This list excludes established annuals like Hello Halloween and Scream! Halloween Special. Sadly, it seems Dark Horse Comics is not continuing with what they tried to establish from a few years ago. After Headless Horseman 2023, and 2024, and 2025 having come and gone, it’s a shame this spirit has lost his mojo. Instead, what we got is Mad Cave Studios’ Terrorbytes Halloween Annual. But with this being its first issue, it’s too early to assume it will become an annual tradition.
So what I got on my pile of books to read are the following. Some works are already out and others waiting to be picked up!
A Ghost Arm Made of Angry Ghosts
Publisher: Oni Press
Sixteen-year-old Ari Ackerman has just witnessed a murder, or perhaps two. He is not entirely sure, and that uncertainty is only one more strange thing to process while his cancer-stricken father repeatedly hovers near death. Ari would rather lose himself in Washington, D.C.’s punk scene with his best friend Maya Meng, especially if it means seeing Jawbox at the Black Cat, but unexplained deaths have a way of wrecking even the best plans.
That mix of grief, adolescent confusion and peculiar supernatural trouble makes this sound like more than a standard ghost story. The comparison list, which ranges from Love and Rockets and David Lynch to Agatha Christie and Fugazi, suggests a book with its own scruffy rhythm. Readers who like their horror a little offbeat, personal and steeped in music-scene energy should give this one a look.
A Lullaby from Hell
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Before there was Junji Ito there was Hideshi Hino.
Hino Hideshi: A Lullaby From Hell is the first of two forthcoming collections by the master of classic Japanese horror. The atmosphere is relentlessly grim and the terror is ramped up on every page. Hino set a standard for pure grossness that still hasn’t been matched. His mixture of cute and terrifying remains a trademark of Japanese horror to this day. Characters with misshapen heads stare out at the reader with bugged-out and bloodshot eyes. Severed limbs abound and fluids spill across the pages.
Hino’s mix of grimness and whimsy creates an unsettling oppressive atmosphere that has made his comics the most disgusting and most widely loved for decades. Each story in this collection unfolds like a fairy tale—a fairy tale soaked in pus and blood. Hino’s parade of malformed beasts, oozing corpses, and deviant killers is unmatched in Japanese horror.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Halloween Special
Publisher: IDW Dark
Patrick Horvath’s cute-looking world of animal townsfolk and grisly murder is returning for a Halloween one-shot, and Samantha Strong’s shadow still hangs over Woodbrook. Years after she left, the stories tied to her have only grown, with some horrors rooted in fact and others becoming the kind of local folklore people trade around a campfire.
The anthology format is the real treat here. James Tynion IV, Tony Fleecs, Che Grayson, Dave Wachter, Jared Cullum, Tyler Boss and Matt Emmons join Horvath to explore the town’s darker corners. It is a fine choice for readers who enjoy their October comics deceptively cuddly on the cover and suitably nasty once they start turning pages.
Haunted Comic Club
Publisher: Oni Press
Will and Anita meet in the art room of a local after-school club, where his writing and her art soon become the basis for their own comic. Their subject is a local urban legend about a teen counsellor who supposedly haunts the club after a tragic death. Researching the ghost gives the two lonely tweens a chance to build a friendship, even as bullies and problems at home complicate their lives.
This is the gentler side of the list, and that is important. A spooky premise can still make room for collaboration, creativity and the awkward thrill of finding somebody who understands what you are trying to make. It sounds ideal for younger readers who want a real ghost story, but not one that will have them sleeping with the lights on.
Hillbilly: The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie #1
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Eric Powell’s Hillbilly has always known how to mix Appalachian folk horror, dark humour and monster-slaying adventure. Its wandering hero Rondel faces witches, curses and supernatural terrors with the Devil’s Cleaver in hand, and this new miniseries offers a handy doorway for anyone who has yet to explore those haunted hills.
The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie takes place after the great witch war, when Rondel must save an old friend by serving the very witch who once held him captive. Twelve-Toe Maggie has magical leverage, and the question is whether he can break her hold before becoming her permanent servant. That is exactly the sort of grim fairy-tale problem Rondel was made to solve.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror Deluxe Edition (Manga)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Gou Tanabe has become one of the most exciting artists to tackle H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction, and his adaptation of The Dunwich Horror makes cosmic dread feel tangible. The story begins with the birth of Wilbur Whateley and heads toward the dreadful secret lurking around Dunwich, where old rural superstitions prove far too close to the truth.
This deluxe edition arrives a little after Halloween, but it is built for readers who want a handsome horror volume on the shelf. A new wraparound cover, silver foil paper, gilded edges, Smyth-sewn binding and a ribbon marker give it the feel of a forbidden tome. Tanabe’s detailed art should make every glimpse into the Whateley family business feel properly unsettling.
Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death #1
Publisher: DC Comics
Jonah Hex has survived gunfights, curses and a lifetime of bad choices, but his quiet days as a broken-down bounty hunter are not going to last. In the town of Ashecott, a new evil has arrived, one older and stranger than anything a gunslinger can simply shoot and ride away from.
Michael Walsh is launching a horror-minded new chapter for DC’s scarred Western antihero, and the premise has plenty of bite. Hex is forced to confront otherworldly entities, a child with mysterious abilities and the possibility that he may still earn a little redemption. Mixing Weird West atmosphere with a character who has never been much good at walking away is a solid Halloween recipe.
Mirka Andolfo’s Sweet Paprika: Black, White & Pink Halloween Special #1
Publisher: Image Comics
Infernum Press is getting dressed up for Halloween, although “dressed up” may not remain the right phrase for long. As jack-o’-lanterns grin and the full moon rises, Paprika and her friends pursue tricks, treats and trouble in a black, white and pink corner of the Sweet Paprika universe.
This is clearly the grown-up pick on the list, with a playful, sexy tone rather than straight scares. Mirka Andolfo is joined by Bartosz Sztybor, Leirix, Rachele Aragno and other creators, which makes the special feel like a lively party rather than a disposable seasonal detour. Readers who already enjoy the series will likely find it hard to resist.
Universal Monsters: Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1
Publisher: Skybound and Image Comics
The Bride is alive, but she has no memory of who made her, why she exists or what her future should look like. Born in a thunderstorm from stolen flesh, electricity and desperate ambition, she has every reason to be displeased with the world she wakes up in.
Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis reunite for a new Universal Monsters series that puts its focus on one of horror’s most enduring figures. The premise wisely treats the Bride as more than a single iconic image. Watching her discover her origins while fighting to stay alive could give this classic monster a fierce new purpose.
Witchblade: Samhain Special
Publisher: Image Comics
Halloween night is the right time for the veil to thin, and Sara Pezzini is about to meet three ghosts connected to the Witchblade’s past. And these spirits are not coming to torment her; instead, they come to share stories of their own untimely deaths, and just what this woman will do, well….. just who arrives include a Magdalena from the Dark Ages, a Darkness bearer from the Renaissance and horrors from the Second World War.
That structure gives the special a welcome excuse to reach across history while still keeping Sara at the centre. The Witchblade has always carried a hefty supernatural legacy, so a Samhain story about previous bearers feels like a natural fit. It should give longtime Top Cow readers some lore to chew on, while welcoming newcomers with a self-contained dose of seasonal ghostliness.