HELLO DARKNESS, VOLUME ONE by various creators (Boom! Studios, April 01 2025) Paperback, 176 pages. ISBN # 9798892151023
Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Today’s top horror storytellers invite you deep into the gloomiest recesses of your nightmares, never letting you forget that… the darkness will always define us! From the trenches and tunnels of World War I to cushy Brooklyn apartments to lonely lighthouses, the darkness comes for us all.
Modern fears of a collapsing society come for privileged Millennial yuppies in “The War” by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys) and Becky Cloonan (Wonder Woman, Somna), while Erica Slaughter stars in an exclusive brand-new adventure of the Eisner award-winning Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera.
Be very afraid as even more new horror tales are unveiled by Wes Craig (Deadly Class), Sarah Andersen (Fangs), Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy), Trevor Hairsine (DCeased), and more! Collects Hello Darkness #1-4.
My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
HELLO DARKNESS is a mixed bag of diversity of themes, twisty endings, series beginnings, and quality of writing and art. I absolutely love it. There is something here for every one and every taste, as long as you like horror comics anthologies and like it dark, which this certainly is. Along with the EC Comics revival from Oni Press (EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS, CRUEL UNIVERSE) and Image Comics’ CREEPSHOW, there is certainly room on comic shop shelves for another entry, and this deserves the space. Competition will upgrade the quality across the board.
HELLO DARKNESS differs from EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS in three areas: 1) The covers are not stand-alone art but feature the same recurring character - a red-haired beauty, usually in alert mode, distress, or the cause of the distress. 2) There is no moderator/horror host for the stories. 3) There are two continued stories, which began in Issues #1and #2.
I read these in the single monthly issues and want to spotlight my favorite stories from each issue. Since I also reviewed these as each issue came out along with a preview of the standard cover, I’m including some of the better variant covers this time.
Issue #1
The opening story here is “Contagious” by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with simplistic art by Letizia Cadonici that helps get the shock value across as it lulls you into complacency.. But the story is far from simple, and pretty gruesome. Young kids in school begin passing on a “social contagion” to each other, a mass hysteria that sees them killing their parents.
Issue #2
The follow-up issue was not as strong as the debut issue (or Issue #3) but this still remains a showcase for quality story-telling.
The stand-out story (creepy as all get-out) is “The Clown” written and illustrated in black & white by Adam Raharjo. This made the Top 5 of my Favorite Creepy Clown Stories. (Stephen King’s IT, either movie or novel, sits atop at #1).
Issue #3
The stand-out story this issue, and it is very disturbing, is “Mukbang” by Michael W. Conrad and Martin Morazzo.
It deals with social media influencers and competition for likes and followers. Two high school rivals take this to a horrifying level.
A real gut-punch of a story.
Issue #4
The best entry this time around in terms of story, art, and colors is “Dying For Quiet” by Shawn Patrick Boyd, Elijah Henry and Jason Wordie.
A young female executive assistant can’t stop saying “no” to anyone (work, family, friends) and burns out. She finally signs up for a country retreat with a verdant garden where her emotions can release.
