7 Horror Comics As Good As Any Live-Action Movie

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From stories of broken families to terrifying monsters, here are the best horror comics that rival even live-action horror movies.

7) Locke & Key

Stephen King’s son Joe Hill is a fantastic author in his own right, responsible for the novels and short stories that became big movies and TV shows like Horns, NOS4A2, and Black Phone. However, his masterwork might be his comic book series with artist Gabriel Rodriguez called Locke & Key. It was made into a Netflix streaming series, and while that was a great series, the comics remain brilliantly written horror.

The Locke family moves back into their ancestral Key House after the death of their father. However, once there, the kids discover keys hidden around the house that open doors to mysterious rooms that contain mysteries and horrors. They soon learn that a demon buried under the house wants to be freed, and this demon is willing to use the youngest Locke child to achieve this desire. The original series had 37 issues and was a terrifying and fun supernatural thrill ride that was as innovative as it was scary.

6) Immortal Hulk

Marvel Comics has always dipped its toes into horror, including comics like Tomb of Dracula and characters like Werewolf by Night and Blade. However, what might come as a surprise is that the best Marvel horror comic the company ever made was in the pages of The Immortal Hulk. Written by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, this took Hulk into the depths of Hell, literally, and showed the horrors within his mind.

This was the series that focused on the Below-Place, the bottom layer of Hell where gamma characters go when they die. There is a Green Door there that allows gamma characters to return to life, but the terror starts when Hulk discovers the One Below All, and he starts to torment and distort Hulk, turning him into a literal monster. The themes here are deep, exploring evil and morality, while Hulk’s DID brings his entire torment to life in a brilliantly terrifying manner.

5) Gideon Falls

Gideon Falls is an Image horror comic series by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. This horror series ran from 2018 to 2020 and tells the story of a young man who is obsessed with a conspiracy in Gedeon Falls and a Catholic priest who arrives in a town full of dark secrets. They are then connected by a Black Barn that appears to have shown up in the city and the small town, a building that brings death and madness.

Gideon Falls is a comic book that chooses to tell a scary horror story and not one that cares as much about gore and shocks, but instead focuses on the nature of evil. This is a comic book about people facing their own demons in a story that is told in a masterful episodic manner. The series ran for 27 issues and told such a terrifying story that no less than James Wan has wanted to bring it to TV.

4) Wytches

Batman writer Scott Snyder wrote the Image Comics horror series Wytches with artist Jock (The Losers). This was a six-issue miniseries that tells the story of the Rook family. They move to a new town after their daughter is suspected of murdering the school bully in their old town. However, they don’t get much reprieve as they find the new town has its own supernatural secrets.

This town has “wytches” that made deals with the townspeople, demanding they pledge their obedience to them in exchange for saving themselves. With the Rook family already dealing with trauma in their own lives, this proves almost unbearable. Jock’s artwork is incredible in this series, a chaotic style with dark colors that adds to the terrifying setting. The story is disturbing and sticks with the readers as much as any horror movie ever could.

3) Harrow County

Dark Horse Comics’ greatest horror series ran from 2015 to 2018 by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook. Bunn, who remains best known for his work on Marvel’s Fear Itself and Venom comics, wrote Harrow County, a horror comic about a young woman who learns she is connected to the supernatural beings who live in Harrow County.

Emmy Crawford learns when she is 18 that she is connected to not only the land around her, but also all the supernatural beings connected to it. She is the reincarnation of the witch Hester Beck, and she has immense powers that allow her to alter reality to her will. The series ran for 32 issues and received Eisner nominations. It matches up with any horror movie, and artist Tyler Crook even released a musical soundtrack to listen to while reading the books.

2) Something is Killing the Children

One of the most successful horror comics of recent years is the Boom! Studios release Something is Killing the Children. It is an ongoing series by James Yynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera, and it has been in production since 2019, with 45 issues and counting. It follows Erica Slaughter, a young woman who hunts monsters that are killing children.

When it comes to iconic horror heroes, Erica might be the best going today, a damaged woman who knows she is the only person who can save the children, and she fights with all she has to complete this task. The monsters’ designs in this series are some of the most horrifying in comics, and there is a good reason so many people want to see this become a streaming series.

1) American Vampire

Vertigo Comics published one of the best horror comics, and it is still shocking that it has never been turned into a movie or a streaming series. Scott Snyder created American Vampire as a way to deliver a fresh take on the classic vampire genre, and his creation of Skinner Sweet remains one of the best vampires in literature today.

It’s even more surprising that American Vampire has never been adapted since Stephen King even worked on the early books in the series, as Snyder told the story of how vampires eventually worked their way into positions of power in the United States over the years. There are 68 issues about Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones, and American Vampire remains one of the best horror comics ever published.

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