PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It was way back in 1986 when the unsuspecting public saw the release of this iconic black and white horror comic. Published by Thomas Skulan of FantaCo Enterprises, Gore Shriek is one of the original and more visceral gore comics that found a cult following in that era three decades ago, along with such titles as Dead World and The Dead, which was later released as a graphic novel by Rough House Publishing as The Dead Omnibus. Think of Tales From The Crypt or Vault Of Horror but with more intense and graphic content. These goretastic comics contain work from iconic artists such as Stephen R. Bissette (The Swamp Thing), Greg Capullo (DC’s Batman), Bruce Spaulding Fuller (FX artist for Terminator 2: Judgement Day), Eric Stanway, Gurchain “The Gurch” Singh and the late Chas Balun (Lucio Fulci: Beyond the Gates), just to name a few. And here they are, once again, with brand new stories with Gore Shriek: Resurrectus.
There are lots of great stories in these six and a half issues, featuring a variety of material from comedy to horror to dark despair to completely dialogueless to the more serious approach. These comics have everything from alien invasions to voodoo to zombies to nightmares and everything in between. Gore Shriek also tackled lots of dark issues like abuse, one’s dissatisfaction with their job and bizarre gardening rituals.
As I previously mentioned, the Gore Shriek titles are in black and white, but don’t let this deter you from checking them out (The Walking Dead series is in black and white, and this never affected its popularity). They are intense stories with a dark, witty edge, sometimes conveying a satirical edge that the original series really set in motion. The twisted and demented ideas which would culminate to provide inspiration for other comic titles give Gore Shriek its cult status. This publication really had an impact on how twisted and dangerous horror comics could be. In 2017, Rough House Publishing brought new life to Gore Shriek by releasing Gore Shriek: Resurrectus.
Gore Shriek: Resurrectus was a crowd funding endeavor that brought new life to the long forgotten comic. Volume 1 of Resurrectus happened to be a popular venture for Rough House and they sold out all copies which were offered through their Indiegogo campaign. With plans to release Volume 2 of the Resurrectus book, you have a good idea of what is in store for the new issue. If it’s any indication from Volume 1 of Resurrectus, you know it’s going to be a horrifying yet beautifully woven horror comic experience.
There are lots of great tales in the first volume of Gore Shriek, including the story “Zombie Toolshed,” which is followed up by sequel in Goreshreik: Resurrectus. Some stories that stick out in volume 1 are “The Host,” “Fallen Leaves” and “The Need For Speed,” plus there are a bunch of dialogue free stories that are just as powerful. When issue 4 rolled around, they tried to take a page from Tales From The Crypt by introducing hosts or mascots for the comic named Gore and Shriek accordingly. I’m not sure what purpose this fulfilled so late in the series. Nonetheless, the original 6 issue series is one to be sought out for by fans of intense horror and gore comics as it delivers a much needed jolt of intense, unbridled mayhem in the material. The six part series in volume 1 also contains a lot of written articles which will appeal to many, depending on the type of material they are looking for. Overall, I enjoyed most of the content within the pages.
Issue 6.5 also followed, which was a tribute to their die-hard fans because it was never available commercially. It was only for those who had a subscription, and in the ’90s, volume 2 was released. Volume 1 of Gore Shriek is the premiere series for cult controversial horror/gore comics and a must have for any collector.
You can purchase Volume 1 right here at Rough House Publishing’s website.
