Dark Horse Comics has announced a new four-issue series, Séance in the Asylum, written by Clay McLeod Chapman and with art by Andrea Mutti. Launching July 24th, the series will feature variant covers by Trevor Henderson, Francesco Francavilla, Lukas Ketner, and Jenna Cha.
“Years back, I uncovered an esoteric text — The Homeopathic Principle Applied to Insanity: A Proposal to Treat Lunacy by Spiritualism by Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson — written all the way back in 1857, and I knew within my bones, my blood, that this was destined to be a story,” said Chapman. “As a lifelong acolyte of the Fox Sisters, I’ve always been obsessed with stories about tapping into the hereafter. Now it’s an honor to usher you through the veil and explore the other side… “
So what’s Séance in the Asylum about?
1865. Defrauded spiritual medium Alicia Wilkinson is brought to The Ashcroft Hospital at the behest of Dr. John James Templeton. He offers Alicia a second chance to revive her once-thriving career: perform a séance amongst the patients in order to draw out their mental maladies. Alicia performs her first series of séances with the patients—including traumatized soldiers returning from the Civil War and women whose sanity has slipped through their fingers—only to realize their sessions might work all too well. What no one knows is Alicia is a fake. A liar. A cheat… So why are the patients suddenly acting possessed?
Check out the first two covers revealed so far below!
MILWAUKIE, Ore., (March 14, 2024)—We’re receiving a message from the beyond! Dark Horse Comics presents Séance in the Asylum, a new historical horror series from renowned writer Clay McLeod Chapman (What Kind of Mother, Ghost Eaters) and artist Andrea Mutti (The British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind, Haunt You to the End) that will have you questioning what’s real and what’s not. Chapman will write the series and Mutti will illustrate, with Trevor Henderson, Francesco Francavilla, Lukas Ketner, and Jenna Cha rounding out the circle and providing variant cover art on issues #1-4.
“Years back, I uncovered an esoteric text — The Homeopathic Principle Applied to Insanity: A Proposal to Treat Lunacy by Spiritualism by Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson — written all the way back in 1857, and I knew within my bones, my blood, that this was destined to be a story,” said Chapman. “As a lifelong acolyte of the Fox Sisters, I’ve always been obsessed with stories about tapping into the hereafter. Now it’s an honor to usher you through the veil and explore the other side… “
1865. Defrauded spiritual medium Alicia Wilkinson is brought to The Ashcroft Hospital at the behest of Dr. John James Templeton. He offers Alicia a second chance to revive her once-thriving career: perform a séance amongst the patients in order to draw out their mental maladies. Alicia performs her first series of séances with the patients—including traumatized soldiers returning from the Civil War and women whose sanity has slipped through their fingers—only to realize their sessions might work all too well. What no one knows is Alicia is a fake. A liar. A cheat… So why are the patients suddenly acting possessed?
It takes some time to summon the spirits, so Séance in the Asylum #1 (of 4) will relay its message in all comic shops on July 24, 2024. It is now available to pre-order from your local comic shop for $3.99.
Praise for Clay McLeod Chapman:
“With the trembling voice of Vincent Price and the sinister presence of Boris Karloff, Clay McLeod Chapman…uses the macabre to explore the humanity of his characters and reveal an almost spiritual side to the horrific.” –The New York Times
“(Chapman is) a horror-drunk storytelling virtuoso master idiot.” –Time Out New York
“McLeod knows how to deliver strangeness and gore (there are two scenes – one in a bathtub and one with a horseshoe crab – that are worth the price of admission all by themselves), but he understands that the stuff that stays with readers long after they’ve turned the last page is the stuff that hits them in the feelings, and he delivers plenty of that here.”—Locus Magazine on What Kind of Mother
“Rife with body horror and hallucinations…the narrative sucks readers into its dark, disorienting world. It’s equal parts moving and gruesome.”—Publishers Weekly on Ghost Eaters
“Chapman has created an experience so anxiety-inducing, immersive, and intense that readers will feel like something is actually there, lurking over their shoulder as they turn the pages. A great choice for fans of A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Orphans of Bliss, edited by Mark Matthews.”—Booklist, starred review for Ghost Eaters
Be sure to follow Dark Horse Comics on social media and check our website, www.darkhorse.com, for more news, announcements, and updates!
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