Happy Halloween, my friends! The Season of the Witch is at its zenith, the spirits of old are soaring all around us, various costumes are being used for various occasions and all kinds of treats are being distributed to people young & old. While we managed to look at all four issues of “The Fog” mini-series from Sumerian Comics for the first four weeks of October 2025, it’s about time that we returned to a collection of short stories within a single comic for this festive of Holidays. On that note, we’ll be returning to the anthology comic as we celebrate All Hallow’s Eve by delving into a particular book called…
Published in October 2008, it went on to sell 15,870 copies upon its initial release. As for the various spooky tales that await us inside its pages and how they all stack up against each other, let’s enter this illustrated haunted house and see what creaky twists and turns await us.
We open on a one-page introduction (Writer: Dan DiDio, Artist: Tony Shasteen, Colorist: Allen Passalaqua) where a deceased couple known as the Dibnys present themselves to the reader as Ghost Detectives. The wife named Sue (who was murdered in “Identity Crisis”) says that they act as “guides between the lands of the living and the dead” and that they’re going to present several narratives “that fall in-between”. Because it involved their friends and their foes, her husband named Ralph a.k.a. Elongated Man (who lost his life during the events of “52”) says that they must get started before the Witching Hour arrives.
From there, we reach our first story where the Man of Steel will find himself crossing paths with a workplace spirit in “Deadline: Halloween” (Writer: Mike Johnson, Penciler: Matthew Clark, Inkers: Don Ho & Jaime Mendoza, Colorist: Allen Passalaqua). We begin within the Daily Planet as the staff is having a costume party within the main office as Lois Lane (dressed as Wonder Woman) tells Kal-El a.k.a. Clark Kent that even though she’s heading out to the mayor’s soiree, she’s try to get out of it as soon as she can. She then reminds him to buy some candy for the trick-or-treaters on his way home before Editor-In-Chief Perry White tells him to finish his current story since he’s “holding up the printers”. Clark’s narration mentions that he got distracted by various incidents that required him to deal with it as Superman before Kent says that he’s just finishing it up. White then tells him to do so in order for him to avoid winding up like “Old Man McCampbell” before he heads out, to which Clark then narrates about McCampbell who was a former Daily Planet reporter who vanished back in the 1930s before he was able to complete his last story. Jimmy Olsen then tells him that the man’s spirit still haunts the building while trying to make his deadline and that the Daily Planet will remained cursed until he finally accomplishes his goal. Lois then once again reminds Kent to pick up the Halloween candy before she heads out as we then shift to the main workspace suddenly going near-dark. Clark then hears some ominous noises and goes to investigate while assuming that Jimmy is somehow behind it. During this, Kent narrates about how people think that nothing is capable of scaring Superman even though he’s a bit nervous within his regular civilian self. Unbeknownst to him, a ghostly hand reaches out towards him before he remembers that he still has to finish up his story as he returns to his desk. He then notices his desk phone blinking as someone had left him a message on it even though he didn’t hear his phone ring. The message turns out to be Lane who reminds him to get a specific kind of candy before Clark once again hears the same strange noise.
He then realizes that it’s coming from Perry’s office as he goes to check it out before he discovers it to be filled with a few apparitions who’re in the various forms of his adversaries such as Bizarro Superman and General Zod. One of them that’s in the form on Mongul manages to throw a filing cabinet at Kent which hits him and sends him flying back to a wall as Clark narrates about how these beings seemed to have come from “the front pages on the walls”. Suddenly, a ghostly figure in the form of Lex Luthor pops out and drags him into his front page as it transforms into a “Reporter Missing” headline. We then shift to McCampbell’s ghost as he finally manages to complete his final story before Kent wakes up at his desk and discovers that his story has been finished. Later, a trio of trick-or-treaters are taking their leave from Lois’ apartment empty-handed due to her not answering her doorbell. Fortunately, they’re then met upon by Superman who presents them with a plentiful supply of candy from her. Even though the kids think that he’s a regular person dressed up as Superman, they still accept the treats before the tale ends with Kal-El relaxing next to a tired Lois who praises him for accomplishing his two tasks. He then says that the alternative was too scary for him to imagine while mentioning his belief that he had “a little help”.
