Hello, my friends. The time for tricks & treats is drawing ever-so nearer as the spirits of old begin to stir at a hauntingly swift pace. As the terrors of All Hallow’s Eve continue to grow, I’ll be making sure that you receive a wide variety of different horrors as I welcome you all back to another entry of the…
Up to this point within 2024’s “Oops! All Anthology” Edition, we’ve taken a look at a pair of comics that came from the greater Image Comics library. From WildC.A.T.S. teammates sharing their past supernatural encounters over the years to a showcase of monster-themed main characters hailing from several late 2000s series, we’ve seen the various twists & turns that all of these figures have ventured upon within those pages. While the feeling of horror was a bit more prominent in the former when compared to the latter, our featured comic will see the genre rightfully get to the forefront of its singular narratives. This time around, we’ll be delving into the independent crypt in order to dig up a particular book forged within the Keystone State’s southwest corner.
Released in October 2021, this periodical was published by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company called Comicsburgh, which was created that same year by Marvin Wynn, Grant Lankard, D.P. Brown and Manny Theiner. According to their website, they initially began with a series of online videos showcasing their local work on the “Heroineburgh” YouTube channel. From there, those four men would come together in order to form their own creator-owned content while also providing lots of helpful advice to those who’re interested in creating their own comics. As for the book itself, it turns out that it was crowdfunded through Kickstarter, even though it barely made it past its $4,000 pledge goal by gathering $4,188. Now that this lengthy introduction is out of the way, we have a multitude of horrifying short stories to check out within this book. As such, let’s creep inside and see what awaits us.
We open within a graveyard where we’re introduced to our main host named the Ghoul Master. After starting things off with a few puns along with a brief ramble about some rumors surrounding him, he then sets the stage for the comic’s first story involving a certain pandemic.
From there, we transition into our inaugural tale called “Co-Axial” (Story & Art: Grant Lankard) as it begins with a woman who’s forced to stay inside her home due to an ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Despite that, she mentions in her narration that she was “always a homebody” and that this initial lockdown didn’t bother her since she was able to keep up with work & her exercises while knowing that it will all pass eventually and that she plans on being more outgoing once that happens. However, some toxic pollen storms emerge as another lockdown gets enforced where it would begin to warp her relationship with the outside world. By the time that a completely different pandemic rolled around in the form of a rabies variant which also forces all pets to remain inside as well, there wasn’t any time to get used to the prior two epidemics ending before this one ramped up. By then, she felt like a prisoner within her house. She kept trying to tell herself that she’s able to work from home and got to tutor rich little kids online, especially since everyone was going through the same ordeal and that she had the entire house to herself. However, this whole situation began to make her depressed, especially since she was all alone for several days on end. By the time that a certain Sunday morning rolled around, she was at her wit’s end as she truly felt captive within her own home and thoughts. As she continues to deal with her ongoing situation, she suddenly hears some patting from her patio door where she finds a cat. She was already aware of the rules that the news informed her with concerning the rabies variant, specifically about it being airborne and that it can pass from mammals to humans in addition to there being “no reliable warning signs”. Because the present lockdown is being strictly enforced, she risks either going to jail or winding up dead in addition to the fact that it’s illegal to harbor any pet without the proper paperwork. Even though she narrates about how she should’ve just either called pet control or just let it wander off into the woods, she ultimately decides to let it in.
We then shift ahead by several weeks into Spring where the pandemic continues to rage on and the strict lockdown is still enforced. It turns out that allowing the cat to stay has helped her mental health since she’s taking extra online classes, and it’s helped distract her from the never-ending epidemic raging outside. While she does listen to the news, she does mention that there haven’t been any major breakthroughs on the rampant rabies. As such, she keeps her cat away from the outside world while it helps maintain some semblance of mental sanity. Little does she know is that there’s some demonic-looking creatures being created by the raging pandemic. As time passed, the cat continued to provide her with some much-needed company in order for her anxiety to get properly dealt with. However, the existing peace wouldn’t last as she wakes up to a newscast concerning the treacherous revelation about the raging rabies within the Presidential Address.
