Summary

• The Justice League has faced spine-tingling horror threats, including vampires, nightmares, and the undead, in their mission to protect the innocent.
• Wonder Woman becomes a ruthless villain after falling under the evil magic of Hecate, while also facing the terrifying Upside-Down Man.
• Batman's darkest hour occurs when he is brainwashed by Deacon Blackfire, leading him to break his one rule and help in the murder of several people, while Gotham City falls under the control of a man.

The Justice League are bastions of hope and light... which makes it all the more disturbing when they run up against real horror. Whether it's the end of the world, a vampire uprising, or something twisted beneath the waves, the heroes of the Justice League have faced spine-tingling threats in their attempts to safeguard the innocent and uphold justice.

Whether it's the Flash, Wonder Woman, or Aquaman, the Justice League have starred in some of DC's best horror stories of all time: here are the 10 best that anyone who loves the Justice League or comic horror needs to check out.

10 Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark: Witching Hour

Wonder Woman Becomes a Villain

While the Justice League usually fight planetary threats or villains from outer space, the Justice League Dark are on call for any supernatural threats. While the team have generally been loosely d with the main League, this changed when Wonder Woman took over as leader, investigating the magical elements of her own past. That investigation comes to a head in Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour by James Tynion IV, Jesus Merino, Romulo Fajardo Jr, and Dave Sharpe.

This story follows Wonder Woman falling under the evil magic of Hecate as one of her Witch Marked. The story drives home the central theme of Justice League Dark stories: where magic is involved, there's no such thing as a clean win, even for Wonder Woman. Diana as a ruthless villain is dark enough, but The Witching Hour also showcases the threat of one of DC's most genuinely terrifying monsters: the Upside-Down Man.

9 The Flash - Tales from the Dark Multiverse

Flash Is the Fastest Skeleton Alive

The Dark Nights event was an especially dark time in the DC Universe. Literal nightmares were rising from the Dark Multiverse and trying to destroy Earth, and there were plenty of universes that fell to these dark nightmares. In one such world, the metal armor that the Justice League donned to fight Barbatos transformed them into the Dragons of the Bat. This was all seen in Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal by Scott Snyder, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Karl Mostert, Trevor Scott, Norm Rapmund, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Andworld Design. Together, they destroyed the Earth and killed most of the heroes on the planet. One of the few "surviving" is a horror version of the Flash, now reduced to a skeleton that's been animated by the Speed Force. However, while he may look twisted, the Flash still fights to free reality from his former friends.

8 Justice League: Knight Terrors

The Justice League Face Their Greatest Nightmares Made Flesh

DC's Knight Terrors event was a line-wide story, kicking off in Knight Terrors: First Blood #1 by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Brad Anderson, and Troy Peteri. This story sees the villain Insomnia using his dark magic to place every living being on Earth into their own personal nightmare. This affected just about every member of the Justice League, as well as major villains like Joker. Superman suffers nightmares of dooming planet Earth, Barry Allen becomes a monster in order to save fellow Flash Wally West, and Batman faces the trauma of his parents' deaths manifested into a demonic gun/bat. Each hero gets their own adventure, confronting their demons before a grand finale of terror.

7 Green Lantern: Blackest Night

Former Heroes Rise as a Zombie Army

One of the darkest Green Lantern stories ever told is without a doubt Blackest Night by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, Alex Sinclair, and Nick J. Napolitano. This storyline follows the appearance of the Black Lantern Nekron, a being who is powered by and seemingly controls death itself. Nekron uses his black lantern to revive dozens of slain heroes and villains, weaponizing the former friends and family of iconic Justice League . The freshly revived Black Lanterns gain power by tearing out the hearts of others, but only do so once their target has been overwhelmed with emotion, leading to lots of psychological horror for Earth's protectors.

6 Wonder Woman: Dead Earth

Wonder Woman Faces the End of the World

Many alternate universe stories take place at the end of the world, but few are as dark or as heartbreaking as Wonder Woman: Dead Earth by Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer, and Rus Wooton. This story sees Wonder Woman waking up from a medically induced coma to find herself at the end of the world. The Earth has been desolated by means she can't , and as she travels through the world, she comes across the corpses of her former friends, as well as horrible monsters known as Haedra. A Black Label series, this story is adults-only, and makes the most of that fact with its bleak apocalypse.

5 Batman: The Cult

Batman's Darkest Hour

Batman has gone up against tons of horrifying villains in his time protecting Gotham City, but only Deacon Blackfire pushed Batman to his absolute breaking point. Part of what makes this storyline so terrifying is the fact it isn't an Elseworlds tale; it actually happened in DC's main canon. In Batman: The Cult by Jim Starlin, Bernie Wrightson, Bill Wray, and John Costanza, readers get to see Batman abandon Gotham City after he is brainwashed by Deacon Blackfire. While under the Deacon's control, Batman breaks his one rule and helps in the murder of several people. This comic saw Gotham City completely fall under the control of a man, all while Batman was completely powerless to stop it.

4 Justice League: DC vs Vampires

A Superhero War Story with a Horrific Edge

The job of the Justice League is to protect the world and prevent apocalyptic scenarios, but in the case of DC vs Vampires, they're already too late. James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg, Otto Schmidt, and Tom Napolitano's story begins with the vamps having already infiltrated the League's ranks and turned a major hero - one who begins taking the heroes out while spreading doubt and confusion.

DC vs Vampires is a war story with multiple fronts, as the Justice League fight a world takeover while key allies are either turned to the undead cause or gorily murdered. This series includes some of the saddest deaths in DC history, and some epic twists in a world where no-one can truly be trusted.

3 Justice League: DCeased

DC's Horror Trilogy Constantly Does the Unexpected

While the events of DC vs Vampires are presented as a slow apocalypse - one that takes planning and cunning to pull off - the DCeased universe is the exact opposite. In DCeased #1 by Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, James Harren, Stefano Gaudiano, Rain Beredo, and Saida Temofonte, the apocalypse is brutal and immediate. When Darkseid accidentally unleashes a techno-organic virus on Earth, the majority of humanity suddenly becomes a flesh-eating horde. Set over three volumes with several tie-in stories, the DCeased saga takes every opportunity to kill off beloved heroes, then reveals how the surviving of the Justice League grow and evolve in a world without their mentors.

2 Aquaman: Andromeda

This Series Proved Aquaman Was Born for Horror Stories

In the Black Label series Aquaman: Andromeda (from Ram V, Christian Ward, and Aditya Bidikar), Aquaman finds himself being called to one of the most isolated places in the entire ocean, seeking out a crashed spaceship. Complicating matters is a group of researchers onboard the ship Andromeda, who have been sent to investigate the craft. Together, Aquaman and the scientists learn that the ship is the Bane of Atlantis, a creature from the Darkworld which can warp reality and make people's darkest thoughts come true. What follows is Aquaman witnessing the horror of the scientists being driven insane as he battles a creature older than Atlantis itself.

1 Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House On Serious Earth

One of DC's Most Successful Comics Ever Still Holds Up

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison, Dave McKean, and Gaspar Saladino is a disturbing tale that completely revolutionized several parts of Batman's mythos. On a dark night, the Joker forces Batman to plunge into Arkham Asylum in an attempt to prove that the Dark Knight belongs with his villains, not the 'normal' world.

While the story reimagines several of Batman's villains as truly terrifying forces of evil, it also tells the origin of the asylum via the diary of Amadeus Arkham, who loses his mind after some truly R-rated experiences. Released in 1989, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth still packs a punch, and McKean's art steals the show, plunging the reader into a living nightmare.