Halloween season is upon us, and that means well-curated horror anthologies are coming out left and right. That includes Hello Halloween #1, an extra-sized anthology that features five stories filled with frights, horror sights, and tales that have a good deal of bite. Joining in on the fun is spooky master R.L. Stine, who gives it an ample leg up in regards to credibility for this kind of tale.
Kicking things off in this anthology is “The Graveyard Club” by R.L. Stine and Carola Borelli. This tale features a few teenagers who want to put on a spooky graveyard attraction, but are promptly kicked out by the sheriff. The next best plan? Dress up like zombies and scare people as they come running out of the graveyard! This leads to some confusion due to an actual zombie attack, with a final twist that’s easy to see coming, but also seemingly impossible, given that they just ran away from the sheriff.
As far as openers, this tale is the longest, but also the slowest and least interesting. The characters have dialogue that can be a bit wooden at times. The art is great, though, with a style that begs to be animated.
Next, Robert Hack gives us a fun three-panel page titled “I Can’t Take You Anywhere.” The brevity is aided by the endearing quality of Hack’s art, with an almost Sunday morning newspaper vibe.
Following that up is “WeeGee” by Hack, which might be the best story in the bunch. A man goes to an antiques shop, with captions overlaying his actions from some creepy outside source. We soon learn that a “WeeGee” board, misspelled for obvious reasons, has been talking through the captions the whole time. Soon, the man is purchasing the board, and the board can’t wait to wreak havoc with a fantastic double-page layout of death and dismemberment. There’s a delicious twist to it all you won’t want to miss.
Great variant cover!
Credit: BOOM!
“Johnny Pumpkin Time” follows this tale, written by Shawn Patrick Boyd with art by Elijah Henry, colors by Jason Wordie, and letters by Taylor Esposito. It’s a story that plays around with themes of capitalism, addiction to phones, and how we tend to trust celebrities. The art has tons of detail as we see Johnny Pumpkin get viewers riled up to win big bucks, but eventually, we learn he has nefarious plans. Between the fun layouts with dynamic art and another good twist, this is one of the best tales in the anthology.
Next up is “Samhain” by Megan Hutchison and letters by Jim Campbell. The story is centered on an Irish family that has recent moved to Boston in 1936. Hutchison digs deep into the actual lore of Halloween, which heavily borrows from the Celtic festival Samhain. Outside of the interesting background on pagan rituals and tamping down evil spirits, the story has a dark ending that might make you shiver.
Closing out this anthology is “Billy Pritzker Talked Too Much” by Paul Allor and Nil Vendrell. This tale leans heavily into the “trick” part of trick or treating, as a boy convinces underclassmen that Halloween is all about throwing toilet paper, breaking mailboxes, and creating mayhem. We get to see their exploits, but we also get to see some justice done, although it does go pretty far, affecting the entire school.
Vendrell does some great creature design and generally makes the kids breaking stuff feel fun, even when it goes too far.
Hello Halloween #1 delivers a delightfully macabre mix of short horror tales that are tailor-made for the Halloween season. While the anthology starts on shaky footing, it quickly finds its rhythm with inventive stories like “WeeGee” and “Johnny Pumpkin Time,” blending nostalgia, folklore, and modern horror with creative art and punchy endings. Whether you’re a die-hard R.L. Stine fan or just craving some October chills, this collection is a wickedly good time worth digging up.
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