Graphic Novel Review: HELLO DARKNESS, VOLUME THREE

HELLO DARKNESS, VOLUME THREE (Boom! Studios, November 2025)

Despite a couple misses along the way, HELLO DARKNESS has proven to be a worthwhile horror comics anthology title, and one that I’ll continue to follow. Volume 3 contains a strong assortment of stories. Below I’ve identified my favorites.  FOUR STARS OVERALL.

ISSUE #9

My favorite story this issue is “Teacher’s Pet” by Cullen Bunn and Daniel Bayliss. A high school teacher comes up with a unique method to get unruly students to behave better.

Issue #10

This issue was stronger than the previous ones, in my humble opinion. Not because the stories and art were necessarily better; but because they were different and showcased some new contributors. 

   My favorite of the four stories, one page of cartoons (Robert Hack) and several eerie poster pages this issue was “The Devil In The Corner Of Your Eye” by Genevieve Valentine and Ming Doyle. In a near future society, everything your eyes see is scanned and observed by ever-present facial recognition software and deemed an appropriate view or an inappropriate view in the domineering government’s opinion - - like 1984 with an even bigger presence.

An ordinary man tries not to let his focus dwell too long on any one thing, but his attention is misinterpreted and back-fires on him. 

Issue #11

This is the weirdest issue yet, and I appreciate the strange. All the stories and artwork throughout this issue have that experimental “underground comics” feel and remind me of DEATH RATTLE (which I recently reviewed).

    The issue opens with a new take on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which is not really revealed until the final page - where it hints at the possibility of more stories and also ends with a pun - - “The End . . . Is Neigh!” The story (“Hell Horse”) by Karen Egan and Gavin Smith centers around a disgruntled young man after his older brother and son use his horse Licorice to win a race but also ruin the horse's ability to run again.

Issue #12

  “Out”, the opening story by the horror author writing under the pseudonym of Chuck Tingle (“Bury Your Gays”) and Chris Shehan, is the best of the bunch. 

     There’s a sickness going around. People see monsters that aren’t really there, then experience severe hemorrhaging from sudden wounds. A young tech worker attending a baseball game witnesses the first outbreak, then gets trampled by the crowd and succumbs to a comatose state for two months. When he recovers, the physician’s assistant suggests he never tell anyone that he sees the zombie-like “visitors”, and not to believe anyone who says they do.

   Just like the recent pandemic had its doubters, the majority population pretends the visitors aren’t there and simply ignores them. Hard to do, but they only watch . .  so life goes back to normal. Less people succumb to the sickness, and the right-wing media support the government’s down-playing. 

Media pundits proclaim “The radical left is recruiting your children! They’re making mass hysteria cool!”  Secretive support groups spring up that refuse to pretend the visitors aren’t there. They are the ones who discover a repellant that drives visitors away - - and the story has a happy ending (along with a positive message).