We’re then met upon by the Dibnys who mention that while ghosts come in various shapes & sizes, Halloween isn’t just limited to Earth. From there, they begin the next narrative which focuses on a particular Emerald Knight in an entry called “Fear of The Dark” (Writer: Eddie Berganza, Penciler: Trevor Hairsine, Inkers: Marlo Alquiza, Norm Rapmund & Kevin Conrad, Colorist: Hi-Fi). We open on the planet Oa where Kyle Rayner is operating a bar alongside a fellow Earth-based Green Lantern named Guy Gardner as they talk about how to properly introduce their alien comrades to “the joys of October thirty-one”. Guy then tells him to grab some chocolate bars from the freezer, to which Kyle heads out to do so while narrating about how he used to be a freelance artist and that the scariest thing used to be how he have anything drawn with a deadline looming. From there, he comes across a horrifying sight of various individuals hung up in the freezer via meat hooks with one of them being his former girlfriend Jade (who was killed during the events of “The Rann-Thanagar War”). It’s then revealed to have been a dream as he wakes up within his Earth-based bedroom and tries to convince himself that his nightmare came to be due to Gardner showing him various Dario Argento-helmed horror movies. During all of this, he narrates about a Green Lantern’s Power Ring bringing their imagination to life while it’s completely different when it comes to beings that want them deceased and that he was always fearful of the dark, especially since he was afraid to get out of bed when he was a child due to what might be underneath. Once he climbs out however, a few yellow arms emerge from beneath the bedframe as they grab onto his legs and pull him in.
Rayner is then suddenly in his Green Lantern outfits before he’s suddenly met upon by a deceased Green Lantern named Jack T. Chance who wants to get back at him since Kyle did kill him while being possessed by Parallax. During their scuffle, Rayner is then met upon by his parents who express their disappointment in him before he’s then met upon by Sodam Yat who tells Rayner that the Guardians knew that he wasn’t much of a touch-bearing hero since since Sodam would ultimately acquire Ion’s power. With Jack delivering a severe beatdown during all of this, Sinestro then appears and says that he’s nothing more than an alley rat along with him being unconvinced that Ganthet would ever believe that Kyle was worthy of receiving a Power Ring. Rayner says that this is all wrong before he suddenly finds themselves in an alley as he sees Ganthet attempting to give a Power Ring to a hooded man. Rayner then approaches the man and attempts to claim his ring as the hooded being turns out to be Hal Jordan before Ganthet then tells the guy that it’s not his ring and that Kyle is the true Green Lantern. As they struggle over the ring, Rayner is then suddenly approached by his Parallax-possessed self who tells our main man that he belongs to him since he consumes on his own fear. Kyle is cowering in fear within a darkened room as the Rayner-infected Parallax intends to inflict even more horrid things onto him. Just then, the fiend gets punched by Kyle’s father who then assures his son that the opposing being is gone before using a flashlight to remind him that dark things aren’t able to stand the light which can sometimes be found within the people he loves. Suddenly, Parallax emerges from beneath the bed and grabs Mr. Rayner while berating him for constantly leaving his son which helped fueled the fear that would ultimately allow the fear-hungering beast to ultimately possess Kyle. Fortunately, Rayner is able to snap out of his fearful state and uses his ring to smite the opposing being. He then finds himself back on an otherworldly planet (most likely Mogo The Living Planet given the upcoming explaination) as he narrates about how things that scares children can still haunt them adults. As such, it’s important to remember what helped them get through it and hang onto what ultimately matters in order to “overcome the fear”. From there, the story ends with him being met upon by a female Green Lantern named Soranik Natu who asks him if this was what he wanted. It’s then revealed that Mogo created illusions of the various things that frightened him as a way to help him out as Kyle admits that he has far-more issues that he initially thought. He then says that whatever threat awaits the Corps, he doesn’t want to be seen as a liability and that he’s worthy of his Power Ring. Afterwards, Soranik asks him to inform her about Halloween yet Rayner decides to talk about Thanksgiving instead all while the Dibneys oversee this.
Elongated Man then presents the next tale which serves as a Batman-inspired alternate take on Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hallow called “The Ballad Of Jonathan Crane” (Writer: Mikey Way, Artist: Mateus, Colorist: Cris Reter). We kick things off within the town of Gotham as the narration mentions about a stranger that had just moved into town who’s named Jonathan Crane (who’s taken up the role of Ichabod Crane) and serves as the Headmaster for the local school. However, a pair of young boys are taking in some giggling delight over their insulting drawing of him as the Scarecrow. During his lesson on the human brain and its relations to human behavior, he mentions how All Hallow’s Eve is upon them and that they’re exploring fear along with its relation to them. Just then, he hears the young boys laughing as he heads over to them and begins to focus his lesson on fear towards them. He soon discovers Sanders’ drawing of him as the Scarecrow before he punishes both kids with cleaning his chalkboard after class. With his lesson having just ended, he proceeds to tell his students to “travel safely” in order for them to avoid the Headless Horseman. Later, he’s receiving a shave from the local barber and mentions about an evening party that will be attended by several of “Sleepy Hallow’s rich & undeserving” individuals that he intends to impress. Not only that, but he hopes that Katrina Van Tassel will be there before his shave is complete. From there, his barber named Lawrence tells him to be careful and stay on the road since he believes in the Headless Horseman. However, Jonathan admits that he doesn’t believe in spooked-filled “nursery rhymes” before he takes his leave.
