Summary

• Get ready for holiday horror with Shiver Suspenstories #1 featuring chilling winter tales by top creatives like Jason Aaron and Adam Hughes.
• EC Comics, known for horror in the Golden Age, is making a comeback with Oni Press reviving the brand and expanding its offerings.
• Holiday horror exposes the dark side of the season with a mix of gory tales and dark humor, promising to leave readers trembling this December.

San Diego Comic-Con, and readers will want to add it to their wish lists this holiday season. Featuring creatives like Jason Aaron (Thor), Adam Hughes (Wonder Woman), and David Lapham (Stray Bullets), Shiver Suspenstories #1 promises to send a chill down your spine with horrifying winter tales.

EC Comics was a popular publisher in the Golden Age of Comics that focused on horror and science fiction stories rather than superheroes. However, in the anti-comics backlash of the 1950s, the gory stories found in series like Tales from the Crypt had censors demanding the publisher be shut down. Oni Press announced earlier this year that it would revive the former brand, down to its signature pulpy cover art, and it just released its first book under the label, Epitaphs from the Abyss.

Sales have already been so good, Oni announced that it's changing the series' run from a 5-issue miniseries to a full 12-issue run. Now, the publisher hopes to repeat the same success with Shiver Suspenstories this December.

Holiday and Horror Have Long Been Strange Bedfellows

The winter holidays can be a fraught time for many people, with shorter days, colder weather, and nonstop carols playing everywhere. Most media feeds into this by promoting happy, warm messages of family togetherness, gift-giving, and very special episodes. However, for those who preferred the dark specter of Christmas Yet to Come over Ebeneezer Scrooge's redemption, holiday horror has always been a welcome bit of counter-programming. There’s a dark underbelly to a season that demands everyone put on a happy face, buy more presents, and pretend like a warm cup of cocoa fixes everything. Horror exposes this contrast, sometimes in gory fashion.

For those less keen on guts and gore, Shiver Suspenstories isn’t comprised of only horror stories. Oni's announcement promises that the anthology will feature other genres that EC Comics was known for: science fiction and military action tales. While Epitaphs from the Abyss, just released on July 24, has already sold over 65,000 copies, Oni Press has another book coming up for the imprint: Cruel Universe. This anthology focuses more on science fiction tales and features creators like Corinna Bechko (Avatar: Adapt or Die) and Matt Kindt (BRZRKR), and releases in August 2024.

Holiday Horror Is Dark, But Also Darkly Funny

EC Comics were not only gory and horrific, but also dealt in the macabre - the comedy of truly terrifying things. For every dark murder and scary spirit in Tales from the Crypt, the Cryptkeeper was there to leave you with a joke at the end. Horror at the holidays often exists in this same space, with the contrast between Santa coming down the chimney and an ax murderer breaking down the door being almost comical. While the holidays and horror have been paired before, the Shiver Suspenstories anthology announced at SDCC by Oni Press and EC Comics promises to have readers trembling this December - and not because of the cold.

Shiver Suspenstories #1 arrives in December 2024 from Oni Press and EC Comics.