It’s that time of year when the days get shorter; the nights get colder and houses are adorned with a festival of pumpkins and fake headstones. Lots of people rent the obligatory scary movie in anticipation of Halloween. This year we suggest curling up in front of the fire awaiting the inevitable ring of the doorbell with a horrifying tale in comic or graphic novel form. Check out our Halloween themed displays near the front of the store where you can find something appropriate for every age.

• Here’s a couple quick suggestions:

• Bongo Comics has put out their annual Simpsons Treehouse of Horror #14. This year features some modern masters of horror comics Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and Glenn Fabry (Preacher) concocting a dread-filled tale of woe when a freak solar eclipse leads to an onslaught of vampire attacks in fictional town of Springfield; then Love and Rockets co-creator Gilbert Hernandez re-invents one of his favorite cult films, Frankenstein Conquers the World, featuring Homer Simpson as a gluttonously destructive force of nature. Lastly, writer Ian Boothby and artist Nina Matsumoto contribute a Death Note parody. We also carry Bongo’s collections of older Treehouse of Horror comics.

• If your looking for something a little more classic try Marvel’s hardcover adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula written by Roy Thomas and featuring beautiful black and white artwork by Dick Giordano. The story was originally serialized in Marvel’s black and white magazine Dracula Lives back in the 70’s but was never fully completed until recently. Similarly, Marvel has released four volumes of their black and white Essentials line containing the entire run of their Tomb of Dracula series and has just released the first Tomb of Dracula Omnibus hardcover featuring the first 31 issues and a handful of special appearances and Giant-Sized issues.

• Other suggestions for young readers:

• Sabrina (Archie)
• Scooby-Doo (DC)
• Sipping Spiders Through Straws (Campfire Songs for Monsters) hardcover (Scholastic Press)
• Monsters are Afraid of the Moon By Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) (Bloomsbury)
• Death Jr. (Image)
• Scary Godmother (Sirius)
• Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge (October issues always reprint older Halloween stories)
• Courtney Crumrin Graphic Novels (Oni)
• Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and The Graveyard Book (click here for more information)

• Other suggestions for not-so-young readers:

•  I Luv Halloween (written by Kieth Giffen; Tokyopop)
• 30 Days of Night (There are currently 9 volumes of Steve Niles’ vampire scarefests)
• Marvel Essentials: Werewolf By Night; The Monster of Frankenstein; Marvel Horror; Man-Thing
• DC Showcase Collections: House of Mystery; House of Secrets
• Swamp Thing (six collections are written by Alan Moore and Dark Genesis is the first Swamp Thing stories by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson
• EC Archives: Various collections of the original Tales from the Crypt; Vault of Horror and Shock Suspense Stories
• Kolchak the Night Stalker (Moonstone)
• Creepy Archives Volume One hardcover (Dark Horse; click here for more information)
• The Mammoth Book of Horror Comics (Running Press)
• Batman: The Long Halloween and Haunted Knight (DC)
• The Walking Dead (the ongoing Zombie epic by Robert Kirkman; Image)
• Silent Hill (the recently released Omnibus based on the hit video game collects 3 previous graphic novels; IDW)

• Come in and check out our Halloween displays and you’ll find something to satisfy your scary needs!