Fear Itself

It’s been too long since we looked at any horror comics, ain’t it?

 

Pigeons from Hell #3

Joe R. Lansdale’s adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s classic horror story continues, as the Blassenville sisters and the roaming sheriff make a narrow escape from the old haunted plantation mansion. Whatever’s inside doesn’t follow them, but they can’t simply leave — they have a friend who may still be trapped in the house. So they retreat to a nearby shack, where an ancient hoodoo man spins them the tales of the old house’s horrific history. Will knowing the house’s secrets help them fight the evil spirit inside? Or is it too strong for anyone to withstand?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good and creepy, and excellent suspense as well.

 

B.P.R.D.: The Ectoplasmic Man

This is essentially the origin story of Johann Kraus, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense’s resident disembodied medium. Back in 2002, the story goes, he was leading a seance, assumed an ectoplasmic form to commune with the spirit world, and inadvertently became part of a global supernatural disaster that destroyed thousands of spirits — the psychic feedback killed Kraus’ body and the other participants in the seance, but left Kraus as a bodiless ectoplasmic spirit. But soon, he discovers a new menace in a nearby cemetery, a demon that feeds on the souls of the recently deceased. But how can an intangible ghost stop such a powerful demon?

Verdict: Another thumbs up. A wonderful done-in-one story that adds quite a bit to Kraus’ backstory. The demon is nicely monstrous, and Johann’s solution to the problem, while entirely predictable for anyone who knows the character now, is still done very well.