DC has some of the best horror characters in superhero comics—Deadman, Etrigan The Demon, John Constantine, The Sandman, Swamp Thing—but for the new DC House Of Horror one-shot, the publisher is eschewing the usual suspects in favor of scary stories starring DC’s most popular creations. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and other big names are at the center of stories written by horror novelists, many of whom have either won or been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for dark fantasy and horror writing. DC veteran Keith Giffen is responsible for the plots, but the scripting for almost every story is done by a new voice at the publisher—with the exception of Brian Keene, who has worked on a handful of titles with Giffen in the past.
These writers are paired with art teams that have worked extensively at DC, and the familiarity of these artists and colorists with this superhero world helps ease the writers into this specific style of storytelling. This exclusive preview of next week’s DC House Of Horror contains excerpts from four stories: Writer Edward Lee and Howard Porter offer a grisly take on what happens when a spacecraft lands in Smallville, unleashing an alien that terrorizes the town. Mary SanGiovanni and Bilquis Evely form a mysterious connection between Wonder Woman and a female killer. Brian Keene and Scott Kolins pit the Justice League against a zombie virus. And Wrath James White and Tom Raney make Two-Face a prophet of dark times. DC House Of Horror also includes stories featuring Batman, Green Arrow, Harley Quinn, and Shazam, spotlighting how DC concepts are flexible enough to fit different genres.