The Horror! The Horror!: Harrow County, Crossed, & Zombie Tramp

Finally! An ongoing monthly article that makes you face the monsters in the closet. You can run, but you can't hide from our selected ghoulish items in PREVIEWS that will make you flee and scream bloody murder. Horror fiends: let the madness begin! This is the run-down on what ghastly items can be found in this month's PREVIEWS catalog. If you can't take the chills, TOO BAD! This is where the children of the night gather, and howl at the moon without apology.

**********

You made it! Welcome to another month of unapologetic expository writing that challenges the ever-popular expression "have a nice day." Why should you have a nice day when you would rather be miserable, and make others around you equally miserable? Let someone else live a lie. Not you. You know that you're stuck in the grey area between life and death; moreover, your circular existence looks something like the conundrum dear Emmy faces in Cullen Bunn's Harrow County #14 (MAY160107).

Just when life seemed to offer a ray of sunshine, the clouds roll in, and you're back to praying for nuclear holocaust.

Take Emmy, for instance.

She's just encountered more strangers in Harrow County, and many of them are radiating with supernatural abilities. So a normal life without mysterious figures doesn't look like its in the cards for Emmy anytime soon. The draw for her, though, is the knowledge these individuals profess to know about her family. If she follows them down their dark path, she could have the answers she seeks. But if she chooses such a path, Harrow County could suffer the consequences. A classic example of "damned if you do, and damned if you don't," eh? If you're head's spinning like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, it's probably because you're being hit with this all at once, in which case you can get up to speed with the Harrow County Volume 3: Snake Doctor TP (MAY160108).

This trade collects issues #9-#12 of the hit series, so you should be on the same as the rest of us after reading about the latest on The Skinless Boy, the haunted house, and the serpent that sows madness in the minds of the Holler's residents.

Still too much to handle? Suffering from sensory overload, yet? Well, maybe you just need someone to hold your hand while you traipse through Purgatory. John Constantine's been known to have a conscience from time-to-time. Maybe he'll take things slower with you. After all, John's been around the block a few times. He also keeps getting better at what he does, which is to outsmart demons who want to drag him screaming for mercy into the tar pits. But John's always one step ahead of those who've sold their souls to the devil, and that's why once again we find him back to smoke yet another cigarette in Hellblazer: Rebirth #1 (MAY160220).

You can't keep a good sorceror down.

Or keep him trapped in New York City.

In John's case, the Big Apple isn't his cup of tea, and so he's decided to hop across the pond for some real English tea. Landing in London, John doesn't appear to be free and clear to enjoy grey skies, though, without interference. A pissed-off demon and a curse on his soul stand in his way of rest and relaxation, so John's back to doing what he does best: making everyone hate him because he's the world's most unpredictable bloke in a trenchcoat. And in the case of this first issue, Constantine's put eight million souls on the line to get what he wants, so he doesnt' appear to be slowing down to play the nickel slots anytime soon.

You're not the gambling type, are you? You like to keep things simple? Neat?

Dan Mendoza's Zombie Tramp #25 (MAY161015) is anything but that as former high-priced Hollywood call-girl "Janey" lives in a world that's polluted with voodoo queens, zombie convicts, and a crooked LAPD! Now if you're the type that likes grindhouse-style entertainment, however, this just may be your cup of moonshine. If you get a kick out of things like Quentin Tarantino's Planet Terror, then this issue of Zombie Tramp is where you want to hang your hat. It's the two-year anniversary issue, so things have settled down a bit, and this means you can get into the game a little late with Janey's plight to ponder her existence. The first question is, how does a zombie contemplate killing herself? The second question is will that even be an option now that secrets have been uncovered and revelations are revealed. Why would you fold in a card game if you're holding a royal flush?

In Janey's case, she may think to flush some people out of her, er, life to see if it turns the tables.

Sleeping in limbo affords you time to think about such options.

Some folks are without options in Crossed: Badlands #100 (MAY161171). It's the end of eight years and hundreds of stories from Garth Ennis' unrivaled horror series with this issue that boasts 64 pages with no ads.

Crossed scribe Christos Gage delivers the final installment of the Smokey trilogy, and this may be the end of life as we know it.

Yep.

Your plane may be crashing right now, and you didnt' even know it because you were too busy watching movies on your iPad with headphones.

Hear those screams?

It's the end times.

You've only a few minutes left before it's lights out, so check out other horror titles like Dark Werewolves Vs. Dinosaurs #1 (MAY161076) and Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Dracula (MAY161744).

The titles alone should make you sit up and take notice. Horror is coming back in a big way, baby, and PREVIEWS is dishing out the hors d'oeuvres for all those comic fans who prefer a last meal before the bell tolls.

Don't tell anyone but we're actually going to be providing you with a tour guide for your trip through hell by offering the assistance of actor Cliff Curtis via the Fear The Walking Dead: Travis Manawa Collectible Action Figure (FEB168025). He's armed with a shotgun to help you fend off the zombies, werewolves, dinosaurs, Dracula, and everyone else that's been lined up against you since we started this romp. Yeah. One shotgun against all of that. Wait a minute. Weren't you just in the middle of a plane crash? Oh, yes. That's right.

Down we go.