subverted zombie apocalypse story from the zombies’ point of view. While it masterfully starts off with a human ready to mow down hordes of the undead, it quickly pivots to our undead hero Jeffrey. He’s worried about his family and how they’ll survive when the world runs out of humans to eat. Ben Stenbeck pulls double duty of writing and coloring. Matt Smith’s inks are great, and Stenbeck’s colors make this a zombie tale worth telling.
In “Stingy Jack and the Cursed Lantern,” Lukas Ketner tells the story of a man who pulls a fast one on the devil when he tries to take his soul. Eryk Donovan’s sepia-toned art gives this story the old-timey, gaslamp feel that it needs. Stingy Jack is the best anti-hero whose just desserts are well deserved.
James Asmus’ “The Spice of Life (and Death)” features hipster heavy metal couple Shae and Vic, new residents to a town obsessed with pumpkin spice. What happens when Vic tries to fit in with the rest of the townspeople? The results are what I have feared most. Chris Panda’s art is subtle until it’s not, but by then it’s too late.
Rounding out this annual is “Little Rabbit” by Jay Martin. This satirical, yet horrifying, take on domestic violence and abusive relations is the shortest story of the collection, yet it’s also the most impactful. While there’s not a lot of dialogue from the protagonist, the facial expressions say it all. Jay Martin’s tale is chilling without having any supernatural elements to build on.
Frank Cvetkovic does the lettering for all of the stories and gives them exactly what they need for as diverse as each story is.
Dark Horse is crushing it with horror right now. If these are all ways to test the waters with creative teams, each of these stories deserves its own titles. The worlds presented in this book would all be interesting to explore.
Creative Team: David Dastmalhian (writer), Leah Kilpatrick (writer), Ben Stenbeck (writer and colorist), Lukas Ketner (writer), James Asmus (writer), Jay Martin (writer, artist, and colorist), Sara Stella Scalia (artist), Ben Stenbeck (artist), Eryk Donovan (artist and colorist), Chris Panda (artist and colorist), Mauro Gulman (colorist), Name (letterer), etc.
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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