While “V/H/S/Beyond” is the obvious standout among anthology horror, it’s not the only release of 2024 to make great use of the form. This has also been a big year for anthology books and comics, with several new publications and recurring series finding their way to our shelves.
If you’re a comic book fan, one of the biggest stories of the year is the return of EC Comics. Independent comic publisher Oni Press — best known as the home to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series — has shambled back to life, offering a new slate of titles meant to replace old mainstays like “Tales from the Crypt” and “Weird Science.” These new series share their predecessors’ focus on genre: “Cruel Universe” is a collection of science fiction stories, while the delightfully named “Epitaphs from the Abyss” focuses on more traditional horror narratives.
Oni Press is not the only publisher leaning into anthology horror. In July, BOOM! Studios launched “Hello Darkness” a new monthly anthology series featuring a combination of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Like its EC Comics counterparts, “Hello Darkness” features an impressive lineup of writers and artists, combining established horror auteurs like Cullen Bunn and James Tynion IV with a wide array of up and comers.
Meanwhile, the past few months have also given rise to a wide range of literary horror anthologies. For the YA crowd, there’s “The Black Girl Survives in This One,” a collection of short stories that subvert the typical experiences of Black girls in horror (and includes an introduction from respected horror writer and producer Tananarive Due). “Bound in Blood,” another new anthology series, celebrates stories about haunted books and features a contribution from Eric LaRocca, who specializes in short stories and whose new collection “This Skin Was Once Mine” also hit shelves earlier this year.
And if two collections weren’t enough, Eric LaRocca also appears in “The Darkest Night,” a new collection of stories centered around the theme of winter. This collection also features contributions from writers like Josh Malerman (“Bird Box”) and Jamie Flanagan (“Midnight Mass”), rounding out just a few of the paperbacks on your shelf that also tackle horror through the lens of short narratives and a diverse group of artists.