As me makes his way through the town, he suddenly remembers that this festive gathering is a costume ball and that he doesn’t have his own costume. Fortunately for him, he comes across a scarecrow as he relives it of its mask and places it on his own head before he hears an ominous howl and dashes off to the party. He’s then allowed inside by Constable Van Tassel who then gets introduced to the man’s business associate named Bruce Wayne. Afterwards, he makes his way into the main dance hall where he comes across a stunning-looking woman in a purple dress and mask. He manages to share a dance with her as he mentions that he’s never seen her within Sleepy Hallow, to which she says that she’s broadening her own horizons. After declining his request to see her without her mask, he then spots Katrina before he excuses himself. Unbeknownst to him, the purple-dressed lady managed to swipe him of his ring as she turns out to be this tale’s version of Selina Kyle. Crane then approaches Van Tassel and asks her to dance, yet another man butts in and tells him that the next several dance opportunities have already been taken. As such, Jonathan decides to take his leave before he the Headless Horseman gets mentioned to him again. Later, Crane is riding his way through the dark forest before he hears someone ominously calling out to him. Soon enough, he’s met upon by the Headless Horseman who’s actually in some Batman-esque attire along with a flaming pumpkin with a bat symbol on it. A horseback chase ensues before a fear-stricken Jonathan hits a tree branch and falls to the ground before he gets cornered. It’s then revealed that the Scarecrow had accidentally dosed himself with his own fear gas and has been captured by Batman, Commissioner James Gordon and a fellow cop. With this incident having now been resolved, the tale ends with the Dark Knight taking his leave.
With Sue by his side, Ralph proceeds to present the next story with the notion of how holidays can help special meaning to people and that it’s especially true for those who dabble in the dark arts when it comes to Halloween. When it comes to a particular family, a particular father-son relationship will be changed forever within a narrative called “The Embrace” (Writer: Harvey Richards, Artist & Colorist: Federic Dollocchio). We open in Salem, Massachusetts where Sebastian Faust is investigating some particular markings within a crime scene as he narrates about how Jeremy Reynolds who’s been missing for nearly a day and that the police hasn’t been able to produce any kind of evidence on the causes of runaway, abuse or even murder. As such, he was called in to provide some much-needed assistance. While Sebastian is familiar with the old magic that was recently used, he doesn’t know what most of the written language is saying yet he’s able to translation the part about Jeremy’s abduction as the start of something. A female detective then asks him what he was able to discover, to which Faust says that her “buddies” should put some Luminol onto the walls in order for them to get a better grasp as to what they’re facing and that someone was practicing dark magic inside the house. The female detective then tells him that their victim was a single mother named Felicia Reynolds who had put her child to bed like always before she later checked up on him and discovered that her son was suddenly gone. Sebastian then narrates about she’s essentially doing well for her family despite the ongoing struggles and that despite her requiring some magical assistance for this matter, magic can become “a monster you have to keep feeding”. Faust then gets introduced to Felicia’s coworker named Christopher Philips who has paid for some commercials to help find her kid and that he even paid for Faust’s airfare to help bring him onto the investigation. However, Sebastian is able to see Christopher for who he truly is as he narrates that Philips has constantly sold his soul and is using a Glamour Spell to hide his actual form. Faust then notices the various marks on the guy’s back which’re having various effects on him, yet he notices a particular mark on his neck as he realizes that it comes from his father Felix. As such, Sebastian excuses himself on the grounds that he has a lead before he narrates about the current area brings up bad memories from so many years ago. He then mentions that while his dad was always into magic, his mother wasn’t remotely interested prior to getting Acute Myelogenous Leukemia shortly after giving birth to Sebastian’s sister. While Felix’ magic helped relieve her from the pain, it wasn’t long-lasting and that he knew that “true relief” could only be possible via a sacrifice. As such, he managed to make her offer up small animals to start things off. While the relief was able to last longer, it still wasn’t permanent. However, Felix knew that this power would start becoming intoxicating to her. Even though she still attempted to hold on until a proper donor came along, none came along as Felix continued to push her past her tolerant limits. During this, he then turned his attention toward Sebastian in order to use him as a means to get greater levels of power.
