Review by C.J. Bunce
With the publication of Archie Horror 10 years ago, the publisher of 80 years of beloved Archie Comics turned Riverdale on its head, beginning with the brilliant Afterlife with Archie series featuring Robert Hack and Francesco Francavilla‘s amazing cover art. It continued in Jughead: The Hunger, Vampironica, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, and Chilling Adventures of Salem. Last year saw two new titles, Chilling Adventures of Jinx, and Chilling Adventures Presents…Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe of Horrors, and this year brought us Strange Science. A new anthology is coming this week, perfect for anyone who hasn’t kept up on this great imprint spinning from the darker side of Riverdale and beyond. Archie Horror Presents: Chilling Adventures–The Anthology arrives at comic shops this week and is available for pre-order now here at Amazon–a great follow-up to the Chilling Adventures in Sorcery Anthology, Afterlife with Archie, and the Jughead: The Hunger books.
A chilling world, terrifying tales, from robotic rogues and inter-dimensional interlopers to sinister sorcerers and macabre mystics, this anthology collection introduces Riverdale and its surrounding areas as hotbeds of strange happenings and paranormal activity, but sometimes things get downright disturbing, and even the most pure-hearted can’t be saved.
Check out a giant preview below for borg readers of Archie Horror Presents: Chilling Adventures–The Anthology, courtesy of Archie Comics:
The best thing the anthology can be compared to are the Dark Horse horror anthologies: The Dark Horse Book of Horror, The Dark Horse Book of Monsters, The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, and The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft. Best for mature teens and older readers, the stories balance fun with the kind of comics titles with a darker edge going back to the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
For me the best of the book includes the Weirder Mystery stories, which feature Archie & Co. in an X-Files-type adventure, a tale starring Vampironica– a great idea executed just right, and the whole gang in ‘Twas the Night Before the Hunger, with Jughead as a werewolf at Christmas time–versus Krampus, and every appearance of Sabrina’s cat Salem, who never got his due in the recent television series because the Sabrina actor was allergic to cats. The Salem stories are a bit darker than the Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson Beasts of Burden stories we’ve discussed for years here at borg.
Just take a look for yourself:
The anthology collects seven comics: Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Jinx: Grim Fairy Tales, Weirder Mysteries, Chilling Adventures of Salem, The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Madam Satan, and Happy Horror Days. Featuring a cover by Archie Horror Robert Hack, you’ll find contributions from Casey Gilly, Frank Tieri, Magdalene Vissaggio, Liana Kangas, Joe Eisman, Sina Grace, Eliot Rahal, and many others.
Add Archie Horror Presents: Chilling Adventures–The Anthology to your pull list at Elite Comics or your local comic shop now. It’s also available for pre-order here at Amazon, slated for release this Wednesday.
