Man, I just don't know. The worst thing that has happened to me today is drinking Mountain Dew for the first time in two years. Is that scary? Bad, sure, but I wouldn't say it's left me shaking in my boots. (Well, poor choice of words - the caffeine has had its inevitable effects upon my system. Bah! Moving on now...)
It strikes me that horror seems to be a genre pretty absent in webcomics. It may be that the medium doesn't work well for it - it is much harder to shock and scare the reader moving one panel at a time.
Now, I'm not saying I'm really looking for horror comics, as it isn't really my favorite genre. I'm just a little surprised by the general lack of it on the web.
A quick review of possible contenders on my comics list doesn't turn up much hope:
Scary Go Round: Delightfully quirky and with plenty of gothic elements, but not really frightening.
The Devil's Panties: I wouldn't say the comic's all that fearsome, but yeah, I'll admit that Jennie herself is kinda scary (in a good way.)
Hellbound: Zany, sure. Diabolic, technically. Not actually scary, though.
Jack: The best on the list thus far - but Jack is, in many ways, more philosophical than terrifying.
Megatokyo: Piro genuinely feels that having all his main characters strip down to their underwear is a genuine extension of the story, not fanservice. Including, potentially, an entire classroom of underage kids. Hmm... yeah, that is kinda scary.
No Rest for the Wicked: It definitely has elements of "the Brothers Grimm" creepiness to it, but it is generally a little diluted by the other fantasy elements. Moments of darkness, but not necessarily horror.
Suburban Tribe: This gets a spot on the list for having quality, non-continuity halloween arcs every October, much as I fondly recall the Simpsons doing. Rock on!
Toasted Pixel: Ok, I'll admit that the news articles about phenomena found on the internet almost invariable leave me horrified.
Oh damn. I was about to give up hope - no real qualifiers in the list above. I'm ashamed to admit I almost forgot about The Stiff. The story is definitely up there for creepy. I mean, weird things are happening to the main character. It's easy to focus on all the random school drama and highschool love crap happening - but at heart, this seems to be something of a zombie story, and I have a feeling it won't stay hidden forever.The art also really works for leaving one... disturbed.
Unfortunately it has also been on hiatus for a bit - but Jason Thompson (the disturbed mind behind its creation) hopes to be back and happening in November.
So I'll keep my fingers crossed on that, and in the meantime, give out the First Friday the 13th Webcomic Horror Award!
(Can he do that, they ask? Ha! I just did!)
(And before you ask, no, the award doesn't come with any special prizes. Just, you know... recognition on a horror well done. And really, in these days of half-assed efforts and disappointments, can one ask for any more than that?)
(On second thought, don't answer that question.)
9 comments:
"Intershadows" is what I'd qualify as horror comic.
http://www.intershadows.com/?date=20060709
Maritza
CRFH.net
Yeah, can't believe I overlooked it. And it has some solid 'real world' horror going for it, in addition to Jenny's craziness. More of a psychological thriller in many ways, but yeah, definitely fits the bill better than most.
(And that strip specifically, in addition to it's cast page, always refreshes me on the cool things people can do with webcomics :P)
Oh, isn't Suburban Tribe cool? I never hear anybody talk about it, but it's solidly one of my favorites.
Yeah, Suburban Tribe is definitely quality. I've talked about it before, but I think it has fallen under a lot of people's radar.
Also, Clan of the Cats is very much horror. Flatwood too. And 5ideways.
Perry Bible Fellowship is most of the times pretty horrifying too.
Maritza
CRFH.net
Man, I kind of hunt out horror webcomics so here are some good ones:
Elsie Hooper, www.elsiehooper.com
Harker, http://www.harkercomic.com
Ornery Boy, http://www.orneryboy.com
Paper Eleven, http://manga.clone-army.org/pxi.php
Netherworld, http://netherworld.razornetwork.com/index2.html
The Fall, http://www.fallcomix.com/thefall/
A Divine Dramedy, http://www.graphiteplayground.com/
Ton of names here I'll have to check out - which is most excellent! Next time a Friday the 13th rolls around, I'll go a bit more in-depth into the field, perhaps.
Are you after horror proper, or just zany zombies? I see a lot of the latter sort linked in here, but not much of the former. And The Devil's Panties, scary? Yeah, you need recommendations all right. Here's the cream of the disturbing crop from my bookmarks:
Natch Evil
Nightmare World
Ballad
The Doctor Pepper Show
Smells Like Cancer
I Talk To The Wind
Then there're comics which are chiefly fantasy but do get a bit scary / dark at times (to name two that appear to be reasonably well-kno'n among you comic-bloggers: Digger, Gunnergrigg Court) ... too many to list, really.
But in case I'm interpreting you wrong & it is just zany zombies you're after, I'd have some half a dozen suggestions for that, too...
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