Creepshow is moving to new holidays outside of Halloween this week with Creepshow 2024 Holiday Special #1. Contained within are two tales of holiday frights to end your year. Remember that fear and horror can come even when the cheer is high, and the lights are bright! Tackled in two unique ways are New Year’s Eve and the utter horror of TV Christmas specials.
The first story in this anthology is “Auld Lang Syne,” by Tini and Blake Howard, with art by Stevan Subic. It is set in London in 1899 on New Year’s Eve, and a strange man is headed to a party. Egyptian iconography enters the story early and also enters the party the man is off to, setting the stage for a night of cultural appropriation.
Subic continues showing a keen eye for the disturbing and weird, particularly with the protagonist’s eyes being beady white dots. He’s not large and scary but instead quite thin and strange, like a gaunt vampire. He’s just a man who adores Egyptian culture and soon discovers great artifacts are being handed out at a party of white Brits.
The story takes a while to get going, but it’s hard to turn away once it does. Mummies tend not to have as many memorable stories, but interesting dynamics are in play with this one. The gruesome, gory end is a nice exclamation point on a story that may stick with you.
Subic is so good at creating unsettling characters.
Credit: Skybound
Closing out this anthology is “Late Night Terry Reno” by Rob Williams and Pye Parr, the same duo behind Petrol Head. This time, they’re setting their sights on the horror of awful late night talk show hosts. As a big fan of late night talk shows, this was a fun story delving into the seedier side of live TV.
The story follows a slightly older late night host who may be closer to the back nine of his career than even the middle. Early on, we learn that he’s a real jerk and deserves whatever comes to him. When the Christmas special rehearsal has harsh notes, he must turn to an old offensive comedy act as his grand finale. Comeuppance ensues.
Parr does a good job of capturing the unfiltered rage and inhuman nature of the host, as well as the creepiness of his old act. The final panel, being a brain exploding gore-fest, is icing on the cake.
I’m a fan of late night and enjoyed it all, but it does take a while to get to the true horror. Even when elephant poop is used to amp up the horror early on, it’s not very gross and doesn’t give you that horror itch.
Creepshow 2024 Holiday Special #1 expands the long-running series into new seasonal territory with imaginative horror and dark humor. Though the slower pacing and uneven scares may leave some fans craving more immediate thrills, it’s a solid holiday horror anthology worth a read for its originality and artistic flair.
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