If there is any character perfect for Halloween stories, or Halloween reading, it's Batman. Batman is Halloween come to life, and has been the subject of several stories either set around or on the holiday or has fought the creatures most associated with it, like vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and monsters.
Batman has always been a character that dealt in the odd, mysterious, and borderline-occult if not the full supernatural. This occult strain went away in the '40s, but was brought back in the late '60s and is even more emphasized today than it was when Batman loaded silver bullets into an automatic and went looking for vampires in Detective Comics #31.
Detective Comics #455, 1976: "Heart Of A Vampire"
Bruce's limo breaks down outside Gotham, and he and Alfred investigate a boarded-up house looking to water for the car but find a vampire who has been trapped there for decades.
Batman battles a vampire who had transplanted his heart into an old grandfather clock. This is a classic vampire, tux and cape and hissing at crosses, perfect for the transitioning Batman of the mid-'70s, going from light to shadow. The premise is a bit wonky, but well-done, with a script by Elliot S. Maggin and creepy art by Long Bow Hunter's and Legion of Super-Heroes artist Mike Grell.
Detective Comics #31-32. 1939: "Batman Versus The Vampire"
Batman saves a man from an attack and finds out the attacker is his own fiance, Julie Madison under hypnosis. Julie goes to Paris but is attacked by a vampire Monk dressed in red. Batman manages to kill the nest of vampires with silver bullets.
Batman, in this story, meets his first vampire, the Red Monk, a character that will star in a two-part story before being dispatched by an early example of Batman using a gun. This is the true beginning of Batman's occult roots, and it goes for the jugular. Later stories, especially after Robin showed up and stories had to be more 'appropriate.' After all, there was a 10-year kid present. This story would later be redone by Matt Wagner as a miniseries Batman and the Mad Monk in 2006.
Justice League of America #103, 1972: "A Stranger Walks Among Us"
Warned by the Phantom Stranger, The JLA goes to Rutland Vermont to hunt the escaped wizard, Felix Faust. There, they participate in the Rutland Halloween Parade, along with four DC/Marvel employees.
This story is part of an unofficial crossover done on the down-low by writers who worked for both DC and Marvel at the time. It was a loose three-parter starting in Marvels' Amazing Adventures #16 and continues in Justice League of America #103 ending in Thor #207, featuring writers Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway, and Len and Glynis Wein.
Batman #236, 1971: "Wail Of The Ghost Bride"
Hellbane Manor, the house of the long-missing bride Corrine Hellbane is being torn down where the ghostly Corrine appears to Batman, pleading for justice. Investigating, Batman finds the bride's skeletal remains inside a wall of the manor.
A ghostly bride, a 40-year-old unsolved disappearance, and Batman is there to solve the mystery with the help of a ghost. A gothic ghost tale by Frank Robbins, artist/writer of the comic strip Johnny Hazard and a painter of some renown. Robbins was known for his '70s Batman run that dealt in atmospheric mysteries where Batman was able to use his detective skills. It's a good mix of O'Neil's athletic and relevant Batman.
Batman #227, 1970: "The Demon Of Gothos Mansion"
Worried about Alfred's niece Daphne and her strange teaching job in a lonely mansion, Batman finds her about to be sacrificed to a demon on Halloween night.
It's a classic gothic ghostly Batman tale, mixed with doomed romance. Batman doesn't delve into the full supernatural all that often, but here it's heartbreaking. It's all a very atmospheric tale, with Batman losing his heart to a ghost. She's gone and has been for decades, so Batman ends up sobbing in the night. Not something you see often in a Batman tale, but '70s Batman was a little more in touch with his emotions than 2000's Batman. It's a good script by master Batman writer, Denny O'Neil.
Batman #255, 1974: "Moon Of The Wolf"
Bruce Wayne's old friend Anthony Lupus has been turned into a werewolf by Batman villain Milo, a quack doctor. Lupus can have a cure to his sickness if he'll first kill Batman.
Batman battles a werewolf across Gotham in a story to be read on Halloween night. A return to pure horror with a great script is by Swamp Thing and Wolverine co-creator Len Wein, and Neal Adams, with his ultra-realistic style, does a remarkable job on the pencils, with inks by Dick Giordano. Adams' art set the standard for the strip and his approach was imitated across all the titles.
Detective Comics #395, 1969: "The Secret of the Waiting Graves"
Bruce is in Mexico, a party guest of the Muertos. They have a secret that they have been using an illegal substance derived from flowers to prolong their lives. You will live longer but it's in utter madness.
This issue is historic as it's the first story that teamed both Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, two men determined to return Batman to his 'Dark Knight' roots. It is a dark tale of drugs, insanity, and immortality with Batman returned to his 'creature of the night' status. The fans soon demanded more of 'this' Batman they had never seen before and would get it throughout the '70s.
Detective Comics #404, 1970: "Ghost of the Killer Skies!"
Producing a movie about a WW1 German ace, Bruce witnesses a pilot murdered. A rival company is sabotaging the movie, as is a descendant of von Hammer and during a dogfight with Batman, the descendant is killed.
Another early '70's classic by O'Neil and Adams, who were on a several years-long roll. This is story is a tribute to the '60s war series "Enemy Ace" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, an introspective series told from the perspective of the Germans in WW1. During the aerial dogfight, Batman suspects his meager knowledge of biplanes is being supplemented by the ghost of von Hammer himself. There's more great art by Neal Adams, who does some full swipes of Kubert's von Hammer art.
Batman #237, 1971: "Night Of The Reaper"
A Nazi death camp commandant is loose at the annual superhero Halloween parade in Rutland Vermont. He's being hunted by fellow Nazis who want the gold he stole, and by Batman and Robin.
It's considered an amazing tale of horror, redemption, and past crimes coming home. This is an actual parade held in Rutland Vermont every Halloween. A comics fan named Tom Fagan had a hand in starting the parade and in its having a superhero theme. The parade was the background for several comics books stories by both Marvel and DC Comics over the years and still continues to this day, but without Fagan who ed in 2008.
‘Batman: Haunted Knight’
Batman: Haunted Night is a collection of three Halloween-themed stories: "Fears," featuring the Scarecrow, "Madness," with the Mad Hatter, and "Ghosts," with Batman on a Christmas Carol journey through his past, present, and possible future. Three collaborations by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, authors of Batman: The Long Halloween.
Set in Batman's early days, all three show Bruce taking on the heavy responsibility of Batman and being overwhelmed by it. Each may be a different story, but each deals with Bruce finding a balance between the man and the Bat. This is a lesson he will have to learn many times.
