Hallow-reading: Spook House

In recent years I have fully embraced the literary anthology, especially those that collect modern weird fiction and horror short stories. Whether it’s due to my own slightly diminished attention span or an appreciation for the impact a good writer can have over an efficiently written story, I often find myself reaching to read (or re-read) short stories and novellas when hankering for a scare. Each year around this time of year, I also find myself picking up horror comic book anthologies, too.

While I’ve shared my appreciation for the semi-annual (now defunct?) Monsterverse series Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave, a more recent series has supplanted it on my Halloween go-to: Albatross Funnybooks’ Spook House. Last week’s New Comic Book Day saw the release of the third volume of the series, Spook House 2019 Halloween Special. All are the brainchildren of writer-artist Eric Powell, most well know for creating and now publishing popular indie comic The Goon.

As with each of the two preceding mini-series, the 2019 Halloween Special features a variety of stand-alone stories, each influenced (story, art, editorial) by Powell. Though the banner above the title on the cover declares in all caps “SCARY STORIES FIT FOR KIDS!” this title is also for those of us who like silly, creepy, stories well past our chronological childhood. As with previous volumes of Spook House, this issue also features the return of other creations from the Albatross Funnybooks stable of characters, Megaghost and Lulu from Chimichanga.

One’s lack of familiarity with either character’s background in no way limits the fun to be had in each story they appear in. While I’ve never read an issue of Megaghost, I enjoyed the issue’s lead story, “It’s the Candy Kaiju, Megaghost.” Written by Gabe Soria with art by Gideon Kendall, “It’s the Candy Kaiju” shares some the punny, broad humor that makes the more adult Goon stories so enjoyable. If not quite so “scary”, it, like each of the four stories in the issue, is very entertaining and, most importantly, evokes a fun Halloween season spirit. If the not-so-secret secondary editorial agenda is to prompt those, like me, to give Megaghost a try, it succeeds. This back-door introduction to junior occultist Martin Magus and his supernatural super-robot Megaghost has piqued my interest… so now I need to go back to my local comic book shop and seek out their appearances, past, present and future.

The rest of the issue feels much more like an Eric Powell joint, unsurprising given his role as a contributing, or solo, writer of all three. Both Pet Sematary spoof, “Goldfish Graveyard” and the cautionary tale regarding the self-fulfilling prophesy of names, “The Grumpiest Goblin,” are a touch more humorous and indicative of the stories that appeared in the previous volumes (available in trade paperback). If Powell’s form of humor is an acquired taste, Spook House 2019 Halloween Celebration, or any previous collection, is likely to give you a hankering for more.