Back in the present day, the young Faust arrives outside of the Tower of Fate in order to confront his father who’s rumored to be trapped inside its walls following a failed scam and hopes that Jeremy is with him. Just then, an entryway opens up as the captured kid appears within it as well. As Sebastian heads inside however, he’s suddenly attacked by an unseen entity before he uses some magic powder to fend his foe off. As he finally makes his way in, he discovers an apparition with a baby carriage before coming across a stuffed arm and realizes that Jeremy is still with his mother, yet his soul is trapped within a teddy bear. Faust is then hit towards a mirror which shatters upon impact before he obtains a shard containing the imprisoned soul. From there, he uses his magic to free Jeremy before he finally reunites with his mother. Afterwards, Sebastian confronts his dad as Felix tells him that he was trapped within the tower, yet he managed to escape due to the assistance of Isis. Not only that, but he found a way for his son to indirectly help him via his misguided emotions. Sebastian says that he couldn’t allow his dad to kidnap children as part of his escape plan before telling him that he could’ve fed on all of the magical power that he would’ve wanted, yet he’s ultimately an addict who constantly craves more mystical power. Felix responds by subduing his son within his dark magic before telling him that they both crave the dark magic and that his mother was also about to cave into said addition had she not lost her life in a car accident. Afterwards, the tale ends with Sebastian vanishing within said magic while narrating about his dad being wrong in that he didn’t corrupt his mom and that he won’t become corrupted as well.
As we shift into the next entry, we have a mysterious man telling his audience that while trick or treating makes Halloween worth while for most kids, the search for the greatest treat might lead to “the greatest trick” finding them instead as we enter “One Last Halloween” (Writer: Brian Reed, Artist: Darick Robertson, Colorist: Trish Mulvihill). We begin with a pair of young boys with Chris dressed up as Robin as he asks his friend where they’re going and why he’s not wearing a costume, to which Rich says that he finds trick-or-treating to be childish. Despite Chris telling him that they haven’t become teenagers yet, Rich says that he’s too old this year as they arrive at the entryway to the sewer and are met upon by a youthful group. The gang leader named David Dean then acquires a key from Rich despite Chris reminding him that he’s received multiple suspensions from school in the past and that he has no intention of hanging out with them. He’s also shocked that Rich actually stole his father’s sewer key from his tool box in order as David opens the main gate before a fellow gang member brings up how said father would flip out if it wound up lost. Dean then shows his untrustworthiness as he throws the key inside before he and his gang head out.
Despite Rich being too nervous to do so, Chris insists that they go in and retrieve the key before he asks his friend why he remotely thought about doing by giving it to David. Rich explains that Dean had overheard him at school telling stories that he heard from his dad and convinced him to join his group in the notion of checking out the sewers in order to see if the rumors are true. Chris then asks him about the rumors that he’s talking about, to which Rich brings up several of Batman’s villains. From Killer Croc kidnapping children to make stew out of them and Penguin having enough explosives to blow up Gotham to the Joker making several poisons to drive the city’s citizens insane. Despite the alleged claims, Chris still scolds his friend for not just going trick-or-treating with him as he proceeds to make his way inside. Shortly after he retrieves the key since it wasn’t thrown far, they suddenly hear some loud noises as they both make their way out of the sewer before Batman and Solomon Grundy pop up as well as the former defeats the latter within their struggle. The Dark Knight then spots the boys and asks them what they’re doing here as Rich ends up groveling over his regret to not dress up as him and go trick-or-treating before begging to not be arrested. Fortunately, the Caped Crusader simply gives the boys some candy and tells them to go home before the story ends with the mysterious man admits that he didn’t expect that out of Batman while wondering how long he had those treats within his utility belt.
Ralph and Sue then reappear to present the next entry on “the perils of menacing neighbors” where “mischief has its own special rewards” called “Hell Hath No Fury” (Writer & Artist: Duncan Rouleau, Colorist: Michael Atiyeh). We kick things off with a pair of trick-or-treaters named Mr. B and Mr. S who proceed to begin as a familiar woman’s house unaware that some demons are following them from afar. Just then, the fiends get attacked before the lady (who has glowing red eyes) emerges to give out some candy. Afterwards, Mr. B & Mr. S found said moment to be uneventful and that they’ll keep going in the hopes of delivering harm to anyone who says “No” to them, all while they’re unaware that Etrigan The Demon (who I assume was the aforementioned lady) is now in pursuit of them. He soon spots a witch hovering over the featured pair and is aiming to ensnare them within a pair of hangman’s nooses. With both Mr. B and Mr. S unaware of her hovering over them, they prepare to spook some trick-or-treaters with a cherry bomb. From there, Etrigan attacks the witch and ultimately strings her up within her own rope as the kids gets spooked from this sight and run off. Mr. B & Mr. S are then puzzled by what they just saw unaware of the heroic demon’s efforts from behind before they claim the frightened kids’ candy due to them being left behind out of frightened shock. We then have a brief montage where Etrigan defeats several more monsters while Mr. B and Mr. S have become disappointed that they haven’t been able to do any “tricks” despite both of them winding up with loads of candy.
