10 Essential Horror Comics Fans Must Read

From the big two and beyond, these are illustrated horror's most essential reads.

Uzumaki Manga
Viz Media

It's just a few days left until Halloween, and that means it's time to talk about some spooky stuff. I mean, we can ALWAYS talk about spooky stuff, but when it gets near Halloween, it's something of a requirement that you do that primarily.

But when the Halloween season rolls around, you don't just want any schlock to pass the season with. That might be fun for a get together with your friends, but what about when you're craving something... essential? Something that all other horror media aspire to be? And what if you want it in comic book form?

As we've discussed throughout this month, comics and horror go hand in hand, and have done so since the beginning. As such there are tons of horror comics that everyone has heard about and need to read at least once. The horror comics that are about as close to being household names as comic books - and horror comics at that - can get.

If you read any horror comics this month, make sure that it's one of these stone cold classics.

10. Hellboy

Uzumaki Manga
Dark Horse Comics

If you're looking up the best horror comics, chances are good that one of the first names you'll come across is Mike Mignola. And that's because he made one of the all time great horror action series ever made: Hellboy.

Hellboy is the story of the B.P.R.D, an organization formed in the aftermath of World War II by intelligence officers and scientists shortly after the discovery of the eponymous Hellboy. A demon sent to our world to wage war, he was instead raised up to defend humanity from everything that means it harm.

Everything great about Mignola's writing is displayed in this series. From its dense mythology, to its honoring of myths and legends from around the world, to Hellboy's snarky blue collar sense of humor about the whole thing. If you loved the movie adaptations of Hellboy from Guillermo Del Toro, these comics are everything that the movies were and more.

If you want to know where to start, there's nowhere better than the beginning with the first arc: Seed Of Destruction. The rest is great of course, but there's no better place to start than there.

There are things that go bump in the night, but this comic shows who bumps back.

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Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?