Publisher DC Comics may be famous for superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But they also have more than a few horror-themed comics to their name. Some of which are ideal to read this Halloween season. We’ve compiled the best of their horror-themed comics over the decades to read over the spooky season. We are limiting this ranking to horror characters existing within the DCU itself (not imprints like Vertigo), and no horror anthologies like House of Mystery, or The Unexpected. Also, no Batman: The Long Halloween. Yes, it’s set partially during October, but it’s more of a crime story than a horror story, despite the trappings.
10. The Demon
by Jack Kirby
The legendary Jack Kirby was famous for his epic sci-fi stories, both at DC and at Marvel. Titles like New Gods and Eternals. But when DC wanted a horror book from the creator in the early ‘70s, he reluctantly created one. The Demon focused on Jason Blood, a brooding occult expert in Gotham City who is secretly over 1,000 years old. His other secret is that he can transform into a rhyming demon called Etrigan, thanks to a spell cast by Merlin in Arthurian times. The Demon only ran for 16 issues, from 1972-1974. But those issues contain all kinds of Kirby-esque horror. Etrigan fights witches, evil immortals, and many kinds of monsters (Jack Kirby loved monsters). Although other series featuring the Demon have come and gone, we recommend the Kirby original above all.
9. Batman & Dracula Trilogy (Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist, 1991-1998)
by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones
Writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones were already famous for their work on various Batman titles before doing these three books. But the Batman & Dracula trilogy is maybe their best collaboration. It’s an Elseworlds story telling the tale of Dracula coming to Gotham and feeding on the unhoused population. In order to stop him, Batman himself becomes a vampire to beat Dracula at his own game. It was the battle of the bat-men, one literal and one figurative, fans waited years to see. Over the course of what became a trilogy, things get wild as Batman’s bloodlust rages out of control. Batman drains most of his most well-known villains. The story continues in Bloodstorm, and it all concludes in 1998’s Crimson Mist. Moench flexes his horror storytelling muscles in this trilogy, and Jones’ rendition of both Batman and Dracula is often pure nightmare fuel.
8. Blackest Night (2009)
by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
A Green Lantern-centric crossover as a Halloween read? We know, it sounds weird. Well, this one is not only one of the greatest DC crossover events stories ever, it’s also one of the best zombie stories in comics history too. In the DC comics lore, there is not only a Green Lantern Corps, but several other colors. Each of them powered by different emotions. In 2009, Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns revealed the existence of the Black Lantern Corps. These Lanterns were powered by the energy of death itself. The Black Lantern rings attached themselves to the rotting corpses of famously dead DC characters. They then waged an all-out war against the DC heroes in Blackest Night. The art by Ivan Reis is next level in this series. He brings true horrific detail to the terrifying Black Lanterns. Sci-fi zombies fighting the greatest heroes ever. What’s not to love?
7. The Spectre (1992-1998)
by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake
The Spectre has existed since the Golden Age of comics, over 80 years at this point. He was originally police detective Jim Corrigan, who continued to fight crime after death as the ghostly superhero the Spectre. And he’s held his own ongoing series various times throughout the decade. But for our money, the best take on the character is writer John Ostrander’s ongoing The Spectre series, which ran from 1992-1998. Featuring career-best work from penciler Tom Mandrake, The Spectre followed the vengeful ghost (who is the embodiment of God’s Wrath) as he fought one supernatural threat after another in the DC universe. These stories had a proper old-school horror vibe. And when we say “old school,” we mean Biblical horror. This is a series that should be read on a late October night with a cup of hot cocoa.
6. DCeased (2019)
by Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine
This is the most recent horror comic from DC on this list, and it has become quite a sensation. Marvel might have beaten DC to the game with their Marvel Zombies series many years ago, but DCeased just might be the better zombie vs. superheroes series overall. Written by Nightwing scribe Tom Taylor, DCeased focuses on an alternate Earth where the fabled Anti-Life Equation has unleashed a zombie apocalypse on Earth. Lois Lane is the series narrator, and the story features most of the main DC heroes—either living or dead. This six-issue mini-series was so popular, it has continued on in various spin-offs, with the most recent, War of the Undead Gods, coming out in 2023. But we think the first mini-series is still the best, and worth reading this Halloween season.
