What is it about Horror that compels so many of us? Why do we enjoy being frightened?

Far and away the best selling author for the past forty years has been Stephen King. Year in and year out, Horror movies continue to do consistently well at the Box Office. On television, The X-Files and Buffy are considered all-time classic series and remain influential to this day.
And then there is the fabulous, storied history of Horror comics, which reached new heights in the 1950s with the gruesome, trailblazing comic books published by EC Comics — books like Vault of Horror and Tales from the Crypt — that quickly invigorated a stumbling comic book business and then just as quickly came close to burying the entire industry for good. In the late sixties, Warren stepped up and produced their comic magazine line featuring Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. Marvel followed suit in the mid-seventies with their Horror line that spotlighted its keynote feature — Tomb of Dracula.

Today, the Horror trend is stronger than ever. For the past couple of years the media have been overrun with Zombies and sensitive Vampires — and comic books are right in the thick of things. We thought it would be fun to discuss a quality Horror feature for Halloween.  But which book– there are so many? The ideal choice was almost unanimous.  Robert Kirkman‘s best-selling Zombie Saga, The Walking Dead.

Please join us on Saturday November 6th at 1:00pm as we sit down to discuss the first twelve issues.

• We want to find out why this series is more effective than the other Horror comics on the shelf.
• We will examine the challenges creators have in creating and maintaining suspense on the comic page.
• How much of its success is based on Kirkman’s talent in creating memorable characters?

Since Horror works on a number of levels, we will also look at the strengths and weaknesses of both comics and film and how they are able to convey terror by comparing the comic to the new Walking Dead TV series on AMC.
So we ask that you read the first twelve issues of The Walking Dead — available in the first Walking Dead hardcover or the first two Walking Dead trade paperbacks.

As usual, these books are all offered at Heroes at the Discussion Group 10% Discount–please remember to mention the discount when you check out! We also ask that you watch the premiere episode of the Walking Dead on AMC on October 31th at 10 pm. We look forward to seeing you — this is going to be a real challenging discussion, so load up on brain-food before you arrive.  And be ready because I plan to really pick your brain!

(Note: Thank you to everyone who voted in our poll! It was a landslide win for Saturday, November 6th from 1 to 3 pm!)