'Twas the nightmare before Christmas... when Archie Comics announced its Happy Horrordays #1 anthology one-shot to celebrate the holidays this winter.
Happy Horrordays #1 will feature three new stories from writer Frank Tieri and artist Joe Eisma, writer Joe Corallo and artist Patrick Piazzalunga, and writer Joanne Starer and artist Butch Mapa, respectively. Colorist Matt Herms and letterer Jack Morelli will work on all three stories, and the entire collection will feature cover art by Adam Gorham, with a variant by Robert Hack.
Jughead: The Hunger fans will get to revisit that world with Tieri and Eisma's Horrordays contribution.
"In 'Twas the Night Before the Hunger,' X-Mas turns into an X-Massacre when Jughead finds himself up against none other than a pissed-off Krampus one fine Christmas morn. It's a nice little tale of ho-ho-horror where we may see more than just Christmas cookies and hamburgers getting eaten," Tieri says in the announcement.
Starer and Mapa's story is based on Icelandic folklore and features a cryptid teaming up with Sheila Wu.
"Outcast fashionista Sheila Wu has one friend in the world. It just happens to be a terrifying, gigantic cat - the Yule Cat of Icelandic folklore, known to hunt children who don't get new clothing for Christmas," Starer says. "When bullies Veronica and Cheryl Blossom mock her clothes and reject her gifts, well, they get a Christmas present they'll never forget!"
Last but not least, Corallo and Piazzalunga's story puts a terrifying twist on the staple Archie character Sugar Plum, AKA Santa's fairy helper.
"In my last Archie comic, Jinx's Grim Fairy Tales, I had the opportunity to take the previously heroic character of Kardak the Mystic and reintroduce him as a villain that needed to be overcome," Corallo says. "This time, I got to give the same treatment to Sugar Plum. I won't reveal much more as I want to avoid spoilers, but I hope people are pulled in from the first page and shocked by where the story goes!"
Happy Horrordays #1 will be available December 14.
Archie Comics has published several of the best horror comics of all time.
