Unlike DC, Marvel Comics‘ history with horror characters in their universe is something that comes and goes. It was predominant in the ’70s and ’90s, with other blips here and there. But some of those horror characters have been the subject of some very fun comics within the Marvel Universe over the years. Here are ten series, all taking place within the 616 Marvel Universe, which do the best job showcasing horror-themed characters.
10. Nightstalkers (1992-1994)
by Steven Grant and Ron Garney
In the early ‘90s, horror movie popularity was peaking, and Goth culture was on the rise. Sensing a trend, after shelving their ‘70s horror characters for most of the previous decade, Marvel revived Ghost Rider first in 1990. When that proved a hit, they brought back most of their other supernatural heroes that were introduced in the ‘70s. This time, sporting some very ‘90s hair and wardrobe updates, in a line of books called Midnight Sons. Among that early Midnight Sons line were comics like Morbius and Darkhold.
The most fun series of this initiative was Nightstalkers. It saw Blade team up with other vampire hunters from the old Tomb of Dracula series like Frank Drake and Hannibal King. This time, however, they wore way more leather jackets. The main writer of this series was Steven Grant, with art by Ron Garney. His style at the time mimicked the ‘90s “extreme” flavor of the Image Comics founders. This series, which only ran two years, is very of its time. But it’s a fun read if you put yourself in the right headspace. The main concept of Nightstalkers was the basis for the dreadful threequel Blade Trinity. Just try not to hold that against it.
9. Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sin (1992-1994)
by Chris Cooper and Richard Case
These days, everyone knows about the ancient evil book known as the Darkhold, thanks to WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness. But it originated in the comics. It was also the title of the Midnight Sons series, Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins. This short-lived series ran from 1992-1994, and was written by Chris Cooper and illustrated by Doom Patrol’s Richard Case, In the series, the long-lost pages of the Darkhold written by Elder God Chthon started to appear around the world. A group of experts known as the Darkhold Redeemers began hunting them down across the world.
The Redeemers’ leader is a doctor named Victoria Montesi, a descendent of the creators of the Montesi Formula, which (for a time) destroyed all vampires. An archeologist Louise Hastings joins her, and later, Interpol agent Sam Buchanan. Together, they search for the missing pages before someone learns to harness their dark power. The series only lasted 16 issues, but it was one of the weirder and more interesting horror-related series at Marvel. It’s never been collected, but given its place in the MCU, now seems the time.
8. Legion of Monsters (2011)
by Dennis Hopeless and Juan Doe
Just like Marvel brought together their key superheroes to form the Avengers, in 1976 they did the same thing with many of their popular monster characters. The Legion of Monsters brought together Morbius, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night, led by the most popular among them, Ghost Rider. The Legion came together for just one issue of Marvel Spotlight before going their separate ways. It seemed no one at Marvel saw the true potential of this concept at the time.
Flash forward 30 years, Marvel brought back the Legion of Monsters for a mini-series in 2011 that is an absolute blast. Monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone brings together the original Legion, minus Ghost Rider, and adds other long-forgotten Marvel monsters. The Living Mummy, Frankenstein, the Zombie, and even FrankenCastle, the undead version of the Punisher, joined the team. The writing by Dennis Hopeless is fun and over-the-top while the art by Juan Doe is cartoony in the best way. By the time you’re done with this silly adventure, you’ll want more. We’re still waiting, Marvel. Where’s Legion of Monsters Vol. 2 at?
7. Son of Satan (1974-1975)
by Steve Gerber, Gary Friedrich, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney
By the early ‘70s, Marvel Comics had Dracula, a werewolf, and even Frankenstein’s monster appearing their own series. So the next logical step? How about the Devil himself? Ok, Daimon Hellstrom isn’t the Beelzebub, but he is his offspring. He’s “Satan Jr.” It’s hard to imagine these days, with how uptight people get, but Marvel actually published a series called Son of Satan in the ‘70s that sold to kids on newsstands. And it sold without much parental uproar. This is a series that could only have been published in a pre-“Satanic Panic” America.
