This October, DC and best-selling author Joe Hill (NOS4A2, Locke & Key) will be bringing some much needed horror to your local comic book shop in the form of Hill House Comics. The first series in the new “pop-up” line of horror comic books (according to the official press release) will arrive on stands just in time for Halloween with Basketful of Heads, written by Joe Hill with art by Leomacs.
Hill is excited to get back to writing horror comics and stated that “Anyone who’s paying attention knows we’re in the middle of a new golden age of horror: films like Get Out, Hereditary, It Follows, and plain old It have raised the bar higher and higher. Meanwhile, ongoing shows like AMC’s The Terror and Netflix’s Stranger Things have shattered preconceived notions about what’s possible in episodic terror TV. There’s great stuff happening in comics, of course—in a field of unbounded creativity and wacko visionaries, there’s always great stuff happening—but greedy me wants more.”
Hill described that Hill House Comics goal is to “… shock the senses and soak the page in red, with new, hooky horror from seasoned old hands and young masters of the field, all set free to share their most disturbing nightmares…for your pleasure! The books are backed by DC’s second-to-none comic book craftsmanship, and we’re working with the very best editors on parole from Arkham Asylum to craft unputdownable tales of menace and madness.I can’t wait to share some fresh scares with comic book readers everywhere. It’s going to be fun.”
The other titles in the line will feature many writers and artists who have long been associated with horror comics. These projects include: The Dollhouse Family by Mike Carey (Lucifer, Hellblazer) and Peter Gross (Lucifer, The Books of Magic, The Unwritten), The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado (Her Body and Other Parties) and Dani (2000 AD, Coffin Bound, Deep Roots), Daphne Byrne by Laura Marks (TV writer and producer, playwright of Bethany) and Kelley Jones (Swamp Thing, Deadman, Batman), as well Plunge by Hill and an artist to be named later.
In addition to these stand-alone series, Hill will also write a backup feature entitled Sea Dogs (which is naturally about lycanthropes terrorizing a crew of sailors at sea), which will appear in the back of every issue from the line.
DC Publisher Dan DiDio stated that “Horror has been such an integral part of DC’s history and it’s a tradition we want to see revitalized. As a lifetime fan of horror, I know fans are going to be so excited when these books hit shelves. I can’t wait.”
Hill House Comics will be featured at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (which will take place on Friday, July 19, at 4:15 p.m. in room 6DE), with a panel hosted by Hill, Doyle, and other special guests.
Hill House Comics will be released under the DC Black Label designation, after DC announced last week that the former home for all things horror at DC, Vertigo, would be disappearing by January of 2020.
Check out the cover of Basketful of Heads #1 below and stay tuned for more news about the entire Hill House Comics line at Horror News Network.
