Previewing ‘Scream! 40 Years Of Terror’ – A Quartet Of Perfect Horror Tales

by Richard Bruton

Continuing the terrifying tradition of the classic Brit horror comic, four new tales of terror await in the Scream! Special.

It’s 40 years now since the launch of Scream! – a British horror comic that might only have run for 15 issues in 1984 but left a large, blood-red mark on Brit comics.

We’ve already had an archival collection, the 40 Years of Scream! hardcover in May that collected everything in those 15 issues, which is getting a reprint this month, all 464 pages of it.

But the Treasury of British Comics is about more than just reprinting the gems (both well-known and hidden) of Brit comics’ rich history, it’s also about giving new life to those classic strips and getting modern creators to create something fresh and new. All of which brings me to this Scream! Special.

Inside this 64-page special, you’ll find four strips, two bringing you all-new stories of the classic Scream! Strips The Dracula File and The Thirteenth Floor, and two original stories – a tale of a legendary ’70s rock band and the darkness behind their fame, and a claustrophobic descent into the Paris catacombs, written and drawn by a group of young and extremely talented creators.

The Dracula File – the monster revealed…

THE DRACULA FILE: HOMO SACER – by Alex Paknadel and Alejandro Aragon, colours by Jason Wordie, letters by Jonathan Stevenson

“A mysterious figure breaks into the home of Piper, a journalist who has been working on a story about mysterious disappearances across London. What does this stranger know – and how does it connect to the Lord of Darkness himself…?”

This one’s just the perfect intro, dark and full of horrors, a slow burn of a nasty little vampire tale, full of conspiracy at the highest levels, as a Met Police detective reveals herself and the darkness she’s uncovered to that investigative journalist.

It’s just got a perfect pace to it, a slow intro to things, unveiling the horrors of Dracula’s new role in England. It’s immediately gripping, transplanting the tale to the modern day, lacing it with the finest police and spy storytelling, and then exploding in blood and nightmares as the cop uncovers just how high this conspiracy goes.

It’s quite brilliantly done, the longest piece here at 20 pages yet managing to unfold events so well in that limited page count that the ideas at play feel so much more than that, a story executed magnificently within a limited page count. It’s expansive and wide-ranging, absolutely enthralling, and quite the opener. Genuinely frightening, an excellent job by writer and artist.

THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR: SAFE MODE – by Torunn Grønbekk and Emily Schnall, letters by Jonathan Stevenson

“Welcome to Maxwell Tower, your dream home of the future! Your every whim will be catered for by our in-house AI “Max”, who will make sure that you come to absolutely no harm during your stay. Unless you start to cause trouble, that is…”

The Thirteenth Floor, in contrast to Dracula Files, is a strip that’s been returned to plenty across the various Scream!/Misty Specials over the last few years. So much that we’re all pleasantly familiar with the tale of futuristic AI protector of Maxwell Tower now.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have something fresh from Max, as Safe Mode shows us. The art by Emily Schnall is light, open, cheerful even, showing us a new family, mom and two young kids, moving into Maxwell Tower. The kids loving their new home, finding a friend in Max, whilst the mother is more nervy, wanting reassurance that they’re safe in their new home. And that’s where the chills start to come in, with Gronbekk slowly revealing the horrors that they’re escaping from.

And when that all too real horror does make it inside Maxwell Tower, Max knows what to do, after all, as he/it’s been so keen to tell us, ‘I keep them safe’.

For the children, Max’s Thirteenth Floor is an idyllic fantasy playground, where his teachings become real, much to the kids’ delight. But when the horror the mom is trying to escape, the Thirteenth Floor is the stuff of nightmares.

It might be an obvious tale, treading familiar ground, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something very well told, bringing us right to the heart of what The Thirteenth Floor and Max was always about, taking care of the innocents living inside Maxwell Tower and dispensing properly horrific Justice on those who would do them harm.

AND HIS SKIN IS COLD – by Anna Readman and George Pooley, colours by JP Jordan, letters by Jonathan Stevenson

“Head back to the 1970s, as a British rock n’roll band head out on their breakout American tour. But on one fateful evening, they find that while talent can bring them fame, fortune and immortality… that isn’t the only way to live forever…”

Off to the USA for the third tale here, something completely new by Readman and Pooley, two young and extremely talented creators giving us a story of a ’70s rock band doing all the things ’70s rock bands did… just with that added touch of horror.

Jonathon Hastings tells this tale from 2024, interviewed and his time playing with Les Lenock, the charismatic frontman of Mahogany Rush in the early ’70s, all leading up to his death in ‘the Laurel Canyon explosion’.

It’s a classic tale of the usual rock and roll excesses, The Rolling Stones meets The Doors, just with something more supernatural behind the front man’s appeal. It’s sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll turned up to 11, and then mixed in with a demonic touch, all in the service of music, because, as we know, the devil’s got all the best tunes.

INVERTED BURIAL – by V. V. Glass, letters by Jonathan Stevenson

“Paris is the City of Love – but beyond the cosy cafes and romantic roads, what lurks deep down underneath the streets? Enter on a claustrophobic descent into the Paris catacombs…”

Two young influencers, creators of ‘Underland Uncovered’, dedicating themselves to exploring the dark places underground for likes and views. It’s just this time, down in the Paris catacombs, they’re about to find true darkness.

It’s a short eight-page thing but it’s every bit as horrific as you’d want, truly claustrophobic, plugging into all those primal fears of being trapped in the dark, down where strange things exist, where the imagination runs wild in the dark. Simple and short it may be, but every moment of this one feels like one of your worst nightmares, VV Glass showing us, yet again that they’re a massive talent and a creator to watch.

This has been the most successful of all the Scream! reimaginings so far – every single one of the four strips delivers just what they need to, with the horrors varied and intriguing, yet always going deep into the realms of nightmares. Four exceptional strips by a really great group of young and incredibly talented creators. Full credit to the Treasury for taking a chance on this set of talents, eschewing the known names and instead bringing in writers and artists who all deserve to be the talents of the future.

If I had to pick one to really praise, it’s the opener, a quite brilliant Dracula Files that has it all – a slow burn tale that makes every page of its 20-page run essential and chilling, doing more in that 20 pages to chill you to the bone than many others could do across a graphic novel’s worth of pages. But although it’s my standout here, it’s backed up by three other tales of terror that all perfectly succeed in living up to the spirit of Scream! This really is an excellent reimagining of the essence of one of Brit comics most fondly remembered titles.

SCREAM! 40 YEARS OF TERROR

Published by The Treasury Of British Comics on 6 November 2024 in the UK, 11 December in the Americas.

Now, an extended preview of the horrors within… try not to have nightmares…

The Dracula File: Homo Sacer – by Alex Paknadel and Alejandro Aragon, colours by Jason Wordie, letters by Jonathan Stevenson