The character of Daimon Hellstrom was introduced in the first issue of Ghost Rider in 1973, quickly thereafter receiving his own headlining feature in the series Marvel Spotlight, under the name Son of Satan. Despite his heritage, Daimon was a good guy, an occult specialist who fought evil with his own demonic powers. Oh, and without a shirt, showing off his muscled torso with a giant pentagram on it. (Evil never looked so sexy!) Yes, he was “of the Devil,” but he hated his dad and helped the innocent. Steve Gerber of Man-Thing wrote most of these stories, with art by industry vets like Sal Buscema, and they have a fun, batshit quality. A ‘90s revival came out called Hellstorm, which ripped off the trench-coated look and feel of DC’s Hellblazer. But we’ll take the bare-chested, cape-wearing Antichrist over that one any day.
6. Morbius, the Living Vampire (1973-1975)
by Steve Gerber, Doug Moench, Bill Mantlo, P. Craig Russell, Frank Robbins, Gil Kane
In 1971, the Comics Code Authority restrictions on horror characters in mainstream comic books loosened significantly. As a result, one of the first things Marvel did was create a new vampire character. Introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #101, Michael Morbius was a scientist whose experiments to cure his rare disease led him to become a living vampire. Although his origin story is rooted in sci-fi, his vibe was strictly horror. He starred in his own feature in Vampire Tales, a black and white magazine, but his signature series was Adventures into Fear, where he headlined for eleven issues.
In that title, he headlined from issue 20-31, from 1974-1975, he faced off against all manner of monsters and demons, all while fighting his own bloodlust. He’d save someone from some beast, then urged them to run away for their own good. Steve Gerber and Doug Moench wrote the bulks of the series, with art by a variety of pencilers. But the best part about this series were the covers by Gil Kane, who made the heroic vamp look genuinely scary. Morbius would get his own series again in 1992, where he was suddenly sexy in his human form (this was in the Anne Rice era), but we liked the original version best, where he was just an ugly dude in both forms.
5. Vampire Tales (1973-1975)
by Various Artists
From 1973-1975, Marvel published several black-and-white magazines for adult collectors, mostly focusing on horror themes. Among these titles were Dracula Lives!, Tales of the Zombie, and Monsters Unleashed, but the most interesting was Vampire Tales. With Dracula in his own pair of titles, this series could focus on other Marvel vamps, chiefly Morbius, Blade, and Lilith, Daughter of Dracula. The monochrome art, from a variety of artists like John Buscema and others, was gorgeous.
They could all be a little more grown up, sexy, and bloody than their regular comic book-sized counterparts. Every cover was a painted work of art, worthy of framing. The first issue was an adaptation of The Vampyre by Dr. John Polidori, the first vampire story in the English language, which ultimately led to Dracula, and that set the tone for this series. These stories have been collected before, but they are long out of print. But if you can track them down, they are worth a read.
4. Werewolf by Night (1972-1977)
by Paul Jenkins, Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Don Perline, Mike Ploog, and Leonardo Manco
Of all the Marvel characters based on classic monsters, few had as much success as Werewolf by Night. The series, which ran for 43 issues from 1972-1977, didn’t exactly break the mold when it came to werewolf stories. But it did add a few fun twists, like the main character’s werewolfism linked to a family curse, not just a random attack. Jack Russell is the cursed antihero of the series who travels the world seeking a cure for his lycanthropy, tussling with one monster character after another in his wanderings.
The Werewolf by Night series also famously introduced Moon Knight into the Marvel Universe. That is perhaps its greatest long-term contribution to the Marvel Universe. Written largely by writers Doug Moench, Gerry Conway, and Marv Wolfman (how could he resist with that name?) Werewolf by Night featured some great art by pencilers like Don Perin and Mike Ploog. Along with Tomb of Dracula, this series is the pulpiest and most “classic” of the regular Marvel horror comics and a blast to revisit because of it.
