House of Horror - Week 3 (October 12 - October 21)

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Welcome to House of Horror week 3! Don’t mind the goblins in the corner and find yourself a seat for another batch of comics to read as we team up with Renegade Robins for 2 books this week and return to a club favorite House of Mystery (2008) 3! So blast some Styx and get ready for another horrific comic filled week!

As we are in October, House of Horror will have a new event posted weekly. Once we are in November we will transition to new events posted bi-weekly.
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If you are new and would like to catch up on what we have read you can check out the House of Horror library here!

The first books we will read this week are the last two of the DCU Halloween Specials on DC Universe. There are 2 Robin stories so make sure to join the conversation at Renegade Robins for those stories. Then come back here to discuss the rest of the books!

Make sure to come back as we take a closer look at the history of the Halloween Special.

DCU Halloween Special '09 1 (2009) (rated 12+)

DCU Halloween Special 2010 1 (2010) (rated 12+)

House of Mystery 3 (2008) (rated 17+)

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Are you talking about the spin-off from the Dark Mansion books? If so, those books are not on DCU at this time. I haven’t read those or the 2019 Sinister House book which is also not on DCU at this time.

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It wasn’t DCU. It was collected as A B&W Showcase format ten years back. It was very slow indeed. It lasted a long time too.

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We will be revisiting the Dark Mansion books at some point. However, with Halloween around the corner, some books are being pushed back but as promised, House of Mystery 2008 is continuing on its originally planned schedule.

@Kon-El there was a Sinister House that was released last year. Batman and Joker was on the cover.

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There are a few new horror comics hitting comic store shelves this week! We might not be reading the books right away and some of them might even be discussed in other clubs upon release. Think of this as a preview of what might be lurking in the dark corners of House of Horror.

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Graphic Novels/trade paper backs
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Doll House Family looks creepy af!

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No worries!!! I wouldn’t expect everyone to like every book that we read. Thankfully, the way this club is formatted is to cover a few different titles for each entry.

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Depending on the price, that might be in my collection very soon.

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For Doll House, we will have to wait to see if it shows up on DCU. The book is on Black Label’s imprint Hill House. I am really hoping we will see these books on DCUi.

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Halloween special 2009 was a real slog. Bizarro was the only worthwhile parts of the book. I want someone to come to my house, give me fruit and mow my lawn. I was so bored otherwise. The worst was the Tim Drake day of the dead story sucked the fun out of everything. I almost gave up on this book. The Bloody Mary one was almost entertaining. The thought that Bloody Mary was from the mirror dimension was kind of cool but it was still kind of lame that the guy who ‘knew’ screwed up and summoned her.

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I did like the Kid Flash/MM/Bloody Mary story in that.

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I am adding this to my list right now!

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I agree on all fronts

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Those were my favorites as well and I also thought the 2010 HS was better than the previous years.

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I enjoyed the House of Mystery. It was just kind of a progression of the story. Show the resignation of the permanent residents and established the stubbornness of the main character. Nothing too exciting but nice.

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Some thoughts on Halloween Special 09

DCU Halloween Special 09

  • Unhappy Halloween

    • Bizarro normally annoys me, in Unhappy Halloween I liked him
    • Seeing the Bizarro Justice League tied up in the first page was pretty excellent, great artwork
    • I really liked the small detail of Bizarro reading the comic book, showing things that will happen in Unhappy Halloween
  • Halloween the Guy Way

    • Guy is inviting people to his Halloween party
    • The rules for having a fun Halloween felt awfully a lot like the rules in Scream for horror movies but also was weirdly emotional and sentimental
    • The ending of the story was cute and had mature overtones that I wasn’t expecting
  • What Creeps Out The Creeper?

