Ghastly Awards - November 2013 Update

Horror comics are becoming more and more frequent in our reading culture, and the Ghastly Awards are here to recognize, through Horror Comic submissions, those that shine the brightest. We encourage all Comic Creators to take the time to head over to www.ghastlyawards.com and submit your work for 2013 Ghastly Award Nomination consideration. Creators and Publishers the Submission Deadline is December 14!
    

Creators please remember that you can submit your Horror Comic work through out the calendar year! For the month of November 2013 the judges are recommending you take a look at: 

Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash issue #3 (Dynamite) - Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash isAsh and Cassie are still on the trail of the person selling pages of the Necronomicon, but when Ash decides to take a detour to sight see at an old west town Cassie and Ash are in for more than just a bad tour, assassins are on their way and there just might be a showdown in the wild west tonight. I am happy to see Cassie and Ash are still going strong in this series. Their personalities blend well together and they play off each other quite well. I was afraid that I would see the character's personalities deviate, but they continue to stay on point and move the story along at a great pace. This comic is a killer combination of great characters, humor, horror, blood and deadite takedowns, which makes tracking down the pages of the Necronomicon a wild ride. - Spaced (http://youknowyourcertifiable.blogspot.com/) 

Coffin Hill #2 (Vertigo) - Picking up where Coffin Hill #1 left off, issue #2 focuses on Eve Coffin, ex-punker, ex-socialite, and newly ex-cop, as she goes looking for a missing couple in the Coffin Hill Woods. These are the same woods from issue #1 where Eve and her friends played witchcraft years earlier with a disastrous outcome. It appears that history may be repeating itself and Eve is hell-bent on stopping that. Issue #2 gives us a deeper look into Eve’s backstory, as well as introduces us to one of Eve’s old acquaintances, Nate, a cop and THE perfect foil for Eve. She knows that the couple’s disappearance is supernatural; a curse from her past, but Nate won’t hear it. Eve sees the black magic all around her, haunting her, reminding her of her past while Nate provides obstacles at every turn. Writer Caitlin Kittredge does a phenomenal job of building up that “I hate you” type sexual tension that’s so subtle you don’t even realize it until you’ve finished reading the issue. The non-linear timeline, so brilliantly played, is intricately instrumental to the tension and horror of the storyline. Coffin Hill isn’t your typical “I see dead people” Cop vs. “ya can’t argue with science” Cop. With every page, the reader is left wondering who’s crazy here and what, if any, supernatural elements are at play. The tension is set high which makes for a thrilling read. – Bree Ogden (agentbree.wordpress.com)

Wraith #1 (IDW) -  Fans of Locke & Key will be interested to know that Joe Hill's sick new series, Wraith, is finally out --being a sort of prequel of partially derived material cut from his 2013 novel NOS4A2-- and judging from this first issue it's going to be one dark, and very weird 'n wild ride! It's still a bit too early to tell really, and though some pages and panels might look a bit cramped and overly wordy, there's definitely something seriously sinister and messed-up, yet completely captivating in the chunk of frightening flashback story telling and set-up we're being handed here. It's a time spanning, nightmarish, eerily epic yarn loaded with mean spirited characters and brutal, bloody bursts of disturbing, ugly ultra violence. Yes, it may take us a few issues to fully know what the fuck is going on with creepy old Charlie Manx, his children, and his phantasmagorical Rolls Royce road trip to Christmasland, but that's what's so dreadfully fascinating and surreal about it all in the first place. Fans of Al Columbia are encouraged to hop in and buckle up for the ride too. – Steve Banes (http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/)

Blokes Terrible Tomb of Terror #8 (Self published)- Jason "Bloke" Crawley gets it; he understands how to write short form horror and his Warren-inspired Terrible Tomb of Terror always delivers the goods. The eighth issue of this anthology is another good one. Crawley's partner for this project is Mike Hoffman, who starts this issue off with a Frazetta-inspired cover and the first story, "Tapped Out" (which he also wrote). Hoffman is an excellent artist, though I feel he rushes some of his work for this title. Still, a rushed Hoffman is better than most artists anyway! The rest of the artwork in the issue is top-shelf; the tag team of Rock Baker and Scott Shriver continually deliver excellent work to Blokes... and the guest writers are also up to the task. This book keeps going from strength to strength and the Bloke/ Hoffman team get these out regularly... something the "big boys" haven't ever figured out! Give the small press guys a chance and discover some great stuff... done in the style of the masters of yore. You know, back when horror comics didn't suck. Grab a handful of mags and prints and pdfs at Bloke's Etsy shop... http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlokesTomb?ref=l2-shopheader-name - Mike Howlett (http://eeriepublications.blogspot.com/) 

Drumhellar #1 (Image) - In Drumhellar, Riley Rossmo and Alex Link manage to combine horror, crime, comedy, drama, romance, and fantasy flawlessly. The story follows a supernatural investigator of sorts who uses psychedelic drugs to help in understand the world of the paranormal. Unfortunately, those drugs go missing. There is a certain air of surrealism present throughout the entire issue, yet the story is completely cohesive. The mystery is as intriguing as Rossmo's gorgeous, dreamlike art and I know that things will only get weirder as the book continues. Drumhellar is one of those rare books that feels like it takes complete advantage of the comics medium and I can't wait to see what wild places these two take us. Oh, and there's a bisexual werewolf, a ghost cat, and a bog man.  – Lonnie Nadler (www.Bloody-Disgusting.com)

Baltimore: The Infernal Train #3 (Dark Horse) -Fighting atop the speeding eponymous infernal locomotive in the rain? Check. Bloody vampire eyeballs popping from their sockets? Check. Giant talking bat priests? Double check. Religious jibber-jabber? Yep, it's all here, and all within the first few pages! Oh yeah, and my least favorite character in the series is now a werewolf! This issue is a total score! I don't want to give away too much, but the end of this issue strongly suggests that Baltimore will FINALLY meet up with Haigus in the next series, Chapel of Bones. Doesn't seem that will be the end of Baltimore, though, as we now have the Red King storyline to look forward to. I am so totally beyond stoked for what's to come!  - Rachel Deering (https://twitter.com/racheldeering) 

Wilder #1 (Monsterverse) - What? NO!!! Nope, no way. You can not be serious Kidwell and Mangum, this needs to be a mini-series or an on-going, but no… not just a ONE SHOT!!! ARGH!!!!!!!! I don’t know what I want to gush about more first artwork or story, story or artwork… it was all so good. The story here is so damn good, and is left so wide open and screaming “I HAVE MORE TO TELL YOU!”, that I can not believe this is just a one shot. Now don’t get me wrong, this issue does everything right. It builds to this big payoff and is totally complete, but after you read it you will say the same thing… I want more! And seriously can Kidwell not tell a good war/horror story? The artwork is so MOTHER Fµ©%!ñ¶ GORE-GEOUS! My favorite visual thing, and yeah it might be silly, was that the female werewolves had 6 tits. Now why do I point that out? Because they are part dog people! I’ve read a lot of werewolf stories, but I don’t ever recall seeing someone throw that in. This book really has it all, and I mean that. The story is solid, the artwork is perfect… so guess what… it’s a PERFECT BOOK! Now lets all harass these creators to give us more! - Decapitated Dan (www.decapitateddan.com)

 
Creators and Publishers the Submission Deadline is December 14! Please make sure to go over to www.ghastlyawards.com to submit your books for 2013 Nomination consideration! More informaiton on how the submission process works can be found here http://ghastlys.blogspot.com/2010/10/submit-your-horror-comic-to-be.html