Even though there’s some invasive species emerging and that there’s no signs of a grand invasion being involved in this, Animal Control is going to take some aggressive actions in order to get it under control. Not only that, but they’re on patrol for any unregistered pets since they’ve been listed as “a grave risk” to their ecosystem. She tries to naively convince herself that there’s nothing wrong with her cat, but the newscast then mentions how there’s some identifying factors that reveals their infected natures such as the invasive species not making any natural noises. She then remembers that her cat didn’t make any recognizable sounds, let alone a single meow, as she goes to check up on it. To her horror, she finds out that it’s been mutated by the rampant rabies as she’s forced to flee into her bedroom. She then grabs a gun in order to defend herself from the creature. However, she’s not able to pull the trigger on it as they come to a cuddling compromise before the story ends with several more animals right outside her patio door as she narrates about the both of them having so much love to give.
Following several more puns, the Ghoul Master proceeds to transition his readers into the next story called “The Succession Clause” (Story, Art & Lettering: David Schuler).
We begin within a Medieval setting as a man named Shapiro is sitting within a tavern and feeling bummed. His friend named Julian tells him that he’s been sitting there for the last twenty minutes and wants to know why, to which Shapiro mentions a woman’s name: Dominique Destine. Julian asks him why the “Warrior of the West” bugs him, to which Shapiro explains that she’s his new commander, despite his prior captain retiring and him assuming that everyone within the unit would simply get promoted. However, he didn’t receive the upgrade, and he has to serve under her rule. It turns out that Angelica Brooke’s first order of business as the new captain was to bring in Dominique to become the new commander and fill the role that he thought he was going to automatically get. While he’s willing to forgive Angelica since he truly believes that she’s earned her title, he speaks in toxic tongue about Destine. Specifically, he mentions his huge disgust towards her poor appearance before making a sexist comment about how she essentially needs to stay at home in order to “cook” and “make babies”. Julian (who agrees with him, by the way) then asks him how he’s going to “set things right”, to which Shapiro says that he has a plan to do just that in the form of the “Succession Clause”. He explains how a long time ago, “a more talented lower officer” could use the clause in order to kill off his commanding officer in order to automatically take control of their rank. While Julian does recall this, he also says that it was discontinued due to the constant infighting that came out of it and that it nearly destroyed their kingdom. However, Shapiro considers that as “revisionist history” and says that it was adjourned due to it not fitting into their kingdom’s “reformist agenda”. As such, he’ll use the Succession Clause since he also says that it can still be invoked. Once he prevails, it’ll inspire “others” into helping them restore their brand of order within the king’s guard and expel the “reformists” from their kingdom.
Later, he returns to the castle before he comes across Dominique who can easily pick up on his alcoholic stench before ordering him to return to his sleeping quarters. Afterwards, Shapiro takes out a book that he has within his bedside cabinet before revealing a small blade that he has inside of its pages. This dagger is called Moonspell and is able to grant its owner with their deepest desires. Not only that, but it’s also sentient as it tells him to speak his desire before piercing his own skin. As such, Shapiro demands for the strength that he needs in order to slay his “greatest enemies” as well as protect his kingdom before he cuts his left arm.
From there, Destine hears a knock on her bedroom door as she answers it and discovers Shapiro right outside. He then demands for her to hand over her title of Commander over to him due to his belief that she’s usurped his right to said rank. However, she simply laughs at him before demanding that he gets out. Even as he invokes his right to the Succession Clause, she doesn’t take his claim seriously before telling him that this evening will serve as his last night as a ranked officer. He then insults her before the Moonspell’s enchantment turns him into a monstrous being that manages to tower over her.
He then attempts to kill her, but she’s fortunately able to dodge in time before retrieving her sword in order to fend him off. However, he’s able to subdue her within his tentacles while not taking her title of “Warrior of the West” seriously. Fortunately, she’s able to free herself before she slices away at her monstrous foe. Despite being able to cut off his left arm, his limb regrows into a giant dragon. However, it tells him that it’s all over and that his wish has been fulfilled as it eats the monstrous Shapiro before exploding and leaving behind the Moonspell dagger.