    • One page “story” not much to it or enough to really comment
  • Seeing Is Believing

    • This is a straightforward superhero story and is welcome after the Guy Gardner story
    • Vampires are always a fun villain because the only rules to vampires are what the writers create
    • The story felt too short for what it was aiming for
  • Halloween Past and Trick Defeat

    • Cool throwback to when Dick Grayson was Robin
    • Not scary or anything, actually just felt like a normal Batman story
  • Cavity Search
    * Go to Renegade Robins to see my thoughts on Cavity Search

  • Our Father’s Sins

    • Not sure if this is a Halloween story but it is a story of grief and trying to move on after a loved one passes on. So far, this is my favorite story and I really wish this was a little longer.
  • The Lady Who Lives Down the Lane

    • A one-page story that just talks about how scary Ravager is. Not much else to say.
  • Mirror Games

    • A fun little story featuring Kid Flash in a retelling of the Bloody Mary urban myth.
  • Never Too Old

    • Another one-page story. This isn’t a bad thing but at this point, I am filling like this is pure filler and completely unneeded.
  • Haunted or Hoax

    • This is one of my favorite stories in this book. I can totally see Wonder Woman not understanding found footage horror movies or reality tv shows. With that said, I can also totally see Wonder Woman kinda scared from these types of things. This story was perfect.
  • To the Finish Line

    • I feel like this story pops up randomly, Flash vs Superman in a race. There is a nice Halloween twist at the end but it is still one of those things that I kind of lose interest in.
  • My Turn To Be Scary

    • Lois and Clark are dressed as Daphne and Fred from Scooby-Doo. That is all you need to know about this story. This was a fun little story about some teens trying to be cool in front of Lois, saying they aren’t scared of anything during a haunted house tour of the Daily Planet.
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Some thoughts on DCU Halloween Special 2010. This was a lot better than DCU Halloween Special '09. The stories present generally didn’t feel too short and for the most part, all of the stories were pretty good, with some standing out more than others.

DCU Halloween Special 2010

  • Trick for the Scarecrow
    • Continuation of To the Finish Line from DCU Halloween Special 2009.
    • A cute story that kept me wondering if Scarecrow was actually there considering the previous story was two kids imagining they were Superman and Flash racing.
  • Robin the Vampire Slayer
    * You can read my thoughts in Renegade Robins!
  • Time of Your Life!
    • Flash and Frankenstein sort of team-up to battle a “time-sucking vampire” which of course makes me think of the energy vampire from What We Do In The Shadows tv show. If you have not seen the movie and tv show, I highly suggest it.
  • A Night To Remember
    • So far, this story features the best art in the book.
    • Reading Deadman’s thoughts about Wonder Woman helps put into perspective how beautiful she is. This is something that is often mentioned in other books, if I am correct this was talked about a bit in Wonder Woman (2006). For whatever reason, it actually works here.
    • I absolutely love the Lovecraft vibe in this story, the cult, the monster with tentacles.
      (side note, I highly recommend the movie Dagon I am unable to post the trailer here because of adult content)
  • Medusa Non Grata
    • The idea of trying to explain Halloween to someone who hasn’t grown up with the holiday is interesting. The concept is completely ridiculous yet is also 100% fun.
    • I love the way Miss Martian’s costume changes in every panel. Not sure if she is trying to get the perfect costume or if she is uncomfortable in her skin “wearing” these costumes. Bonus points for her wearing an Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange) costume near the end of the story.
    • Was Klarion being used in any book at the time or was this a case of keeping the rights to the character?
  • Free of Steel
    • I liked this story. It reminded me of the classic Superman story For the Man Who Has Everything, but darker.
    • This story features a common horror trope of someone being possessed or hallucinating the worst possible outcomes. What makes this interesting is that person is Superman. This could have gone a lot worse, considering, but the story didn’t too short or too long.
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House of Mystery 3 (2008)

The side story in issue 3 was kind of lame. I am into crime stories but I prefer them in crime comics and not horror-themed comics unless there is a horrific twist. The meat of the story was Fig’s realization that she is stuck in the House of Mystery and I was left wanting to see more of Rina’s story. Who is that person that was with her?!?!

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When I was writing my thoughts on house of Mystery I forgot about the side story. I agree that a crime story didn’t belong in this series. It did a good job of painting a cool picture ok Johnny Spats. His escape was fun and the pipe through the hitman’s heads was pretty gruesome. I am curious if any of these side characters will come back around.

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I am also curious about Rina.

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