Just then, Etrigan finds himself in the Underworld where Satan (I assume) berates him for interfering with his Hellions’ attempts to capture the two specific trick-or-treaters in order to ultimately make them eternally suffer. Etrigan says that he’s able to do his minions’ work far-better than they can, especially since they don’t have “the bitter black” that dwells within him and that it’ll essentially be the key factor in making their targets pay. From there, we shift to an abandoned house where Mr. B & Mr. S arrive back before they head down into the basement where they have a pair of hostages kept in. It turns out that these trick-or-treaters are actually murderers who specifically do their dirty work during the Halloween season. As they begin to consume their candy, they decide that they need to extend their Holiday-based reign of terror onto Christmas. Suddenly, Etrigan unleashes his terror upon them by having the people that they’ve already murdered get their bloody vengeance. From there, the narrative ends with our heroic demon warning all trick-or-treaters that when they’re out and about, they must take care since they’ll be observed from the great beyond especially from down below.
The Dibnys then prep the book’s next story by arriving at a particular facility just as the Witching Hour looms ever closer, yet Elongated man still finds the place to be personally creepy even though he’s a ghost. The place in particular turns out to be Arkham Asylum as we move into a certain yarn called “Scarred And Scared” (Writer: Brad Desnoyer, Artist: Riccard Burchielli, Colorist: Tony Ayina), as we properly kick things off within Victor Zsasz’ cell. After he’s just given himself a fresh knife cut upon his intentionally cut-up body, he mentions how one needs to cut the skin just deep enough and leave the wound open for it to never heal in order to have a proper scar formed. It’s then revealed that he was telling this to a nearby cellmate who turns out to be Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face who says that he preferred being across from Killer Croc since that fiend had boring and non-ominous conversations, but at least he prefers hearing from Victor over the Joker. After Zsasz makes a casual threat to Harvey, another inmate named Julian Day a.k.a. Calendar Man lets both of them know that a new prisoner is being brought in. Through the guard’s quick chat with a guard named Craig, the detainee doesn’t have any known name, I.D. or his own clothes. Not only that, he was discovered within the blood of four kids that he murdered during the prior night. When Scarecrow and Joker ask him about his incident, the stuttering criminal says that he doesn’t know and that he didn’t do it. Just then, he spots a full moon from a high window before it’s revealed that he’s a werewolf and proceeds to attack the guards. With one of the officials having been thrown close to Victor’s cell, Harvey demands from him to reach for his key card in order to be let out of his cell. After Zsasz provides the assist, the werewolf then proceeds to capture Jervis Tetch a.k.a. Mad Hatter before several guards arrive to open fire on the opposing creature.
Dent then confronts the being with a nightstick that he swiped from the downed official before he ultimately gets pinned. Fortunately, Two-Face is able to retrieve his coin and plunge it into the werewolf as it’s revealed to be made out of silver. As the Dibnys observe all of this, Ralph then tells Sue that this is why the facility terrifies him in that it’s not the monsters in there that worry him, but its people. Back inside, the tale ends with the inmates are impressed with Harvey’s werewolf slaying with the lycanthrope now deceased and having just transformed back into its human form. Jonathan Crane then mentions how Dent didn’t seem remotely scared until just now since he feels like the newly-deceased guy was far-more lucky since at least his scars were healed.
We then proceed to follow the Dibnys as they come across a nearly-deceased woman that managed to call out to them as she wearily says that her little girl named Amanda is now all alone with no one to look after her. Afterwards, the lady finally passes on before Elongated Man looks over her body and discovers that she ultimately lost her life as a result of a struggle since she has some either paint or enamel underneath her fingernails. Sue then discovers that the woman had a knee replacement and that there should be a serial number on it for them to backtrack on and ultimately get a name. After some investigation, they discover that the woman was Gloria Wheldon and that she had knee replacement surgery years ago by Dr. Elliot over at Gotham General. They then went to the local police to look up her name and access her digital file before their search came across some interesting details concerning her family. From there, they make their way to Atlantic City in order to find Gloria’s son known as “Nathan R.” since the police files that they found a him says that he’s built up a massive debt due to his gambling problem. Ralph mentions that Gloria was rich prior to being murdered and that upon her death, her daughter Amanda would inherit her financial assets. As such, her death would allow him to acquire the money and that they have to stop him before anything bad happens.
We then shift into our penultimate story as we focus upon a movie theater during the Witching Hour of midnight for a particular yarn called “Role Model” (Writer: Eric Wallace, Artist: Tony Shasteen, Colorist: Guy Major). We kick things off with Mari Jiwe a.k.a. Vixen checking out a female-led action film called “Scream Baby, Scream” while she narrates about whether a single woman can make a difference, especially since there were hardly any role models for young black girls. Fortunately, she found one in Honey Williams who was “feminine but powerful, and tough as nails” like she is. Despite her film series eventually falling out of favor once the blaxploitation fad fell out of style, she never forget this particular character. During the screening, the Frankenstein Monster that she’s fighting with (Yes, Seriously) suddenly from the screen as Vixen proceeds to engage this surprising foe. During their scuffle, she’s then confronted by a werewolf and a mummy as the monsters gang up on her while she narrates about how she always wanted to be in a Honey Williams film yet this isn’t how she thought it would happen. Fortunately, she gathers herself enough to realize that the few patrons in the theater are also in danger.