Sometime later, another woman named Jordan Lowry has been promoted to Lieutenant by Captain Brooke. After sending her out to perform her duty, Angelica informs Dominique that the mystic blade has been returned to their catacombs and has had its security beefed up in order to prevent a similar situation from occurring. Not only that, but a motion has been put forward in order to ban the Succession Clause outright. Destine that asks her about the dagger, to which Captain Brooke explains that it’s a cursed magical artifact that’s supposed to grant its wielder’s deepest desire. However, it gravely backfires for those who expect to use it in order to acquire some kind of greatness without having to work for it. While the Moonspell dagger has been placed inside its new storage, Dominique says that she saw it chomp down on Shapiro before returning to its original blade form. However, there wasn’t any sign of her foe’s remaining body as Angelica explains that there’s a legend where every prior user of said dagger has vanished without a trace. As they wonder about Shapiro’s ultimate fate, the narrative ends with the reveal that his soul is now trapped inside the small blade for all eternity.
After he decides to drop the puns for this transition, the Ghoul Master then gets his readers ready for the next tale that involves, to a certain degree, charity in a certain yarn called “Do-Gooder” (Story: Matt Miner, Art: Clay McCormack).
We open to a town that’s been ravaged by a natural disaster before we focus on a man who’s among the individuals who’re providing some much-needed help to the victims. In his narration, he mentions how much he’s been helping others is his life and the fact that he only does it because people are in need of help. During a moment where he’s clearing the wreckage within a certain area, he comes across a young girl’s lifeless body and gets briefly furious at the sight of it. As he does an interview with the local news and her body gets taken away, he mentions how Mother Nature missed its mark, so an opportunist has stepped in to deliver the kill. Afterwards, he flies towards another disaster zone and even helps in the rescue of a person who was trapped underneath some extensive rubble. As the citizens praise him for his commendable deed, he suddenly spots an odd-looking figure standing in the distance.
As the day goes on, he continues to provide his personal services as he narrates about being needed for this and that the hard work is its own reward. However, he keeps spotting the same being before he eventually chases after it. Even though he does corner it, he narrates about how in order for him to properly help others, he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way. Despite mentioning that he can’t kill this demon, he can’t help but indulge as he surprisingly murders an innocent civilian. From there, the tale ends with him giving a regular interview while narrating about being a do-gooder and that it simply “feels nice to help”.
Following a one-page interlude where the Ghoul Master has called up his agent in order to try and get out of his current gig, he ends up being reminded of his job as he proceeds to get his readers ready for the next story involving a nerdy comic book fan who’s “having trouble telling the difference between real life and fiction”.
From there, we begin our narrative about “The Trench Coat Killer” (Story: Grant Lankard, Art: Valentina Perrone) within the room of a young boy named Geoffrey who’s reading a horror comic just as his mother comes in and expresses her disgust towards the “death and dismemberment” that he’s checking out. She then tells him to head outside, but he simply dismisses her as she warns him that his whole life will end up becoming a comic book. Just then, Geoffrey notices that this recent event has just popped up within his horror comic as he decides to head out to the local park. As he hangs out there, a young girl named Jeanie walks up and asks him if he would like to play a game of Fortress with her. However, he offers for them to play a different game called Homicidal Maniacs. From there, Jeanie’s mother comes in to take her away while telling her to never play with him again on the grounds that he has “problems” and that there’s something wrong with him, especially since the police discovered him playing with some dead animals.
After he walks back home, he finds his mother watching the news as they bring up a report about a mass shooting at their local mall. He disturbingly asks her if they could go there in order for them to check out the dead bodies, but she tells him to return to his room. After he does so, he picks up his horror comic (which has the same title as this book, by the way) and discovers that it’s actually showing the mall-based shooting. His comic then contains the titular murderer who stabs a victim to death with a knife before he goes to sleep in order to get ready for school the next day.
