The first ever HOUSE OF MYSTERY Halloween Annual with stories from some of our ongoing series including HELLBLAZER, MADAME XANADU, and I, ZOMBIE is on sale now.

This special issue also includes some fun Halloween related questions answered by many of its amazing contributors. Here’s an exclusive sampling. Enjoy!

What is the greatest horror movie?

CHRIS ROBERSON, writer I, Zombie
It’s not really “horror,” but it was a theatrical release, so it should count. Every Halloween I make it a point to watch Rankin & Bass’s Mad Monster Party. It’s not a perfect film, but it is an awesome one. Those terrific Jack Davis designs? The voice talents of Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller? The music and lyrics of Maury Laws and Jules Bass? What’s not to love?!

AMY HADLEY, artist Madame Xanadu
Return to Oz–does that count? It’s one creepy movie, from weird, turn-of-the century psychiatric machines to a queen who literally switches decapitated heads to suit her mood!

MICHAEL ALLRED, artist I, Zombie
It would be a close call between Bride of Frankenstein and Dawn of the Dead. A memory of sneaking downstairs late at night and turning on the TV to find Bride of Frankenstein on would probably give it the edge though.

MATTHEW STURGES, writer House of Mystery
The Shining is the greatest horror movie ever made. With a few notable exceptions, it doesn’t rely on shock value to scare you. It’s a slow burn of dread that builds and builds such that when the violence finally erupts, it’s almost cathartic. I can’t watch it alone.

LEE LOUGHRIDGE, colorist House of Mystery
The Other Sister, Juliet Lewis creeps me out.

STEFANO LANDINI, finishes, Hellblazer
My absolute favorite horror film is Dawn of the Dead by the great Romero.
It’s not only a film but a piece of cinematic history!

SAL CIPRIANO, letterer, Hellblazer
John Carpenter’s Halloween. A classic example of what you can do with well- placed shadows and menacing music. Carpenter did it without any major gore, a staple of slasher movies thereafter.

DAVE McCAIG, colorist, Hellblazer
The Exorcist, because it’s the only movie that I find honestly scary instead of just being full of thrills.

KEVIN NOWLAN, inker, High Spirits
Frankenstein, with The Bride of Frankenstein a close second.
Amazing art direction, cast and make-up. Both movies are creepy and inventive, but The Bride is also funny.

SHELLY BOND, editor
Trilogy of Terror is my all-time favorite horror movie. It explains why I’m completely useless in the kitchen.

Have a very happy Halloween!

Vertigo Crime continues with THE BRONX KILL by Peter Milligan and artist James Romberger out in March 2010!

As mentioned in my post last Thursday, today begins a compelling 8 issue arc called The Plague Widow in NORTHLANDERS #21. Check out a preview at CBR And find out more about this new arc in interviews with Brian Wood at CBR and iFANBOY.

Bloodthirsty for more on AMERICAN VAMPIRE? Read USA TODAY’s interview with Scott Snyder.

And just in time for Halloween, fans of Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN will enjoy the coverage of ABSOLUTE DEATH at WIRED/Underwire and TWITCH FILM.

Maldon-summertime, 991AD, a large force of Viking raiders landed on what is now Northey Island, Essex, England, and waited for the tide to recede in order to launch a full scale invasion of the mainland. Opposing the Vikings was a much, much smaller party of Saxons. When the tide receded, the Vikings were horrified to see that there was only a narrow causeway for them to advance over, a strip of land that could handle no more than three men abreast. The Saxons were easily able to hold them off. Frustrated at seeing his men cut down, the Viking leader appealed to the Saxons to “fight fair”. Amazingly, the Saxon leader did just that and let the Vikings all come ashore to fight in a conventional manner. They were, of course, defeated, and the Saxon leader beheaded. His name was Byrhtnoth, and you can find a huge statue of him at Maldon today. He’s regarded as a local cult hero, a man with a stout heart that faced overwhelming odds, but other accounts point to his sin of pride and arrogance. The Northlanders connection: a similar tidal footbridge was featured in “The Shield Maidens” (#18, 19) and I have notes for a future story about The Battle Of Maldon.