She then thinks about what her role model would do in that she would do something unexpected, to which she believes that the answer lies on the other side of the screen as she proceeds to rip through it only to discover nothing of note other than Honey herself who tells her to “go to the source”. As such, Vixen manages to reach the movie projector and discovers that it’s filled with several mirrors inside of it before she smashes it and causes the monsters (along with Honey) to disappear. From there, we shift over to the basement as it’s revealed that the incident was caused by Evan McCulloch a.k.a. Mirror Master as a distraction in order to retrieve some cash and jewelry that he learned about from Harley Quinn. Fortunately, Mari is able to easily defeat him before he winds up arrested. She’s then met upon by a father and his daughter named Shaunequa as the latter mentions that she saw her in action and was amazed that someone like her was able to fight off bad guys. As such, she wants to grow up to be like her as Vixen shares an appreciative hug with before she takes her leave as the story ends with her narrating that one woman can make a difference.
We then return to the Dibnys and their investigation in what would become the comic’s last story called “The Elongated Halloween” (Writer: Mark Verheiden, Artist & Colorist: Dennis Calero). They manage to reach Nathan who miserably fails at a game of Blackjack before taking his leave. He eventually gets dragged into a dark alley by some perps whom he owes some money to and gets assaulted by them. Later, he’s back at his place as he takes out a gun before looking at a picture of his family and asking his mother why she didn’t leave him her inheritance instead of giving it all to Amanda all while the Dibnys observe this within their astral state. Sometime later, Nathan is driving around while Ralph and Sue discreetly ride along. They assume that the young lad had murdered his mother and dumped her body in Gotham, to which he’s not set his sights upon his sister in order to finally acquire his mom’s inheritance and pay off his loan shark. Even though Elongated Man is able to stop him right now, he wants to check one last thing before he does. From there, Nathan arrives at his sister’s place with his murderous intent. Meanwhile, the Dibnys are waiting for him to arrive before Ralph makes a key discovery and convinces his wife to help him “do something scary”.
Just then, Nathan confronts his sister and reveals that she was the one who killed their mother. He elaborates by mentioning that Gloria was actually going to help him pay off his debts and get him a clean start, to which Amanda points a gun at him and says that she was fed up with their mother wasting her inheritance on him. As such, she admits to drowning their mom in the pool before dumping her body in Gotham since hardly anyone cares about a rich woman getting bumped off “for going to the theatre district”. She then proceeds to shoot her brother, but he somehow survives the fatal shots before he demands for her to “tell them” what she’s done and even summons some supernatural creatures within her pool. Later, the police have arrived to arrest Amanda as he feebily says that her mother is still alive and within the pool. As for Nathan, he tells the cops that he was on his way up before he heard some gunshots and discovered that no one was there. As for the version of Nathan that did confront the corrupt sister, it turned to be a disguised Sue as she asks her husband how he found out about that key detail. Ralph explains that the family photos was what tipped him off since Nathan constantly cried over his mother’s pictures while Amanda didn’t have a single shot. And so, the comic ends with the Dibnys noticing that the Daily Planet is holding its annual costume party as they share an initial bummer about them no longer being able to share that particular moment with their still-living friends. Afterwards, they proceed to head out.
Overall, this collection of horror-based short stories was an interesting mix to say the least. Even though the Dibnys serve as the looming presence and serve as horror hosts of a sort, I’ll save the book’s framing device for when I get to their story. “Deadline: Halloween” was more of a experience piece for Superman since he essentially finds himself in a haunted floor tale in order for this whole ordeal to serve as a way for the newspaper’s lingering reporter spirit to finally take care of his unfinished business in order to finally pass on. It’s possible that McCampbell conjured up the haunted setting as well as the images of some of Kal-El’s foes before making it seam like our featured hero was having a dream, all while discreetly helping Clark finish up his story assignment. Outside of the main situation that Kent finds himself in for this small narrative, there’s not much in terms of noteworthy observations other than a deceased apparition somewhat using him for his own non-lethal means. It makes for a decent start to this book and while less is certainly more when it camp to McCampbell, the story itself could’ve have some more meaningful meat in some aspect in order to help it become an engaging opening. “Fear Of The Dark” was a neat tale that used the concept of someone facing their fears in order to show the featured Emerald Knight how much emotional baggage one can wind up carrying throughout their life. Despite briefly containing a few characters that anyone who isn’t a serious DC fan wouldn’t recognize without some research, they all ultimately help Kyle Rayner overcome a certain level of dread that’s actually being fueled by a moment that came from a Green Lantern storyline. In “Sinestro Corps War”, Kyle became Parallax due to a combination of the massive trauma from his mother’s death and Sinestro removing his will-based counterpart called Ion from him before the same-name fear-mongering entity infected Rayner into becoming the corrupt being that he was. Even though Kyle would be freed from said foe due to Hal Jordan, john Stewart & Guy Gardner’s combined willpower the combined power