We then shift to the next morning where Geoffrey is walking to school alongside a friend who’s able to notice that something’s bothering him. After Geoffrey freaks out for a brief moment due to him quickly seeing who he thinks is the Trench Coat Killer, he finally explains that he saw the titular murderer in his comic and that his book is seemingly coming to life. Not only that, but the killer was getting dressed within a room that looked like his basement. To help him out, the friend tells him to head into his basement tonight in order to discover that there’s no murderer there and that it was just a comic in order to help him properly sleep. After night has fallen, Geoffrey heads into his basement in order to investigate. Suddenly, he discovers the trench coat and hat within a box before he narrates how it all makes sense to him now. He makes several realizations on how the killer’s face was never seen within the comic, he weirdly relates to the monsters from the various horror movies and that he’ll never fit in, yet he doesn’t want to. As such, the narrative ends with him deciding to embrace his destiny as the Trench Coat Killer.
After one final bit of rambling about the earlier-mentioned misconduct, the Ghoul Master then proceeds to bring up our final story for this book.
Specifically, it’s a Hollywood-based tale called “Kisses Cold As The Grave” (Story: Brian K. Morris, Art: Claudio Adriano, Grayscale: Roy Moon) as we open within the office of a psychiatrist named Dr. Anthony King who makes an account on his recorder about a venture that he went on. He sets the stage within the pre-production of the Minoan Studios movie called Love’s Deadly Embrace where a young starlet named Heidi Laine thanks the film’s producer named Tor Murnola for casting her as his female lead. Afterwards, she gets introduced to her male co-star named Bellaq Varney. Eventually, the cast comes together for a script reading where some chemistry begins to form between the two leads. We then shift to several days later as Heidi visits Dr. King for her therapy session where he learns about her newfound infatuation with her co-star and tells her that it’s not unfound for actors to develop some close feelings towards each other. She mentions how this isn’t a regular crush, since she’s become incredibly entranced by him after only a week due to his hypnotic eyes. She then tearfully says that she’s never been this entranced by a man before, yet she absolutely loves it. Because of this unusual infatuation, Anthony decides to head over to Minoan Studios in order to meet Bellaq. Once he makes his way to the sound stage, he comes across a familiar friend named Basil Akerman who’s directing the movie. After learning that they’re only shooting at night, Dr. King stays put to check out the production in progress. After Varney gets his make-up applied, Anthony approaches the make-up artist and learns that the main lead is only infatuated with his female co-star, along with the fact that he had some excess powder applied onto him due to a bad screen test. Dr. King is then able to get a private screening of the audition before he comes across Bellaq’s wardrobe and make-up test. He then makes a key discovery about Varney as he wonders how he’ll be able to share what he’s just found out to Heidi. From there, she’s met upon by Bellaq who presents her with a bouquet of flowers as a personal appreciation for her hard work towards the movie. After he gets invited into her dressing room, she then admits that she finds him both charming and handsome. He then tries to warn her about “the others”, but he suddenly decides to leave while being unaware that Tor is watching him from afar.
Meanwhile, Dr. King meets up with the studio’s staff physician named Dr. Hans Kleinschmidt and asks him for every last insurance physical for the studio’s film project. However, Anthony doesn’t spot any certain names on the documents. Suddenly, a mysterious figure comes in and hits both of them in the face with enough force to knock them out before dragging them away in order to swiftly deal with them. Meanwhile, Laine meets up with Varney in the studio parking lot who offers to apologize to her as well as offer an explanation. She then assures him that he doesn’t need to tell her that he’s sorry, especially since there’s something that she’s been wanting to do ever since they got their scripts. Later, they proceed to practice their lines with Basil observing them. On a similar note, to how her character wants to become a vampire’s “immortal love”, they also seem to have grown attracted to each other since they begin to lean in to give each other a kiss. However, Akerman reveals himself as a vampire before telling Bellaq that they have a centuries-old agreement with each other in that they must share the woman amongst themselves. Varney tells him to stay away since he’s willing to protect her before the familiar figure revealed as Murnola comes in carrying Anthony & Hans while revealing that he’s also a vampire by saying that the woman’s blood will keep all three of them “alive, young & powerful” before he tosses his two male captives onto the floor. Dr. King vows to defeat them all, yet Tor tells him that he’s only lived a scant lifetime while he and his fanged allies have been around for centuries. Not only that, but he tells Anthony that his Hippocratic Oath prevents him from harming any living soul. Dr. King tells him that they’re “parodies of truly living creatures” and that he’s honor-bound to take them out since he’s actually a psychiatrist, not a physician. At the same time, Basil approaches Bellaq who’s forced to defend Heidi. She then tells him that there’s only one way for him to properly protect her as Varney reluctantly decides to bite her neck and turn her into a fellow vampire. Akerman and Tor decide to go after Bellaq for going against their deal, but Dr. King manages to inject them with some hypodermics containing a garlic and saline solution, causing them to melt away. Afterwards, Varney thanks him for his key assist before asking him how he found out that he and those men were vampires. Anthony tells him that not only is he a fan of his work, but he also saw his screen test which even included Anthony & Murnola with all three of them not physically visible on screen aside from their clothes. As for how Bellaq was able to be properly seen on screen, it was the applied make-up that’s allowed him to be visible and go on to have an acting career. Dr. King then says that he’s seen more weirder things “than undead movie stars” before telling Varney and the new-vamperized Laine that the sun is about to rise before wishing them the best of luck as a new couple. And so, the story ends with them heading out to ultimately be never seen again while the Ghoul Master oversees this final scene while providing a pun.
