Summary
- Horror comics, like those on this list, provide a unique and effective way to convey terrifying stories through novel storytelling techniques.
- These comics showcase some of the best writers and artists in the industry, offering tales of gore, monsters, and darkness in a chilling yet captivating manner.
- From undead vampires in Alaska to demonic possession in modern settings, these comics explore various facets of horror, leaving readers both shocked and delighted.
Warning: All titles on this list are MATURE comics
The horror genre has been essential to the comic book industry since its inception, producing some of the medium's most critically acclaimed works, along with some of the best writers and artists. For readers who are ready for grotesqueries of gore and ghastliness, the series curated below will more than sate the appetite for terror.
Comics have an ability to communicate horror in different, more subtle ways than other media, with the format often ing novel and creative storytelling techniques, facilitating terrors that cannot be replicated. Readers are sure to be shocked and dismayed, in the best possible way, by the sheer, unadulterated scariness emanating from these tomes of terror. These are some of the best horror comic books ever created.
15 Ice Cream Man
Created by W. Maxwell Prince & Martin Morazzo
Ice Cream Man is an anthology series about a white-clad villain visiting horror on innocent people. Or, at least, that's what it pretends to be. But in twist after twist, Ice Cream Man knows exactly what you think is coming next, and then makes a more interesting, more creative, way more disturbing choice.
14 30 Days of Night
Created by Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith
Every year, in the town of Barrow, Alaska (now known as Utqiagvik) the sun courses below the horizon, departing for over a month. As 30 Days of Night demonstrates, that’s all you need for the scariest story imaginable. Anchored by the brutal minimalistic writing of Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith puts on a virtuoso performance of abstract-style horror art, as a hidden nation of vampires reveals itself to a beleaguered town on the edge of the world.
Only a simple sheriff Eben Olemaun standing against perhaps some of the most fiendish, grotesquely wicked bloodsuckers in the medium. Ultimately, 30 Days of Night is a rock solid production, which gradually unfurls in sequels into a superb monster-next-door yarn in modern America.
13 Once and Future
Created by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain
A more light-hearted tale of terror, the action-packed parable Once & Future follows museum curator Duncan Macguire, who battles a resurrected demon King Arthur alongside his psychopathic, former vigilante grandmother Bridgette. A philosophical romp, Once & Future actively reflects on the nature of self-identification with mythic figures, evoking the power of stories, and the often terrifying pitfalls therein.
Grim humor from Kieron Gillen, and a touch of cartoonish whimsy from Dan Mora, illuminate a world of medieval Halloween ghouls, ghosts, and skeleton warriors, with a certain charm that elevates this monster-hunting yarn into an endearing meta-narrative fable. Albeit one with enough darkness around the edges to conduct a proper chill up a reader’s spine.
12 Deadworld
An early pioneer in hyper-violent zombie comics, Deadworld – originated by Stuart Kerr, Vince Locke and Ralph Griffin in 1987 – is among the most harrowing documents of the medium, distilling within it a devastatingly horrific spark of ‘80s horror aesthetic, refusing to slide into self-parody despite its more absurd cultural artifacts.
The tragic tale of young survivors, attempting to make their way across the country in search of civilization amidst a zombie apocalypse, the totality of what Deadworld manages to accomplish within its black-and-white pages, in service to the old slasher-movie style, proves to be highly predictive in its oppressive brutality and bleakness, in a way which only heightens its relevancy, despite its many flaws.
11 Sláine
2000 A.D.’s long-running dark fantasy serial, about an ancient hero in prehistoric Ireland, Sláine – created by Pat Mills and Angela Kinkaid – delves into the more outlandish and unreal side of sword and sorcery, concocting a world swimming in dark wizardry and darker mayhem. Culminating in perhaps its best volume, The Horned God – drawn in twisted, madness-tinged glory by Simon Bisley – the series finds the banished berserker battling against tribes of monsters, eldritch horrors, and the ancient, insane Drune Lord Weird Slough Feg, in an epic tale of reality-bending wonder.
Always looking to push the boundaries between dream and nightmare, Sláine manages to present a refreshingly modern take on traditional horror fantasy tropes, while immersing its readers in a naturalistic, yet vividly enchanting realm of demons and dark magic.
10 Hellboy
Created by Mike Mignola
Hellboy is what comics were made for, which might explain why no movie adaptation has come close to capturing the comics' brilliance. Mike Mignola gorgeously recounts some of the most compelling folk horror tales from across the world, nailing their eery tone while contrasting it all with an incredibly likable hero who sees horror as his day job and just wants to get home before rush hour.
9 Outcast
Robert Kirkman’s follow-up to his blockbuster series The Walking Dead, created alongside artist Paul Azacata, Outcast follows exorcists Kyle Barnes and Reverend John Anderson attempting to thwart an earthly devil named Sidney from corrupting the lives of the innocent through demonic possession. A story about trust, and living with unforgivable choices, Outcast ultimately presents a tighter, and in many ways more cohesive narrative than Kirkman’s more famous series, focusing quite pointedly on the trauma suffered by victims of abuse.
While TWD may have been a showcase for Kirkman’s sprawling world-building, Outcast’s more limited scope, and non-post-apocalyptic setting, allow him more to build an emotionally focused experience, providing a resonant, more relatable, and shocking profile of modern horror.
8 Black Hole
A riveting fever dream about the consequences of STDs, Black Hole is a tour-de-force of terror, asking tough questions about social alienation and growing up. Following two 1970s high school students in a small American town afflicted with “the Bug,” an STD that mutates those affected in bizarre and often horrifying ways, Black Hole accomplishes a rare task, highlighting the existential terror brought about by making bad mistakes and being caught in bad situations.
One remarkable attribute of the series would be writer/artist Charles Burns’ ability to weave an atmosphere of disconcerting, off-kilter delirium, allowing the horror to form around the edges and gradually seep in. Not for the faint of heart, Black Hole is a masterpiece of understated horror.
7 The Sandman
Neil Gaiman’s magnum opus, The Sandman transcends genre through the celebration of storytelling, but it is always a horror comic at heart. Following the adventures and travails of the ghostlike Dream of the Endless, a godlike being who oversees the dreams of all living beings, The Sandman ends up being a story about consequences, highlighting the terrifying ramifications of what happens throughout history when those who have power use it unwisely.
King of Dreams though he may be, the titular Lord Morpheus comes to represent that which he always dreaded: a bad dream. Journeying through the realms of Faerie, encountering supervillains and claiming the key to the Gates of Hell, a sense of doom always lurks just around the corner, even in the Dreaming Pastures of The Fiddler’s Green.
6 Vic and Blood: The Chronicles of a Boy and His Dog
Though little known, the comic adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s surreal post-apocalyptic tale of a misanthropic boy and his psychic dog companion is among the most pulse-pounding, terrifying reads ever produced. In the world of Vic and Blood, there is no hope; the world spirals further and further into chaos, and the two protagonists are not on the side of order.
A violent dog, and a violent boy, Vic and Blood pulls no punches, and offers no respite from the never-ending hell of living in a world reeling from nuclear holocaust, crawling with mutated monsters. The series does not ask you to trust the boy, nor his dog. Their path of destruction, death and terror speak volumes enough.