of the other Lantern Corps, this narrative is obviously about Rayner coping with the short-term fallout from that possessive time It’s neat that it takes an unlikely source in his father to finally help him overcome this horrid part of his then-recent past and be able to move on from unintentionally becoming a powerful tool amongst the Yellow Lanterns. Obviously, knowing that this serves as a kind of follow-up to that major narrative makes this have some added emotional weight that’s satisfying by the end. Even when you read this without having delved into that particular arc, this was still a well-crafted yarn sees our main corps man dealing with some fresh emotional scars in a compelling way that still made for a neat read from start to finish. Moving on to “The Ballad Of Jonathan Crane”, it was a unique idea for Scarecrow to serve as the main character and within this particular take on “The Legend Of Sleepy Hallow”. For the most part, he’s a noble citizen who serves his job as the town’s main teacher and looks to impress the local high society. Because of the short nature of this story, we don’t get to see any other notable character other than our main man have some time and space to get fleshed out in a noteworthy way outside of the one scenes that they’re in. His interactions with Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Katina Van Tassel and some muscular goon vary in range as to how Jonathan’s own characterization for this piece gets handled as his nobleman personality gets displayed in various fashions to said people while the latter person forces Crane to shrink into a scrawny person whose own fears will ultimately do him in. As for the Headless Horseman serving as this story’s version of Batman, both figures have dealt with being seen as urban legends due to their mysterious statuses. In the end though, this entire Sleepy Hallow scenario was thought up within Scarecrow’s mind due to him accidentally exposing himself to his own fear toxin and that the Headless Horseman chase masked over the real-world pursuit by Batman upon his foe. Ultimately, it’s lacking on noteworthy character details to help its cast stand out yet the historic setting, chilling atmosphere and good pacing helped this tale carry its weight for the most part. In terms of “The Embrace”, this is the first time around here where we’ve focused on someone who hasn’t appeared in any media form that’s been previously covered. As far as what we learned about Sebastian Faust, he serves as a special investigator who displays a good amount of magic skill that he shares with his father. His family history and how he came to be ultimately gets brought to the forefront once he finds out that a child-kidnapping scheme was a means for his dad to get freed from his imprisonment within the Tower of Fate. By the end, the father-son confrontation serves a way of proving that their trouble relationship will continue to play out well past this yarn as Felix doesn’t want to have any emotional ties to his family since he feels like it’s allowed him to manipulate his kid from afar and ultimately trap him. For Sebastian, the ending to this story will put him on a tough journey to not only break free from this entrapment but to also one day prove that his father isn’t able to have his way with his kin. While this narrative is excessively wordy with the combined amount of narration mixed alongside the dialogue and the child-kidnapping mystery wasn’t as investigative as it could’ve been, the mystical actions played out pretty well here and the conflict between parent and child received some good presentation in order for Sebastian to receive some nice development for any first-time reader. While this could’ve used a little more polish in a few areas, this was still a fairly-engaging way for this protagonist to operate within this spotlight. With “One Last Halloween”, it takes a simple approach by following two young boys who decide to do something else besides trick-or-treating just because one of them wants to fit in to a slightly older crowd. As Rich would learn & what Chris already knew, it’s important to know the kind of people one would choose to associate themselves with and not automatically place your trust upon those beings just because they seem cool and expressed some semblance of interest in them since trust must always be earned. However, Dean & his cronies aren’t prevalent once they show their true traitorous colors and take their leave. Afterwards. Rich’s insecure characterization becomes prevalent for the second half as it feels like his to belong somewhere and feel all grown-up is what led to him pulling a reckless act upon his father just because some older kid feigned some interesting in letting him become part of something that seemed bigger than his current lot in life. His fear of Gotham’s Rogues Gallery lurking within the city’s shadows shows how fragile his self-confidence has become and how he has loads to still learn in order to reach his friend’s foundational smarts. Their unexpected confrontation with Batman may have snapped Rich into having more confidence with facing the unknown, yet the story comes to a humorous stop once the Dark Knight gives them some candy that this tale’s narrator also wonders why he has it within his utility belt. By the end, it’s a simple story that teaches any potential young readers a valuable lesson concerning trust and self-confidence which is where its biggest strength lies. The somewhat abrupt ending and lack of action may turn off some viewers, but its noble intention shines through to make this worthy of checking out. For “Hell Hath No Fury”, we have Satan who wants a pair of small murderers who’re both small enough to pass as regular trick-or-treating kids yet his demons are getting defeated by Etrigan. It’s never explained whether those small thugs are actual children or if they have a specific condition that prevents them from properly aging and that they’re actually adults within small bodies, though it’s most likely the latter. Either way, there is a subtle bit of dark humor in that they not able