Afterwards, the comic ends with our horror host comically admits to making several insensitive remarks towards various living, non-living and monstrous beings.
Overall, this EC Horror-style comic is a unique independent book with several good elements going for it. “Co-Axial” combines the isolation that humanity felt durint the Coronavirus pandemic with another mutational virus to provide its own different take on John Carpenter’s “The Thing”. Because of the short story format, this disease is already on the mainland yet isn’t the world-ending threat like that potentially was. This plays up on the isolation very well since our main character is forced to endure three different major diseases within her own house without having the comforts of convenient camaraderie. Once the infected cat enters her life, she’s finally able to deal with her extreme loneliness until she realizes how infected her furry comrade actually is. Once she ultimately decides not to execute the feline and let it live, it could be seen as her giving in to her mental madness especially since it can be seen as her forgoing her own physical health if only to no longer let the constant loneliness beat her already frayed mind down even more. Seeing how this comic came out during a time when the pandemic was still around yet thankfully wasn’t as strong & rampant as it was during the majority of 2020 and into the following year, it takes a real-world moment in time and combines it with a well-known horror movie remake’s premise in order to provide its own fresh take on the concept in order to make it work within a suburban setting. With every story in this book entirely told in black-and-white artwork, Matt Mossman’s artistic effort was greatly displayed here. Our female protagonist and her mental descent alongside her cat once its mutated monstrous form comes into play are wonderfully presented as the pacing is pretty solid and allows the events of this tale to unfold at a reasonably good rate. As it is, it’s a strong start to this book on the whole. “The Succession Clause” feels like something that could’ve come out of an EC Comic or even from the horror anthology TV show “Tales From The Crypt” in which a main character who’s full of himself wants to accomplish some selfish goal, yet gets some kind of comeuppance by the end. Because we’re with Shapiro early on, we get to hear his side of the story as to why he didn’t receive a high-ranking position that he believes that he earned. Whether Captain Angelica Brooks didn’t feel like he did enough to earn the title of Commander and that it was a position that was in desperate need of being filled, thus bringing in someone like Dominique Destine meant that she trusts her reliable skill set a lot more, or whether he truly deserved it yet there’s some character flaw that made her feel like she couldn’t trust him with that level of power, it’s ultimately all up to interpretation since we never do get that side of the story. Once Shapiro is forced to resort to a supernatural mean in order to get what he wants, it becomes clear that he’s been corrupted by power. As his fight against Dominique also proves, she’s able to use her own God-given physical skills in order to keep him at bay. Meanwhile, his own otherworldly enhancements aren’t able to inflict too much damage onto her before the final straw comes where the hits that were inflicted onto him take their toll on his spell and he’s forced into an eternal limbo. In the end, it provides its lesson of rewarding those who work hard at honing their skills while punishing those who try to take shortcuts in order to reach those same heights. David Schuler’s artwork has a grungier and rougher look to it, which helps make Shapiro look like an unlikable, semi-sexist scumbag while several ink scratches help with either feelings of motion or deliver a disheveled look to this Medieval setting. In terms of how this is presented, it’s a tale that’s lacking in subtlety, yet more than makes up for it with some grisly imagery, physical & otherworldly terror and an understandable comeuppance towards someone whose own shortcomings got the better of him. Moving on to “Do-Gooder”, it’s the shortest out these five stories. Our main man is a hard-working savior of the people on the surface, yet there’s some kind of underlying evil within him. This is where it starts getting vague since seeing a deceased little girl’s body makes it seem like he feels that he could’ve done more to prevent something like this from happening. Once a shadowy demon starts coming in, it seems like he’s the only one who