Creepshow Vol 3 edited by Ben Abernathy

Given my literary consumption of recent years, I’m genuinely wondering whether I ought to pivot away from my usual mental palate cleansers of classic/cozy crime in favor of horror anthologies like this one! This volume certainly acted like a much needed reset on my brain, serving up short, sharp and entirely self-sufficient diversions to give my weary mind the low commitment but high reward reading it desperately needed.

As overseen by Ben Abernathy, the ten comics collected here fulfil the Creepshow remit with aplomb. For those unfamiliar with the concept, Creepshow first debuted as a Stephen King-written and George A Romero-directed anthology movie in the early 1980s. It was conceptualized as an homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, and was successful enough to spawn several sequels and, in a nice full-circle moment, a comic of its own.

Creepshow was revived as a television show in 2019, which is where this latest comics iteration comes in. Greg Nicotero and Brian Witten, the producers of that show, have also cleverly solicited for writers and artists to contribute to accompanying print anthologies, of which this is the third. Each volume so far has showcased some of the best talent in comics today. This one is no different, with a stacked line-up that includes Chip Zdarsky, Mike Carey and Kami Garcia, among others. Shout-out as well to Pat Brousseau who lettered every story but one here, keeping an excellent sense of continuity going almost entirely throughout.

Interestingly, while I very much enjoyed the works of the authors mentioned above — arguably the most famous of the ones included here — I was most dazzled by stories from authors I was less familiar with. Top of that heap is Chris Condon, Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran’s The Murder Variant, which is a cheeky dig at comic book grognards and their incredible lack of social and communication skills. I also really loved how Acky Bright’s words and art came together in the horrifying Face, which touches on the deeper underlying problem of self-esteem and how giving up your appearance to please the whims of others also means losing yourself.

But my absolute favorite of these stories was the hilariously titled Tent Revival by Ed Brisson & Kael Ngu. Any woman struggling through the dating trenches will absolutely sympathize (tho I will freely admit to a personal smugness in not being the kind of girl who dates guys who want you to go hiking and camping with them, lol.) Everything about this comic was flawless, from the dialog to the spectacular art to that razor-perfect title.

As always with anthologies, I love how they expose readers to brand new creators we might never have had the time to look up before. Creepshow might feel like a shlocky idea, but it’s filled to the brim with talent who make wicked, wonderful work that I look forward to continuing to explore in future. Recommended.

Creepshow Vol 3 edited by Ben Abernathy was published April 1 2025 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including