to commit any kind of devious act due to Etrigan taking out other opposing demons without their knowledge of it happening. By the end, the two small perps do succumb to some supernatural justice with their victims getting enough of a viewing to finally get their proper retribution. As a whole, there’s not much in terms of confrontations other than our hero and Satan himself to which our main character is ultimately able to argue his way out of in order to be the one who delivers the finishing blow. Other than that, it’s perfectly fine for what it is and should serve its readers well while they take in the seasonal backdrop alongside some comical bits that’re slightly dark yet not too severe in said category. Moving on to “Scarred And Scared”, we focus on a few of Batman’s imprisoned foes having to deal with a new inmate who turns out to be a Lycan. It’s ultimately somewhat fitting that Harvey Dent gets to be the one who proper confronts and defeats this beastly foe given that he used to be a proper District Attorney before his tragic turn to split-decision villainy. Not to mention, his quick thinking towards him using his Silver Dollar coin makes sense on how this werewolf ultimately goes down since it’s tricky to think up how any of the other cellmates would’ve been able to properly combat it. As for its finale where he notices that the newly-deceased prisoner got to have its scars removed by the end, it’s most likely bookending his opening conversation with Victor Zsasz who also talked about scars. In a way, it does relate to Two-Face since his entire left side serves as his scar that’s just as permanent as his inner evil while he sees the prisoner’s werewolf form as a scar that’s been healed from him via death and that this evil side is now no more. On that note, it does have a fairly-handled theme and allows this tale to elevate itself amongst this group of stories. While some better writing could’ve been done into making it over-arching while also connecting to the events of this yarn as well, it’s still pretty well handled and makes for some bloody light horror for its readers. In terms of “Role Model”, it does a good job of establishing its own over-arching theme of inspirational figures. With Vixen having been inspired by an in-universe fictional character in Honey Williams, her heroic encounter with Mirror Master’s monstrous creations ultimately allows her to become a good example towards the young girl who was also in attendance to initially catch the same film yet ultimately saw her tussling with some unexpected foes. What started off as a distraction from Evan so that he could swipe some hidden jewels turned into a failed heist along with Mari making a difference for a little girl to help us get to an uplifting ending. There’s not much in terms of absolute horror other than Mirror Master’s created monsters, yet this heroic narrative brings a decent struggle to the table before giving its audience a comforting conclusion. While it doesn’t seem to display her use of her Tantu Totem thus allowing her to tap into some animal skills in order to deal with his close-quarters situation, she still makes the most of her time in this spotlight and performs her duties with professional ease to make this narrative work by the end. Finally, we have “The Elongated Halloween” which sees our horror hosts for this book get started on their investigation prior to Vixen’s story before we fully focus on their yarn afterwards. Since they ultimately get to use their titles of Ghost Detectives by the end, maybe their story could’ve been overarching throughout the rest of the present narratives and that they come across some key clues within those tales that ultimately comes together within their own series of events. Aside from that, their investigation gets a nice set-up prior to Mari’s story before its own set of twists, turns and revelations unfold once the Dibnys finally take center-stage. While their astral forms provided the baseline supernatural element within their narrative, it’s not until the climactic confrontation with Nathan’s traitorous sister Amanda does Sue get to unleash some otherworldly terror upon the murderous woman before forcing her into terrified submission and within police custody. It’s ultimately neat that Ralph and his wife were respectfully used within their then-current status especially since they were each killed off only a few years before this book came around. While the New 52 era would ultimately bring them both back to life, at least the Dibnys got to use their dual roles for this comic with effective ease as they bookend this whole ordeal in loving fashion. As for all of the stories on whole, the pacing was mostly streamlined and smooth for the most part while Sebastian Faust’s story was a bit bogged down in that area via the excessive narration yet it still didn’t bring that story down too much. The different kinds of artwork ranges from the professionally & colorfully detailed of the late 2000s to a few moody & somewhat dark atmospheres to Duncan Rouleau’s artistic exaggeration within his Etrigan-focused romp. Lastly, the supernatural elements varied to different degrees within each narrative. Some were more in-focus such as McCampbell’s ghost, the Batman-themed Headless Horseman, Satan’s demons and the prisoner who was also a werewolf. Outside of those, they were either fear-influential, mystical, heavy on atmosphere or ghostly-powered by our featured hosts. While the variations can feel a little inconsistent from one yarn to the next, their implementations were still neatly handled and served their stories pretty well. As a whole, this comic makes for a nice read within a single session. While not the most outstanding anthology ever made, the stories presented here provided some entertaining moments, familiar characters, gripping atmospheres and a few good lessons to make this a recommended read. As such, give this a read as you curl up within the chilling glow of a roaring Jack O’ Lantern during any single time within the Season of the Witch!
All featured characters are owned by DC Comics.