The Siege Of Paris-nearly a full year, starting in 885. I love how wonderfully political this was. But first things first: the invading Viking force was comprised of some seven hundred ships and 30,000 men, which was by and far the largest assembly of Vikings At War that I’ve come across in my research. Most Viking battles were small, resembling more gang warfare than the huge CGI battles you see in films. If you could put 700 men in a shield wall, you’d be a force to be reckoned with (this 30k number is often disputed). Anyway, the Viking are starving the French out, and probably would have succeeded if not for Charles The Fat, emperor of the Franks, who paid the Vikings to leave (history tells us this was a very common and effective way to get Vikings to leave you alone). Included in that deal was permission for the Vikings to rape and pillage Burgundy, no friends of Charles The Fat. The Northlanders connection: none so far, but if I have the chops, I’ll find a way to research this properly for a story. How can you resist the idea of Vikings in Paris?

Lindisfarne - 793. Not much of a battle. Not a battle at all, actually, but possibly the most famous sacking in history. The Christian Saxons had a really unfortunate habit of consolidating their wealth in possibly the easiest and most recognizable of locations, if you’re looking to remove it by force: churches. This was probably not the first Viking raid on the coast, but it was the first so famously recorded: “…never before has such terror appeared as we have now suffered from a pagan race…” It was the unthinkable, and so you can forgive the Northumbrians for leaving their heaps of silver and gold guarded only by fat monks this ONE time, but that treasure box called a monastery was returned to again and again by the Vikings as it kept being replenished. The Northlanders connection: issues #9-10 show the Lindisfarne raid through the eyes of a young boy who sees the Vikings as his personal heroes.

Edington - 878, England. This is one of my favorite tidbits from this time period. The Viking invasion, occupation, and, really, colonization of England was well underway, to the point that these occupied territories had a collective name: The Danelaw. King Alfred (not yet The Great) had been pushed back and back to the point that he and his men occpied nothing more than a few square miles of marshland. Literally, the future England was comprised of just that, that bit of marshland, and that’s how close we were to a Daneland and all of us now speaking Danish. But Alfred was able to put together enough of a coalition to meet the Vikings (under the Dane Guthrum) at Edington and save both his kingdom and his dream of a unified land (England). While I strongly dispute the Bishop Asser’s account of the sickly and pious Alfred himself slaughtering scores of Northmen, he earned his title The Great. The Northlanders connection: none, really, although the Vikings’ occupation of the British Isles is the backdrop for most of the Northlanders stories to date.

Stamford Bridge - 1066, three days before the Norman Invasion of England by William The Conqueror at Hastings. The Viking rule of England was on the wane, and in a last ditch effort to maintain his Northumbrian holdings, Tostig Godwinson invited the Norwegian King Harald across the water to help. The two combined armies met at Stamford Bridge, and as the result of sheer recklessness on Harald’s part, he took an arrow in the throat and died. More reinforcements were to come, but the tide of history turned and the Vikings proper were repulsed. I say proper, because this three-way battle illustrated how the Vikings, over the course of the last couple hundred years, had assimilated themselves into these lands. (Norwegian) King Harald was fighting (the Danish) King Harold (of England), who, three days later as I said, was defeated by William of Normandy (the Normans being of Viking heritage). The Northlanders connection: too complicated for my blood.

For those of you following the AMERICAN VAMPIRE news check out these stories:

iO9, LOS ANGELES TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES/Hero Complex, YAHOO NEWS, THE GUARDIAN
EXAMINER, IN ENTERTAINMENT, IMDB, CRAVE, and HORROR CRUSH

Hunters, cultists, mutants and shantytown pimps all want a piece of Gus and all that stands between them, is Jepperd. As the little boy with antlers heads out into what’s left of the world, he’ll find out that no one is quite what they seem. Or are they? Jeff Lemire continues to amaze in SWEET TOOTH issue #3.

In case you missed today’s announcement of the new Vertigo horror comic book series AMERICAN VAMPIRE, here are some more articles to get your mouth watering:

CBR, IGN, THE BEAT, BIG SHINY ROBOT, and DREAD CENTRAL.