5. Justice League Dark (2018-2021)
by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez
The original Justice League Dark came out of DC’s New 52 reboot back in 2011. It was essentially a collection of heroes who were supernaturally tinged in some way. That series was fun, but the original version wasn’t the best one. The truly best version came in volume two, which ran from 2018-2021. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Alvaro Martinez, this take brought together the sorceress Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, Detective Chimp, and was led by Wonder Woman, with John Constantine and Doctor Fate joining on occasion. These stories had great characterization, and genuinely creepy supernatural foes for the team to face off against. Wonder Woman might seem like an odd choice for a group like this, but her being on the team makes sense. She was born of magic after all. While the name “Justice League Dark” is a little clunky, the actual comic is fantastic.
4. Deadman
by Arnold Drake and Neal Adams
Neal Adams became famous for his defining refresh on Batman in the ‘70s. During that time he helped make another hero at DC. Less famous, but no less cool, we’re talking about Deadman, the spirit of deceased circus trapeze performer Boston Brand. He’s a spirit who possesses living people in order to solve his own murder and help the helpless. The storylines were from writer Arnold Drake, but it was really Neal Adams’ artwork that elevated them to another level. Other Deadman series have come and gone, but the originals, which ran in Strange Adventures #205-216, later recollected as Deadman in 1985, remain the best version of the character. It’s a character DC Studios head James Gunn loves, so this Halloween might be a good time to get acquainted with Boston Brand.
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum – A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989)
by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean
A lot of Batman stories lean into spookier themes, but none more so than writer Grant Morrison’s original graphic novel, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Published in 1989 in hardcover, at the height of Batmania, it showcased some jaw-droppingly incredible art by Sandman’s Dave McKean. The story centers on the history of the notorious asylum in Gotham City, after its infamous inmates have taken it over. This all coincides with some spooky supernatural goings on when the asylum was first founded decades earlier. Batman’s rogues gallery has never looked scarier than here, especially Dave McKean’s version of the Joker. This OGN made Grant Morrison a comics superstar, and was a big influence on the Batman: Arkham Asylum franchise of games.
2. Hellblazer “Dangerous Habits” (1991)
by Garth Ennis and Will Simpson
Alan Moore introduced occult expert and perpetual chain smoker John Constantine in the pages of Swamp Thing and the character was an immediate breakout star. He received his own series in 1987 with Hellblazer, which ran a very impressive 300 issues. The initial creative team was writer Jamie Delano and artist John Ridgway, with Dave McKean producing incredible painted covers. While many iconic writers have written Constantine over the years, including Grant Morrison and Brian Azzarello, we think his best run was under Preacher creator Garth Ennis, who wrote 50 issues of the series in the early ’90s. His best story was “Dangerous Habits,” which saw Constantine make a pact with demonic forces to save himself from lung cancer. This was the basis for the Keanu Reeves Constantine film from 2005. If you’re going to pick one Hellblazer story this spooky season, this would be the one.
1. Saga of the Swamp Thing (1984-1987)
by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and Rick Veitch
Before writer Alan Moore changed comics forever with Watchmen, he took over writing duties on DC’s struggling horror comic Saga of the Swamp Thing in 1984 with issue #20. He absolutely rocked the series to its core, together with artists Stephen Bissette, Rick Veitch, and John Totleben. Retconning almost everything, in Moore’s version, Swamp Thing wasn’t a man transformed into a plant, but the other way around.
If there’s an overall horror genre that Moore’s Saga of the Swamp Thing adheres to, we’d have to say it’s “American Gothic.” But there are tons of traditional horror stuff in the pages of Moore’s Swamp Thing, only reinvented. Things like werewolves and ghosts appear, now mixed together with philosophical musings about existences that elevate this above all other horror comics of the era. All together, the Alan Moore run of Saga of the Swamp Thing is 56 issues long. And it’s a 56 issue run that changed the game for supernatural and horror-related comics.