notices it and maybe he assumes that it’s behind some discreet slayings of disaster victims. However, the ending shows him suddenly dealing with his inner demons and he’s murdering a woman before eventually going back into the media spotlight as if nothing too weird was out of the ordinary. To me, the pieces felt too scattershot with not enough connective tissue in order for me to truly understand what Matt Miner was trying to say about his protagonist. Is there some kind of unstable mindset that he has where he’s conflicted in some way? It seems like that’s the case as he seems to narrate about how he sort of wanted some people rubbed out from the natural disaster, yet he’s putting on a noble act of helping others out. While Clay McCormack’s sketchy artwork wasn’t too bad as I was still able to make out what was happening, the lack of a fully-drawn main character is what ultimately drags this down from being a noteworthy story. Had certain details been properly drawn out, then I would’ve given this narrative higher remarks. As it is though, it’s among the weaker anthology stories that I’ve covered on this site. As for “The Trench Coat Killer”, we have a young boy in Geoffrey who’s somewhat isolated and fascinated with certain macabre things. His horror comic showing real-life scenes from his room as well as a crosstown murder could possibly show his mental state slipping. In addition, his odd behavior around others makes him somewhat isolated by those who aren’t familiar with him while those who are around him a little bit more aren’t really helpful due to them being unaware of how much help with his mental stability he desperately needs. Whether or not an actual killer in a trench coat ultimately inspires him to become the titular murderer or he actually committed said killings and has suppressed it until the final basement scene where he finally embraces it is all up to the reader’s interpretation. Ultimately, Geoffrey becomes something of a tragic character whose own unstable situation sees him spiral down towards a dark and potentially unrecoverable path as there’s just enough of a good (even if misunderstood) soul within him. Valentina Perrone’s artwork is somewhat scratchy, yet still contains a professional look that helps its narrative stand out alongside some well-oiled pacing in order for its tale to unfold at a smooth clip. Ultimately, this was a story that may have concluded on a downer note, yet still contained a strong presence throughout to make it noteworthy. Finally, we have “Kisses Cold As The Grave” which actually stars a public domain character originally created by the late Myron Fass. This unfolds as an investigative narrative where Dr. Anthony King begins to suspect that something weird is going on during the filming of a certain romantic horror movie once its main female lead expresses her unusual attraction towards the film’s main male star. From there, he ventures down a rabbit hole that ultimately leads him to a vampire-filled plot of small-scale proportions. Little does anyone within said scheme know is that the male star has actually fallen in love with his female lead and is forced to protect her before turning her into a fellow vampire in order for them to finally live together as long as they continually drink blood. The way that Anthony slowly discovers all of this through his investigation does play out at a reasonable clip and the full scope of this shadowy operation did finally reveal itself upon a re-read, but the overall journey itself still made for a pleasant read. Claudio Adrano’s artwork combined with Roy Moon’s Grayscale efforts made for the most professional-looking presentation, allowing its central cast to receive some proper development alongside some solid pacing. While presenting itself more with horror elements rather than having a true horror feeling, it was still an enjoyable time seeing something else stirring within the Hollywood system’s shadows as this adventure can quench anyone’s thirst for a stirring read. In the end, this anthology comic was delivered with some down-to-Earth care by individuals who’re passionate towards the medium and had a fairly good grasp on the horror genre. On that note, it’s worth giving this book a read in order to support their business and enjoy the random bits of sequential terror that it provides. As for the horror anthology comic I’ll tackle for the week prior to Halloween, come back next time as the season’s spooky chills continue to climb towards its fever pitch. Until then, may your souls stir!
Memoirs Of The Morbid is owned by Comicsburgh.