In case you missed today’s announcement of the new Vertigo horror comic book series AMERICAN VAMPIRE, check out the coverage below and get ready to get sucked in this March 2010.

USA TODAY, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE DAILY BEAST, COMICS ALLIANCE, NEWSARAMA, MTV/Splashpage, CBR/Robot 6, and GALLEYCAT with much more to come.

Celebrated short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque will launch a new monthly comic book series from Vertigo in March 2010 with a unique contribution from New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen King. The new ongoing series, AMERICAN VAMPIRE, will introduce readers to a new breed of vampire—a more muscular and vicious species of vampire with distinctly American characteristics. The series’ first story arc, to be told over the course of five issues, will feature two different stories, one written by Snyder, the other by King.

[Skinner, art by Rafael Albuquerque]

[Pearl, art by Rafael Albuquerque]

Snyder’s storyline is one of decadence and deception and Jazz Age glamour. Pearl is an ambitious modern woman with starlet dreams. She frequents Hollywood’s speakeasies and dance-halls searching for her first big break, only to find something far more sinister waiting for her.

King’s story provides the origin of the very first American vampire: Skinner Sweet, a bank robbing, murdering cowboy of the 1880s. Skinner is stronger and faster than previous vampires; he has rattlesnake fangs and is powered by…. the sun?

Following the conclusion of the first story arc, Snyder and Albuquerque will trace Skinner’s bloodline through various decades of American history.

[Skinner, art by Rafael Albuquerque]

“Getting the chance to re-imagine a classic monster—to invent a whole new mythology and secret history—nothing could be more exciting for me . . . except getting the chance to do it with Stephen King at Vertigo. I honestly can’t think of any influences more crucial or enduring for me than Vertigo and Stephen King. To have them both involved in AMERICAN VAMPIRE, along with the amazing Rafael Albuquerque—this all a dream come true for me!” —Scott Snyder

“I love vampire stories, and the idea of following the dark exploits of a uniquely American vampire really lit up my imagination. The chance to do the origin story—to be “present at the creation” —was a thrill. I owe big thanks to Scott Snyder for letting me share his vision, and sip from his bucket of blood.” —Stephen King

“In a time where vampires are everywhere, Scott and Stephen seem to have done the impossible: An original, inventive and detailed new series. It’s a challenging and exciting project I’m proud to be working on.” —Rafael Albuquerque

“Publishing a series with a fresh take on the vampire mythos would be incredible enough, but adding the talents of Scott Snyder, an exciting new voice in fiction, and Stephen King, the master of horror himself, is beyond awesome. We are thrilled that Vertigo is the home for this special new work, which we’re certain will be a major addition to the timeless and popular appeal of vampire lore everywhere.” —Karen Berger

[Pearl, art by Rafael Albuquerque]

About the creators:
Scott Snyder is best known for his first collection of stories, Voodoo Heart (Dial Press). Stephen King picked two of the included stories—“Wreck” and “Dumpster Tuesday”—for the 2007 Best American Short Stories anthology shortlist. Snyder teaches writing at Columbia University, NYU and Sarah Lawrence College and is working on a novel called The Goodbye Suit, to be published by Dial in 2011. He lives in New York City. This is his first comic book series.

Stephen King is the bestselling author of The Stand, The Shining, The Dark Tower books and multitudes of other works, most recently Under the Dome. AMERICAN VAMPIRE marks Stephen King’s debut with Vertigo/DC Comics; it is the first comic book writing he’s done, based on original material, as opposed to existing characters.

Rafael Albuquerque is best known for his work on Superman/Batman and Crimeland (Image).

WIRED and CBR feature interviews with G. Willow Wilson about Vol. 2 of AIR featuring Amelia Earhart and LARGE HEARTED BOY posts her air themed music playlist.

BOING BOING calls JACK OF FABLES Vol. 6 “gripping and thought-provoking; philosophically substantial and sparklingly funny.” Check out the full review.

NEWSARAMA features an interview with Chris Roberson about CINDERELLA: From Fabletown with Love.

And Jason Aaron talks SCALPED at CBR and IGN reviews issue #32.