3. Marvel Zombies (2006)
by Robert Kirkman, Sean Phillips
In the 2000s, between Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, etc., zombies were back in a big way. So it’s no surprise that Marvel wanted to get in on some of that brain-eating action. In 2006, Marvel brought The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and artist Sean Phillips to flesh out (no pun intended) a concept born a few years earlier in Ultimate Fantastic Four. In that series, they introduced a parallel Marvel Earth where a virus had turned the population into flesh-eating zombies.
The twist here is that the heroes all retain their powers and intelligence. But now, that intelligence came paired with a raging hunger for human flesh. One of the only non-zombified heroes is Black Panther, who has to use his scientific genius to somehow fight off the horde. Oh, and speaking of hunger, Galactus is part of this story too. We’re telling you, it’s bonkers. Marvel Studios animated this idea for an episode of What If…? It will soon receive its own Disney+ spin-off too. But the original series is still a hoot, and a very quick read as well. Without this comic, there is no DCeased over at Marvel’s Distinguished Competition.
2. Tomb of Dracula (1972-1979)
by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan
In the early ‘70s, the Comics Code finally allowed Marvel Comics to publish horror comics again. After a trial run with Morbius, they decided it was time to let the Big Guy have his own series. And by “Big Guy” we mean Bram Stoker’s Lord of the Vampires himself. Tomb of Dracula was one of Marvel’s most successful ongoing horror series, running from 1972-1979. The series was drawn from start to finish by legendary artist Gene Colan. And he gave it all a Hammer Studios vibe, although Colan’s Dracula was based on actor Jack Palance, not Christopher Lee. Interestingly, Palance would play Dracula on TV after this series debuted. Future New Teen Titans co-creator Marv Wolfman writes most of the series
Although Dracula was a title character, being an evil unrepentant monster meant the main characters were the vampire hunters. Among their ranks were Stoker legacy heroes Rachel Van Helsing and Quincy Harker, “good guy” vampire Hannibal King, and Frank Drake, Dracula’s human descendent. Oh, and they introduced a vampire hunter by the name of Blade in this series. You may have heard of him. For the most part, Wolfman’s stories kept things in the horror realm, but occasionally, Dracula would fight Marvel heroes like the Silver Surfer, and it was wild. All in all, Tomb of Dracula is a constantly pulpy good time for its seventy-issue run.
1. Ghost Rider (1973-1983)
by Gary Friedrich, Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter, Michael Fleischer, Roger Mckenzie, and Don Perlin
Easily the greatest horror series and character Marvel ever produced was Ghost Rider, one who is still popular today and the subject of many a hastily decided-upon biker tattoo. Much like characters such as Luke Cage and Shang-Chi, who were cashing in on popular mainstream trends, Ghost Rider did the same. This time, it was two trends: the ‘70s obsession with stunt motorcyclists like Evel Knievel and occultism. Johnny Blaze was a stunt rider who made a deal with the Devil (actually Mephisto) to save his dad’s life, and would transform into the Spirit of Vengeance to avenge the innocent. Now with a flaming skull head, he roars through America on a fiery motorcycle
Created by writer Roy Thomas and artists Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog, Ghost Rider debuted in the anthology series Marvel Spotlight in 1972. The sales were excellent, so in a year, Ghost Rider received his own ongoing series which ran for ten years and 81 issues. He outlived the popularity of many other supernatural heroes, despite creative team changeover. Ghost Rider was written by Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter, Michael Fleischer, and many others over the decade. Thus, the tone of the book shifted from fighting demonic forces, to teaming up with the Hulk and Spider-Man. But it was always fun and inventive, and drew in kids who were more into horror than superheroes. Although many fans prefer the ‘90s revival with Ghost Rider Danny Ketch, our hearts belong to the OG, Johnny Blaze. Long may he ride.
